The tight ends in the NFL today are potentially discussed by national analysts less often than they were a decade ago, and there are several quality tight end who receive a fraction of their team’s target shares.
But when you run through their numbers under a per usage basis, it’s clear that tight ends are as talented and as valuable as ever, even if they are either underutilized or even more underrated in 2025 and 2026.
Here is a ranking of the 15 best tight ends in the NFL right now, merging the playmakers with the safety valves, the staples of the offense with the secret superstars to create this list.
15. Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
Pat Freiermuth only started half of the Pittsburgh Steelers games last season despite appearing in all of them, which was quite the disservice to both him and the Steelers offense as he was far better than the other tight end options on the roster (shoutout to Jonnu Smith, one of the worst players in the entire league).
The heir to Heath Miller, Freiermuth is almost the perfect auxiliary tight end with his ability to move the chains, blocks, and even make guys miss after the catch. Freiermuth quietly set a career high for nine yards per target last season with Rodgers under center, which makes it all the more annoying that his targets went down from 78 to 54.
While nobody will confuse Freiermuth for being a superstar player like George Kittle or Trey McBride, Freiermuth is one of many underutilized tight ends playing on playoff-caliber teams who could potentially make those teams better simply by getting fed more targets.
14. Oronde Gadsden II, Los Angeles Chargers
Although less hyped than the first-round picks, Oronde Gadsdsen had a great introduction to the NFL in the 2025 season with 49 receptions for 664 yards, averaging over nine yards per target in Justin Herbert’s high-flying Los Angeles Chargers offense.
Gadsdsen is a well-above-average route-runner, especially for his age, and has that ability to make magic happen with the ball in his hands. He will be one to watch even more closely in the 2026 season with a year under his belt and with Mike McDaniel now running the Chargers offense.
13. Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
Although the Detroit Lions looked like perennial Super Bowl contenders, the NFC North side were massive disappointments in the 2025 season and among the worst flops of the year.
LaPorta’s receptions and targets have plummeted over the past three seasons, and like a few of his Lions teammates, he was not helped by the offensive line’s and Jared Goff’s uneven performances last season.
Still, the rate statistics were favorable for LaPorta. He had a catch rate of 81.6 percent and about 10 yards per target, and like a few of the players outside the top five of this list, LaPorta could shoot up the rankings with more involvement from his quarterback and offensive coordinator in getting him the ball.
12. Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills
There is a lot of negative verbiage spilled about the Buffalo Bills pass-catchers, but players like Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid therefore remain even more criminally underrated by the national media for all that they do to support superstar quarterback Josh Allen, even as their teammates struggle.
Kincaid is an excellent safety valve and a highly intelligent pass-catcher at the catch point, wriggling his way open in tight spaces and showing sure hands to snag the ball.
The 26-year-old receiver is also becoming quite the playmaker for the Bills offense, particularly last season in lieu of a competent “X” option. Kincaid’s yards per reception average shot up from around 10 to more than 14, and yet he still finished with a catch rate of nearly 80 percent to average a whopping 11.7 yards per target.
To be honest, the Bills offense needs to make Kincaid a bigger priority in 2026. He is a breakout superstar in the making for the 2026 season and could threaten for the top five if the new coaching staff and Allen can find him more often.
11. Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts
Another highly touted rookie tight end, Tyler Warren was taken with the 14th overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts in last year’s draft and already looks poised to make good on that very ambitious draft stock.
Warren caught 76 passes for 817 yards in his first season in the league, and the crazy part is his numbers, particularly his yardage haul, would have looked even better had potential MVP candidate Daniel Jones not gone down with an injury to end the season prematurely. Like Colston Loveland, Warren figures to skyrocket up this list in this future.
10. Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans
While CJ Stroud ended up having a disappointing season under center for the Houston Texans offense, Dalton Schultz was still every bit vital to this team making the playoffs and moving the ball, especially with superstar wide receiver Nico Collins going down with injury.
Schultz finished his third season in the Texans offense with his best numbers to date, catching 82 passes for 777 yards and a 77.4 percent catch rate, setting career highs for both receptions and catch rate.
There are few pure safety valves in the NFL who are better than Schultz, and when things were not going right for Stroud and the Texans offense by the end of the 2025 season, at least Schultz was always there getting open and making catches.
9. Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
The 10th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, it didn’t take long for Colston Loveland to show that he isn’t the second coming of Evan Engram or Eric Ebron and that this uber-athletic, highly-touted tight end draft prospect is already capable of dominating at the NFL level.
It was just Loveland’s first season, but he was a difference-maker in a vastly improved Chicago Bears offense that managed to make it all the way to the divisional round of the postseason under the fiery right arm of Caleb Williams.
Loveland consistently came up with big plays for his young franchise quarterback, finishing his maiden NFL campaign with 713 receiving yards and 8.7 yards per target. There is no doubt the will be in the top three of a list like this in the future.
8. Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints didn’t win many football games in the 2025 season despite playing in the league’s worst division, but tight end Juwan Johnson was a bright spot for the offense as he nears the age of 30 and enters his theoretical prime as a tight end in this league.
Johnson hauled in 77 passes for 889 yards last season, and he has improved dramatically in terms of his reliability at the catch point and his ability to get open in each of the past two successive seasons.
