- Brock Bowers delivered on high expectations in 2024: The generational tight end prospect did nothing to dissuade that notion as a rookie, and expectations for Year 2 are now even higher.
- Trey McBride’s potential for 2025 is as high as any player at the position: After a dominant Year 3, McBride has established himself as an elite fantasy option with sights set on the overall TE1 in 2025.
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Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Breaking fantasy football rankings down into tiers helps fantasy managers better understand what separates each group and how to value each player at the position for this coming season.
TIER 1: 1A and 1B
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM |
| 1 | Trey McBride | ARZ |
| 2 | Brock Bowers | LV |
The top of the fantasy tight end market right now belongs to two young players who have established themselves as the new elite receiving options at the position coming out of 2024. Both players led their respective teams in all major receiving categories last season, and the margins between the two heading into 2025 are razor-thin.
Read More: ADP Battle: Brock Bowers versus Trey McBride
Starting with Brock Bowers, who finished last season as the overall TE1, he exceeded all expectations as a rookie, even setting several rookie tight end records along the way. Heading into Year 2, those expectations are set as high as possible for Bowers, who is drafted as the TE1 more often than not, and anything short of that finish could be viewed as a disappointment. However, considering the elite 25.0% target rate on top of the talent as a “generational” tight end prospect, Bowers is fully capable of delivering on those expectations in Year 2, as his floor is high enough that there’s little risk investing in him in the second round of fantasy drafts.
Trey McBride offers just as much fantasy potential heading into 2025, though he comes at a slightly better value going near the end of Round 2 at the moment compared to Bowers at the top of the second. McBride comes out of 2024 with a position-leading 25.9% target rate and 2.14 yards per route run. McBride also earned 21 targets in the red zone (second-most among tight ends) yet came away with just two touchdowns on the year – a number bound to positively regress in a big way in 2025 and allow him to improve on his 15.0 points per game, which trailed Bowers by just a half-point per game.
TIER 2: TE1 overall contenders
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM |
| 3 | George Kittle | SF |
| 4 | T.J. Hockenson | MIN |
| 5 | Sam LaPorta | DET |
Tier 2’s tight ends all have overall TE1 potential heading into this season because they all hold the potential to lead their respective teams in receiving production on any given week.
George Kittle was the position’s leader in fantasy points per game last season (16.6), though the San Francisco 49ers‘ expected leader at wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk, missed more than half the year and Christian McCaffrey appeared in just four games. The target competition last year was not the norm for the 49ers. The expectation is that both players will be back healthy this season, though Kittle should continue to play a significant role in the offense while making the most of his opportunities, as he also led the position in yards per route run (2.62) last season, which he’s accomplished in six of the past seven regular seasons.
T.J. Hockenson is coming off a quiet season where he played just nine games coming off an ACL tear, so naturally, 2024 wasn’t his most productive season. However, Hockenson was still relatively efficient considering the situation, posting 11.1 yards per reception – the second-best mark of his career – and a 77.4 receiving grade, which was also the second-best mark of his career. Hockenson’s 1.52 yards per route run was also in line with his career average (1.59), which should offer optimism that with another year removed from his injury and a full season under his belt, he can get back to that top-five tight end territory that he was in 2022 and 2023.
Sam LaPorta wasn’t quite able to build on his elite rookie season, where he finished as the overall TE1 and set rookie records that would eventually be beaten by Brock Bowers the very next season. LaPorta ultimately finished as the PPR TE7 on a much lower target rate (17.3%) than his rookie year (23.3%). This ultimately played a big part in his fantasy finish, though it should be a number with room to grow in 2025. LaPorta dealt with some injury issues early in the season that may have affected his playing time and production, going from the TE21 from Weeks 1-7 to TE6 from Week 8-17 as he appeared to look more like the TE1 he was drafted to be.
TIER 3: The old guard meets the new guard
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM |
| 6 | David Njoku | CLV |
| 7 | Tyler Warren | IND |
| 8 | Travis Kelce | KC |
| 9 | Evan Engram | DEN |
| 10 | Mark Andrews | BLT |
| 11 | Dalton Kincaid | BUF |
| 12 | Tucker Kraft | GB |
This third tier offers up all of the well-known fantasy contributors of the past and introduces both highly-drafted rookies to the mix because they have a chance to finish anywhere within this tier come season's end.
Travis Kelce has finished as the overall TE1 seven times in his NFL career, including as recently as when he tied for that spot in 2023 with LaPorta. However, coming out of 2024, Kelce's expectations should be more tempered, even though he finished as the overall TE5. He also set a new career low in PFF grade (71.7), receiving grade (72.2), touchdowns (four), yards per reception (9.1) and yards per route run (1.49). He also took a back seat as the team’s top receiving option behind Rashee Rice (when Rice was in the lineup), and it appears that Rice will be back this year. All signs point to another year of declining production for Kelce as he enters Year 12 of his NFL career and turns 36 years old, which is as expected, even for future Hall of Famers.
Dalton Kincaid was one of the position's most disappointing players last season as he dealt with injuries and slightly less involvement in the offense, going from 28.6 routes per game in 2023 to 21.2 routes per game in 2024. However, Kincaid’s target rate when he was out there increased greatly from 19.6% as a rookie to 25.7%, and his yards per route run also increased from 1.46 to 1.62 this past season. The injuries played a part in his lack of return in terms of fantasy production, though he also suffered from one of the worst catchable target rates (66%) in the league – after being at 88% in 2023. Considering the instability of catchable targets (highlighted here), if Kincaid can stay healthy and continue to be highly targeted with a return to his rookie norm for playing time, there’s plenty of room for him to improve as a fantasy option in 2025.
