I don’t mean to spoil things for you if you haven’t read the wide receiver half-PPR tiers yet, but tight ends have been making major inroads on becoming bigger parts of passing offenses. Last season, tight ends as a whole caught 231 touchdowns and saw a collective target share of 23.8%. The touchdowns were the most since 2013, and the target share was the highest rate ever recorded. You shouldn’t be surprised. Offenses have begun utilizing multiple tight ends in their offenses to counter how defenses have been playing safeties back. Doing this not only made running the ball easier to do (more tight ends equals more blockers), but tight ends are bigger and stronger than most safeties and faster than most linebackers, creating mismatches that offenses can capitalize on. There’s also been a steady influx of very athletic tight ends into the NFL, some of whom have only scratched the surface of their potential. For every Trey McBride and Brock Bowers, there’s an Isaiah Likely and Chig Okonkwo. The talent is getting better and they’ll be leaned on accordingly.
This is why you’ll see Fantasy managers willing to take the chance on McBride and Bowers by the back end of Round 2, and on Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren by the end of Round 5 (if not way sooner in the case of Loveland). Most Fantasy leagues ask you to start one tight end, and while there are more than 12 tight ends you can make the case for starting, only a select few have the upside to be difference-makers every week. They’re cheat codes. Always shop for a tight end who you believe can finish first or second on his own team in targets. That tight end should be able to average at least six targets per game — more would be awesome but less would be detrimental to the player’s numbers. It goes without saying that the more catches are worth, the more you should chase high-volume tight ends. In half-PPR, that edge is typically negligible since all but 11 tight ends last year averaged more than four catches per game. Some positional notes: Just seven of the top 12 qualifying tight ends (played eight-plus games) averaged at least six targets per game. Only 10 tight ends in the NFL averaged six-plus targets per game; the ones that didn’t finish top 12 were Dalton Schultz, Juwan Johnson and Jake Ferguson, who was 0.1 points per game behind Hunter Henry for the 12th spot.The most impressive consecutive-season streak among tight ends in Fantasy belongs to George Kittle, who has averaged at least 10.7 half-PPR points in eight straight years. He’ll have a hard time keeping that up, coming off a bad Achilles injury suffered in January. McBride and Bowers have each averaged at least 12 half-PPR points for two straight seasons. And since you’re probably curious, Travis Kelce has averaged at least nine half-PPR points in 12 straight years.Between seven and nine of the top 12 tight ends in each of 2021-24 were on playoff teams, though that dipped to just five in 2025.Between seven and nine of the top 12 tight ends in each of 2021-25 were also in the top 12 the previous year.Tier 1Rounds 2-3
