Rankings
Top 20 Tight Ends: Dynasty Value Score
Trey McBride leads the position outright, and a true rookie starter cracks the top 10. That's a real shift from a position that used to reward track record above almost everything else.
By Kenny Flermoen · August 3, 2026
This is the companion to our 2026 TE season projections — same idea, re-ranked by Dynasty Value Score (DVS) instead of next year's point total. DVS blends trailing production, age, NFL draft capital, and the 2026 projection into one 0–10,000 score, weighted differently depending on how many seasons a player has played.
Top 20 TE by Dynasty Value Score
| Rank | Player | Team | DVS | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trey McBride | ARI | 7,879 | 26 |
| 2 | Brock Bowers | LV | 7,532 | 23 |
| 3 | George Kittle | SF | 6,185 | 32 |
| 4 | Sam LaPorta | DET | 6,177 | 25 |
| 5 | Colston Loveland | CHI | 6,070 | 22 |
| 6 | Tyler Warren | IND | 5,719 | 24 |
| 7 | Kenyon Sadiq | NYJ | 5,675 | 21 |
| 8 | Tucker Kraft | GB | 5,526 | 25 |
| 9 | Harold Fannin Jr. | CLE | 5,219 | 22 |
| 10 | Kyle Pitts | ATL | 4,893 | 25 |
| 11 | Jake Ferguson | DAL | 3,748 | 27 |
| 12 | T.J. Hockenson | MIN | 3,695 | 29 |
| 13 | Travis Kelce | KC | 3,649 | 36 |
| 14 | Dallas Goedert | PHI | 3,607 | 31 |
| 15 | Juwan Johnson | NO | 3,444 | 29 |
| 16 | Dalton Schultz | HOU | 3,387 | 30 |
| 17 | Mark Andrews | BAL | 3,358 | 30 |
| 18 | Hunter Henry | NE | 3,316 | 31 |
| 19 | Cade Otton | TB | 3,095 | 27 |
| 20 | Oronde Gadsden II | LAC | 3,036 | 23 |
Base dynasty format — no Superflex or TE Premium adjustment. DVS is a trade-value score, not a 2026 scoring projection.
McBride leads the position outright now
Trey McBride was a Day 2 pick, and a full season of top-end production has caught his score up to and past Brock Bowers and George Kittle. Draft capital still matters in this model, but it no longer guarantees the top spot once a Day 2 pick has banked enough production to make the case on its own. Kittle is third on a 14.7-game slate — the veteran who still belongs with the kids.
Kenyon Sadiq is seventh with zero NFL snaps. The Jets already list him TE1 after picking him 16th overall. That is the combination this formula rewards: first-round capital, a real 2026 job, and age 21. Colston Loveland, Tyler Warren, Tucker Kraft, and Harold Fannin Jr. fill the rest of the young cluster. Mid-round or rookie-contract names cracking the top 10 on role, not just pedigree.
Two veterans no longer holding a top-10 seat
T.J. Hockenson is 12th, not sixth. The 2025 line was genuinely rough — 51 catches, 438 yards, three touchdowns, and a shoulder injury that ended his season two games early, on top of a Vikings passing attack that got some of the worst quarterback play in the league. He is still the No. 8 overall pick from a real 95-catch peak. DVS still credits some of that track record. It no longer keeps him in the top 10.
Mark Andrews shows a smaller version of the same pattern at 17th. He fractured his fibula in Week 11 last season and finished with career-low efficiency even before the injury. He signed a three-year extension with Baltimore this offseason. Several seasons of real TE1 output still keep him on the board. They no longer keep him near the top ten.
Established veterans still round out this board
Travis Kelce, Dallas Goedert, Dalton Schultz, Jake Ferguson, and Cade Otton fill out the back half on multiple seasons of established, if not spectacular, production. None of them project as a clear top-tier scorer for 2026, but a real track record still holds some dynasty value — including a 36-year-old Kelce. Oronde Gadsden II closes the twenty as the second-year Chargers tight end who outranks several veterans on the points board and just sneaks onto this one.
Model any of these players against your own roster on the Dynasty Trade Calculator — toggle Superflex and TE Premium to see how the format changes the board.
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FAQ
- How is Dynasty Value Score different from the season-projection rankings?
- Season projections rank who scores the most points in 2026. DVS ranks who's worth the most in a trade — it blends trailing production, age, draft capital, and next year's projection into one score, weighted differently depending on how many NFL seasons a player has played.
- Why do some tight ends rank here without appearing in the season-projection top 20?
- A player doesn't need a clear path to a huge 2026 role to have real dynasty value. Draft capital and a track record of established production carry weight in DVS even when a player's immediate target competition caps his projected points.
- Why does one down year not sink Hockenson or Andrews off the board entirely?
- DVS still weighs trailing production across multiple seasons, not just the most recent one. A rough or injury-shortened year costs them a top-10 spot now. It does not wipe a 95-catch peak or several TE1 seasons off the score.