If there is one position group the NFC North has an edge over any other division in the NFL heading into the 2026 season, it might be at the tight end position.
Even with injuries from this past year considered, the top of every team's depth chart at tight end in the NFC North features a player most teams around the league would rather have than whoever is in their starting lineup. There are exceptions, of course, but this is a division with some of the best all-around weapons at tight end, and the Green Bay Packers may be in the most enviable position of all.
We're going to do our best to sort out the star power in the NFC North at the tight end position, ranking the top four players in the division worst to best with training camp on the very near horizon.
Read our rankings of the top eight wide receivers in the NFC North here
Every starting TE in the NFC North ranked for the 2026 season
4. TJ Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
Over the past couple of seasons, there's been a significant drop-off in TJ Hockenson's overall game that nobody (except maybe the Detroit Lions) expected when the shocking inter-division trade went down during the 2022 season.
In three-and-a-half seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Hockenson has played in 50 games, with 247 catches for 2,372 yards and 11 touchdowns. His big-play ability seems to be rather limited these days, and he's coming off one of the roughest years of his career in terms of yards per reception.
Last season, Hockenson averaged 8.6 yards per catch, which ranked 32nd out of 37 qualifying tight ends (via PFF). It feels, at least at this point, like Hockenson is a bigger name than he is anything else. He's still a solid all-around tight end and just turned 29 in July, so he should still have a lot of really good football left and is always a threat when he's on the field.
3. Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
Since entering the league in 2023, Sam LaPorta has been one of the most consistent pass-catching threats at the tight end position. He was a second-team All-Pro as a rookie after catching 86 passes for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns, and he's seemingly only become more reliable as a receiver since then.
Over the past two seasons, his catch percentage has jumped nearly 10 percent (71.7 percent to 81.6 percent), and he has just one dropped pass on his last 132 total targets.
LaPorta missed the entire second half of the 2025 season after suffering a back injury, limiting him to just nine games and creating a little bit of uncertainty going forward. Lions fans are eager to have their star tight end back at full strength on a full-time basis, and there's no question that he's one of the top 10 in the NFL when he's fully healthy.
He only turned 25 years old in January and is on the cusp of likely getting a massive contract from the Lions, presumably as soon as he's medically cleared.
2. Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
Sometimes, lists like this can be based on "seniority" or proven production over time, but with Colston Loveland, there's definitely a little bit of projection involved.
Loveland doesn't have quite the same body of work as a guy like LaPorta, but he might have a case as the most talented tight end in the NFL, much less the NFC North. After his rookie season, there isn't a single defensive coordinator in the NFC North excited about having to go up against this guy twice a year.
Loveland caught 58 passes for 713 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie for the Chicago Bears. He added another 12 receptions for 193 yards (16.1 yards per reception) in the playoffs and has quickly become arguably Caleb Williams' favorite target. And that's what I'm assuming he's going to prove to be in 2026.
Loveland is a dynamic athlete with elite ball skills and outstanding after-the-catch abilities. At the age of 21, he already had the third-best receiving grade out of any tight end in the NFL last season.
There were a lot of people shocked when the Bears took Loveland in the first place, considering the presence of Cole Kmet on the roster. That has proven to be a genius decision, as they might find before too long that they've got the best tight end in the league in Loveland. Or, maybe second-best...
1. Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
Tucker Kraft is the best tight end in the entire NFL right now, period.
A devastating knee injury last season limited him to just 32 receptions in eight games, but he was doing so much damage every time the ball came his way that he still finished as one of the top 22 tight ends in the entire league in receiving yards (489).
This is the pace Kraft was on at the time of his injury:
- 68 receptions
- 1,040 yards
- 13 TD
We were all robbed of seeing Kraft becoming a first-team All-Pro.
He averaged 15.3 yards per reception last season, which could reasonably be considered an outlier, except he averaged 14.1 yards per reception the entire year prior. Simply put, Kraft is the most dominant tight end in the NFL after the catch, and he's proven that with a career average of 9.1 yards after the catch per reception.
His 10.8 YAC/reception last season was easily the best among tight ends in the NFL. The second player on the list was LaPorta, who also played an injury-shortened season, at 6.9 YAC/reception.
If and when Kraft is able to put together a fully healthy season again, the expectation will be for him to be a first-team All-Pro.
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