NFL Best Ball: Tight End Analysis + 2026 Rankings

This article is part of our Best Ball Strategy series.

NFL Best Ball Fantasy Football: Tight End Analysis, Rankings and Best Ball ADP

We're back with another NFL best ball deep dive as we take a look at the tight end position. So far, we've done rankings and analysis for quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. 

This article series strives to look at the data from last year and understand how the final rankings shook out relative to how the market drafted these players.

I'll cover a lot of ground in this article, ranging from:

• 2025 ADP vs outcomes
• 2025 lessons learned for TE
• Historical data for tight end draft strategy; ie, when is it optimal to draft TE?
• 2026 ADP analysis
• Advanced Stats for TE
• 2026 tight end rankings

Let's dive in, shall we?

2025 Tight End ADP vs Final Rank

*missed four or more games

In the above table, a positive number indicates that the player beat his ADP and a negative means they fell short. 

2025 Best Ball Tight End Takeaways

• The market gives us 1-2 truly premium-priced tight ends every year. When it hits, you have a massive advantage over the field. When it whiffs, it's difficult to make up that ground. 
  • There have been six tight ends with ADPs in the first two rounds over the last five years. 
• In 2025, the top of the position was represented by Brock Bowers and Trey McBride. As you're probably aware, McBride was one of the biggest smashes ever in 2025. At ADP 26.0, McBride generated nearly 100 more points in half-PPR scoring than the second-place finisher at the position. He would have finished as WR5 or RB6. That's insane. 
  • McBride drafters also advanced at a 20.1% rate in BBMVI.

• Bowers drafters weren't thrilled with their returns after spending a second-round pick on him on average, but it could have been much worse. He still finished as TE9, and his per-game production would've ranked as TE4 over a full season. 
• The problem with tight end strategy this year wasn't with the top tier falling short. The market completely whiffed on the second tier. 

If you waited on tight end and bet that you could find the value play from the second tier, you were likely out of luck. Travis Kelce (TE7, ADP89) and Tyler Warren (TE5, ADP 81.8) were the only tight ends from ADP TE4 to TE13 post worthwhile seasons. 

Sam LaPorta (injury), T.J. Hockenson (bad season + bad team context), Evan Engram (puzzling usage), Mark Andrews (washed watch?) and David Njoku (injury + Fannin) were all pretty significant landmines for your rosters. 

Tucker Kraft investors were unfortunately robbed of what would have been a monster season. And even Colston Loveland investors were pretty much sitting on a goose egg for the first half of the season. That put you in a tough spot, assuming you took him within his usual ADP range of TE11. 

All told, you were spending pretty important draft capital (first 10/11 rounds) on guys who finished outside the Top 24 at the position.

Optimal Ranges to Draft Tight End

The Tight End "Dead Zone"

This past year's collective underperformance from that cluster of tight ends is actually...pretty standard. Looking at the above table, once the market determines that a tight end isn't worth going in the first six rounds, it's best to wait. 

There are strong trends that indicate the tight end dead zone exists from the seventh round through the 13th round. Like with anything, you can't just say "welp, I'm not taking anybody in that range" without thinking it through. But the numbers do paint a pretty bleak picture of the tight ends that tend to go in that range. 

Early TE works

You need to be able to adjust your roster build accordingly, but this table shows that going with an early tight end (Rounds 1-4) often pays off in a vacuum. As in, you have a strong likelihood of getting a good return of usable weeks from your TEs there. 

Not all TE1s are created equal, though. A season like the one McBride had doesn't happen every year. 

Below are the best tight end seasons since 2000 (shoutout Stathead) in PPR scoring. Sorry to mix formats in the same article.

We are seeing more all-time great fantasy seasons from tight ends in this era, but Travis Kelce was doing a lot of the heavy lifting of late before this McBride season. It feels like we're in a golden age for tight end production in fantasy in some ways; McBride seems locked into elite production even with the new coaching staff coming in, Bowers will bounce back, the 2025 rookie class looks incredible, and guys like Tucker Kraft haven't even fully maxed out their potential yet.

Best Tight End Value 2025: Harold Fannin

With so many flops in the mid-range for tight ends this year, the door was wide open for some late-round darts to pay off. Many of them didn't merely pay off, though. They smashed. Let's look at some of the best values from this year and see if we can isolate what fueled their big performances relative to ADP.

Harold Fannin

It was an unbelievable rookie season for Fannin. Sure, some things broke right to help get him some opportunities, but there's strong evidence that Fannin's 2025 was no fluke, and that there's room for more elite seasons from him down the road.

What stands out from the advanced stats is how quickly Fannin was able to demand blistering usage in the Browns' offense. Mind you, this was a third-round pick out of Bowling Green with solid but not spectacular workout metrics and questions about how transferable his college production would be.

