A first look at the most vexing position in fantasy for 2025
Welcome to the final installment of my preliminary rankings and tiers for each major position for fantasy. You can find all my preseason fantasy content, including my quarterback, running back, and wide receiver rankings and tiers, here. I’ll update rankings in late August. Hopefully, these initial looks will help you to start thinking about player values and draft strategies.
Before we get to the rankings, here are three observations on the tight end position.
1. TE is Top-Heavy and Bottomless at the same time. Just when it looked like the Great American Tight End Renaissance was in full bloom, we’re back to a situation where there are very few guys you can trust on a weekly basis. If three catches for 26 yards and no TDs floats your boat, have I got some players for you!
Only four tight ends averaged more than 10 fantasy points per game (FPPG) last season in Half-Point PPR (down from seven the year prior), and one of those players (Jonnu Smith) was a mid-season waiver wire pickup. If you want to differentiate at this position, you’ll need to pay up for one of the top-tier players, or get a little lucky. Tight end is a “onesie” position – in the vast majority of leagues you only start one, and it’s not a position where you’re likely to flex. That pushes the top guys up the rankings even more, but trust me, there will be some late round fliers that hit, and some waiver gems. The position may be thin with reliable weekly starters, but it’s ocean-deep with sleepers.
2. Rookies are tempting, but…tight end has traditionally been a position where rookies have little value for fantasy. It’s a hard position to learn, for obvious reasons. Then along came Sam LaPorta in 2023, and Brock Bowers in 2024. Can it happen? It can. But put those outliers aside because it’s still a long-shot. The 2025 rookie tight end class is an exciting one, led by Top-20 NFL Draft picks Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren, and it features some intriguing late-round sleepers like Elijah Arroyo and Mason Taylor. Just be aware of the track record before you spend too much on a rookie tight end.
3. Can the old guys still bring it? Let’s visit the flip side to the rookies. Travis Kelce is 35, and George Kittle, Mark Andrews, Dallas Goedert, Evan Engram, and Zach Ertz will all be at least 30 when the season kicks off. David Njoku is 29. Tight ends often hit their primes later, but still, Kelce is clearly not the player he was a few years ago, and age could start to factor in for a few others.
I’ve organized the tight ends into tiers, as I do at every position. You should do the same. To reiterate what I said in the other rankings columns, everyone wants the best players, and a tiered approach allows fantasy managers to have a great view of (a) ranges of players who can be expected to have similar fantasy production, (b) where the drop-offs are between those ranges, and (c) how many players in a range remain available at any given time. Tiers really help when position runs come, and they facilitate more effective drafting, regardless of whether you use a snake or auction format.
My tight end rankings and tiers are for Half-Point PPR. If you play in a Tight-End Premium (TEP) league, the very top guys can climb into the first round of drafts, depending on the scoring. Season-long rankings shown are on a FPPG basis and exclude the final week of the season.
Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images
Tier I – The Studs
1. Trey McBride
2. Brock Bowers
3. George Kittle
Commentary: You can’t go wrong with any of these three. The Raiders might not need to throw to Bowers as much this year, but he’s getting a big quarterback and coaching upgrade, and that plus the addition of Ashton Jeanty might benefit Bowers, net-net. If the entire offense is much better and has more scoring chances, that should help the second-year phenom. McBride is a target hog and just needs to increase his TD total to become an absolute monster at a weak position. Kittle actually led all TEs in scoring last season by a margin of almost two FPPG, but he benefitted from all the injuries to the 49ers’ other weapons. Still, he’s Brock Purdy’s guy and the 49ers’ offense should bounce back this season. He’s a decent value a round or two after the other two.
Tier II – The Lesser TE1s
4. Sam LaPorta
5. Travis Kelce
6. Mark Andrews
7. T.J. Hockenson
8. Evan Engram
9. David Njoku
Commentary: Pop quiz: Who led all tight ends in TDs last season? It was Andrews, with 11, and he really came on after a slow start. All of the players in this group have the potential to outperform their draft cost, but they also all come with important questions. What will Detroit’s offense look like without Ben Johnson, and with a revamped line? Who is the quarterback in Cleveland? Engram is on a new team and Hockenson has a QB that’s never played an NFL game. And what to make of Kelce at age 35? He’s a bit like a vintage Rolls Royce that the Chiefs only roll out for special occasions, like the playoffs. You get the picture. This tier is pretty flat, and you can put these six TE1s in almost any order you choose, based on personal preference.
Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images
Tier III – Fringe TE1s/TE2s
10. Jake Ferguson
11. Tucker Kraft
12. Dallas Goedert
13. Dalton Kincaid
14. Hunter Henry
15. Jonnu Smith
16. Tyler Warren (R)
17. Colston Loveland (R)
18. Zach Ertz
19. Kyle Pitts
20. Isaiah Likely
Commentary: This is a big tier and a hard one to handicap. I like a lot of these players for fantasy in 2025, but will any of them be particularly consistent? Several players listed here are proven starters, some are rookies, and others (like Likely) might just need an opportunity to be unleashed. In most cases you won’t be taking any of these guys to be your weekly starter, other than maybe the top three or four of this tier. But all of the players in this tier offer some real upside and are worth a roster spot.
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Tier IV – Sleepers, Part I
21. Mike Gesicki
22. Cade Otton
23. Brenton Strange
24. Dalton Schultz
25. Pat Freiermuth
26. Chig Okonkwo
27. Mason Taylor (R)
28. Elijah Arroyo (R)
29. Theo Johnson
30. Juwan Johnson
31. Ja’Tavion Sanders
32. Cole Kmet
33. Noah Gray
Commentary: A lot of the players in this tier won’t get drafted in 12-team leagues with standard benches, but there are some interesting options here if you want to take some dart throws. Most of these guys are “starters” on their NFL team and could see decent volume. Brenton Strange is a player I’ve got my eye on, as I expect a big upgrade across the board in Jacksonville. The rookies are also intriguing as both are explosive and have decent paths to being on the field a lot. Noah Gray had 40 catches and five TDs last season and would be a must-add if Kelce misses any time this season. Fun fact: Five players in this tier played at Penn State.
TIER V – Sleepers, Part II
34. Terrance Ferguson (R)
35. Darren Waller
36. Orande Gadsden II (R)
37. Noah Fant (FA)
38. Taysom Hill
39. Ben Sinnott
40. Harold Fannin, Jr. (R)
Commentary: Did I really rank 40 tight ends? I sure did. That’s how wide-open this position is in 2025. Darren Waller? OK, I know. And Taysom Hill may not play very much this season, if at all. You won’t want to draft these guys in most leagues. Still, keep these players on your waiver wire speed-dial. I can see a path to each of them being fantasy-relevant at some point this season.
Keep it here for more fantasy content and draft prep pieces throughout August.