TIER 4: The best depth options
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM |
| 13 | Colston Loveland | CHI |
| 14 | Dallas Goedert | PHI |
| 15 | Jake Ferguson | DAL |
| 16 | Kyle Pitts | ATL |
| 17 | Brenton Strange | JAX |
| 18 | Isaiah Likely | BLT |
Outside of Dallas Goedert, this tier does not have any repeat top-12 fantasy performers at the position. Most are relatively new fantasy assets with arguably untapped potential.
Brenton Strange qualifies as a newcomer to the offseason tight end rankings after serving admirably in Evan Engram‘s absence last season. With Engram off to Denver, Strange will be called upon to lead the way at the position for the Jacksonville Jaguars this upcoming season. Across seven games without Engram last year, Strange compiled enough fantasy production to rank as the TE14, which included four games as a top-12 weekly finisher for the position. Strange will have more target competition in a different Jaguars offense this season, though he holds potential to deliver as a solid depth option with the potential to fill in as a weekly starter throughout the year.
Isaiah Likely becomes a breakout target within the top 20 on the chance that he continues to grow his role in Baltimore’s offense as a high-end receiving option. Likely finished 2024 with a nearly identical route share as Mark Andrews and has the opportunity to earn an even larger role in 2025 after posting top-10 marks at his position in receiving grade (77.0) and yards per route run (1.71). Likely may remain the second-best tight end option on the team, but the upside of him taking on the TE1 role for the Ravens makes him a top-10 option at the position, which isn’t the case for other tight ends outside of the top-15.
TIER 5: Viable fantasy fill-in starters
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM |
| 19 | Chigoziem Okonkwo | TEN |
| 20 | Zach Ertz | WAS |
| 21 | Hunter Henry | NE |
| 22 | Mike Gesicki | CIN |
| 23 | Jonnu Smith | PIT |
| 24 | Pat Freiermuth | PIT |
| 25 | Cade Otton | TB |
| 26 | Dalton Schultz | HST |
Chigoziem Okonkwo enters another season as the team’s clear top tight end option in the passing game, and while he’s yet to deliver consistent production in that role, the ADP price tag will often come outside the top-20 at his position, making him a fine value to consider late in drafts. Okonkwo had a stretch late last season, from Weeks 12-17, where he ranked as the PPR TE9 in fantasy production over that stretch. With the Tennessee Titans lacking a clear second wide receiver for rookie first overall pick Cameron Ward, Okonkwo has just as good a shot as any in the depths of this offense to emerge as fantasy-relevant in 2025.
Jonnu Smith’s trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers was devastating for his fantasy potential as he moves to a more run-heavy offense known for rotating its tight ends and hurting any chance of consistency. Jonnu Smith has been a part of Arthur Smith’s offense in the past, both in Tennessee and Atlanta, and he never came close to the heights he hit for fantasy last year in Miami. The likely inconsistency within this offense keeps Jonnu Smith far from trustworthy in most fantasy formats and shouldn’t be treated as anything more than a depth option at this point.
TIER 6: Deep-league fliers
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM |
| 27 | Terrance Ferguson | LAR |
| 28 | Oronde Gadsden II | LAC |
| 29 | Ja'Tavion Sanders | CAR |
| 30 | Mason Taylor | NYJ |
| 31 | Darren Waller | MIA |
| 32 | Juwan Johnson | NO |
| 33 | Theo Johnson | NYG |
| 34 | Noah Fant | SEA |
| 35 | Harold Fannin Jr. | CLV |
| 36 | Elijah Arroyo | SEA |
A number of the top rookie tight ends from the 2025 class make up this tier, currently serving as depth options with the potential to greatly improve their stock in Year 1. Terrance Ferguson earning second-round draft capital from the tight end-needy Los Angeles Rams could allow him to deliver consistent fantasy production, as he offers a solid receiving profile coming out of college, which should prove beneficial in an above-average passing offense.
Both Mason Taylor and Elijah Arroyo also come out of the 2025 NFL Draft with second-round capital to their names, though they don’t offer encouraging receiving profiles to suggest they’ll hit the ground running at the next level. On thinner depth charts, it’s certainly possible that they become relevant, but they shouldn’t likely be valued as anything more than TE3-types in 2025 drafts at this point.
The newly un-retired Darren Waller also fits into this tier, where as much as Jonnu Smith was able to thrive last season, Waller is now more than a year removed from football, will be 33 years old come Week 1 and has as lengthy an injury history as any player at the position. Waller has missed 19 games over his last three seasons combined, and there’s not much reason to expect him to turn back the clock in 2025, as this Miami offense is more likely to go back to being one where the tight end position wasn’t relevant for fantasy, keeping Waller from being draft-worthy in most formats.
TIER 7: The deepest of depth options
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM |
| 37 | Ben Sinnott | WAS |
| 38 | Will Dissly | LAC |
| 39 | Noah Gray | KC |
| 40 | Cole Kmet | CHI |
| 41 | Tyler Conklin | LAC |
| 42 | Tyler Higbee | LA |
| 43 | Luke Musgrave | GB |
| 44 | Austin Hooper | NE |
| 45 | Dawson Knox | BUF |
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