QB + TE Fantasy Football Draft Rankings & Tiers | Must-Have Targets & Busts To Avoid (Ep. 2018)

Summary

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Podcast Summary

FantasyPros Fantasy Football Podcast

Episode: QB + TE Fantasy Football Draft Rankings & Tiers | Must-Have Targets & Busts To Avoid (Ep. 2018)
Date: May 10, 2026
Hosts: Chris Welsh, Pat Fitzmaurice, Tara Roberts

Overview

In this episode, the FantasyPros crew delivers a deep dive into the 2026 fantasy football quarterback (QB) and tight end (TE) rankings and tiers, offering actionable advice for drafting strategies, must-have targets, and key players to avoid. The hosts compare consensus rankings to their personal evaluations, discuss tier gaps, and debate hot-button players at both positions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. General Draft Strategy for QB & TE ([00:29]-[02:25])

• Pat (TE Approach): Early investment at tight end is the preferred path in most leagues ([01:30]).
• Tara (QB Approach): Sees 2026 as a good year to wait on quarterback due to the depth and value late in drafts but admits to the temptation of grabbing a sliding top QB ([02:01]).
• Chris: Both hosts frequently find themselves tempted to break their own wait-on-QB strategy if value falls unexpectedly in drafts.

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2. QB Tier Breakdown & Evaluation ([02:25]-[19:18])

Tier 1: Allen, Lamar Jackson, Drake May ([02:25]-[07:12])

• Josh Allen is consensus QB1, possibly deserving a "pseudo tier".
• Lamar Jackson (#2):
  • Pat: Rates Lamar ahead of Drake May—"A healthy Lamar is just such a force… I think Lamar’s gonna be right back to where he was" ([04:25]).
  • Pat’s Draft Value: Unlikely to pull the trigger on Lamar or Drake May at their ADPs, prefers to wait on QB unless something slides ([06:23]).
• Drake May (#3):
  • Acknowledged as a “fantastic passer," but concerns linger over a more difficult schedule and possible efficiency regression ([04:25]).
  • Tara: Sees a “clear separation” between Lamar and May; fits as her QB3 but prefers not to draft at the cost ([07:12]).

Tier 2: Burrow, Jayden Daniels, Hurts, Herbert, Dart ([07:12]-[15:43])

• Jalen Hurts (QB6):
  • Chris: “I think he is too high. I'm not taking him as the 6 quarterback” ([08:41]).
  • Pat: Questions Hurts’ rushing upside and the shift in Eagles’ offense—“The rushing production really kind of dried up… The Dallas Goddard shovel pass sort of replaced the tush push” ([09:45]).
  • Tara: Defends Hurts' weekly floor, despite "elderly" status and potential A.J. Brown exit, citing trust and reliability—“when we look at Jalen Hurts, I know exactly what I'm getting out of him on a week to week basis and that week to week security is the thing that makes me give him that push over some of those other guys there” ([12:03]).
• Chris: Hurts is "the bridge gap" between elite and late-round quarterbacks; if he’s the highest left, Chris prefers to wait.

Tier 3: Caleb Williams, Lawrence, Prescott, Purdy ([15:43]-[19:18])

• Caleb Williams:
  • Pat: “I just think he’s so talented… and the talent is just through the roof. I just think the needle is still moving up on Caleb Williams and we haven’t seen anything close to the peak yet” ([15:43]).
  • Tara: Sees Williams as appropriately ranked; volatility in week-to-week production is a concern, but he could jump above Jackson Dart ([17:13]).
  • Chris: Notes Williams could be a divisive QB given his talent but lack of rushing upside may cap his week-to-week ceiling.

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3. Tight End (TE) Tiers & Debates ([21:41]-[30:00])

Tier 1: McBride, Bowers, Loveland ([21:41]-[24:07])

• Tara (Consensus): McBride > Bowers > Loveland.
  • Loveland is “100%” in play as a value pick with similar upside to McBride/Bowers, likely at a discount ([21:41]).
  • McBride’s advantage: Jacoby Brissette’s QB play last year unlocked his upside, but a potential QB change is a concern ([22:51]).
• Pat: Ranks Bowers above McBride.
  • Believes Cardinals’ pass attempts will decrease with the drafting of Jeremiah Love and addition of Marvin Harrison Jr.:
    • “I’d be pretty surprised if Trey McBride was able to match the 126 catches and 1,239 yards he had last year. Whereas I think Bowers could hit those numbers easily this year” ([24:07]).
  • Bowers benefits from an improved play-caller and is set up for a “target smorgasbord” in LV—a huge volume season likely.

