Week 1 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings and Tiers: Michael Mayer enters Top 10

Week 1 is here! After seven long, cold months: Meaningful NFL football is back, baby!

I'll break down my weekly TE rankings and tiers each and every week *with* some bigger-picture questions sprinkled in along the way. This week's additional topics feature:

1. Could we see Jesse Minter and Kyle Hamilton emerge as a nightmare matchup for tight ends?
2. Who has the best and worst early season schedules at the position?
3. Are tight ends typically more immune to bad offensive environments than other positions?
4. What are the biggest tight end injuries to monitor this week?
5. Is Terrance Ferguson the best bench stash at the position in all of fantasy football?

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Check out the rest of my positional ranks and tiers for Week 1:

QB Ranks and Tiers for Week 1
RB Ranks and Tiers for Week 1
WR Ranks and Tiers for Week 1

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Tier 1: 20+ PPR Upside is on the Table

• TE1: Colston Loveland (at CAR). Racked up 48 targets during the Bears' final four games — 21 more than Caleb Williams' next-most targeted receiver! Loveland's per-route yards and target efficiency as a rookie were better than anyone not named Brock Bowers the last decade.
• TE2: Trey McBride (at LAC). His average of 17.1 PPR points per game the last two seasons ranks seventh among tight ends *and* wide receivers! The only reason McBride isn't No. 2 is because of the (Ned) stark difference in team implied points between the Bears (25, 7th) and Cardinals (18.75, 30th), as well as the potential for this fully healthy Cardinals offense to spread the ball around a bit more than what we saw down the stretch of last season.
• TE3: Tyler Warren (vs. BAL). One of just six rookie tight ends to post top-12 PPR per-game numbers over the last decade, and the returns likely would have been even better if he wasn't forced to play with a literal Grandpa down the stretch of 2025. It'd make a lot of sense if a potentially less-than-100 percent Daniel Jones dinks and dunks more than usual in the early going of 2026 — and his trusty second-year TE would be the biggest beneficiary of this. That said … 

Key question: Could we see Jesse Minter and Kyle Hamilton emerge as a nightmare matchup for tight ends?

New Ravens HC Jesse Minter isn't a stranger to having a versatile, game-changing safety at his disposal: Derwin James is fresh off back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons in which he helped the Chargers rank eighth and fifth in PPR points per game allowed to the position in 2024 and 2025 despite sharing a division with guys like Bowers and Travis Kelce.

And then there's Hamilton, who has essentially been a real-life roll of duct tape that Baltimore has used to patch up pretty much any hole across the defense. This has included shutting down opposing tight ends: The Ravens allowed the eighth fewest PPR points per game to tight ends last season, specifically making life very difficult for guys like Harold Fannin (5-48-0, 2-26-0), Colston Loveland (3-38-0) and Travis Kelce (5-48-0), among others.

Generally, I like to use perceived good/bad on-paper matchups as more of a tiebreaker than something to really base an entire rank on, and you simply don't need more than one hand to count the number of tight ends more likely to see double-digit targets in Week 1. Still: The Ravens defense has the potential to be quite good this season, and that reality is a big reason why they've been my favorite fantasy DST at cost all offseason long.

Tier 2: Locked-in TE1s

• TE4: Kyle Pitts (at PIT). The splits last season with and without Drake London are pretty damning, however, Pitts deserves credit for making the most out of his opportunities and now gets a new play-caller/QB combo with plenty of recent history regarding enabling high-end tight end performance. Tua Tagovailoa REALLY leaned into him during the preseason: 7 of his 13 targets went to his rising sixth-year tight end.
• TE5: Sam LaPorta (vs. NO). Has posted TE3, TE9 and TE7 finishes in PPR points per game during his first three seasons and is good to go following 2025 back surgery and an August hip injury. Lions-Saints profiles as a potential fantasy-friendly shootout: Only Bengals-Buccaneers has a higher game total (50.5 vs. 49.5). While it's possible LaPorta works as the passing game's No. 4 overall target, you couldn't ask for a better overall environment.
• TE6: Harold Fannin (at JAX). The full list of rookie tight ends to catch at least 70 passes for 700 yards and five or more touchdowns is pretty damn sweet: Fannin, Brock Bowers, Sam LaPorta and three-time All-Pro Keith Jackson. The problem: Deshaun Watson is under center, and Vegas accordingly has the Browns ranked last in Week 1 implied points.
• TE7: Tucker Kraft (at MIN). The only reason Kraft isn't sitting atop this tier is due to the potential for him to be eased back into action. After all, Kraft himself said earlier in August that the Packers were going to limit his snaps (before declaring he wasn't doing the rep count stuff anymore a mere 10 days later). Throw in a tough matchup against a blitz-happy Vikings defense that allowed the sixth-fewest PPR points per game to tight ends last season.

