Tight end doesn’t have the same appeal as the other positions in fantasy football. After a certain point in the position’s rankings, fantasy managers need to start guessing which tight ends are going to score the most touchdowns.
Tight ends are more touchdown-dependent than any other position in fantasy football.
But it’s still important to also place the tight ends into tiers ahead of the draft. Tiers and rankings for any position will help fantasy managers find the best value.
Let’s take a look at the tight end tiers and rankings for standard re-draft leagues entering 2025 training camp.
Tier 1
1. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
2. Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders
3. Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
4. Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
This group of tight end’s should begin coming off the draft board toward the end of the second round in 12-team leagues. Which tight end managers should select first greatly depends on the scoring format of the league.
In PPR or half-PPR formats, Fantasy Pros has Bowers ranked as the No. 1 tight end. Then, McBride lands at No. 2, with Kittle following at No. 3.
But in standard leagues, which is what we’re looking at in this article, Kittle is No. 1.
The reason for the difference is Kittle produces more yards per catch and touchdowns than Bowers or McBride. So, Kittle is the top tight end in any format where receptions is not part of the scoring.
On the other hand, Bowers and McBride are 100-reception candidates. Therefore, in PPR formats, they should be drafted ahead of Kittle.
LaPorta sees a similar boost in value as Kittle in standard leagues. The Lions tight end averaged 12.1 yards per reception last season. He’s also scored 17 touchdowns in 33 career NFL games.
Tier 2
5. Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
6. T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
7. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
8. Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
9. David Njoku, Cleveland Browns
On the Fantasy Pros overall rankings for standard leagues, there’s a big gap between the first and second tier.
Actually one could argue LaPorta is in his own second tier. On July 22, the overall Fantasy Pros rankings has McBride rated as TE3 and the No. 34 overall player. LaPorta is the No. 4 tight end and the No. 54 overall player.
Then, Andrews is the No. 5 TE and No. 70 overall player. That means, based on these rankings, there should be nearly a three-round gap between the TE3 and TE5, with LaPorta landing somewhere in the middle.
We could be summarized as “the oldies but goodies” tier. There’s mostly veterans on this list that might not remain elite much longer. Some of them were once the first or second tight end off the draft board.
But in 2025, managers can still rely upon them for solid production, especially Andrews and Kelce, who have elite signal-callers to boost their value.
Tier 3
10. Evan Engram, Denver Broncos
11. Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills
12. Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts
13. Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
14. Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
15. Jonnu Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers
For this entire list, I trusted the experts at Fantasy Pros, making very few adjustments. But one change I made was drop Smith to the bottom of his tier.
If one is going to target a Steelers tight end, I would pursue Freiermuth, not Smith, especially if Freiermuth offers a lot more value than the 29-year-old veteran. Smith posted a career year with 88 catches and 889 receiving yards last season, but he’s unlikely to repeat it, particularly in the run-first Pittsburgh offense.
Kincaid and Warren are two tight ends that intrigue me the most in this tier. Kincaid averaged more targets per game last season but dealt with injuries, so he didn’t play as often. He could be due for a bounce back campaign.
Warren has questions behind center with the Colts, but the rookie has tremendous upside.
In Atlanta, Pitts is a high-risk, high-reward fantasy option. Maybe he finally gets going again with Michael Penix Jr. behind center.
Tier 4
16. Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
17. Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys
18. Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens
19. Hunter Henry, New England Patriots
20. Zach Ertz, Washington Commanders
21. Mike Gesicki, Cincinnati Bengals
22. Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars
23. Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
24. Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
Similar to Warren, Loveland has great upside as a rookie in Chicago’s offense. I would recommend just pairing either tight end with another Tier 3 or Tier 4 tight end to minimize the risk in drafting either rookie.
This is the part of the draft where fantasy managers need to start identifying which tight ends have the best chance of scoring touchdowns.
All of the tight ends in this tier arguably have a strong chance to tally 5-10 touchdowns. Gesicki is working with the best quarterback in Joe Burrow; Otton is also with a very productive quarterback in a great offense.
Ferguson, Likely and Strange could all be playing on elite offenses in 2025 too.
Tier 5
25. Chig Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans
26. Mason Taylor, New York Jets
27. Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans
28. Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
29. Elijah Arroyo, Seattle Seahawks
30. Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears
31. Ja’Tavions Sanders, Carolina Panthers
32. Noah Gray, Kansas City Chiefs
33. Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns
34. Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints
35. Theo Johnson, New York Giants
36. Terrance Ferguson, Los Angeles Rams
37. Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins
This tier is the best of the rest in terms of value in re-draft standard leagues. These tight ends will mostly be used as bye-week replacements or for late-season roster depth after injuries occur.
Okonkwo sits at the top of the tier as arguably the best tight end sleeper in fantasy football this season.