Tier 2: Warren, Kraft, Fannin Jr., Laporta, Pitts ([25:33]-[28:08])

• Kyle Pitts: Both hosts rank him above Sam LaPorta at TE7.
  • Tara: Optimistic due to Kevin Stefanski’s historically TE-friendly offense: “He loves a system that targets tight ends rapidly and now he has got Kyle Pitts. Why would you not just send targets this way?” ([26:03]).
  • Pat: “Pitts averaged 6.9 targets a game last year. That could actually go up this year… I think he could hit a thousand if things break right for him. Whereas Sam LaPorta has averaged 5.3 targets over the last two years” ([27:27]).

Tier 3: Gadsden, Kincaid, Kelce, Likely ([28:08]-[29:24])

• Travis Kelce:
  • Tara: Hard to justify dropping him lower due to target share, but little upside is left—“it's, it's a safe pick. You're not really getting a massive upside again because I don't think the touchdowns are really going to be there" ([28:20]).
  • Pat: Would consider Kelce as a fallback only if all top targets are gone—“Who knows, maybe there's like one last touchdown spike for old Travis” ([29:24]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Pat on Lamar Jackson:
  "A healthy Lamar is just such a force… I think Lamar’s gonna be right back to where he was” ([04:25]).
• Tara on Hurts’ floor:
  “We know what he is. We feel confident. If he’s on the field and healthy, we know exactly what we’re getting… that week to week security is the thing that makes me give him that push…” ([12:03]).
• Pat on Jalen Hurts:
  “The rushing production really kind of dried up… I don’t know if we can count on a bevy of tush push touchdowns anymore” ([09:45]).
• Pat on Caleb Williams:
  “The needle is still moving up on Caleb Williams and we haven’t seen anything close to the peak yet” ([15:43]).
• Tara on Colston Loveland:
  “He could be the preferred target for me because of him having the potential [of] exact same upside as Trey McBride and Brock Bowers but a little bit of a discount…” ([21:41]).
• Tara on Pitts:
  “I do think that the king who was promised is finally going to get the workload that he deserves…” ([26:03]).
• Pat on Bowers vs. McBride:
  "I’d be pretty surprised if Trey McBride was able to match [last year’s production]. Whereas I think Bowers could hit those numbers easily this year… Bowers is going to get an all you can eat target smorgasbord this season" ([24:07]).

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Key Timestamps for Segments

• 00:29 – 02:25: Draft philosophy for QBs and TEs
• 02:25 – 07:12: QB Tiers 1–3 overview and Lamar vs. May debate
• 07:12 – 12:03: Jalen Hurts debate (+ later tier QB vibes)
• 15:43 – 19:18: Caleb Williams’ upside and tier discussion
• 21:41 – 24:07: TE Tier 1, McBride/Bowers/Loveland breakdown
• 25:33 – 27:27: Comfort level with Kyle Pitts over Laporta
• 28:20 – 29:24: Travis Kelce’s value and fallback role

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Final Takeaways

• Wait on QB: Both Pat and Tara recommend waiting on quarterback this year unless top value falls unexpectedly. The depth after the top tier makes late QB strategies appealing.
• TE Position Scarcity: Both recommend early TE investments due to positional drop-off and increased volatility outside the top tier, with preferences for young, high-volume talents.
• Divisive Players: Jalen Hurts, Caleb Williams, and Travis Kelce will be flashpoints in drafts due to uncertainty around their roles and upside.
• Key Names to Target:
  • QBs: Lamar Jackson (when value is right), Joe Burrow, Jayden Daniels (as a slider), Caleb Williams as upside play.
  • TEs: Trey McBride, Brock Bowers, Colston Loveland (as value), and Kyle Pitts (due to coaching and target upside).

