Top 24 Tight End Rankings For Week 4 | Fantasy Football 2026
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
13 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Oct 2, 2026
Published
Fri, October 2, 2026
24
Player insights
24
Players mentioned
Topics
AJ BarnerBrenton StrangeBrock BowersColston LovelandDalton KincaidDalton SchultzDarren WallerGeorge KittleGreg DulcichHarold FanninIsaiah LikelyJake FergusonJuwan JohnsonKenyon Sadiq
Player analysis
Player insights
AJ Barner
NegativeUsage15:20
Barner saw a target increase with Sam Darnold back, but remains a tertiary piece in the offense and is not a recommended start.
Insight pageBrenton Strange
NegativeProjection18:52
Strange is an extremely touchdown-dependent play and should be avoided if better options are available.
Insight pageBrock Bowers
PositiveBreakout0:52
Bowers is the TE1 for the season; he returned from a meniscus trim with 13 targets, 10 receptions, 116 yards, and a touchdown.
Insight pageColston Loveland
NegativeRole11:54
Loveland saw increased involvement with Case Keenum, but remains a fringe 12-team league option due to lack of trust, despite his superb upside.
Insight pageDalton Kincaid
PositiveUsage3:53
Kincaid is playing over two-thirds of Bills offensive snaps, a significant increase from last year; while his floor is low, his ceiling remains higher than the rest of the streaming options.
Insight pageDalton Schultz
NegativeMatchup14:55
Schultz takes a backseat with Nico Collins back, but remains a viable start against a Cowboys defense that has allowed the sixth-most points to tight ends.
Insight pageDarren Waller
NegativeMatchup17:21
Waller is the TE12 and faces the team allowing the most fantasy points to tight ends, though there is little excitement surrounding his outlook.
Insight pageGeorge Kittle
PositiveUsage1:56
Kittle is performing at an elite level eight months post-Achilles tear; he is a must-start against Denver, with potential for increased target share if Mike Evans is sidelined.
Insight pageGreg Dulcich
NegativeUsage20:15
Dulcich showed signs of life with seven targets last week, but remains a streaming option with better alternatives available for Week 4.
Insight pageHarold Fannin
NegativeUsage8:11
Fannin is a volume-based low-end TE1 for Week 4, though his production may dip against a stout Steelers defense; he has 15 targets over his last two games.
Insight pageIsaiah Likely
NegativeProjection10:02
Likely has high upside but lacks consistency due to quarterback play; he faces a favorable matchup against an Arizona defense that recently struggled against George Kittle.
Insight pageJake Ferguson
PositiveProjection13:29
Ferguson is a reliable start, acting as a touchdown machine with three scores in his last three games and consistent 4-5 target volume.
Insight pageJuwan Johnson
PositiveUsage5:11
Johnson is the TE3 on the season and remains in line for plenty of targets in the Saints' pass-happy offense, despite the unlikelihood of repeating his two-touchdown performance.
Insight pageKenyon Sadiq
PositiveBreakout10:49
Sadiq is a breakout star who finished as the TE4 last week with 7 receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown; he is a strong rest-of-season play.
Insight pageKyle Pitts
NegativeBust15:42
Pitts is not recommended for starting lineups; he has only two catches for 20 yards on the season.
Insight pageMark Andrews
NegativeProjection13:47
Andrews is a high-end TE2; he remains touchdown-dependent, though his floor is higher than anticipated despite limited fantasy impact.
Insight pagePat Freiermuth
NegativeProjection18:26
Freiermuth is a desperate start in one-tight-end leagues, though he has secured at least four targets per game.
Insight pageSam LaPorta
NegativeProjection8:47
LaPorta is a solid low-end TE1 (currently TE11) with a favorable matchup against Carolina, a team that ranks in the top 10 for points allowed to tight ends.
Insight pageT.J. Hockenson
NegativeProjection19:14
Hockenson is not a recommended start, though his value could increase slightly if Justin Jefferson is inactive.
Insight pageTerrance Ferguson
NegativeInjury16:44
Ferguson is dealing with an ankle injury and may not play; even if active, his value is tied to Puka Nakua's status, making him a bench candidate.
Insight pageTravis Kelce
PositiveProjection5:35
Despite a low catch total last week, Kelce salvaged his fantasy day with a big play and a touchdown; he remains a must-start in all formats.
Insight pageTrey McBride
PositiveProjection0:33
Despite a perceived down week, McBride recorded nine receptions for 75 yards; he remains a top-two tight end option regardless of matchup.
Insight pageTucker Kraft
NegativeBreakout6:48
Kraft has been disappointing, but his snap and route participation numbers are promising; he remains a TE1 as he works back from last year's ACL tear.
