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RotoBaller's updated Week 5 tight end (TE) rankings for fantasy football in 2026. Read the weekend updates for our fantasy football TE rankings and win more.
Welcome RotoBallers! The rest of the Week 5 slate kicks off in just 24 hours, so it's almost time for managers to put the finishing touches on their starting lineup. The tight end position is often one of the hardest to fill, and this week, one of the consistent options, Travis Kelce, is on bye, making decisions even tougher. Fortunately, our updated TE PPR rankings for Week 5 will help with those tough decisions.
Our tight end fantasy football rankings for Week 5 are put together by Nick Mariano. In addition to his rankings, below you will also find a summary of the important fantasy football injury news for this week. There are always key injuries to keep track of, so be sure to check back until kickoff.
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Week 5 Tight End Rankings for Fantasy Football
Be sure to bookmark our weekly PPR rankings, Half-PPR rankings, Standard rankings.
| TE Tier |
TE Rank |
Player Name |
Pos. | Overall Rank |
| 1 | 1 | Trey McBride | TE | 10 |
| 1 | 2 | Brock Bowers | TE | 22 |
| 2 | 3 | Sam LaPorta | TE | 37 |
| 3 | 4 | George Kittle | TE | 44 |
| 3 | 5 | Dalton Kincaid | TE | 49 |
| 3 | 6 | Tyler Warren | TE | 51 |
| 3 | 7 | Isaiah Likely | TE | 53 |
| 4 | 8 | Tucker Kraft | TE | 69 |
| 4 | 9 | Juwan Johnson | TE | 70 |
| 5 | 10 | Harold Fannin Jr. | TE | 73 |
| 6 | 11 | Colston Loveland | TE | 77 |
| 6 | 12 | T.J. Hockenson | TE | 84 |
| 6 | 13 | Brenton Strange | TE | 85 |
| 6 | 14 | Hunter Henry | TE | 87 |
| 7 | 15 | Tyler Higbee | TE | 89 |
| 7 | 16 | Mark Andrews | TE | 93 |
| 7 | 17 | Dallas Goedert | TE | 99 |
| 7 | 18 | Dalton Schultz | TE | 101 |
| 8 | 19 | Mike Gesicki | TE | 102 |
| 8 | 20 | Jake Ferguson | TE | 105 |
| 8 | 21 | Pat Freiermuth | TE | 109 |
| 9 | 22 | Michael Mayer | TE | 112 |
| 9 | 23 | Kenyon Sadiq | TE | 115 |
| 9 | 24 | Cade Otton | TE | 117 |
| 10 | 25 | AJ Barner | TE | 118 |
| 10 | 26 | Oronde Gadsden II | TE | 128 |
| 10 | 27 | Chig Okonkwo | TE | 133 |
| 10 | 28 | Kyle Pitts Sr. | TE | 140 |
| 11 | 29 | Evan Engram | TE | 149 |
| 12 | 30 | Darnell Washington | TE | 150 |
| 13 | 31 | Greg Dulcich | TE | 154 |
| 13 | 32 | Zach Ertz | TE | 157 |
| 13 | 33 | Gunnar Helm | TE | 163 |
| 13 | 34 | Dawson Knox | TE | 165 |
| 13 | 35 | Colby Parkinson | TE | 166 |
| 13 | 36 | Cole Kmet | TE | 168 |
| 13 | 37 | Noah Fant | TE | 172 |
| 14 | 38 | Theo Johnson | TE | 180 |
| 14 | 39 | Jeremy Ruckert | TE | 188 |
| 14 | 40 | Eli Raridon | TE | 194 |
| 14 | 41 | Matthew Hibner | TE | 195 |
| 14 | 42 | Austin Hooper | TE | 199 |
| 14 | 43 | Elijah Higgins | TE | 200 |
| 14 | 44 | Brock Wright | TE | 202 |
| 14 | 45 | Foster Moreau | TE | 204 |
| 14 | 46 | Blake Whiteheart | TE | 206 |
| 14 | 47 | Jonnu Smith | TE | 209 |
| 14 | 48 | Nate Adkins | TE | 215 |
| 15 | 49 | Adam Trautman | TE | 217 |
| 15 | 50 | Johnny Mundt | TE | 218 |
| 15 | 51 | Daniel Bellinger | TE | 220 |
| 15 | 52 | Tanner Hudson | TE | 229 |
| 15 | 53 | Davis Allen | TE | 231 |
| 15 | 54 | Erick All Jr. | TE | 233 |
| 15 | 55 | Luke Farrell | TE | 234 |
| 15 | 56 | Brevyn Spann-Ford | TE | 237 |
| 15 | 57 | Will Kacmarek | TE | 238 |
| 15 | 58 | Sam Roush | TE | 239 |
| 15 | 59 | Jackson Hawes | TE | 240 |
| 16 | 60 | Elijah Arroyo | TE | 242 |
| 16 | 61 | Jelani Woods | TE | 243 |
| 16 | 62 | Charlie Woerner | TE | 244 |
| 16 | 63 | Nate Boerkircher | TE | 245 |
| 16 | 64 | Gavin Bartholomew | TE | 248 |
| 16 | 65 | John Bates | TE | 251 |
| 16 | 66 | Oscar Delp | TE | 254 |
| 16 | 67 | Tanner Koziol | TE | 256 |
| 16 | 68 | Cade Stover | TE | 259 |
| 16 | 69 | Mo Alie-Cox | TE | 261 |
| 16 | 70 | Luke Schoonmaker | TE | 265 |
| 17 | 71 | Ian Thomas | TE | 270 |
| 17 | 72 | Drew Ogletree | TE | 275 |
| 17 | 73 | Reggie Gilliam | RB/TE | 277 |
| 17 | 74 | Tyler Conklin | TE | 279 |
| 17 | 75 | Payne Durham | TE | 289 |
| 17 | 76 | Max Klare | TE | 291 |
| 17 | 77 | Colson Yankoff | TE | 293 |
| 17 | 78 | Nick Vannett | TE | 294 |
| 17 | 79 | Teagan Quitoriano | TE | 302 |
Week 5 Tight End Outlooks for Fantasy Football