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For More Information

• Full consensus and expert rankings: fantasypros.com/rankings
• Mock drafts: fantasypros.com/simulator

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Transcript

[Tara Roberts]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Chris Welsh]

what's up friendos and welcome into Fantasy Pros, the Fantasy football podcast with the ranked series very early ranks. Where we are looking at the fantasy pros ranks, tiers, valuations, we're talking strategy. We're already looking at what our team construction can be and doing so with me is Mr. Pat Fitz Morrison, Tara Roberts, both rankers on the Fantasy Pros platform. We've gone through wide receivers, we've gone through running backs. You can go back and watch those videos. Today we're going to be looking at two different positions. We're going to be looking at the top 12 quarterbacks and the big board on Fantasy Pros and the tight ends both in the top 12. What our strategies are going to look like, whether it is late quarterback season, whether we are highly invested in tight end, which is I think always a big question. And Fitzy, you have definitely been. You and Bachmann kind of have your tight end whisperness to you. Do you think you're going to be just as this is a blanket statement, just jumping ahead, do you think you're going to be early investment on tight end this year or do you think the position is kind of chock full of value that you're going to wait on it?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I'm going to be an early investor I think in most leagues.

[Chris Welsh]

Okay, early investment. Tara, going over to quarterbacks, I'm going to ask you kind of a similar question. Do you think the higher end of quarterback, I know people get dicey about wanting to invest in quarterbacks early on, but do you think the high end is valuable enough to avoid what the questions are later or do you think when you stare at dak Prescott at 11 and Brock Purdy at 12 and you just see some of the value later, this is a good year to wait and sit on quarterback to the later rounds.

[Tara Roberts]

It's a good year to wait. I mean we've talked about the fact that the running backs and wide receivers, there's a point at which all of them get a little bit shaky and you know, investing early and maybe passing up on one of those early quarterbacks is probably the better route But I will say, I always say that. And then the quarterback drops and I'm like, ooh, maybe I do want Justin Herbert or something like that. So, you know, hypocrisy sometimes I totally

[Chris Welsh]

vibe with you on that because that happens to me. And I'm like, I'm not going to touch him. It's not going to happen. And then it's like Joe Burrow keeps going or Jaden Daniels. And I'm like, well, I don't really like the running backs that are here and wide receiver is still pretty chalky. I could have Jaden Daniels and I think I go down that route so that that is 100% a thing that ends up happening to me. So wherever you're at early or late quarterback or tight end, we're going to be talking about what the top 12 looks like, the players that you're going to invest in, maybe avoid. We'll look at consensus RA and then we will also compare it against both of Tara and Pat's ranks as we do. So if you guys want to follow along, go to fantasypros.com rankings. That is where the consensus ranks on Fantasy Pros Live. They are going to be changing throughout the season as our rankers adjust, more rankers start going to the platform. That's what's so cool about it. So you guys can follow along and feel free to comment below in the comments as we do this. So let's start with quarterbacks and let's get the big board up here. Our top 12 over on fantasy pros. Tier one is the first three quarterbacks. It is Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Pat Fitz. Morris own Drake May, that is your top three and that is your tier one. Four through eight is tier two where we've got Joe Burrow, Jaden Daniels, Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert and Jackson Dart. There's some pretty good value in there if we're being honest. And tier three at nine is Caleb Williams with Trevor Lawrence, Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy. So let's outside of Josh Allen being number one and maybe deserving his own kind of like pseudo tier here, are there questions about what Quarterback 2 should look like and how close is this? Pat, let's start with you. Lamar comes in at 2, Drake May comes in at 3. And honestly, you guys both have the exact same tiering, but is this a situation? We actually talked about this in running backs where think you said if you were doing three drafts, two of them you would take Bijan, one you would take Jameer Gibbs. Is this kind of like the same thing where you would have some diversity in it. That it's just like, I don't know if I can pass up what Drake May's value can be. And I, I don't want to be fully invested in one guy. Do you think those two are super, super close or no?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I like Lamar pretty clearly better. Welsh like a healthy Lamar is just such a force. And clearly he was not healthy last season. Like he was QB16 in fantasy points per game that the running production just wasn't there. But QB1 in fantasy points per game in 2024, QB3 in fantasy points per game in 2023, just a tick behind Hertz. So I like, I think Lamar's gonna be right back to where he was. They feathered his nest a little bit in the draft with Elijah Surratt and Jacoby Lane, couple of receivers. Like, I love Drake May, but it was a really strange season for him last year. And I, by the way, I think Drake May is still left some meat on the bone as far as rushing. Like, I, I don't think he's at his best running season yet, but absolute cakewalk of a schedule last year and he was just dicing up defenses with his arm. He is a fantastic passer, maybe the best pure passer to come to the league in a few years since Joe Burrow. But then he hits this absolute brick wall in the playoffs when he runs into maybe the three best past defenses in the league and the Texans, the Broncos and the Seahawks, and he just couldn't get anything done. And he's not going to have a cakewalk of a schedule this year after the Patriots won the AFC East. It's not going to be the murders Roe he faced in the playoffs last year, but it's going to be tougher. So I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't quite as efficient a passer this year as he was last year. Still think he's really good. Still think he deserves to be QB3, but I'd rather have Lamar just as

[Chris Welsh]

a quick follow up here. You're at the back end of the third round. He's like 31, I think in our overall say, you're just right on the back end, maybe a couple picks in front of you. Are you taking Lamar Jackson in the late third round?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Hmm.

