Tight End Tiers for Fantasy Football: Trey McBride Checks In As Ian's TE1 for 2025

Fantasy football draft szn is upon us. Tis the season to ignore friends and family for the next five months to hopefully win a likely relatively minor cash prize and/or avoid a humiliating fantasy football punishment!

This brings us to today's goal: Breaking down my TE rankings and tiers ahead of the 2025 season (code Ian for 20% off!). I'm assuming half-PPR scoring here, and for the sake of brevity, will be sticking to no more than 50 words for every key player listed.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

2025 Fantasy Football TE Tiers

Tier 1: Three bad motherf*ckers (in the cool Pulp Fiction way) (TE1-3)

TE1 Trey McBride: Being provocative with the consensus (and reigning) TE2 as my TE1 because of his superior continuity: McBride has the same OC, QB, and target competition as a season ago. I'm cool with taking a Round 3-4 Elite TE after the top-10-ish WRs and RBs are off the board.

TE2 Brock Bowers: Just averaged 15.5 PPR points per game—the second highest rookie mark ever behind Mike Ditka (still got that record!). Certified good QB Geno Smith could certainly feed Bowers a similar target share and (another) awesome season, but man, mid-Round 2 is a steep price vs. top-10 WRs and RBs.

TE3 George Kittle: Think about how jacked to the tits you would be to start Kittle without having to worry about Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk … a reality now on the table for at least four-plus weeks of 2025. Planet Earth's TE1 with a spiked target total in Round 4? Yes please.

Tier 2: The other guys (TE4-7)

BIG tier drop to these guys, but hey, theoretically, someone has to finish TE4 and TE5. Right? RIGHT? ...

TE4 Sam LaPorta: Largely back to baller status by the end of last season. Tough to dispute TE4 status, although (Ned) stark target total difference (120-83) during his first two seasons makes me generally wary of paying up too high. It's not great to have a much lower ADP on sharper sites.

TE5 David Njoku: Back-to-back top-five finishes in PPR points per game and has some borderline erotic splits, specifically with Flacco under center. As Socrates once said, "A good tight end is a rookie QB's best friend." Njoku's depressed aDOT in Kevin Stefanski's system should lead to easier completions from potentially erratic rookie QBs.

TE6 Evan Engram: Sean Payton has only enabled Jimmy Graham (TE2, TE1, TE2), Ben Watson (TE8), and Jared Cook (TE9) to top-12 heights over the years. Still, the relatively shallow nature of the Broncos pass game outside of Courtland Sutton leaves triple-digit targets firmly on the table inside the reigning 10th-ranked scoring offense.

TE7 T.J. Hockenson: Similar to LaPorta: Hockenson deserves to be in mid-TE1 territory, but his reduced price on higher-stakes fantasy providers reflects the potential problem with overly investing in his Round 5-6 turn home league ADP. His big 2023 was heavily aided by Justin Jefferson missing eight games. Great opening schedule though!

Tier 3: Old bulls (TE8-9)

Look at them! They're old! ...

TE8 Travis Kelce: Bottom-10 TE in passer rating when targeted, ESPN receiving score, yards after the catch per reception, and yards per target last season … and still finished TE6 in PPR points per game despite scoring a career-low three TDs. Chief (lol) concern is just four targets per game with Rashee Rice.

TE9 Mark Andrews: Horrible start and end to the season aside, Andrews caught a career-high 11 TDs and provided TE8 per-game numbers on the season (including playoffs). Isaiah Likely (foot) is hurt, dog, and Andrews' position-best Open Rating last year reflects the reality that the soon-to-be 30-year-old vet probably isn't washed.

Tier 4: Young calves (TE10-12)

Maybe it's time for fantasy managers to be done with the old bull and move on to the young calf …

TE10 Tyler Warren: Earned a PHD in YAC from Penn State and enters the league's most RPO-heavy offense that has every reason to feed him the football after spending top-14 draft capital on the man. I trust Fantasy Life Director of Analytics Dwain McFarland—and Warren is his most drafted TE of the season.

TE11 Colston Loveland: Similar to Warren: Don't overthink a highly-drafted Round 1 potential pass-catching phenom. I've found a way to roster Loveland in three of my four dynasty leagues; the presence of Cole Kmet and potential year one learning curve is just enough to have me wary of Dalton Kincaid/Dawson Knox-esque annoyances.

TE12 Tucker Kraft: Speaking of YAC monsters: Kraft ranked atop the leaderboard in most measures with the ball in his hand—and plays with Jordan Love. He also has just 110 targets through two seasons. Kraft is a capital B BEAST; it's just tough to rank the TE23 in projected targets (68) too high.

Tier 5: You could imagine (TE13-17)

A top-10 finish should surprise no one. And yet, I don't exactly feel good counting on them …

TE13 Jake Ferguson: 2024 was a roller coaster:

Grade 2 MCL Sprain Week 1
Concussion Week 11
Dak missed nine games
Tied Kraft for most missed tackles forced (15)
League-high 86 targets without a TD

The Cowboys' 52-million-dollar TE is the projected third target inside what sure looks poised to be a pass-heavy attack.

