Fantasy rankings look different for everyone. There are so many moving pieces to consider on the player evaluation side of things, not to mention your specific league setup (scoring format, roster construction, team count, etc.).
That said, I am here to help you as best I can. I’d encourage you to use the below list as a guide – move your favorite options around and create tiers. By stepping back and evaluating the position as a whole, you allow yourself to be flexible when the bullets start flying for real and you’re on the clock in fantasy football.
Ranking the Top Fantasy Tight Ends
FIND MORE POSITIONAL RANKINGS: QB | RB | WR | K | DEF | SF
1) Sam LaPorta | Detroit Lions
2) Mark Andrews | Baltimore Ravens
3) Travis Kelce | Kansas City Chiefs
4) Trey McBride | Arizona Cardinals
5) Evan Engram | Jacksonville Jaguars
6) Dalton Kincaid | Buffalo Bills
7) George Kittle | San Francisco 49ers
8) Jake Ferguson | Dallas Cowboys
9) David Njoku | Cleveland Browns
10) Kyle Pitts | Atlanta Falcons
11) Brock Bowers | Las Vegas Raiders
12) Dallas Goedert | Philadelphia Eagles
13) Dalton Schultz | Houston Texans
14) T.J. Hockenson | Minnesota Vikings
15) Luke Musgrave | Green Bay Packers
16) Pat Freiermuth | Pittsburgh Steelers
17) Isaiah Likely | Baltimore Ravens
18) Mike Gesicki | Cincinnati Bengals
19) Taysom Hill | New Orleans Saints
20) Cade Otton | Tampa Bay Buccaneers
21) Cole Kmet | Chicago Bears
22) Hunter Henry | New England Patriots
23) Tyler Conklin | New York Jets
24) Tucker Kraft | Green Bay Packers
25) Juwan Johnson | New Orleans Saints
26) Noah Fant | Seattle Seahawks
27) Chigoziem Okonkwo | Tennessee Titans
28) Michael Mayer | Las Vegas Raiders
29) Gerald Everett | Chicago Bears
30) Dawson Knox | Buffalo Bills
31) Ja’Tavion Sanders | Carolina Panthers
32) Tyler Higbee | Los Angeles Rams
Who Are the Best Tight Ends To Draft in Fantasy?
Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
If I’m spending a late-second/early third-round pick on a onesie position (his current ADP checks in ahead of all quarterbacks), I want to be confident that said player has a level of fantasy upside that we have yet to see.
Kelce is great, but his best football is pretty clearly behind him. He averaged a career-low 1.83 PPR points per target in 2023, and while he always seems to have plenty of gas in the tank during the NFL playoffs (32-355-3 during the Super Bowl run last year), the same cannot be said for crunch time during the fantasy season.
- Top-five finishes: Three
- Top-12 finishes: Seven
- Finishes outside of the Top 12: Seven
- Finishes as TE20 or worse: Five (doesn’t include one DNP)
That’s Kelce’s resume over the past three seasons from Weeks 13-17. As Kansas City manages his body, he’s been just as likely to finish outside of the top 12 as inside it and hasn’t been better than TE20 22.7% of the time.
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I’m sorry, but that’s unacceptable. It’s also something that I have a hard time seeing reverse for a player who will be 35 when that stretch approaches this season. There’s simply too much talent at the position now to justify spending this sort of capital. Mark Andrews is available 2+ rounds later if you want a veteran and Jake Ferguson 5+ rounds later if you want to be attached to a pass-centric offense.
Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are going to look different this year than last with Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis moving on, leaving the role of primary target earner very much up for grabs. I’d argue that it’s Dalton Kincaid’s role to lose.
The slot can be an advantageous spot to be on the field due to the high efficiency of those targets, and that’s even more true when an offense is undergoing significant changes across the board in terms of pass-catching options.
Only 31% of Dalton Kincaid's preseason snaps have come as the in-line TE.
Things you love to see from the Year 2 tight end:
🌶️ slot work
🌶️ pre-snap motion
🌶️ downfield routesKincaid could be in for a huge sophomore season. You can watch his preseason routes here: pic.twitter.com/BwG36HOcSK
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) August 21, 2024
As a rookie, Kincaid operated out of the slot on over 52% of his snaps six times — four of them came after Joe Brady took over this offense. He led the position in slot rate in the Brady era (Weeks 11-18) and, for the season, scored the majority of his points from there.
The NFL has been trending toward shorter passes. If that is going to be the case with an unproven cast of receivers, Kincaid could rack up top-five volume at the position.