[Chris Welsh]

And. Or if Drake May. If both of them are there and then Drake May comes back in the fourth round. Are you taking Drake May in the fourth round?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Probably not. In either case, I think I'm probably, I'm more inclined to go early tight end, wait on a quarterback and just, you know, if I really didn't like the wide receiver and running back selections, maybe I'd consider Lamar late in the third. But I'm pretty committed to waiting on quarterback until I get your situation where that name like Jane Daniels keeps sliding or something. And I just can't resist maybe that.

[Chris Welsh]

That maybe that's the most important thing we're talking about here. It's fun to talk about, like, is it Lamar, is it Drake May? But if you're passing on them at value or even a little bit lower than value, I think that tells you kind of a bigger story. Tara, same thing across the board. Lamar vs Drake May and then that exact same scenario. Both guys are available in the back end of the third round. Are you pulling the trigger on Lamar Jackson? Are you not? And then he gets taken and Drake May's in the fourth. Are you pulling the trigger there?

[Tara Roberts]

Oh, yeah. I mean, Pat nailed it. In terms of Lamar Jackson. I think there's a separation there between Lamar and Drake May. For me, a healthy Lamar Jackson is literally the best. Like we. We saw it last year. Even with the fact that early on the Ravens were still quite a mess. It was just a mess of a season. But despite that, through the first three games of the season, he was top five before the injury. And you know, that wasn't against layup teams as a whole. Right. So we know what he is. We feel confident. If he's on the field and healthy, we know exactly what we're getting. Pat is right that, you know, there is concern. What if that level of efficiency that he. That Drake May was operating off of last year goes away? We would have to see an increase in pass volume. Is. Is Josh Daniel McDaniels going to allow that increase in pass volume? I can the argument that I feel a little bit safer if we do get that inevitable AJ Brown trade and then we've got the clearly upgraded room, we got the addition of Romeo Dobbs, but the addition of a A.J. brown would just really put it over the edge there. So that would probably increase my comfort level. But to me, there's a clear separation between the two. Where, yeah, I can make that argument of Lamar in third and picking it and feeling okay about it, but I would hesitate on Drake May. I think he's appropriately ranked. He's my QB3. But in terms of the value that he offers versus the guys after him, you might wait on that one and try and invest in other higher end positions earlier.

[Chris Welsh]

All right. A Quarterback that is always at odds for me, someone I don't want to invest in. I. The passer that he is is only distracted by the great runner that he is. But I think, I don't know, things kind of came to a head this year. It's Jalen Hurts. Jalen hurts. Last year, weeks 10 through 17, we want to take away the final week was quarterback 10. He was a little bit lower. When you do 18 across the board, there's some messy stuff that was going on there. But he's quarterback six again this year. Obviously we know the rushing upside. What he can do is tremendous. Saquon maybe taking some of that rushing upside or really he kind of took away from Saquon. Really the question here is, is are we doing this again? Are we doing this with Jalen Hurts? Is he too high? I think he is. I'm not taking him as a 6 quarterback. He's definitely not the quarterback that I'm like, hey, I didn't take Lamar Jackson, I didn't take Drake May. Oh, I can get Jalen Hurts later. I'm a little bit out on that. Pat, I think you're in agreement with me. You've got him at quarterback 10, so I mean, if you get him at quarterback 10, that's great. But consensus is saying that ain't happening, brother. So where you at on Jalen Hurts?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

You said he's a great runner. Welsh, is he a. Is he a great runner? So421 rushing yards last year, the lowest in any of his five seasons that he's been a season long starter he had after four seasons of double digit touchdown runs. He only had eight last year and I believe four of them came in the first three games. So the rushing production really kind of dried up towards the end of the season. The Dallas Goddard shovel pass sort of replaced the tush push as the preferred short yardage touchdown delivery mechanism for the Eagles. And like, I don't know if we can count on a bevy of tush push touchdowns anymore. Like what, what if the league actually decides to start calling the Eagles for false starts on these things like they do pretty much on every tush push they ever run. So like passing game production we know isn't really going to be elite. He was like barely over 3,000 yards last year. Maybe things improve a little bit, although it's hard to. Even though they're adding Makai Lemon and Eli Stowers, I don't know if you're going to get a big spike in rushing production if you're losing A.J. brown. Plus he's getting his umpteenth new play caller. Just. Yeah, this is not a bet I really want to make.

