They laughed at us back in 2021. Back when we talked about the conditions needed for Breakout Rookie Tight Ends in an article. They said you should never draft them, that Jeremy Shockey wasn’t walking through that door. Well, since then, we’ve had a number of them like Kyle Pitts, Sam LaPorta, and Brock Bowers. Just last year, Harold Fannin, Colston Loveland, Tyler Warren, and Oronde Gadsden provided some fantasy foogness. That’s shifted how the world views dynasty rookie tight end rankings. 

Yet, still, it’s one of the more difficult positions to predict and prognosticate. There are a lot of moving parts to the position, between the blocking and the route-running. There are a lot of different schemes in college that use guys in various ways. Some of them are even converted quarterbacks, wide receivers, and basketball players who are just getting started. It’s a crazy, mixed-up world out there.

At this stage, it’s our job to do our best to get to know these guys and categorize them. Who is an inline blocker? Who plays “big slot”? Who is a “two-way” guy that does it all? From there, we will discuss important pros and cons leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft, the last piece of the puzzle. So let’s start with the first couple tiers today in late March and, over the next month, we’ll continue to add and upgrade to our list as Pro Days trickle in and new info comes to light!

TierSchoolNamePosTypeAge40 TimeHeightWeight
1OregonKenyon SadiqTEBig Slot214.396-3241
If that 40 time jumps out at you, it should. That 4.39 40 is literally 100th percentile speed for the position. And tight end is one of the few positions where straight line speed does corelate to bigger upside - there is a reason George KIttle has more 40+ yard plays than any other TE in modern history. There are blocking concerns but 6'3" 241 pounds isn't materially smaller than guys like Sam LaPorta or Trey McBride. Evan Engram is probably the most realistic comp and, once he found the right scheme, he registered a season with the second more receptions for a TE ever. The real debate for me really isn't about blocking - it's about whether Kenyon Sadiq is a good enough pass-catcher to be used instead of a WR like Brock Bowers or Trey McBride. The risk with these guys is always that they end up as part time players, like Dalton Kincaid struggles with.
1VanderbiltEli StowersTEBig Slot234.516-4239
The fact that a 4.51 forty is 98th percentile really illustrates how rare the 4.39 is for Kenyon Sadiq. But Stowers has super upper-percentile speed as well and he set some records himself at the combine with the broad jump and vertical leap. Like Saqiq, he has similar concerns about blocking or whether he can be a full-time player at the next level. But this is fantasy football we are talking about - we aren't trying to find the next Josh Oliver, even if that is a valuable NFL player. We are looking for difference-making upside in the receiving game so we will absolutely take a shot on Eli Stowers as long as an NFL team takes a shot on him early in the draft. Converted quarterbacks like this are some of our favorite guys to target.
2Ohio StateMax KlareTETwo-Way23NA6-4246
In this tier, the draft is going to matter. In fact, Tier 2 and 3 could be completly jumbled up based on what happens on Day Two of the draft. Sitting here pre-draft, Max Klare is probably the "safest" of the group as he is a willing blocker and also had a young breakout age at Purdue. He demonstrated enough wiggle with the ball in his hands and it's easy to hand wave the lack of production on a loaded Ohio State roster after he transffered. Maybe not the sexiest option but this is the kind of guy that NFL teams love to draft on Day 2 which could easily land him at the top of the tier. If he lands somewhere that is weak at WR or in a scheme that focuses on two WR sets, we'll be even more interested. Klare opted not to run the 40 at the combine or his Pro Day so we don't have a reliable number there unfortunately.
2NC StateJustin JolyTEBig Slot21N/A6-4241
The combination for Justin Joly was really kind of strange - and not in a good way. Prior to the combine, he was viewed as a bigger tight end with decent athleticism. The tape shows some wiggle and a willingness to fight for the extra yard. I mean, based on all the film I watched, I'm confident that some of the guys in this class have probably never attempted a spin move in their lives. And that's not the case for Joly who has a bag of tricks in terms of spins, sidesteps, and sheds. So it was disappointing to not only seen Joly skip the athletic testing but also weigh in much lighter than anticipated. He also opted to skip the 40 at the NC State Pro Day due to hamstring soreness despite doing the vertical leap and the broad jump. Unfortunately, at his size, he now ends up grouped in with some "big slot" guys where landing spot is quite important.
3BaylorMichael TriggTEBig Slot234.76-4240
If Max Klare is the "safe" option in these tiers, Michael Trigg is the high risk, high reward play. He's the bad boy of the group as he had some character issues that saw him bounce around to three different teams and also get suspended for a game at Baylor. But it was his time at Baylor where he did solidify himself as a guy NFL teams should take a shot on. His 91st percentile arm length and massive hand size gives him a big catch radius which led to some flashy plays. His 17 foreced missed tackles also led the class and he was proficient both against man-to-man and out of the slot. He lined up at WR for over 70% of his snaps which is often a good sign for fantasy at the next level. Like much of this class, the concern is that NFL teams might not view him as an every down player due to his lack of willingness as a inline blocker. He also did very little testing and the little he did was pretty poor - we have very few examples of successful tight ends with a vertical leep as bad as his though he claims a hamstring issue was the culprit.
3GeorgiaOscar DelpTEBig Slot224.536-5245
I'm a little torn on Oscar Delp. At schools like Georgia or Ohio State, there is often so much talent that we can dismiss the lack of production. I mean, Delp spent a chunk of his career competing with the likes of Ladd McConkey and Brock Bowers. But we really didn't see a jump in production from him in 2025 as a senior and that's concerning. He looks fluid on the film and he really bailed himself out with a blazing 40 at his Pro Day so now we'll have to see if NFL teams are willing to bite. We have to remember that George Kittle also had low production while weighing in at a simialr height/weight with similar speed. But Kittle also put more on tape in terms of breaking tackles, contested catches, diving touches, and general special abilities. We have to hope an NFL team is willing to bet on the profile.
3Notre DameEli RaridonTETwo-way 4.626-6245
This is a profile that you will see as fairly common throughout this class. You have interesting athletici traits. You have some plays that pop on the film with and without the ball in his hands. Yet you have a college team that was reluctant to deploy him in an ideal fashion. At 6'6", 245 with a 4.62 forty, Raridon was able to break a bunch of tackles and had a 2.25 yards per route run which was among the top in the class. Yet Notre Dame not only asked him to play a lot of snaps inline but they held him in to block on 1/4 of the pass plays they called with him in the game. When guys as asked to block rather than run routes on a lot of plays in college, they often end up as blocking tight ends or even just special teamers at the next level. With high enough draft capital to the right spot though, we could buy an NFL team viewing a different future for Raridon.
3StanfordSam RoushTEInline234.76-6267
I think Sam Roush will be an NFL caliber tight end. Why do I have him ranked so low? Well, a lot of NFL caliber tight ends aren't fantasy relevant. Our goal here is to find guys with difference making upside with the ball in their hands, not the next Josh Oliver. Roush played a ton of inline snaps rather than WR, did not break many takcles, did not have a ton of contested catches, did not score a lot of touchdowns. He's a big body with oddly short arms that will be easier to take down by tacklers at the NFL level than he was at the college level though I do think he'll have a career as an inline blocker. And teams value that - but we don't.