Insight pageTyler Warren
PositiveUsage3:29
Warren is a strong start for Week 4 and rest-of-season; he saw 10 targets last week and benefits from Alec Pierce being sidelined against a Commanders defense that allows the second-most points to tight ends.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Welcome into the lineup fantasy football show. I'm Mitch Anderson.
0:03I'm Justin Mello. And if you have any start set questions, trade questions, or anything we can answer to help you win
0:09your week four matchup and beyond, let us know down below and we'll answer every single comment.
0:14As always, the lineup is presented by Dabble Fantasy.
0:17Download and sign up for Dabble, then use the promo code LINEUP to get $50 instantly when you play your first five.
0:23You can follow us at LINEUPMITCH and copy our picks with one click to sweat every Sunday alongside us.
0:29But Mello, let's hit our top 24 here. It's really one of two guys.
0:33We're going to go with Trey McBride here taking on the Giants.
0:36Last week felt like a down week for McBride, and he still had nine receptions for 75 yards.
0:42Regardless of matchup, he and this next guy should always be the top two tight ends week in and week out.
0:48Yeah, this is so quick. This is just a glaze fest in the S tier.
0:52Brock Bowers is just insane. Coming back from a quick meniscus trim at the barbershop, 13 targets, 10 receptions, 116 yards, plus a touchdown.
0:59He's my personal tight end on this week, but I do think it's close beyond, like, there's no doubt in my mind,
1:06Brock Bowers is my tight end one for the season.
1:08Yeah, I mean, you can't go wrong with either of those guys.
1:12It becomes more murky once you get into the tight end three range.
1:16For week four, though, we have George Kittle taking on the Broncos.
1:19He needs to be tested for PEDs and witchcraftery because it is just impossible that he looks this good, just eight months
1:26removed from an Achilles tear, especially at his age.
1:28But he does somehow look really, really good. He deserves a starting spot without question against this Denver team that has actually
1:35not been that great against opposing tight ends. We don't know if Mike Evans is playing.
1:39That could increase his target share. Fired up George Kittle with confidence.
1:43For everything I had right about the San Francisco 49ers this offseason, it was so heavily around how good Brock Purdy was going to be.
1:50And I got all of the pass catcher stuff wrong.
1:53I was so excited about Dijon Stribling. I was like, Mike Evans is going to stay healthy.
1:58George Kittle is going to be the one with health issues.
2:01And now look at him. And he is just absolutely balling out.
2:05I agree. He needs to be tested. We need to figure out what he's doing.
2:09But at number four, let's talk about Tyler Warren taking on the Washington Commanders.
2:13We finally saw Tyler Warren actually get some yards last week.
2:16Ten targets leading to nine for 55. Should continue to see a lot of volume with Alec Pierce sidelined and now taking
2:23on the Commanders defense who have allowed the second most points to the tight end position.
2:27Yeah, I really like Tyler Warren a lot here in week four and just rest of season as well.
2:33Moving on to number five, though, Dalton Kincaid taking on the Patriots.
2:36Kincaid came back down to earth last week, but he's still one of the very few tight ends we've seen with elite production at some point this season.
2:45He's playing over two thirds of the Bills offensive snaps for the first time in his career.
2:50Last year, he basically never even got up over 50 percent.
2:53So he still has a low floor. I think a pretty comparable floor to a lot of the guys we're going to talk about later in the episode.
3:01But his ceiling is so much higher than all that gunk at tight end that he's worthy of a top five spot.
3:07That gunk. That is the perfect word to describe streaming the tight end position.
3:11Let's go to number six, though, a guy that you might have picked up off of waivers when you were streaming and
3:18hopefully you've held on for dear life. Juwan Johnson, the tight end three on the season.
3:22How insanely good is this guy? Two touchdowns last week.
3:25I'd be shocked to see him repeat that, but he should continue to be in line for plenty of targets in his
3:32pass happy Saints offense taking on the Falcons this week.
3:35Let's keep the unction going. Let's go on to Travis Kelsey, tight end seven at Las Vegas, the ageless wonder.
3:41He only caught two passes last week, but he still salvaged the day by a big play as well as a touchdown.
3:47The Raiders have been good, but not good against the tight end.
3:50Just look at Juwan Johnson, who you just mentioned, the eight receptions, 53 yards and two touchdowns just last week.
3:56Kelsey's a must start in pretty much every format.
3:59I love how every week it's just like Travis Kelsey catches like a 45 yard pass and you're like, yeah, all right.
4:05Sure. I don't know how he keeps doing it.
4:08Yeah, sure. Why not? On to number eight, though, Tucker Craft.