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[Chris Welsh]

Now, Tara, are you making this bet? You're actually higher than consensus. You got him at five. This is great. We should have some discrepancy. We should have some conversation around it. Me and Pat are kind of out on Jalen Hurts, but at five looks like you might still be buying.

[Tara Roberts]

Yeah, I'm sure chat will be coming at me a little bit on this one. I am a Jalen Hurts defender. I know, I'm sorry. But the thing is, is that when I'm comparing him to the quarterbacks where they're going after him in consensus, that's, that's where my concern is. Like, how far can we push him down and feel comfortable? Obviously I trust Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Drake, May, Joe Burrow, and that's where I start to get that weird cutoff of we're going to have to see a healthy version of Jayn Daniels. Get back to that rookie level. Are we going to be able to see that right off the bat or is that going to take some time? Are we going to see a little bit less of him on the ground? Then you've got a Justin Herbert. Do we see increased usage on the ground from him? Jackson Dart, We've got got Matt Nagy, Caleb Williams, they run aggressively with the run game there. There's, there's lots of arguments for why the guys behind him will definitely have potentially higher upside because of their pass volume, but maybe not as safe of an option. And when we look at Jalen Hurts, I know exactly what I'm getting out of him on a week to week basis and that week to week security is the thing that makes me give him that push over some of those other guys there. Last year in average fantasy points per game for what it was wor it wasn't as bad as it seemed. It was QB7 on the season the previous year with the outrageous volume that Saquon had, I think that's very critical. He was still QB6 in average fantasy points per game on the season. It's, it's for me it's the trust in terms of the overall usage for him, the touchdown upside that he does have in general that makes him the safer pick on a week to week basis there for me. A.J. brown exiting could be a hindrance, but it also might be a positive in terms of the change in offensive coordinates coordinator and allowing for a new version of this Eagles offense, we're going to get some changes in terms of how they utilize Jalen Hurts. Some a different version of passing and a lot of that volume is going to creep over to devonte Smith and he can handle it. Makai Lemon can be the clear wide receiver too. Multiple talented tight ends there. So I think the core is still perfectly fine also with Saquon Barkley so I do give him that preferential treatment there in terms of a guy that is going to be on the field 15 plus games and I know for sure what I am getting out of him.

[Chris Welsh]

You know what I I mean this is a negative but like the thing about Jalen Hurts because I agree with what you said. Like the guys below him, I mean I have. I like Jayden Daniels over him but if you look at the other guys below like do you really, really trust like Herbert or Dart or whatever above him? I think you can make that argument. But I would use, I use Jalen Hurts as a bridge gap where I go, oh, Jalen Hurts is now the top guy. Cool. I'm waiting. Yeah, I don't trust the rest of the guys. Like he's the example of the reason why I I now go later quarterback because it's like I don't want to invest in him. I don't agree. I don't really trust the guys below him. Maybe Hertz does have the greatest upside from a overall perspective, but it's like it's not going to invest. I'm not going to be the investment on it. So he is the bridge gap to me being the late quarterback guy and thinking about investing on the top end. He's going to be very divisive this year. The final quarterback we're going to talk about in this is Caleb Williams. He is the top of tier 3 and is there more upside on him and this is a situation I do find this interesting. Pat, you are team Caleb Williams over Jalen Hurts. You've got Caleb at 7 so I think you are saying that he is a little bit low. Tara's got right at nine at consensus. So Pat, talk to us about Caleb over Jalen Hurts this year.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I just think he's so talented and it's not like me as a Packers fan to be throwing bouquets at members of the Chicago Bears. But Caleb averaged 275 passing yards over his last six games, including playoffs, and finished the year with two touchdown passes in seven straight games. Ran a little bit less as a sophomore, had almost 500 rushing yards as a rookie. There's like still nits to pick here. Only had a 58.1 completion rate last year and this guy is like the slowest starter in the world. He comes out ice cold for every game and then just gets hotter as the game goes on. But after taking A League high 68 sacks as a rookie, cut it down to 24 last year passing yards per attempt went up to 6.9. Still not great, but clear progress over 6.3 as a rookie like Ben Johnson is making him into a really good quarterback and the talent is just through the roof. Like I just think the needle is still moving up on Caleb Williams and we haven't seen anything close to the peak yet.

