It’s time to dive headfirst into dynasty fantasy football. We’re going position by position and evaluating what the dynasty landscape looks like. Today, we’re covering tight ends. What players are worth buying? Who should you sell? Who is undervalued? Who is elite? Everything you need to know is right here.
Dynasty Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings: The Elites
At the top of every position are those players we are absolutely sure will be superstars. There’s no risk of failure here. The only question is how high the ceiling can get.
Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders
Following what ranks as the most impressive debut campaign ever produced by a tight end in fantasy football, Brock Bowers shot into dynasty’s top-12 rankings. His second-year performance seemed underwhelming at first glance. But was that assessment accurate?
As a first-year player, Bowers put up 15.5 fantasy points per game. His sophomore year saw him average 14.7 PPG. While we all hoped for upward momentum, that’s hardly a significant drop-off.
The key factor: Bowers nearly matched his debut production while battling a knee issue that was obviously limiting his effectiveness.
It came to light that Bowers was managing a PCL injury, something fantasy managers should pay far closer attention to moving forward. Though technically feasible to compete with a PCL injury, the cases of Bowers, Ricky Pearsall, and Drake London demonstrated that performing at a high level isn’t realistic.
Beyond Week 1, Bowers never operated at full strength throughout 2025. Weeks 2–4 represented his most limited period. Removing those contests from the equation reveals a 16.4 PPG average.
This production came with a signal-caller under constant pressure from an abysmal offensive line. It happened within a system overseen by a coordinator so ineffective that Chip Kelly, despite being the league’s most expensive offensive coordinator, was dismissed after just 11 games. It occurred while playing for a head coach who lasted a single season.
Barring Fernando Mendoza becoming a complete failure at the position, Bowers’ surrounding situation figures to improve substantially starting this year. He still stands as dynasty’s premier tight end.
Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
If you want to put Trey McBride ahead of Bowers, you will get no serious objection from me. What McBride just did was nothing short of spectacular.
In his fourth season, the Cardinals tight end posted one of the greatest seasons from a tight end in the history of fantasy football. McBride caught 126 passes for 1,239 yards and 11 touchdowns. He averaged 18.6 PPG.
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The only argument against McBride is that he didn’t really take off until Jacoby Brissett got under center and the Cardinals were constantly chucking the ball while trailing in games. McBride averaged 12.5 PPG in five games with Kyler Murray against 21.1 PPG playing with Brissett.
Fantasy managers should operate under the assumption that what we just saw was McBride’s best season. However, that doesn’t preclude him from still being an elite fantasy tight end. If he can give us another half-decade of seasons in the 15–17 PPG range, absolutely no one will be upset about it.
Dynasty Tight End Sleepers for 2026
Tight end is a position where it’s actually possible to have true sleepers, especially in dynasty. While guys like Bowers and Sam LaPorta smashed as rookies, it’s more common for it to take a little bit before tight ends ascend. Look at McBride, who posted 3.8 PPG in his inaugural season. These are the tight ends who might put themselves on the map in 2026.
Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars
After barely playing as a rookie, we’ve seen steady improvement from Brenton Strange each of his subsequent two NFL seasons. The Jaguars tight end averaged 5.4 PPG as a sophomore before sort of breaking out and posting 9.8 PPG in 2025.
Strange missed five games due to a hip injury, and when he returned, both Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington had established themselves as Trevor Lawrence’s favorite targets. Yet the tight end still managed to post four games with double-digit fantasy points following his Week 12 return from IR.
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It’s abundantly clear that it took a little while for Liam Coen’s offense to click with Lawrence. Once it did, Lawrence looked like the prince who was promised, and this offense was humming. We have every reason to expect that to continue for the foreseeable future.
Strange is still only 25 years old. 2026 could be the year he posts his first TE1 performance.
Terrance Ferguson, Los Angeles Rams
The Rams leading the league in 13 personnel usage (by an unfathomably large margin) was a blessing and a curse. It helped get Terrance Ferguson on the field. It also meant there were usually two other tight ends out there with him.
Ferguson is incredibly athletic and was a second-round pick. Although he only caught 11 balls in his rookie season, he flashed some serious potential.
Tyler Higbee is a free agent and also may retire. Colby Parkinson is entering the final year of his deal. The Rams believe in Ferguson. It’s why they drafted him so high. He should see much more usage this season. If things break right, he could be the Rams’ primary pass-catching tight end.
Dynasty Tight Ends to Sell
As important as it is to acquire players who increase in value, it’s equally important to jettison players before they decrease in value. These tight ends seem poised for a downturn. It is best to get rid of them before it’s too late.
Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
I know. I know. Fantasy managers said “this is the year!” three times before finally giving up in 2025…and it was the year…or was it? What exactly did Pitts do last season? Sure, 12.4 PPG is very good. He was the overall TE4. But context is king.