Now one of the most productive tight ends in the NFL, Johnson is one of the most intriguing players to watch on the Saints in the 2026 season just to see if he can keep this efficiency up.
7. Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
The right landing spot in free agency could help the uber-talented Kyle Pitts finally fully bank on his sky-high potential in the NFL, but the former Florida Gators phenom just might benefit from staying in Atlanta and working with new head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Pitts monstrous Thursday Night Football performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the end of the season provided the whole world with an example of what he can do to utterly destroy a defense both tactically and athletically with the ball in his hands.
A unique weapon who can line up virtually anywhere on the field, Pitts is a tight end and wide receiver rolled up in one, and it seems like a lot of people overlooked the fact that he already shattered his career high for receptions in 2025 with 88 catches in a not-so-hot mess of a Falcons offense.
6. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
At 36, Travis Kelce is very clearly nearing the end of the line, which was already beginning to be apparent in 2024, even as he went to the Super Bowl and caught 97 passes, as his reception total plummeted by 21 in the 2025 campaign.
Even so, Kelce still registered 70 receptions for the 11th straight season and has still never gone below the mark of 67 he set as a sophomore in his first season as a starter in the league.
Kelce lacks the juice in his legs these days, but his mind is as sharp as ever. No tight end in the NFL is better at running routes than Kelce, whose work before the snap and at the catch point are polished, textbook examples of how young tight ends should play.
The Kansas City Chiefs can only be better in the 2026 season, and while Kelce is no longer one of the truly elite tight ends in the league, he is still among the best in his position.
5. Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
Although tight ends can wear a number of hats and the modern NFL’s emphasis on speed has, in turn, redefined the role of the position, at the end of the day, the most important thing a tight end can do for an offense and for his quarterback is to reliably move the chains.
Dallas Goedert has been one of the best in the NFL at doing exactly that ever since the second-round pick joined the league in 2018 and had a catch rate of 75 percent right off the jump.
Last season, Goedert was one of the few people to meet expectations in a Philadelphia Eagles offense that was quite dysfunctional in a huge letdown performance from their Super Bowl-winning 2024 campaign.
Goedert caught a career-high 11 touchdowns last season and is just one year removed from posting a catch rate over 80 and 9.5 yards per target. He is a great tight end who tends to elevate his performances in the biggest of games.
4. Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers offense is loaded with weapons, as embattled franchise quarterback Jordan Love may have the largest glut of pass-catchers to choose to throw it to than any other passer in the NFL today.
Tucker Kraft came into the season as an afterthought, but as the year went on, his big catches and even his highlight-reel plays with the ball in his hands quietly made him one of the most exciting breakout pass-catchers to watch in the league.
Although Kraft actually had fewer catches last season with 32 compared to 50 in 2024, when you go beyond the basic box score statistics, you really have to say that Kraft established himself as one of the most dynamic weapons in his role.
Kraft averaged a George Kittle-like 11.1 yards per target, notching a full yard per target more than his already incredible 10.1 mark in 2024. Literally the only thing working against Kraft being a top-tier tight end at this point is his lack of usage in the Packers offense, which needs to change in 2026.
3. Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders
Basic statistics were never going to do Brock Bowers justice in the 2025 NFL season, because the Las Vegas Raiders was beyond pathetic with Geno Smith looking washed while tossing bizarre interceptions while he had nobody but Bowers to throw it to.
Despite everything working against Bowers last season, the 23-year-old was still excellent in the half-season he was healthy enough to start games, averaging nearly eight yards per target with a career-high 74.4 percent catch rate on a team that could scarcely put a real drive together.
Bowers, of course, was one of THE rookie sensations in 2024 with 112 receptions, and if given a better offense and quarterback in 2026, which could very well be the case, a healthy Bowers will affirm that he is one of the elite tight ends in this league.
2. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
The NFL’s most famous pro wrestling fan, George Kittle missed six games due to injury last season and thus broke up a streak of back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and three straight All-Pro teams.
Although Kittle may have been surpassed in his own division by another tight end, the saying “form is temporary but class is permanent” comes to mind here, as Kittle had back-to-back seasons with more than 11 yards per target and is such a unique weapon in the passing game with his athleticism and versatility; he was a real Offensive Player of the Year candidate just a season ago.
Kittle will surely be back with a vengeance in 2026 in the San Francisco 49ers offense, and anyone doubting his status as a top-two tight end in the NFL has to be biased.
1. Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
With 49 of the 50 First Team All-Pro votes this year, Trey McBride established himself as the new best tight end in the NFL, taking full advantage of the injury to George Kittle to pace all players at the position in both yards and receptions.
One season after hauling in a career high 111 passes, the fourth-year pro was the perfect safety valve for the Arizona Cardinals offense with 126 catches, perhaps benefiting in that regard from the sheer incompetence around him.
McBride is as sure-handed as they come at the tight end position, using his frame well to shield opposition defenders from the ball, winning routes with the efficiency of a slot receiver.
More than just an excellent chain-mover and scorer of touchdowns with 11 last season, McBride is also one of the best blocking tight ends in the league and one of the faces of the next generation.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.