4:11You just looked at two guys who have just been defying all the odds, looked incredible.
4:16So Tucker Craft's been disappointing. But my question is, is this going to be the Tucker Craft breakout game?
4:21I guess we'll find out. He has been not living up to the standard you would have expected from the guy that
4:28was the tight end one overall before getting hurt last year with the ACL tear.
4:32But that's what's kind of going on in my mind.
4:35We expected a ramp up period coming off of the ACL.
4:38The snaps and route participation numbers have actually been there and have been extremely promising.
4:43I'm keeping him as a tight end one for now.
4:45I think it's going to happen sooner than later.
4:48I'm thinking the same and I'm certainly hoping the same.
4:51Moving on to number nine, though, it's Harold Fannin Jr.
4:54taking on the Steelers. Last week was a beautiful blow up spot for Fannin, but I wouldn't count on it happening again on Thursday Night Football this week.
5:02Pittsburgh's defense has been stout. They've been really effective against tight ends.
5:06And with that said, Fannin has 15 targets over his last two games.
5:09Very few tight ends see that type of work.
5:12So for that reason alone, he's a volume play, low end tight end one in week four.
5:17Yeah, I think obviously if you're in a PPR league, I feel much stronger about Harold Fannin, but I agree.
5:23I don't think we're going to see quite as much volume here in week four.
5:27But on to number 10, let's talk about Sam Laporta.
5:30He'll wrap up the A tier before we move on to the Bs.
5:34The word I would use to describe Sam Laporta this season is just solid.
5:38Low end tight end one, currently the tight end 11 overall.
5:41Now he gets Carolina, who ranks top 10 in points allowed to the tight end position.
5:46You're kind of hoping with Laporta that he gets into the end zone and he has the potential to have a big
5:52day, which for me is entirely possible in this game.
5:55I just have him a little step above any of the guys we talk about next who feel like more risky tight end one options.
6:02Yeah, we're getting into that shaky territory. And this next guy is Isaiah Likely playing the Arizona Cardinals.
6:08We're still looking for Likely to get back to what we saw week one, which was just glorious.
6:13Could number nine be saved by the former nine himself, J.J.
6:16McCarthy, who is now a giant? No, of course not.
6:19That's not in the cards at all. That's completely delusional.
6:22However, Arizona just let George Cato turn their defense into a punching bag.
6:26So it is a nice matchup for Likely here.
6:28Yeah, and he's still getting the volume. Like, I think Isaiah Likely is going to be fine.
6:33I think you're just going to have some really ugly performances in a way that you were never going to have if Jackson Dart was quarterback.
6:41So it's tough for him to project consistency, but I still think he's got a ton of upside.
6:46Kind of like this next guy, in my opinion.
6:49Kenyon Sadiq, who one of the biggest talks of the week, breakout star.
6:53We always say talent wins out of our situation, and he's proving it.
6:56Tight end four last week with seven for 105 and a touchdown.
7:00We'll see if he can keep it going here against the Bears.
7:03I keep using this phrase, but the Jets just surprisingly competent, and I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it hasn't.
7:10Yeah, and for that reason, I'm excited for Sadiq rest of season.
7:14I agree. Surprisingly competent, surprisingly good. But the flip side of that has been Colston Loveland, who's playing in that same game this weekend against the Jets.
7:22How did he not score that touchdown on Monday night football?
7:25I don't know. Like, just extend the ball, brother.
7:27It was good to see Case Keenum get him slightly more involved.
7:31I mean, it still wasn't very good, but he got more involvement than he was getting with Caleb.
7:36I still don't trust him. I don't trust him as my tight end one.
7:40He's kind of on that fringe for me in 12-team leagues because of the upside.
7:45I still think the upside is superb, but I still haven't seen enough to really trust him unless I'm desperate.
7:50He's never going to not reach that ball over again with the way that sequence ended up.
7:55Like, he learned his lesson. Yeah, I think this B tier is just perfectly R.
8:00Like, there's some risk and there's a low floor here, but there's also tremendous upside.
8:04Let's move on to our C tier, which to me is kind of these, like, safer guys.
8:09And that's Jake Ferguson. Good news if you have Jake Ferguson.
8:12The guy's a walking touchdown machine three in the past three games.
8:16We always want pieces of the Dallas team, and he does have a typical four to five target range that I like attacking.
8:23I would feel pretty confident if you had to slot in Jake Ferguson in a pinch.
8:27Yeah, and another guy I feel similarly about is Mark Andrews.
8:30He's playing the Titans here in week four. I have been surprised to see how much involvement he's been getting, but it
8:37really hasn't mattered, at least in a material way.