Key question: Who has the best and worst early season schedules at the position?

The chart below denotes every team's first four matchups in terms of their opponent's 2025 rank in PPR points per game allowed to tight ends. Blue signals an easier on-paper matchup, while red is harder.

The Browns, Bengals, 49ers, Jaguars and Seahawks stand out as having the coziest early season stretches, while the Saints, Dolphins, Titans, Bears and Panthers have the toughest.

This is pretty solid news for Fannin's potential to pick up where he left off last season; I'm also a bit less worried about him making the most out of bad QB play thanks to the likelihood he's (again) used on plenty of screens and in the underneath areas of the field. It's also reasonable to be intrigued about early season deep league/DFS dart throws at Brenton Strange and AJ Barner, while I'll be happy to get George Kittle back inside the position's top 5 sooner rather than later if/when we see the longtime stud TE operating in a full-time role at something close to 100 percent health.

As always: Don't let a tough on-paper matchup get you off a high-volume stud; I'm not sweating this metric for Colston Loveland (or even Juwan Johnson). 

Tier 3: Starters with a Question Mark

• TE8: Juwan Johnson (at DET). Credit to the 29-year-old veteran for making plenty out of his 102 targets in 2025 — only Trey McBride and Kyle Pitts had more receiving yards among tight ends. The early season absence of Jordyn Tyson (hamstring) could help the veteran replicate his quality performance down the stretch of last season: Johnson racked up 11.5 PPR points per game with Shough under center in Weeks 9-18 last season (TE9).
• TE9: Isaiah Likely (vs. DAL). Likely has the sort of YAC ability to make the most out of any low-aDOT/screen targets thrown his way, and his penchant for getting open during the scramble drill could mesh pretty damn great with Jaxson Dart. Throw in the potential for Likely to be the de facto No. 2 pass-game option behind only Malik Nabers in this shallow passing game, and I'm drinking the sleeper-hype Kool-Aid against the NFL's reigning 30th-ranked defense in EPA allowed per dropback (though I'll be watchful of Caleb Downs' early-season performance and potential to become an awfully good tight end stopper).
• TE10: Michael Mayer (vs. MIA). The injury gods have struck down upon us with great vengeance and furious anger: Brock Bowers (meniscus trim) is expected to miss at least a week, and it sounds like as much as three games. Rushing the man back could also be frowned upon considering how things went last year. Regardless: Mayer immediately enters the low-end TE1 conversation for however long fantasy's consensus TE1 is sidelined. The all-time TE leader in receiving yards and touchdowns in Notre Dame history, Mayer is a talented pass-catcher fully expected to play a near every-down role in an offense with less WR target competition than just about anywhere. Of course, the scoring upside in this Raiders offense is hardly something to write home about; just realize there's a good enough combo of talent and volume to feel good about top-10 upside during September.
• TE11: Dallas Goedert (vs. WSH). Credit to Goedert for scoring 13 touchdowns in 16 games (including playoffs) last season, though a look at the film reveals that the level of difficulty wasn't exactly sky-high on many of them. That said: The absence of A.J. Brown does indeed provide a boost to Goedert — he (again) projects as Jalen Hurts' primary red-zone target inside an offense that is set up well against a Commanders defense that was the fifth-worst group in PPR points per game allowed to tight ends last season.
• TE12: Jake Ferguson (at NYG). On the one hand, Jake Ferguson's 82-600-8 receiving line was good enough to work as the TE11 in PPR points per game. On the other hand, he boasted bottom-5 efficiency and largely benefited from averaging 18.6 PPR points per game in four games without Lamb compared to just 9.4 with him. Still, we're talking about the undisputed No. 1 TE of most people's idea of a top-5 passing game in the NFL who has seen triple-digit targets in his last two fully healthy seasons.
• TE13: Travis Kelce (vs. DEN). The reigning TE10 in PPR points per game actually improved his YAC in a meaningful way in 2025 following a consistent three-year slide. Of course, the difference between Kelce's average of 11.4 PPR points per game and the TE16 was … 1.1 fantasy points. Still, this has been a matchup that Kelce has performed just fine in during recent years: Mr. Swift has posted 9-124-0, 6-58-0, 8-64-1 and 9-91-1 receiving lines in four matchups against this group since 2023 (with Patrick Mahomes under center).
• TE14: Mark Andrews (at IND). Career lows in receiving yards (422) and yards per target (6) weren't ideal, but suddenly Andrews is the only show in town after Isaiah Likely (Giants) and Charlie Kolar (Chargers) took their talents elsewhere in free agency. Throw in promising underlying numbers in separation-based metrics from Fantasy Points (TE6) and ESPN (TE1!), and the soon-to-be 31-year-old is a quality bounce-back bet as the likely No. 2 target earner from Lamar Jackson — especially in this plus spot against a Colts defense that allowed the second-most receiving yards to tight ends last season.

