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Fantasy football rankings - tight ends (TE) Week 8 rankings early edition for 2026. Read the top-accuracy fantasy football TE rankings.
Howdy RotoBallers! Week 8 is officially here, and we are back with more early fantasy football rankings. Bye weeks are back, with the Texans, Giants, Saints, and 49ers off this week. Our early Week 8 Half-PPR fantasy football tight end rankings give you a head start on the competition in Week 8. Below, you will find where key tight end options such as Colston Loveland, Tucker Kraft, Brenton Strange, Hunter Henry, Harold Fannin Jr., Chig Okonkwo, Kyle Pitts Sr., Mike Gesicki, Darren Waller, and Mason Taylor rank in our early rankings.
Our tight end fantasy football rankings for Week 8 are put together by Nick Mariano. Below the rankings, you will also find a summary of the important TE fantasy football news for this week. There are always key injuries and developments to keep track of, so check back throughout the week for updates.
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Week 8 Tight End Rankings for Fantasy Football
Bookmark our PPR rankings, Half-PPR rankings, and standard (non-PPR) rankings.
| TE Tier |
TE Rank |
Player Name |
Pos. | Overall Rank |
| 1 | 1 | Trey McBride | TE | 15 |
| 2 | 2 | Brock Bowers | TE | 24 |
| 3 | 3 | Tucker Kraft | TE | 52 |
| 3 | 4 | Sam LaPorta | TE | 59 |
| 3 | 5 | Colston Loveland | TE | 61 |
| 3 | 6 | Tyler Warren | TE | 62 |
| 4 | 7 | Dallas Goedert | TE | 63 |
| 5 | 8 | T.J. Hockenson | TE | 64 |
| 5 | 9 | Travis Kelce | TE | 68 |
| 5 | 10 | Dalton Kincaid | TE | 70 |
| 5 | 11 | Hunter Henry | TE | 71 |
| 5 | 12 | Brenton Strange | TE | 80 |
| 5 | 13 | Chig Okonkwo | TE | 81 |
| 5 | 14 | Harold Fannin Jr. | TE | 85 |
| 6 | 15 | Pat Freiermuth | TE | 86 |
| 6 | 16 | Kyle Pitts Sr. | TE | 90 |
| 6 | 17 | Tyler Higbee | TE | 94 |
| 6 | 18 | Mike Gesicki | TE | 95 |
| 6 | 19 | Mason Taylor | TE | 98 |
| 6 | 20 | Mark Andrews | TE | 99 |
| 6 | 21 | Darren Waller | TE | 102 |
| 6 | 22 | Colby Parkinson | TE | 106 |
| 6 | 23 | AJ Barner | TE | 108 |
| 6 | 24 | Jake Ferguson | TE | 122 |
| 6 | 25 | Michael Mayer | TE | 123 |
| 7 | 26 | Greg Dulcich | TE | 128 |
| 7 | 27 | Cade Otton | TE | 134 |
| 7 | 28 | Darnell Washington | TE | 135 |
| 7 | 29 | Eli Raridon | TE | 143 |
| 7 | 30 | Evan Engram | TE | 151 |
| 7 | 31 | Oronde Gadsden II | TE | 157 |
| 7 | 32 | Tommy Tremble | TE | 158 |
| 7 | 33 | Charlie Kolar | TE | 162 |
| 7 | 34 | Davis Allen | TE | 171 |
| 7 | 35 | Kenyon Sadiq | TE | 176 |
| 8 | 36 | Gunnar Helm | TE | 179 |
| 8 | 37 | Josh Cuevas | TE | 180 |
| 8 | 38 | Dawson Knox | TE | 182 |
| 8 | 39 | Elijah Higgins | TE | 187 |
| 8 | 40 | Noah Gray | TE | 194 |
| 8 | 41 | Drew Sample | TE | 197 |
| 8 | 42 | Daniel Bellinger | TE | 199 |
| 8 | 43 | Austin Hooper | TE | 200 |
| 8 | 44 | Sam Roush | TE | 201 |
| 8 | 45 | Will Mallory | TE | 203 |
| 8 | 46 | Brevyn Spann-Ford | TE | 207 |
| 8 | 47 | Erick All Jr. | TE | 210 |
| 8 | 48 | Blake Whiteheart | TE | 211 |
| 8 | 49 | Mitchell Evans | TE | 218 |
| 8 | 50 | Jonnu Smith | TE | 220 |
| 8 | 51 | Nate Boerkircher | TE | 223 |
| 8 | 52 | Nate Adkins | TE | 224 |
| 8 | 53 | Adam Trautman | TE | 225 |
| 8 | 54 | Brock Wright | TE | 227 |
| 8 | 55 | Tanner Koziol | TE | 229 |
| 9 | 56 | Mo Alie-Cox | TE | 230 |
| 9 | 57 | John Bates | TE | 231 |
| 9 | 58 | Luke Schoonmaker | TE | 232 |
| 9 | 59 | Eric Saubert | TE | 238 |
| 9 | 60 | Will Kacmarek | TE | 243 |
| 9 | 61 | Jeremy Ruckert | TE | 244 |
| 9 | 62 | Ben Sinnott | TE | 246 |
| 9 | 63 | Johnny Mundt | TE | 247 |
| 9 | 64 | Jackson Hawes | TE | 249 |
| 9 | 65 | Gavin Bartholomew | TE | 251 |
| 9 | 66 | Charlie Woerner | TE | 252 |
| 10 | 67 | Jake Briningstool | TE | 255 |
| 10 | 68 | Drew Ogletree | TE | 256 |
| 10 | 69 | Ian Thomas | TE | 258 |
| 10 | 70 | Nick Vannett | TE | 267 |
| 10 | 71 | Payne Durham | TE | 278 |
Week 8 Tight End Rankings News
Mason Taylor, New York Jets
New York Jets tight end Mason Taylor has taken on a much larger role offensively, and his two-touchdown performance from last Sunday has solidified him as a top waiver wire target going forward. In recent weeks, the 22-year-old has overtaken rookie Kenyon Sadiq as the No. 1 tight end on the depth chart. He has 12 catches, 119 yards, and two touchdowns over his last three games, and he has played at least 55% of the snaps in each of those contests.