8:39He's not been a huge fantasy factor. It still seems like he's the touchdown-dependent guy he's been in recent years.
8:45It's just his safety net, his floor is a little bit higher than I think some of us anticipated.
8:51So for that reason, he's like a high-end tight end too, I guess.
8:55Yeah, 100%. And then we'll go for the last guy in this range, Dalton Schultz, before we kind of speed around the rest of these guys.
9:02Schultz will take a little bit of a backseat here with Nico back, but I still think it's a phenomenal matchup against Dallas.
9:09There is much worse starts than the tight end going up against the Cowboys, who have given up the sixth most points to the tight end position.
9:17You ready for the gunk, Mitch? I think we're in the gunky.
9:20Yeah, we're in the gunk. Here's the gunk. Next, we have A.J.
9:24Barner. Sam Darnold is back, and A.J. Barner has been loving that.
9:27He had quite literally three times as many targets in week three as he did the first two weeks combined, which is kind of crazy.
9:34With that said, he's still kind of just like a tertiary piece on this offense.
9:39There's better options at tight end. Yeah. Speaking of bad options at tight end, though, Kyle Pitts, I let him out on
9:45parole last week from fantasy football jail. He is right back in.
9:49He could have a good game. He could not.
9:51I don't know, and I'm not going to find out because he's not in my starting lineup.
9:56Two catches for 20 yards on the entire season.
9:59Even though we have him here at 18 because of the potential upside, I am not playing him.
10:04Never trust Kyle Pitts. Never trust Kyle Pitts. Next, though, is Terrance Ferguson.
10:08He's playing the Eagles. He's health is a huge factor here, obviously.
10:11We need to know about his own health with the ankle.
10:15It seems to be bleak at the moment. He might not even play, so this all might be a moot point.
10:21He might not even be active here in week four.
10:24But secondly, even if he is, Puka Nakua could be active.
10:27And if Puka Nakua is active, then I'm definitely not interested in Terrence Ferguson.
10:31We have him here because the upside is really nice if he plays and Puka doesn't.
10:36But that's, at this point, not a likely combination.
10:38So he's probably on your bench. Yeah, 100%. And then let's move on to our last guy in the D tier.
10:44Let's talk about Darren Waller. This kind of reminds me of the conversation around Kirk Cousins last episode, but Darren Waller is the tight end 12 Mello.
10:52And now he takes on the team, allowing the most fantasy points to the tight end position.
10:57Are we disrespecting Darren Waller, which is a sentence I never thought I would say in 2026?
11:022026? It's crazy. Maybe we are. I'm still not super excited about it.
11:06Next is Pat Friermuth, though. There is a night football against Cleveland.
11:09If you're starting Pat Friermuth in a one tight end league, I'm sorry.
11:13Where did we go wrong? That sucks. It's week four.
11:16Yeah, it's week four. My brother in Christ, where did we go wrong?
11:20That is just absolutely brutal. But I guess there are worse options.
11:23He has secured at least four targets per game.
11:26And the Browns defense has been mediocre against tight ends.
11:29So, like, if you're truly just in hell right now, I guess.
11:32Whatever. Yeah. Same with this guy. On to number 22.
11:35Brenton Strange. He has been an extremely touchdown dependent play, but it's always possible.
11:39We look at this game with the highest total on the slate at 51 and a half.
11:44The Bengals have not been too imposing of a defense against tight ends.
11:48This is just a guy I'd avoid because, like you said, surely you must have a better option at tight end.
11:54Absolutely. And same for TJ Hawkinson versus Miami. I like him more if Justin Jefferson doesn't play.
11:59I'd probably bump him up a few spots. But I don't love him either way.
12:04Miami is a bad football team, to say the least.
12:07So, I wouldn't be stunned if one of these Minnesota pass catchers has a big day.
12:11Maybe it's TJ Hawkinson. I'm probably not going to take that chance, though.
12:15Yeah. And I think you are perfectly in your right to not take that chance.
12:19Let's go to Greg Dolcich as our 24th guy taking on the Minnesota Vikings.
12:23The Greg Dolcich stream might be somewhat dead, but we did have a little life last week with seven targets, five catches.
12:30I'm curious to see if there's some more targets to go around after, unfortunately, Devon HN tore his ACL and is out for the rest of the year.
12:38But against Minnesota this week, there are certainly better starts.
12:41And those were our top 24 tight ends for week four.
12:44If you have any start, sick questions, or trade questions, leave them down below and we'll answer every single one.
12:50But Mello, before we get out of here, did we miss anything?
12:53I got nothing. All right. We'll catch you guys next episode.
12:57Enjoy week four. All right. I don't know.
