The latest in our NFC North positional rankings sees us take a look at the tight end position. This is another position group in the division that is loaded with talent, making it difficult to separate the four teams.
NFC North TE Rankings for 2026
For the TE group, the main focus is on the top two players on each team’s depth chart, with other options taken into consideration. I had the Vikings in first place in last season’s ranking, but they don’t fare so well this time around. Here are my NFC North TE rankings for 2026.
1. Chicago Bears – Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet
Chicago has invested heavily in the draft at the TE position in recent years, spending a first-round pick on Colston Loveland, a second-round pick on Cole Kmet, and going again this year, spending a third-round pick on Sam Roush. It has given the Bears not just the top-end quality but also strong depth.
Loveland immediately became the team’s TE1, going over 700 receiving yards and scoring six touchdowns in his rookie season. With a head coach who has proven he likes to give his TEs a heavy workload, Loveland should be looking to go even bigger in Year 2.
2. Detroit Lions – Sam LaPorta and Tyler Conklin
Sam LaPorta’s 2025 season ended after Week 10 due to a herniated disc in his back. It led to career lows in his numbers across the board, but 489 receiving yards and three touchdowns from nine games showed his production didn’t suffer from the exit of Ben Johnson as the Lions’ playcaller. Tyler Conklin was signed on free agency, perhaps as insurance if LaPorta takes time to get back up to speed, or as a replacement for Brock Wright, whose name has been mentioned with a potential exit.
Conklin is well known to Vikings fans, a fifth-round pick by Minnesota back in 2018. Conklin has gone on to have a solid career. How good the Lions are at this position and as a team could hinge on if/when LaPorta gets back to his best. Detroit’s form nose dived after LaPorta got injured last season, winning only three of the last eight games and finishing last in the division.
3. Green Bay Packers – Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave
Tucker Kraft was building on his good season in 2024 and looking to go even better in 2025 when an ACL tear cut his season short. Kraft had racked up 489 receiving yards and six touchdowns from just eight games. The Packers will be hoping he can return to that form in 2026.
Luke Musgrave was taken a round earlier (second round) than Kraft in the 2023 draft, but hasn’t managed to have the same impact. Musgrave couldn’t take advantage of Kraft’s injury either and isn’t certain to stay above Josh Whyle on the depth chart. What should be an area of strength on the Packers’ teams has question marks hanging over it coming into the new season.
4. Minnesota Vikings – T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver
It looked for a moment that T.J. Hockenson was heading out of Minnesota, but a reworked deal that makes him a free agent at the end of the season saw him stay. Hockenson was set for a 1,000 receiving yards season in 2023 before a knee injury ended his season a couple of games earlier. He hasn’t been able to find that form since, although that would have been difficult for anybody in the Vikings stuttering offense of 2025.
Hockenson turns 29 in July and should have some good years left in him. With a contract to play for, he will be eager to show he can still be one of the top receiving TEs in the league.
Josh Oliver is one of the best blocking TEs in the league and has shown he is well capable of making a play when called upon. However, he’s not the most dynamic, and not a guy you’d want to step into a role as a focal point receiver of Hockenson can’t play. I thought the Vikings would look to draft a potential Hockenson replacement in the draft, but that never materialized.