George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle's playmaking in Week 4 served as another reason for fantasy managers to no longer worry about the Achilles injury that he suffered in last season's playoffs. Late in the fourth quarter, Kittle caught a pass underneath and then carved his way through Broncos defenders for a 56-yard touchdown, putting the game out of reach.
It was his fourth touchdown in the last three weeks and gave him his third consecutive top-10 finish at his position in fantasy football. Kittle and the 49ers have a divisional matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on tap for Week 5. Seattle's defense is among the best in the league, but in Week 2 the Cardinals found a way to get Trey McBride eight catches and a touchdown.
San Francisco will need to keep Kittle involved to compete with the Seahawks on Sunday. Despite the challenging matchup, Kittle is a must-start.
Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland will square off with his division-rival Green Bay Packers on the road in Week 5. Loveland finally got off the schnide last weekend, leading the team with nine targets and compiling a 6/57 line in their win over the Jets. It wasn't world-beating, but it was clear the second-year pro was a point of emphasis. Incidentally, Loveland's usage spiked as wide receiver Kalif Raymond's declined.
If that holds steady, it's a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it's too early to call for a full-fledged bounceback, but what we saw was at least encouraging. While Green Bay hasn't been an ideal matchup for fantasy tight ends, they're a susceptible unit and rank bottom-ten in points per game (26.3).
Additionally, quarterback Caleb Williams (hamstring) has a chance to be back in the fold this week, which would boost the floor and ceiling for the entire offense. As for Loveland, he lands as this week's PPR TE11 in RotoBaller's ranks.
Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
Four weeks into the 2026 season, Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta has recorded 22 catches for 228 yards and two touchdowns on 32 targets. The 25-year-old had his best game of the young season in Week 4, hauling in eight receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown on 13 targets against the Carolina Panthers. In Week 5, LaPorta and the Lions will take on an Arizona Cardinals defense that has allowed 11 receiving touchdowns through four games and ranks dead last in the NFL in yards per pass attempt allowed (9.1).
Detroit has also operated in extremely pass-heavy game scripts due to its struggling defense, with quarterback Jared Goff averaging over 40 pass attempts per game. As long as both the Cardinals and Lions defenses continue their recent performances, LaPorta could be poised for a big game on Sunday. He profiles as a high-end TE1 option in Week 5 against Arizona.
Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth found the end zone for the second time this season in Week 4 and will look to remain involved in the red zone against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5. The Steelers have been featuring Freiermuth and fellow tight end Darnell Washington over the past two weeks, and both should have pass-catching roles on Sunday with wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (foot) sidelined.
That said, the Colts have been more vulnerable to receiver and running back production, surrendering just two touchdowns to opposing tight ends through four weeks. If Freiermuth were clearly the preferred receiving tight end in this offense, he would be firmly on the fantasy radar. However, given the heavy rain forecast for Pittsburgh and the fact that he is splitting duties, fantasy managers should look for another option this week.
Who Should I Start Tool
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Week 5 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Tucker Kraft, Mark Andrews, Dallas Goedert, Mike Gesicki. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 5.
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 5 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 5 (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 5 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 5 for Tucker Kraft, Mark Andrews, Dallas Goedert, Mike Gesicki:
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