[Chris Welsh]

Tara, when you see him as the top of tier three, do you think over the next couple months, whether it's, you know, it's coach speak, it's going to be preseason, it's more analysis, whatever. Do you think there's room for Caleb Williams to jump into another tier and or let's say that you consider him the bottom of tier two. Do you think there is any growth room for him to potentially jump above guys like Herbert or Dart or is it just very appropriately ranked where he's at and valued?

[Tara Roberts]

He should jump over Dart. I do have him over Dart for what it's worth. I, I think that even with Coach Speak and everything that we know and the beautiful highlight videos that we will get of the amazing pass catchers that they have, it's probably going to stay right there. Maybe it scoots up one bit but we're going to get more hype out of the Justin Herbert and all of that camp. So I, I think it'll stay where it is and I think it's a fine ranking for him. I think Pat nailed. One of the things is that you know Ben Johnson is an excellent head coach. He does not want Caleb Williams out there running for his life. So I think that reduction in rushing upside that he clearly has, I think it's here to stay. And because he is such an excellent coach, I mean we talked about it when we were talking about Luther Byrd and Roma Dunes in the previous show. They're a run heavy team, they run a lot and they're very balanced attack. They know how to figure things out situationally when they do need to push aggressive volume because they can because Caleb has that capability to turn it on whenever he needs to and when they don't have to because it's not necessary. And I think that results in overall he's going to be fine. He's going to give you a clear top 10 end of season stat line but on a week to week basis it's going to potentially look like QB1 one week because they needed him to be that QB1 overall and then QB20 another week because they didn't need him to do that. So I think there's more volatility to his game and no issue with him, no problem with him, no problem with the coaching. Just that they're such a effective offense that you don't have to push it so aggressively sometimes. So that's why he's kind of like right there at me where I feel good about him. But I don't know that on a week to week basis I would want to invest that higher level draft pick into him.

[Chris Welsh]

And I think you answered the. You did answer the question I was going to kind of throw at you when you see Pat having Caleb over Jalen hurts. The gap between Caleb Williams and Jalen hurts for you. And I think you answered it in saying that you believe the cap on the rushing upside of Caleb is here to stay and that that probably be the answer correct.

[Tara Roberts]

Yep, that is it.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah. There you go quarterbacks. What do you guys think? Feel free to drop the comments below on the top 12. There's plenty more over on the ranking side. We are going to talk about tight ends but first let's talk about how you're going to draft those quarterbacks with the draft simulator. The draft simulator lets you crush full mocks in minutes with absolutely no waiting between picks. So guess what? If you want to be the hypocrite like me and Tara are when we don't want to take the high quarterbacks but we just cannot help ourselves and we've got to go and draft a Lamar Jackson or we got to invest in maybe a Joe Burrow. You can see what your draft looks like. Or if you want to stay committed to saying I'm going to go late quarterbacks. I love Lamar Jackson but you know what? I'm a fit Stan and I can't even take him where he's being drafted. I got to go. Later you can experiment and see what those teams look like with the draft simulator. You can customize every setting to match your league's exact format. And for our MVP and Hall of Fame subscribers, you can even test trade scenarios by mocking with your actual traded draft picks, which is very cool. So not at that tier yet. Well, guess what, you can go and grab a three day free trial of a premium subscription right now at fantasypros.com dynasty26 or dynastypeophanasypros.com dynasty26 prepare for rookie drafts and Dynasty startup drafts all in one place. Go to fantasybros.com simulator to be the most prepared person on draft day. Tight End Ranks Friends, let's get the big board for the top 12. Number one in our tier one has three tight ends. We've got Trey McBride followed by Brock Bowers. No big shockers there, but Colson Loves is joining at number three in the top top one tier. Going to tier two, this is Titans four through eight. We've got Tyler Warren, Tucker Kraft, Harold Fannin Jr. Sam Laporta and Kyle Pitts. And then rounding it out in Tier 3 is 9 through 12 Aronda, Gadsden, Dalton Kincaid, Travis Kelsey and Isaiah Likely. So is there debate on the top end of our tight ends? Is there a close debate And I'm going to kind of change the question just a tiny, tiny bit. Tara, we're going to start with you simply because there is a debate with you two on who the number one is. So that makes it really cool. But I want to throw like Colson Loveland in there. Like does he belong in the discussion? So for this experiment, Tara, you are with consensus. You've got McBride at one, you've got Bowers at two. I'd love for your take on those. But do you think Colson Loveland belongs in this discussion as well?

