If you are a degenerate dynasty fiend like me, then you already know that there is a LOT to keep track of when it comes to classifying players in our various leagues and scoring systems. When I was younger, and my brain worked better, I would do most of this in my head, on the fly. But that was before things like mortgages, kids' sports schedules, and remembering whether it's a recycling week when I take out the trash.

So now I like to write these things down. And this year I am going to do that with you, friends. Hopefully, you will find some of it useful as you work on curating your dynasty rosters through the spring and summer. If you don't, please send your concerns to Clayton Gray. It was his idea to subject y'all to this, after all. (Hi Clayton!)

Over the next few months, we'll examine my buckets for each of the four main fantasy positions. There will be changes as off-season workouts, camp battles, and, unfortunately, injuries shake things up through the summer.

Remember, these are not rankings. These are buckets designed to give you a 3,000-foot view of where the talent and depth lie across positions in dynasty leagues. Use the Footballguys tiers noted within the buckets to zoom in a little further, and individual player rankings to get into the minute detail.

You can check out our consensus Footballguys dynasty ranks, along with my individual ranks, here.

The Buckets

If you are as curious and skeptical of me as I am, you probably think, "Isn't bucket just another word for tier?" I think of buckets as a more general classification. Remember how old radios had a big knob that would help you tune into the general frequency and then a little knob that helped you fine-tune and sharpen the reception? Buckets are the big knobs, tiers are the little ones.

Below is a quick summary of my buckets. For a more detailed explanation, check out the first part of our series "Decoding the Dynasty Calendar." You can also see how they work in practice in last week's article on quarterback buckets.

1. Starters: If I am comfortable starting the player, whether at a specific position or in a flex or superflex spot, I put them into this bucket.
2. Rotation: Players I view as likely to be contributors in the upcoming season. These are guys who could be regulars in the lineup once bye weeks or injuries hit, but who, even without that, should have consistent fantasy-point-scoring roles on their NFL teams.
3. Upside/Blocked: Generally, this bucket is for players in their third year or less who have not yet cracked regular playing time in real life. This bucket is for players with undeniable upside who have been blocked from regular playing time for some reason or another. Whether it's by injury, a veteran player, or some other reason, these young players haven't had enough of a chance to make me comfortable relying on them yet.
4. Veteran Depth: Not starters, and not rotation pieces, this is your "break glass in case of emergency" bucket. These could be handcuffs to your starters or just veteran players blocked from regular playing time, similar to the young guys in the Upside bucket above. You might be uncomfortable with them in your weekly lineup, but they could hold value if circumstances fall just right.
5. Scratch-off Tickets: This is a bit of a catch-all, but the notion is that this bucket holds the players you can't quite quit yet, the players you can squint your eyes and tilt your head just right and see value in. In short, the long-shot flag plants that make us dynasty degenerates feel alive.

If using this concept to assess your rosters, please remember that flexibility is key. Players will move fluidly from bucket to bucket, especially as off-season activity ramps up in the NFL, injuries happen, and position battles unfold. I want most of my dynasty rosters to be composed of players in the first three buckets, but your specific league settings and personal playing style should determine what works best for you.

RELATED: See Quarterback Dynasty Buckets here.
RELATED: See Running Back Dynasty Buckets here.

Tight End Buckets

So with that explanation out of the way, and as we sit here on May 20, below you'll find tight ends grouped by bucket, along with the tier in which they currently reside in the Footballguys Dynasty Rankings for a little added fine-tuning.

Starters Bucket

• Brock Bowers, LV(1)
• Trey McBride, ARI (1)

Bowers and McBride are the cream of the current crop of dynasty tight ends. Some players in the next group could join them, but right now, these two are in a class by themselves.

• T.J. Hockenson, MIN (2)
• Sam LaPorta, DET (2)
• Tyler Warren, IND (2)
• George Kittle, SF (2)
• David Njoku, CLE (2)
• Mark Andrews, BAL (2)
• Tucker Kraft, GB (2)
• Jonnu Smith, MIA (2)
• Evan Engram, DEN (2)

LaPorta and Hockenson are much closer to Bowers and McBride than they are to Kraft, Smith, and Engram. Warren, LaPorta, and Hockenson are the three most likely to jump to the Bowers/McBride level, but I wouldn't consider that the most likely outcome for any of them. For now, they represent a nice group of starters before we see a drop. Our Sigmund Bloom considers Kittle a 2025 value pick, and Bloom is smart, so if you're into that redraft kind of thing, you should listen up. If I missed out on the top guys, I am okay with starting any of the other tight ends in this bucket in my dynasty leagues, but I am looking to upgrade at the first opportunity, especially in tight-end premium formats.