And yet, Fannin stormed out of the gates with nine targets in his first game and didn't slow down from there. He finished the year with the best TPRR% among tight ends with at least 400 routes at 25.7%. There aren't many TE's with 400 routes, and there weren't any as involved on a per-route basis as Fannin by that metric. I'm not saying he's better than McBride; the point is that Fannin was just as involved in his offense as the TE1 was. That's remarkable.

The question now becomes: what can Fannin do for an encore?

I think it's fair to be optimistic that Fannin continues to be a force, even if it's not the same perfect storm it was a year ago. 

It's asking a lot to expect Fanning to have a 20+% target share and such a high TPRR%. But he's shown he can handle that. Additionally, Fannin was TE6 without the added benefit of heavy red zone usage. Fannin had just 10 red zone targets, which didn't even crack the top 15 in RZ target share. 

The Browns, unsurprisingly, had a lot of trouble even getting to the red zone, ranking 30th with just 38 such trips.  That figure tied with the Jets. Only the Raiders and Titans were worse. Sounds about right. 

Projecting a modest step forward in the offense as a whole seems reasonable with a more experienced Shedeur Sanders at quarterback and the Todd Monken offense coming to town. That should lead to more RZ trips and more touchdown opportunities for Fannin. An uptick in RZ usage would help raise his floor and safeguard him from a drop-off if his target rate figures drop a little bit. 

Another thing that helps Fannin, beyond David Njoku leaving in free agency, is that the Browns might not have a ton of flexibility to restock the pass-catching options. They're cash-strapped to a pretty significant degree as free agency approaches. If anything, they might need to subtract from what's already a lackluster room beyond Fannin. 

Juwan Johnson

How does Johnson beat his preseason position ranking by 21 slots and still only settle in as TE16? It shouldn't be interpreted as this big of a fluke; he had a 500-yard, 7-TD season back in 2022 and has caught at least three touchdowns every year since his rookie season. The usage ticked up to a solid 20.4% TPRR on an 18% team target share, and he answered the bell by posting the fifth-best YPRR figure among tight ends with at least 300 routes. 

The Saints' offense has good vibes around it with Tyler Shough looking like the guy and really only Chris Olave standing as target competition for this cap-strapped squad. I don't see why Johnson wouldn't have another year with a stable target share and strong fantasy numbers. 

Johnson going behind Kenyon Sadiq, an incoming rookie who isn't in the same prospect stratosphere as Bowers, Loveland, or Warren, is insane.

2026 Underdog Best Ball ADP: Tight End

Here's a snapshot of the ADP for tight ends through mid-February.

And here's a visual representation of this year's ADP compared to last year. The orange bars represent this year's ADP and the blue is 2025. Basically this chart allows you to see how things have changed and whose stock has drastically changed the most. 

2026 ADP Risers and Fallers: Tight End

These lists will be pretty intuitive, but it's important to note the changes anyway.

Risers

• Colston Loveland (2025 ADP: 108.4 ➡️2026 ADP: 42.8)
• Harold Fannin (2025 ADP: 196.8 ➡️ 2026 ADP: 73.9)
• Oronde Gadsden (2025 ADP: 215.8 ➡️ 2026 ADP: 104.1)

It's not surprising that the standout rookies from last year would have plenty of buzz this year. It's likely that one of them will fail to live up to ADP, but at the same time, it's very difficult to poke holes in their respective profiles. 

Fallers

• George Kittle (34.8 ➡️ 122.8)
• Travis Kelce (89.1 ➡️163.9)
• Mark Andrews (97.2 ➡️ 152.7)

Well, folks, it looks like the market is tossing the old Big 3 aside like Andy discarded Woody in Toy Story. Each of these drop-offs makes sense to varying degrees, but I still have some questions. 

With Kittle, I wonder if the market hasn't corrected enough. He's 32 and will likely be 33 before he returns to action after tearing his Achilles in the playoffs. How does half a season at best warrant a pick in the 11th round? I don't get it.

Kelce's slide is understandable. I still can't believe he finished as TE4 in half PPR scoring last year. The eye test told you he was cooked, but the numbers painted a different picture. He still rated among the top target earners at the position and was well above average in YAC, TPRR%, and YPRR. He can still play. I think the market is understandably wary of drafting a guy who might retire or finally hit the cliff if he does return. And there's also the detail of him returning to KC specifically, where Patrick Mahomes may take some time to round back into form. I think there are worse ways to spend a 14th Round pick. 

Andrews is really tough to figure out. He was a disastrous pick last year with career lows across the board in several categories. His durability helped him finish as TE16 but that's still not a particularly useful asset in best ball, where upside far outweighs consistency. He had just three games with double-digit fantasy points, none of which came after Week 11. And even the Week 11 showing was floated by a 35-yard touchdown run on a fake tush push. It seems premature to say Andrews is fully cooked, though; he's still a huge part of the offense (17% target share), and a full season of Lamar Jackson will lift the offense overall. Andrews is fine to mix in as your TE2. 