[Tara Roberts]

He does, 100% and quite frankly he could be the preferred target for me because of him having the potential. Exact same upside as Trey McBride and Brock Bowers but a little bit of a discount there in terms of adp. So I think he belongs there. I think it's an appropriate tier and he could legitimately be the first look in that Bears offense there. So I think he belongs because we've got a nice group here with McBride and Bowers and Colston Loveland here of guys that are either the first look or potentially the first look. I think that's the key there that maybe separates him is, you know, do we know for sure? Like, we know that Trey McBride is going to be the target hog despite all the talent around him in that offense. We know that Brock Bowers is the first look with the lack of clear addition that they made in terms of investing at a wide receiver one. So maybe that's the gap there that gives McBride and Bowers a little bit of an edge over Colston Loveland.

[Chris Welsh]

What is the separator for you that put McBride over Bowers? Again, that is a consensus rank, very, very close. You made the case on them over Loveland, but what is the separator that gets McBride over Bowers?

[Tara Roberts]

For you, it's Jacoby Brissette. Jacoby Brissette is the separator. Oh, God. It was a glorious 2025 with Jacoby Brisbane, especially in DFS. It was just the volume and the stack with him. And then Michael Wilson. My God, it was just incredible. I missed those days. If they did not draft Carson Beck, I would just be pro. Let's take Trey McBride in the first round. Let's do it. Let's go all in. But there is the fear that at some point they do make that quarterback change. Holding me back there. But yeah, Jacoby Brissette and what he was able to do in terms of providing that volume, throwing 40 plus times a game with ease, and then the touchdown opportunities to Trey McBride. We might have like a little bit of regression because we have the addition of Jeremiah Love who can obviously contribute in the red zone, but really the defense is not great. They're just going to be chasing points and running from behind. We know we can push volume. So, yeah, thank you, Jacoby Brissette and the volume that you finally unlocked for Trey McBride in terms of touchdowns. That's it.

[Chris Welsh]

Now, Fitzy, you are the flip. You went Brock Bowers as your tight end one, so that is off of consensus. McBride is number two. You're welcome to talk about the level and stuff. I think we hit it though. But I'm really curious, what is your separator of Bowers over McBride?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Cardinals had the highest passing rate in the league last year, but they just drafted Jeremiah Love third overall. Like they're. They're not going to have the highest passing rate in the league this year and they might not be top 10 even though the defense is bad and they might be forced to point chase a little bit more than they like. So there's that that they're going to pass less. They also want to get Marvin Harrison Jr. Going, which might cut into Trey McBride's target load. And they found that they had a pretty good receiver in Michael Wilson last year. So I just, I'd be pretty surprised if Trey McBride was able to match the 126 catches and 1239 yards he had last year. Whereas I think Bowers could hit those numbers easily this year. Like Bowers had 112 catches and just under 1200 yards as a rookie. And you know, last year just a huge nightmare. He, he got hurts. The offense was kind of a train wreck with just the quarterback situation, the coaching situation. But Bowers gets a huge play caller upgrade with Clint Kubiak. Eventually he'll get a quarterback upgrade with Fernando Mendoza and hopefully Kirk Cousins won't be terrible when he sits in for the first few weeks. And as of now, Jalen Naylor is the Raiders best wide receiver. Like Bowers is going to get an all you can eat target smorgasbord this season.

[Chris Welsh]

Buffet. Buffet time at tight ends. An interesting one here versus consensus. We were going to do kind of a debate, but let's just focus on this player where you've got Laporta comes in at 7, Kyle Pitts at 8, but both of you have Kyle Pitts at 7. So you're both Pitts over Sam Laporta. Are we finally cross our fingers here? Are we finally comfortable with Kyle Pitts? Tara, you've Got him at 7. Pitts over LaPorta doesn't need to be the discussion. But your level of comfort finally with Kyle Pitts as a starting tight end.

