Fantasy football tight end rankings

What changes in this view

Tight end is the thinnest starting position in fantasy football. A small number of tight ends are used like wide receivers, and everyone after them is a low, flat scorer, which is why drafts either take one early or wait a long time.

This view keeps only tight ends and re-numbers them 1 upward in PPR scoring, where a catch is worth a point and receiving tight ends separate from blocking ones most clearly.

How to draft tight ends this season

Tight end is the only position where the shape of the list matters more than the order of it. Every other position has a long, smooth slope: the twentieth wide receiver is worth clearly less than the tenth, who is worth clearly less than the first. Tight end is a short cliff followed by a flat plain. A small number of tight ends run routes on most passing plays and are targeted like a second or third receiver. Everyone after them is on the field mainly to block, catches a handful of passes a game, and scores a low, flat number that barely separates one from the next.

That shape is what produces the two strategies you see in drafts, and our own draft data shows both plainly. Either you pay the cliff price and take one of the receiving tight ends several rounds before you would take a comparable wide receiver, or you refuse to pay it and take the twelfth tight end near the end of the draft, accepting a low score in exchange for spending those early picks on running backs and receivers. What almost never works is the middle. Reaching a round early for the seventh tight end pays the premium of the first strategy while getting the output of the second.

Reception scoring is the other thing that moves this list, and it moves it more here than anywhere except wide receiver. A point per catch is worth a lot to a tight end who is genuinely a receiver and worth almost nothing to one who blocks, so PPR pulls the top of the list further away from the middle. This board is ordered in PPR because that is what most default leagues use. In standard scoring the cliff is slightly shallower, and a touchdown-scoring blocking tight end closes part of the gap.

One thing this page does not do is invent a projection to fill a hole. Where a sportsbook has posted a receiving yards, receptions or touchdown market on a tight end we price it, de-vig it and show it. Where our odds feed carries no such market, the row carries only what the drafting market says, and we say so on the row rather than guessing.

What the market prices for these tight ends

#	Player	Tier	Bye	Market
1	Trey McBrideTE ARI	1	14	80.6 rec yds, 7.6 catches, 45% TD
2	Brock BowersTE LV	1	13	71.5 rec yds, 6.4 catches, 41% TD
3	George KittleTE SF	1	-	53.5 rec yds, 4.5 catches, 34% TD
4	Sam LaPortaTE DET	1	6	51.6 rec yds, 4.6 catches, 35% TD
5	Tyler WarrenTE IND	1	13	48.4 rec yds, 5.3 catches, 30% TD
6	Dalton KincaidTE BUF	1	7	50.6 rec yds, 4.3 catches, 32% TD
7	Tucker KraftTE GB	1	11	50 rec yds, 4.4 catches, 30% TD
8	Isaiah LikelyTE NYG	1	8	41.5 rec yds, 4.5 catches, 29% TD
9	Juwan JohnsonTE NO	1	-	42.6 rec yds, 4.4 catches, 24% TD
10	Harold FanninTE CLE	1	-	35.5 rec yds, 4.3 catches, 30% TD
11	Dalton SchultzTE HOU	1	-	37.4 rec yds, 4.3 catches, 27% TD
12	Hunter HenryTE NE	1	-	37.5 rec yds, 3.5 catches, 32% TD
13	T.J. HockensonTE MIN	1	-	38.5 rec yds, 4.5 catches, 24% TD
14	Colston LovelandTE CHI	1	10	37.5 rec yds, 3.6 catches, 28% TD
15	Kenyon SadiqTE NYJ	1	-	33.5 rec yds, 3.5 catches, 28% TD
16	Brenton StrangeTE JAX	1	-	34.3 rec yds, 3.5 catches, 25% TD
17	Mark AndrewsTE BAL	1	-	29.7 rec yds, 3.5 catches, 27% TD
18	Jake FergusonTE DAL	1	-	25.4 rec yds, 3.5 catches, 29% TD
19	Pat FreiermuthTE PIT	1	-	27.6 rec yds, 3.4 catches, 25% TD
20	Michael MayerTE LV	1	-	29.5 rec yds, 3.5 catches, 21% TD
21	Cade OttonTE TB	1	-	30.6 rec yds, 3.5 catches, 17% TD
22	Tyler HigbeeTE LAR	1	-	25.5 rec yds, 2.5 catches, 30% TD
23	Chig OkonkwoTE WAS	1	-	27.6 rec yds, 2.8 catches, 24% TD
24	AJ BarnerTE SEA	1	-	24.5 rec yds, 2.6 catches, 25% TD
25	Kyle Pitts Sr.TE ATL	1	11	24.5 rec yds, 2.6 catches, 21% TD
26	Darnell WashingtonTE PIT	1	-	22.5 rec yds, 2.6 catches, 23% TD
27	Greg DulcichTE MIA	1	-	25.6 rec yds, 2.7 catches, 17% TD
28	Colby ParkinsonTE LAR	1	-	16.6 rec yds, 1.6 catches, 30% TD
29	Evan EngramTE DEN	1	-	17.5 rec yds, 2.5 catches, 17% TD
30	Gunnar HelmTE TEN	1	-	17.5 rec yds, 2.5 catches, 15% TD
31	Mason TaylorTE NYJ	1	-	13.5 rec yds, 1.7 catches, 19% TD
32	Foster MoreauTE HOU	1	-	9.9 rec yds, 12% TD
33	Dawson KnoxTE BUF	1	-	10.5 rec yds, 1.5 catches, 15% TD
34	Cole KmetTE CHI	1	-	10.5 rec yds, 1.5 catches, 14% TD
35	Eli RaridonTE NE	1	-	9.4 rec yds, 1.4 catches, 15% TD
36	Matt HibnerTE BAL	1	-	10.5 rec yds, 1.5 catches, 9% TD
37	Jonnu SmithTE GB	1	-	8.4 rec yds, 1.5 catches, 10% TD
38	Elijah HigginsTE ARI	1	-	8.5 rec yds, 1.5 catches, 8% TD
39	Theo JohnsonTE NYG	1	-	4.5 rec yds, 0.9 catches, 11% TD
40	Brevyn Spann-FordTE DAL	1	-	4.4 rec yds, 0.5 catches, 10% TD
42	Marlin KleinTE HOU	1	-	1.5 rec yds, 0.9 catches, 4% TD
43	Brevin JordanTE HOU	1	-	1.4 rec yds, 0.5 catches, 4% TD

Tight end rankings

Other cuts of this board

• Full rankings
• Quarterback rankings
• Running back rankings
• Wide receiver rankings
• Flex rankings
• Superflex rankings
• 2QB rankings
• Dynasty rankings
• PPR rankings
• Half-PPR rankings
• Standard rankings
• Team defense rankings
• Kicker rankings

Use this while you draft

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The pick numbers come from consensus average draft position across thousands of live drafts (Fantasy Football Calculator consensus ADP), covering 258 draftable players in total. Nobody here is given an invented projection.