As the Jets continue to find themselves in negative game script scenarios, opportunities will keep popping up for Taylor to command sizable target shares with impressive volume around the goal line. He ranks as the overall TE7 in half-PPR scoring over the last three weeks, and he's a fringe top-15 tight end going forward in redraft leagues. Therein lies an opportunity for managers to add a potential fantasy starter off waivers, as Taylor remains available in more than 97% of leagues.
Mike Gesicki, Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki has scored a touchdown in four consecutive games, putting him on the fantasy football radar as a solid streaming option for Week 8 against the Tennessee Titans. In addition to the four-game scoring streak, Gesicki found the end zone back in Week 1, which means that he has a touchdown in five of the Bengals' six games so far. The tendency to score touchdowns certainly gives Gesicki a solid ceiling, but managers also must acknowledge that he is touchdown-dependent and possesses a low floor.
After all, he has just eight catches over his last five games, as well as four touchdowns on his last seven receptions. The Bengals love using him around the goal line, but the rate at which he is scoring touchdowns is not sustainable over the course of the full season, especially with a relatively low number of receptions. His snap share has also dropped to below 50% in each of the last two weeks, which is another reason for fantasy managers to temper expectations. With that being said, managers looking to stream a tight end with touchdown upside should turn to Gesicki, even if he has a lower floor.
Chig Okonkwo, Washington Commanders
Washington Commanders tight end Chig Okonkwo has largely been off fantasy radars so far in 2026, as he got off to a slow start to the season before missing time with a hamstring injury. However, the 27-year-old picked up his production in his final two outings before Washington's bye, recording a combined 11 catches for 129 yards on 13 targets.
The Commanders will also be down a significant weapon for the remainder of the season, as they lost star wide receiver Terry McLaurin (knee) to a season-ending knee injury in Week 6. For fantasy managers in need of tight end help, Okonkwo profiles as an intriguing player to target on the waiver wire.
Hunter Henry, New England Patriots
New England Patriots tight end Hunter Henry did not find the end zone in the Thursday night loss to the Chicago Bears, but he caught a season-high seven passes (on seven targets) for a season-high 71 yards, and he now has double-digit fantasy points in his last three games. Before his seven-catch, 71-yard performance in Chicago last week, the 31-year-old veteran tight end had back-to-back games with touchdown receptions in wins over the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets. In half-PPR scoring, Henry ranks as the TE12 through seven weeks, catching 26 of his 31 targets for 296 yards and two touchdowns.
He is New England's clear TE1, although rookie tight end Eli Raridon has seen valuable red-zone targets as well in his first year in the NFL. Coming off three straight strong performances, Henry deserves more consideration as a TE streamer in fantasy football, and he will have a juicy matchup upcoming in Week 8 against the division-rival Miami Dolphins. Henry is rostered in just over half of Yahoo leagues, so he should be widely available if fantasy managers are in a bind at the position due to bye weeks.
Who Should I Start Tool
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Week 8 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Colston Loveland, Tucker Kraft, Brenton Strange, Hunter Henry, Harold Fannin Jr., Chig Okonkwo, Kyle Pitts Sr., Mike Gesicki, Darren Waller, and Mason Taylor. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 8.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 8 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 8 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 8 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 8 for Colston Loveland, Tucker Kraft, Brenton Strange, Hunter Henry, Harold Fannin Jr., Chig Okonkwo, Kyle Pitts Sr., Mike Gesicki, Darren Waller, and Mason Taylor:
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