Key question: Are tight ends typically more immune to bad offensive environments than other positions?

They are!

Number of top-12 fantasy performers (PPR points per game) that were on a bottom-10 scoring offense over the last decade:

• QB: 4 (3.3%)
• RB: 14 (11.7%)
• WR: 12 (10%)
• TE: 24 (20%)

This makes sense logically: More times than not, it's probably not a positive to be flowing the majority of your passing attack through a tight end, but hey, we'll take it in fantasy land! This history should help early round drafters of Bowers and McBride feel a bit better about their potentially lackluster offensive environments, while it also has me intrigued about Likely emerging as THE late-round tight end of 2026 despite operating inside an offense run by Matt Nagy.

Tier 5: We're Saying there's A Chance

• TE15: Dalton Kincaid (at HOU). If we knew the Bills' TE1 was going to run a route on 80 percent of Josh Allen's dropbacks, I'd rank him as high as fourth at the position. After all, only Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua averaged more yards per route run than Kincaid last year! Unfortunately, another committee could be in play against a Texans defense that forced Josh Allen into a season-low 67.4 passer rating last year.
• TE16: George Kittle (at LAR in Australia). I'm sorry, but I can't get behind a high ranking in his first game back for a 32-year-old tight end coming off a torn Achilles this calendar year. It's awesome news that Kittle seemingly will be suiting up on Thursday night, and he certainly profiles as a season-long value based on his affordable ADP; just realize it'd make sense if the 49ers ease their longtime stud back into action, and it's hardly a layup matchup against a Rams defense that is widely considered to be one of the top overall groups in the league entering 2026.
• TE17: Chig Okonkwo (at PHI). Chig is a legit YAC threat and is a similar bet as Likely: A fun player in a new, fairly wide-open offense with a young QB we like alongside a potential newfound every-down role given the solid free agency investment (3 years, $27 million). Still, there are TWO receivers who pretty easily project ahead of Okonkwo, and this is a TOUGH matchup against the NFL's reigning second-ranked defense in PPR points per game allowed to the position. The Commanders rank just 27th in terms of their Week 1 implied team total (20).
• TE18: Greg Dulcich (at LV). The matchup is GREAT: Only the Bengals allowed more PPR points per game to tight ends last season. We also saw Dulcich post some borderline erotic per-route efficiency numbers last season, and he could vie for the team lead in targets inside this barren passing attack. Unfortunately, it's also possible Dulcich is pigeonholed as more of a part-time player … like he has for virtually his entire career … and the Dolphins project as the least-productive passing offense in the NFL. Talk about some serious glass-half-full/empty scenarios!

Key question: What are the biggest tight end injuries to monitor this week?