[Tara Roberts]

Yeah, it is. I mean Kevin Stefanski and drives me absolutely crazy, but the one thing that he does, very proven at this point through all throughout his entire tenure at Cleveland was throwing at one of the highest clips in the NFL to the tight end position. And you could look back and say, oh well, I mean if you had Harold Vanna Jr. You would throw it that much to him too. No, he was doing it with anybody in everybody. At one point it was Austin Hooper and Harrison Bryant. He loves a system that targets tight ends rapidly and now he has got Kyle Pitts. Why would you not just send targets this way? So I do think that the king who was promised is finally going to get the workload that he deserves there and the value that we are getting for him because there's a stop point at which he can't go past in terms of his adp just because of the priority that other guys have over him. Very understandably there, the trust level issues that we have at the quarterback issues in Atlanta. But at the end of the day, targets are heading his way and I think tight end seven is a very good spot for him. So that's, that's the little sweet spot for him. I'm very much so cautiously optimistic in on Kyle Pitts because of that coaching staff change there.

[Chris Welsh]

Fitz, is Kyle Pitts the Prince that was promised or will he be an ice King? What do you think?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Prince that was promised? That's still pretty good, right? I mean, I'm.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, it's Game of Thrones references. I just was doing the iteration here. King, prince, doesn't matter. You trust Kyle Pitts.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Yeah. Tara nailed this. Like, Kevin Stefanski is a friend of tight ends everywhere. And Pitts averaged 6.9 targets a game last year. That could actually go up this year. Like, I don't, I don't necessarily think that Pitts topped out at what, 88 catches and 928 yards last year. Like, I, I think he could hit a thousand if things break right for him. Whereas Sam Laporte has averaged 5.3 targets over the last two years. You know, he's a really good player. He can still turn that into mid range tight end. One value. I think that sort of target load, but I just don't think the target outlook is as bright for Laporta as it is for Pitts.

[Chris Welsh]

Okay, one more. One last one. We're going to do a quick hitter, Travis Kelce. Travis Kelce comes in at 11. Are we investing in Travis Kelce this year? Tara?

[Tara Roberts]

I fought so hard to move Travis Kelce further down in rankings and I couldn't justify it because of the guys that are behind him. Just not having even anywhere near the volume that even the old, very elderly version of Travis Kelce is going to get. He's still going to more than likely be the second look in that offense. The receptions are going to be there. You know, we've got two years in a row now that we've had, you know, just over 800 yards, three to five touchdowns. But the receptions are pulling him through. So from a tight end perspective, it does make him a safer pick than a lot of those guys that are sitting behind him and are potentially the third or maybe even fourth look on their team there. So that that gives him the level of security. But quite frankly, I mean it's just, it's, it's a safe pick. You're not really getting a massive upside again because I don't think the touchdowns are really going to be there. So I prefer to invest a little bit earlier in one of the higher upside players rather than get to that point.

[Chris Welsh]

Fitzy, you said the same thing. You want to have your higher end, tight end. So is Travis Kelce someone that you are going to even consider investing in if you miss out on some of the top guys?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Look, I really want Brock Bowers this year. If I can't get him, I really want Colston Loveland. If not, I'll try to get Tyler Warren as a fallback, if not Kyle Pitts. But if I can't get any of those four, I might consider Travis Kelce. If he, we know he's going to slip later in drafts and the efficiency has nosedived. I don't know if like there's any chance of anything close to double digit touchdowns this year, but who knows, maybe there's like one last touchdown spike for old Travis. So you know, if, if things don't work out with my high end tight end targets, Travis Kelsey is a viable fallback.

[Chris Welsh]

I think that's interesting how you were saying that. I was like, oh, this is a no Travis Kelsey whatsoever. You're just like, I want this guy, I want this guy, I want this guy. But you would potentially invest in Travis Kelce. But would you guys, what's your quarterback? What's your tight end range? Some of your favorite players? You guys can be a part of the conversation. Going to fantasypros.com rankings again, you can check out what they look like, how they adjust throughout the offseason and there's a good reference point for the next set of episodes we'll do with ranks because that's something we'll be talking about a whole bunch in this draft season. Make sure you guys are subscribed to the audio podcast and the YouTube. You don't want to miss any of the action. And thank you guys so much for hanging out with us. For Terry Roberts and Pat Fitzmaurice, I'm Chris Welsh. Thanks and we'll talk to you next time right here on Fantasy Pros. Bye Bye.

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