TE14 Dallas Goedert: High-end targets will always be tough to come by here, given the Eagles' run-first offense and baller WRs. Then again, Goedert has posted top-12 per-game numbers in three straight seasons and is #good at the game. There's quality TE1 upside here if anything happens to said baller WRs.

TE15 Dalton Kincaid: Top-10 numbers in targets per route run (27.2%, 2nd), PFF receiving grade (76.0, 8th), and yards per route run (1.62, 9th) last season despite a rough uncatchable target rate. These late-round options have me content with Ricky Bobby's "first or last" mindset–two from this tier is cool!

TE16 Kyle Pitts: Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. Kinda. Pitts doesn't turn 24 until October! He still can't legally rent an RV! Michael Penix likes him! Also, Ray-Ray F*cking-McCloud out-targeted the man last season. At least another dud this year will be cheaper than usual.

TE17 Isaiah Likely: As Leonardo DiCaprio famously said, "Don't seek injuries out in August, they'll find you in the season." Likely's fractured foot is far from ideal, and Mark Andrews isn't going away, but man, the ceiling is the moon if the 25-year-old talent ever gets a true featured role in this offense.

Tier 6: We're saying there's a chance (TE18-24)

I do NOT want to be entering Week 1 with one of these guys as my starting TE, but then again, it's not hard to imagine a reality where they're featured on an early-season waiver wire article before going on to post low-end TE1 numbers …

TE18 Brenton Strange: One of the men responsible for holding back Tyler Warren at Penn State looks poised to handle a near every-down role in an ascending passing game that ranks sixth in targets to the TE in the T-Law "era". Strange turned in four top-10 fantasy finishes last season. Cheaper Ferguson/Goedert?

TE19 Zach Ertz: The TE10 in PPR points per game (!) hurdled a man last season, and it's like none of you even care. Even assuming the Terry McLaurin situation winds up being a nothingburger, old man Ertz is (again) a dark-horse high-end target earner at the position inside a potentially elite scoring offense.

TE20 Cade Otton: Another boring, reigning TE1 in a likely sweet offense, but there's a bit more target competition. Still, Otton only trails Mike Evans in end zone targets over the past two seasons (40 vs. 17, lol). Would you be THAT shocked if you woke up in January and Otton had 10 TD?

TE21 Jonnu Smith: Unfortunately, Steelers TE1/RB1 Jonnu Smith and Arthur Smith's Shawshank Redemption-esque reunion features third wheel Pat Freiermuth. This caps the ceiling, but if there's anyone capable of making the most out of limited opportunities, it's probably this YAC beast. There are targets to be had in this passing game!

TE22 Mike Gesicki: Was right next to Kyle Pitts before the Noah Fant signing. Maybe the Bengals' $25.5 million TE still works as Joe Burrow's No. 3 option. Big slot/Tee Higgins insurance is on the table! Am I just coping because Gesicki was my most drafted TE before last week? Yes.

TE23 Hunter Henry: Somehow has never gained 700 yards in a season. This fact blows my mind. Maybe Year 2 Drake Maye and Josh McDaniels help the 30-year-old veteran provide a TD-induced top-15 finish a la 2021. Henry could lead the team in targets, and it wouldn't be THAT shocking, right? (Doubt it).

TE24 Juwan Johnson: Signed a three-year, $30.75 million deal this offseason and could be THE TE1 in New Orleans, depending on how the Taysom Hill (knee) and Foster Moreau (knee) injuries shake out. Juwan has been a favorite last round dart of mine throughout this offseason. The man can play!

Best of the rest

TE25 Darren Waller *was* a baller, but it remains to be seen if the TE-turned-rapper still has enough juice to earn anything close to a full-time role in a Dolphins offense that should lean on its TE far less in 2025. … TE26 Dalton Schultz was the TE11 in 2023 and TE28 in 2024. What if C.J. Stroud plays more like he did in 2023 vs. 2024? … TE28 Mason Taylor looks poised to handle an every-down role and could be good at football in an offense with *one* legit pass-game option. Justin Fields helped Cole Kmet to a TE9 finish in 2023. … TE31 Theo Johnson figures to handle a near every-down role, is an athletic freak, and is another Penn State alum responsible for holding Tyler Warren back at Penn State. … TE33 Terrance Ferguson is a Round 3 dynasty favorite of mine, even if I expect Tyler Higbee to make things annoying enough to limit the fantasy fireworks in 2024. … TE35 Noah Gray is one injury to Travis Kelce away from being on the cover of every waiver wire article in the industry. … TE38 Ben Sinnott is one injury to Zach Ertz away from being on the cover of every waiver wire article in the industry … TE40 Michael Mayer is one injury to Brock Bowers away from being on the cover of every waiver wire article in the industry.