Finding consensus is usually a good thing. But in fantasy football, or in this case tight end rankings, we don’t want to be in lockstep with everyone.
So this rankings list should convey my point of view and, hopefully, give you some new NFL insights to inform your decisions.
I’m breaking down eight spots where my TE rankings split most sharply from the expert consensus, five players I rank well above the field, and three I rank below. Each call comes with some added context about how I arrived at my opinion. You draft the gaps between your read and everyone else’s, not the players everyone agrees on. These are my gaps.
More fantasy football rankings & tiers: Running Backs | Wide Receivers
is a top-three tight end
Kraft caught 32 of 44 targets for 489 yards and six touchdowns through eight games in 2025 before a torn ACL ended his year. He was the TE2 in fantasy scoring behind only Trey McBride when he went down. His 14.65 PPR points per game ranked fourth at the position.
Green Bay let receivers Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks leave and added no notable pass catchers. So the target path clears further. Kraft ranked first among tight ends with 50+ catches in yards after the catch per reception since 2023. The volume was always the only question, and the roster just answered it. My fantasy football tight end rankings have him at TE3 over the consensus TE5.
II breaks out in Year 2
Los Angeles Chargers tight end Oronde Gadsden (86) is rising in my TE rankings.
Gadsden posted 49 catches for 664 yards and three touchdowns across 15 games as a rookie fifth-round pick. His 164 receiving yards in Week 7 were the most by a first-year tight end in 40 years. He was the third rookie tight end since 1970 to top 300 yards over a three-game span, joining Kyle Pitts Sr. and Brock Bowers. He took over the starting job in Week 4 and never gave it back.
The Chargers added David Njoku and Charlie Kolar, so the room got crowded. But Gadsden finished eighth or better at the position in aDOT, yards per reception, yards per target and yards per route run. My TE rankings put him at TE13 over the consensus TE20 because the talent is a tier above that number.
Hockenson caught 51 passes for 438 yards and three touchdowns in 2025, his worst full season since his rookie year. He finished as the TE26 while catching passes from J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer. Now Kyler Murray joins Minnesota to stabilize the position. Hockenson averaged 4.1 targets per game the past two years, down from 8.5 per game in 2023. He set career highs with 95 catches and 960 yards under better quarterback play that season.
The market is pricing his down year as his true level. I think the quarterback was the problem, so my tight end rankings have him at TE16 over the consensus TE23.
is a fantasy football sleeper
Los Angeles Rams tight end Terrance Ferguson (18) drops a pass while being defended by San Francisco 49ers linebacker Luke Gifford (57) during the fourth quarter at Levi’s Stadium. Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Ferguson barely played as a rookie behind Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson and Davis Allen. When he did, the Rams used him as a deep threat. His 17.5-yard average depth of target was the highest by any tight end with 10+ targets in at least a decade. He ran the fastest 40-yard dash (4.63 seconds) and posted the highest vertical (39 inches) among tight ends at the combine. He also averaged nine yards after the catch per reception in his final college season at Oregon.
The second year is when tight ends break out, and Ferguson sits in an offense with Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. The path to the No. 3 receiver role is open, so I rank him TE20 over the consensus TE27.
is a late-round target in Miami
Dulcich caught 26 passes for 335 yards and a touchdown across 10 games after debuting for Miami in Week 8. From that point, he ranked 13th in receiving yards among tight ends and second in yards after the catch per target. Among 59 qualifying tight ends, he ranked second in yards per route run at 2.64 and fifth in target-per-route-run rate at 24 percent.
Miami traded Jaylen Waddle and moved on from Tua Tagovailoa, so pass-catching targets are wide open for Malik Willis. Dulcich sits atop the depth chart with only rookies behind him. My fantasy football tight end rankings have him at TE24 over the consensus TE36, a 12-spot gap that is my biggest, and I stand by it.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) ain’t what he used to be, but he can still deliver competent fantasy football numbers.
Kelce caught 76 passes for 851 yards and five touchdowns in 2025, his lowest yards-per-game mark since 2015. He enters his age-37 season after averaging 11.4 PPR points per game last year, down from 12.2 the year before. That marks a fourth straight year of declining weekly averages. He also posted nine drops in 2025, three of which became Patrick Mahomes interceptions. His scoring is also lumpy. In 2025, 34 percent of his fantasy production came in just three games, which left him averaging 9.0 PPR points across the other 14.
Mahomes returns from a torn ACL and LCL, and that health matters. But I want a steadier floor at TE1 prices, so my TE rankings slot him at TE12 under the consensus TE9.
not what he once was
Andrews caught 48 passes for 422 yards and five touchdowns in 2025, career lows in yards per catch (8.8) and yards per target (6.0). He averaged 4.1 targets per game the past two seasons and has now posted three straight years under 60 catches and 700 yards. He enters his age-31 season with 121 games of mileage. Isaiah Likely leaving for the Giants clears target competition, and that helps. But Andrews works with an entirely new Baltimore coaching staff for the first time in his career.
Lamar Jackson also spreads the ball around, which caps the ceiling. The red-zone role keeps him relevant, not startable at his cost, so my tight end rankings have him at TE18 under the consensus TE14.
Tennessee Titans tight end Chig Okonkwo (85) runs in a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the second quarter at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025.
Okonkwo set career highs with 56 catches for 560 yards on 79 targets in 2025, then signed a three-year deal with Washington. The optimistic case is Jayden Daniels, who has thrown nine touchdown passes to tight ends in 24 career games.
The problem is Okonkwo has never scored more than three touchdowns in a season and managed just a 14.9 percent target share last year despite Tennessee’s thin receiver group. He also ceded snaps down the stretch to rookie Gunnar Helm. His 6-foot-3, 238-pound frame limits his red-zone work.
If a breakout were coming, we would likely have seen more of it across four seasons. My fantasy football TE rankings put him at TE21 under the consensus TE17.
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