Market Unmoved

There were a few standout tight end seasons last year that aren't really being treated as such by the market. I'm specifically talking about guys like Dallas Goedert (2025 TE3; 2026 TE13), Juwan Johnson (2025 TE9; 2026 TE16), Hunter Henry (2025 TE8; 2026 TE18), and AJ Barner (2025 TE14; 2026 TE20). 

• Dallas Goedert: 2025 will probably stand as Goedert's peak. 11 TD on 82 targets is bananas, and tied for the lead among tight ends. He hadn't caught more than five in any previous season, and that was back in 2019. Still, Goedert has a good target share projection and the hope is that the Philly offense bounces back under a new OC this year. I get Goedert not being drafted like the TE3, but not being drafted as a TE1 in a roster build is interesting. Especially behind George Kittle.
• Hunter Henry: Henry is kind of like poor man's Goedert in that last year may have been the best year he'll have for the remainder of his career. He'll be 31 this coming season and is coming off a year with massive red zone usage. 

It's hard to see Henry having that level of good fortune again in 2026 considering the Patriots will likely spend the entire offseason gathering more targets for Drake Maye. It's clear Henry has a rapport with Maye that'll keep him involved but replicating an 18% target share and 34% red zone target share will be tough. I see why the market is hesitant to pay up for a repeat, though TE18 is still a nice value for a player of Henry's talent.

• AJ Barner: Barner seemed to have all the makings for a classic helium case going into draft season. He caught two touchdowns in the fantasy playoffs and had the only Seattle offensive touchdown in the Super Bowl. Alas, the crowd's not buying it for now. He's going as TE20 right now despite sneakily drawing an 85th percentile target share among tight ends and an above-average TPRR% of 20.1%. I don't see star potential in Barner necessarily, but I think he can at least replicate what he did in 2025, which was TE14 with multiple usable weeks. 

Honorable Mention: Brenton Strange (2025 TE15 in PPG; 2026 ADP TE14)

Tight End Sleepers 2026

Darnell Washington, Pittsburgh Steelers (TE44, ADP ~240.0)

So, in theory, there's still a logjam in front of Washington getting a significant role in this offense. Pat Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith are both under contract. That said, it's a totally new regime in Pittsburgh, and we'll see if that depth chart stays status quo this offseason. 

Beyond that, Washington showed some real growth as a pass-catcher last year, posting career-highs of 31 catches for 364 yards and a touchdown on 43 targets. The relatively small sample of targets skews some of his advanced numbers like TPRR% (86th percentile), and I doubt he'd be able to be a centerpiece of a passing game. That said, Washington is big and athletic enough to be a big problem after the catch. He averaged 7.5 YAC/catch and you can see why.

I'm going to start mixing Washington in as my 20th round pick on Underdog until further notice. I think we might have deep sleeper potential here and significant closing line value if the depth chart gets less murky in the coming months.

Gunnar Helm, Tennessee Titans (TE28, ADP ~200)

With Tennessee, you had to squint to find anything encouraging last season. If you squint hard enough, though, you'll see that Helm has some legitimate potential. He caught 80% of his 55 targets last season with a mere 1.8% drop rate. Helm also drew targets rapidly on his routes with a 23.3 TPRR%. 

The hangup with Helm, along with the Titans receivers I talked about in the WR best ball piece, is that Tennessee could be very active this offseason and have a very different look to its skill position groupings. That includes tight end. However, Chig Okonkwo could very well be on the move, which could open the path for Helm to seize the starting role depending on the Titans' approach to the position this offseason. 

Helm is a good value right now who could be a great value by the time we get past the NFL Draft. 

Tanner Koziol, Rookie (TE59)

This one's a bit of a longshot but that's fine. This is a deep tight end class that goes way beyond Kenyon Sadiq. The NFL Combine is going to be a big moment in best ball draft season that results in a reshaping of the ADP, especially at tight end.

Right now, I'm hitching my wagon to Koziol.

The 6-7, 250-pounder out of Houston by way of Ball State has standout collegiate production. He had at least 30 receptions in all four seasons, which is a lot for a tight end. That included 94 grabs in 2024 at Ball State and 74 catches for 727 yards and six scores when he moved up to Big 12 competition with Houston. Commanding a 25% target share in your first year with a Power Conference school is extremely impressive. 

He's free in Underdog drafts right now, often going undrafted. I'm going to be focused on getting him with my last pick in drafts up until the combine and hope that I can get some closing line value before the new ADP settles in. 

If you're looking for a more conventional non-Sadiq rookie, Eli Stowers would be that guy for me. Stowers was the top dog in the Vanderbilt passing game and is still scratching the surface of what he could be after starting his career as a quarterback at New Mexico State.

2026 Tight End Rankings