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Fantasy football draft strategy year after year involves figuring out what to do about the tight end position. Is it worth taking one of the elite options near the top of the draft? Are the mid-draft options at the position worth the risk? Are there any sleepers late in the draft worth prioritizing for at least the early part of the season?

In order to help answer these questions, we've put together positional tiers for each position to help you know when it's time to draft your starting tight end. Three clear options sit in the top two tiers of both PPR and non-PPR formats, and the decisions have to be made starting in Round 6 about when to take the leap on the position. We also share when it's best to target the two first-round rookies at the position, Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren.

Below are Dave Richard's positional tiers for tight ends in both PPR and non-PPR formats. Use them and all of Dave's tiers as your cheat sheets to have a successful draft.

Dave's rankings: QB tiers | RB tiers | WR tiers | TE tiers | K/DST tiers

Tight end PPR tiers

Rounds 2-3
Tier 1
T. McBride ARI Trey McBride ARI
B. Bowers LV Brock Bowers LV
Round 3
Tier 2
G. Kittle SF George Kittle SF
Rounds 6-7
Tier 3
S. LaPorta DET Sam LaPorta DET
D. Njoku CLE David Njoku CLE
T. Kelce KC Travis Kelce KC
Round 8
Tier 4
T. Warren IND Tyler Warren IND
E. Engram DEN Evan Engram DEN
Rounds 9-10
Tier 5
T. Kraft GB Tucker Kraft GB
T. Hockenson MIN T.J. Hockenson MIN
M. Andrews BAL Mark Andrews BAL
D. Kincaid BUF Dalton Kincaid BUF
Streamers and sleepers
Rounds 11+
C. Loveland CHI Colston Loveland CHI
J. Ferguson DAL Jake Ferguson DAL
K. Pitts ATL Kyle Pitts ATL
Z. Ertz WAS Zach Ertz WAS
D. Goedert PHI Dallas Goedert PHI

Tight end non-PPR tiers

Rounds 2-3
Tier 1
B. Bowers LV Brock Bowers LV
Rounds 3-4
Tier 2
T. McBride ARI Trey McBride ARI
G. Kittle SF George Kittle SF
Rounds 6-7
Tier 3
S. LaPorta DET Sam LaPorta DET
D. Njoku CLE David Njoku CLE
T. Kelce KC Travis Kelce KC
Rounds 8-9
Tier 4
T. Warren IND Tyler Warren IND
E. Engram DEN Evan Engram DEN
M. Andrews BAL Mark Andrews BAL
Rounds 9-10
Tier 5
T. Kraft GB Tucker Kraft GB
T. Hockenson MIN T.J. Hockenson MIN
D. Kincaid BUF Dalton Kincaid BUF
Streamers and sleepers
Rounds 11+
C. Loveland CHI Colston Loveland CHI
J. Ferguson DAL Jake Ferguson DAL
K. Pitts ATL Kyle Pitts ATL
Z. Ertz WAS Zach Ertz WAS
D. Goedert PHI Dallas Goedert PHI