TEP Auction Values 2026 — Tight End Premium Guide

What is TEP

TEP — tight end premium — adds extra PPR weight to tight end receptions on top of your league's base scoring. It exists because tight ends in standard scoring are dramatically underused, and elite TEs are too rare to make the position interesting in deeper leagues. TEP rewards the rare tight ends who catch a lot of passes (Kelce, Andrews, LaPorta, Bowers types) and pulls them into wide-receiver-tier auction values.

How TEP changes auction values

In Half PPR, an elite TE who catches 90 balls scores 45 PPR points. In Half PPR + 1.0 TEP, that TE scores 135 reception points (90 receptions × 1.5 PPR effective) — an extra 90 points across a 17-game season. That gap is roughly the equivalent of going from a TE2 to a low-end WR2 in single-season scoring, and the auction market prices it accordingly.

TEP tight end tiers

• Tier 1 — Difference makers ($24–$38 in 12-team Half PPR + 1.0 TEP): the top three tight ends in any given season.
• Tier 2 — Volume bets ($14–$20): high-target TEs without the elite ceiling.
• Tier 3 — Mid-range ($5–$10): startable but rarely elite.
• Tier 4 — Streamers ($1–$2): TEs you cycle through based on weekly matchups.

Sample +0.5 vs +1.0 TEP prices

Take a tight end with a $20 baseline in a standard 12-team Half PPR auction. Apply the calculator's TEP multiplier:

• No TEP: $20
• +0.5 TEP: ~$24 (+18%)
• +1.0 TEP: ~$26 (+32%)

Apply the same math to mid-tier and streaming tight ends and the dollar gap is much smaller — TEP rewards volume, not all tight ends equally.

Budget allocation in TEP leagues

Plan to spend 12–18% of your budget at TE in +1.0 TEP, and 8–12% in +0.5 TEP. Going lower than that means starting a streamer in a format that punishes weak TE play. Going higher usually means you missed the elite tier and are paying full sticker for a Tier 2 anyway — at which point a stable Tier 3 + waiver play is fine.

Streaming TE in TEP

Streaming is harder in TEP because the "baseline" you're streaming against is higher. If you plan to stream, set $2–$3 of budget aside for an early-season pickup and target tight ends in pass-heavy offenses with high red-zone usage. The DraftEdge Pro iOS app surfaces in-season pickup targets specifically for TEP scoring.

Common TEP draft mistakes

• Using non-TEP cheat sheets. The values are wildly off, especially at the top.
• Reaching for Tier 2 at Tier 1 prices. If the elites are gone, the tier-2 bidding war isn't worth it — pivot.
• Spending nothing at TE. A $1 TE in TEP costs you 50–80 points across a season.
• Forgetting +0.5 vs +1.0 distinction. Half-point TEP is much closer to standard than full-point. Don't bid it like full TEP.