There are quite a few! Make sure to check out RotoWire's critically acclaimed Injury Report and Practice Participation pages throughout the week for updated info, but for now these are the main ones to worry about:

• Lions TE Sam LaPorta (hip)
• Packers TE Tucker Kraft (knee)
• 49ers TE George Kittle (Achilles)
• Jets TE Kenyon Sadiq (abdomen)
• Rams TE Terrance Ferguson (soreness) and Davis Allen (quad)
• Giants TE Theo Johnson (shoulder)

I'm tentatively expecting all parties involved to suit up for their respective Week 1 matchups, though limited snaps could be on the table for Kraft and Kittle. Lucky for you, the RotoWire NFL news team always has you covered with fast and accurate updates throughout the week!

Tier 6: America Loves an Underdog

• TE19: Terrance Ferguson (vs. SF in Australia). Rams tight ends as a whole scored the second-most PPR points of any team in football last season. Of course, they regularly rotated up to four bodies at various points, making it a nightmare to actually lean on any one individual. But maybe things will be different this year!
• TE20: Hunter Henry (at SEA). Credit to the 31-year-old veteran for breaking the 700-yard mark for the first time in his career in 2025, but should we really feel good about a newfound ceiling with A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs now in town? Henry profiles as a touchdown-dependent TE2, though the matchup will be easier than it was last February with stud S Nick Emmanwori (ankle) unlikely to suit up.
• TE21: Brenton Strange (vs. CLE). The Jaguars suddenly have 36 million reasons to make sure they keep Mr. Strange plenty involved in the game plan. Credit to the man for averaging 11.1 PPR points per game (TE12) in Weeks 12-18 last season. Still, Strange pretty easily projects as the fourth pass-game option (at best) inside a Jacksonville passing game that isn't exactly expected to need to keep its foot on the gas for 60 minutes this Sunday against the lowly Browns.
• TE22: Dalton Schultz (vs. BUF). Has posted TE11, TE28 and TE15 campaigns in PPR points per game during his three seasons with the Texans. It'd make sense if 2026 resembles the former and latter — especially with Jayden Higgins (knee, IR) and Tank Dell (knee, IR) both sidelined. Still, the Week 1 matchup is TOUGH against a Bills defense that ranked first in PPR points per game allowed to tight ends last season.
• TE23: T.J. Hockenson (vs. GB). Finished as THE TE2 in 2023 before slipping to TE18 and TE27  the last two seasons, though the former boom was HEAVILY aided by Justin Jefferson missing half the season. Maybe there's a bounce-back in store — Kyler Murray certainly loved targeting Trey McBride in Arizona — but I'm skeptical of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and (probably) Jauan Jennings ahead of the veteran TE in the pass-game pecking order.
• TE24: AJ Barner (vs. NE). Fun fact: Barner was the NFL's best short-yardage *rusher* in terms of first-down percentage on 3rd/4th down carries with three or fewer yards to go (10/11, 91%). Things could get VERY interesting if the Seahawks start using Barner more along the goal line, though that's more of a half-baked thought than anything we should actively be expecting. Anyways: Barner is mostly just a touchdown-dependent TE2 for the time being.
• TE25: Charlie Kolar (vs. ARZ). The No. 1 TE on the Chargers' Week 1 depth chart played the part during the preseason. Now, Oronde Gadsden joins Ferguson (and Darren Waller) as SERIOUS potential risers should a full-time role emerge in Week 1, but it's pretty difficult to imagine that coming to fruition for the former talent at this point.

Key question: Is Terrance Ferguson the best bench stash at the position in all of fantasy football?

*Best Walter White impression* You're god-damn right he is. Ferguson only had 11 receptions last season … but they were a fun 11 receptions! *IF* Ferguson gets a full-time ~80 percent route rate, he'll push for top-eight status at the position as early as Week 2. This is why he's one of nine players I highlighted as a great bench stash that your idiot league mates aren't drafting.

Other top candidates feature: Oronde Gadsden, Darren Waller, Michael Mayer and *throws up in mouth just a little bit* Evan Engram.

Thank you all for reading and best of luck in Week 1!