Everyone remembers Pitts being the hero of the first round of the fantasy playoffs, posting 45.6 fantasy points on Thursday night, ending matchups before they even began. Those games matter. They also have implications. For Pitts, he averaged 10.3 PPG in his other 16 games. You can stream 10 PPG.
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Additionally, Pitts benefited massively from Drake London’s knee injury. In five games without London, the tight end averaged 19.0 PPG. With London, Pitts was at 9.6 PPG.
Notwithstanding all of these objective facts, Pitts is once again being viewed favorably in dynasty circles. To be fair, he’s only 25 years old and is an elite athlete. It’s entirely possible he’s here to stay. I just don’t buy it and would be looking to cash out on the hype before reality sets in.
Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
This one is a bit of low-hanging fruit. I’m not sure how much fantasy value Mark Andrews has left. I am quite sure that Andrews doesn’t have much left to offer on the football field.
In retrospect, the anointing of Andrews as an elite fantasy tight end was completely unjustified. Outside of his 17.7 PPG, overall TE1 finish in 2021, he averaged between 12.2 and 13.8 PPG during his prime from 2019–2023. He was very good. He was consistent. He was reliable. But he was never even close to Travis Kelce outside of 2021.
In 2024, we saw clear signs of decline. Andrews’ target share plummeted to 15.3%. He only ran a route on 58.3% of pass plays. But he got by in fantasy on a career-high 11 touchdowns, which he managed on just 55 receptions. The writing was on the wall. And in 2025, the bottom fell out.
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Andrews did see his target share and route participation rate tick up slightly, but not by any meaningful amount. At 17.2% and 69.4%, respectively, he was still nowhere near the levels he was at during his peak.
Inexplicably, the Ravens signed Andrews to a three-year extension. I am willing to make this claim right now. There is absolutely no chance Andrews plays out the remainder of his contract as a Raven.
Andrews is done. Thirty-one years old is not the same for a tight end as it is for a wide receiver, but Andrews has dealt with several injuries throughout his career. He is an old 31 this season, and I firmly believe it is over. Sell him for literally anything you can get.
Post-Hype Dynasty Tight Ends
Sometimes, guys can emerge who we once loved but had given up on after a series of bad seasons. Pitts certainly would have qualified in 2025. Here are a couple of tight ends who might fit the bill in 2026.
Michael Mayer, Las Vegas Raiders
In another timeline, Michael Mayer may very well be a consensus top-six dynasty tight end right now. He was a very early second-round pick in 2023. By all accounts, he should’ve been very good. Unfortunately, just as he was gaining some steam for a sophomore-year breakout, the Raiders drafted Bowers. As the kids would say, GGz.
Young folks would say Mayer got Tre Masoned. Old heads like me would say he got Chester Taylored. Both are the same. It’s when a good player worthy of starting gets ethered by a transcendent talent.
Taylor was very deserving of being the Vikings’ RB1 after his solid 2006 season. Then they drafted Adrian Peterson. No one is playing ahead of Adrian Peterson. No tight end is playing ahead of Brock Bowers.
Mayer is now in the final year of his rookie deal and is a trade candidate. I would love to see him land somewhere he can start.
We got a glimpse of what Mayer could do last season. In four games without Bowers, he averaged 10.9 PPG. Those are surefire TE1 numbers. Mayer had a nine-catch, 89-yard game in Week 17.
Still just 24 years old, Mayer is very much a candidate to break out on his second team. Hopefully, he won’t have to wait until 2027.
Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
When Juwan Johnson caught seven touchdowns in 2022, he became a popular sleeper candidate ahead of the 2023 season. Although he’s a former UDFA, Johnson is an uber-athlete. The Saints didn’t have a clear TE1. Why not Johnson?
Then Johnson posted two solid seasons where he flashed upside but couldn’t quite earn the clear TE1 role ahead of the likes of Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau. It seemed like the ship had sailed. Then Kellen Moore happened.
In 2025, Moore’s offense featured Johnson. The tight end set career highs in just about every metric. His 10.6 PPG was good for a TE11 finish.
Johnson may be 30 years old this season, but he doesn’t have a lot of mileage on him. He is a very different 30 than Mark Andrews.
The Saints will probably draft a wide receiver. Right now, though, they lack a clear second option in the passing game behind Chris Olave. At worst, Johnson should be third.
Johnson was legitimately good last season, averaging 1.76 yards per route run. Tyler Shough looked like an NFL-caliber starter after taking over for Spencer Rattler. Moore is one of the smartest offensive minds in the league.
Obviously, Johnson doesn’t have a ton of runway in front of him, given his age. But he can be a productive tight end for the next three to four years.
