By Winsto (08/22/2025)(updated 08/28/2025)
Let us examine the tight end landscape heading into the fantasy football season.
Oftentimes, people who play fantasy football view the tight end position as an afterthought if they miss out on the top tier players. But, there can be some value even afterwards. Although other variables will impact the success of a tight end in fantasy football, try considering the following two factors when determining your selection: talent and target competition. Sometimes it can be difficult to predict talent when considering younger players, but target competition can be more foreseeable. When a team has several talented pass catchers, that may mean less targets for the tight end. This information may help when you are deciding which tight end(s) to pursue in your draft.
NOTE: Players moving up tiers are in Green while players moving down tiers are in Red. New comments are in Blue.
Tier 1–”the ball-hogs” Tier
- Brock Bowers, LV
- Trey McBride, ARI
- George Kittle, SF
Bowers and McBride are the first or second receiving options on their teams. As for Kittle, Aiyuk will not see significant action the first half of the season. Deebo is gone. Juan Jennings is banged up. Demarcus Robinson is suspended for the first few games. Kittle is going to benefit. And, he was actually the number one scoring TE in standard scoring, both in total points and points per game.
Tier 2–”the probably still TE1s” Tier
- Travis Kelce, KC
- Mark Andrews, BAL
- Sam LaPorta, DET
Travis Kelce, KC- Tucker Kraft, GB
- T.J. Hockenson, MIN
I think Andrews will still have success, despite the presence of Isaiah Likely. LaPorta may not have the points that he had as a rookie due to the presence of other pass catchers on the team, but he should still be solid. The days of Kelce dominance is probably over, whether it be due to age, target competition, or both. But, he is still Kelce and should finish as a top 10 TE. Kraft may take the next step in 2025. Can Hockenson return to form in 2025? I think, to some degree, yes.
I bumped Kelce to the top of this tier with the Rice suspension.
Tier 3–”the borderline TE1” Tier
- Evan Engram, DEN
- Tyler Warren, IND
- Colston Loveland, CHI
- David Njoku, CLE
- Dallas Goedert, PHI
- Jake Ferguson, DAL
- Dalton Kincaid, BUF
There are questions with all of these players. Will Engram benefit from the change to Denver? Will Warren suffer from QB play? Will Loveland suffer from playing time and possibly QB play? Can Njoku stay healthy and fend off rookie Harold Fannin Jr.? Will Ferguson see less targets now, being at best, the 3rd option? Kincaid simply does not see the field enough to have a high ceiling, as Dawson Knox still takes snaps.
Tier 4– “the interesting, you have my attention” Tier
- Brenton Strange, JAX
- Harold Fannin Jr., CLE
- Mason Taylor, NYJ
- Elijah Arroyo, SE
- Theo Johnson, NYG
- Isaiah Likely, BAL
- Chig Okonkwo, TEN
These are players that I would target if I missed out on Tiers 1-3, as their upside, at least to me, is worth chasing. Strange could emerge under new OC’s offense. Likely, even with Andrews’s presence, could emerge. If you could create an NFL player in a laboratory, Mason Taylor would be the result. When your father is an NFL Hall of Famer and your mother’s brother is an NFL Hall of Famer, there is a chance that you could be good! It’s science. He would be higher if not for concerns about this offense.
Fannin Jr. is really interesting to me. The talk of him being “the Queen on the Chessboard” and being able to lineup anywhere really suggests snap opportunities for him, despite being behind Njoku on the depth chart. We may have seen a preview of this in Cleveland’s last preseason game, where he saw 60% of the snaps and 60% route participation WHILE Njoku was also in the game. I think there is upside and would be willing to gamble here.
Tier 5– “the they could still help” Tier
- Hunter Henry, NE
- Zach Ertz, WAS
Both players had some success in 2024 and could duplicate it in 2025.
Tier 6–”the rest of the group” Tier
- Kyle Pitts Sr., ATL
- Pat Freiermuth, PIT
- Darren Waller, MIA
Harold Fannin Jr., CLE- Mike Gesicki, CIN
- Jonnu Smith, PIT
- Cade Otton, TB
- Noah Fant, CIN
- Cole Kmet, CHI
- Noah Gray, KC
- Ben Sinnott, WAS
- Juwan Johnson, NO
- Dalton Schultz, HOU
- Ja’Tavion Sanders, CAR
- Tyler Higbee, LAR
- Will Dissly, LAC
- Tyler Conklin, LAC
There may be one or two here that could surprise (Darren Waller or Kyle Pitts Sr., for example), but they are more deep league options or bench stashes at this point in time.