2025 Fantasy Draft Strategy Guide: Tight Ends

Gary Davenport's Strategy Guide by Position

Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends

An Overview of the Tight End Position

For years, tight end has been arguably the trickiest position for fantasy managers--a spot fraught with perils and pitfalls.

For starters, it is easily the shallowest position in fantasy football. Take a gander at the Top 12 tight ends in the fine rankings here at Footballguys. Now think about how many of those players you'd be comfortable starting week in and week out.

That number ain't 12, kids.

It's not just a matter of the lack of depth, either. In years past, there have been tight ends like Kansas City's Travis Kelce--players who didn't just outscore the other tight ends but did so by such a staggering margin that they legitimately earned Round 1 consideration.

Back in the long-ago days of 2022, Kelce outscored the No. 2 tight end (Detroit's T.J. Hockenson) by over 100 PPR points. Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints was similarly dominant in 2013. Fantasy drafters had to pay a hefty price for that gaudy production, but doing so could offer a league-winning edge at the position over lower-end weekly starters.

Now, however, the landscape has changed at the position. Kelce done got old, passing the torch to youngsters like Brock Bowers of the Raiders and Arizona's Trey McBride as the top options available in fantasy drafts. If anything, the position is even more perilous than ever before. But as with all of my other fantasy draft strategy guides this year at Footballguys, there are a number of paths managers can take on draft day--each with its own pluses and minuses.

Tight End Draft Strategies

Door No. 1: The Big Guns

This strategy isn't especially difficult to explain. It's essentially a watered-down version of taking Kelce in Round 1 in recent years. Drafters pay retail for the likes of Bowers (FBG ADP: 16) or McBride (FBG ADP: 23), sit back and enjoy as those tight ends dominate all season long.

Oh yeah. We're jammin' this time.

To be fair, there are rewards to be reaped here. Bowers was amazing as a rookie, setting records for receiving yards by a rookie tight end (1,194) and catches by any rookie with 112. Bowers gets an upgrade at quarterback this year with the arrival of Geno Smith and should be a huge part of the Vegas offense in 2025. McBride also surpassed 110 catches and 1,100 receiving yards.

But there's a problem with this strategy--two, in fact.

It's not like it used to be with Kelce, where the gap between TE1 and everyone else was the Grand Canyon. Three tight ends are being drafted inside the top-50: Bowers, McBride, and San Francisco's George Kittle. The three were separated by less than 30 fantasy points overall in 2024 and less than a PPR point per game. The highest per-game scorer is the third tight end off the board.

Also, as was mentioned in the strategy guide for quarterbacks, the gap in fantasy points per game between last year's TE1 (Kittle) and last year's TE12 (Tampa's Cade Otton) was 5.6 PPR points per contest--the lowest of any position. That's less than the gap between Kelce and the TE2 back in 2022. The ADP of this year's 12th tight end off the board (Green Bay's Tucker Kraft) is 118--over 100 picks after Bowers is selected.

Yes, consistency matters at tight end--something Bowers and McBride should provide this season. TE-Premium scoring changes the dynamic as well. But the edge gained by drafting an elite tight end in 2025 doesn't appear to justify their asking price. The value isn't there.

But if you absolutely have to roster an elite fantasy tight end or just won't be able to sleep or eat or function in society (I'm usually good for two of the three--that'd be excellent in baseball), Kittle is the best target. Yes, he's older. But he's also significantly cheaper.

Door No. 2: Malcolm in the Middle

This is going to make this analyst sound about as exciting as watching Bob Ross paint shrubs on a loop, but this is the door I choose at tight end in the vast majority of drafts. Have for years--even when Kelce was at the height of his fantasy dominance.

Rather a lot of metal songs about dominance. Who knew?

For someone who favors balanced builds (in season-long formats at least), spending a first-rounder on Kelce was usually too rich for my blood. And even then, that made significantly more sense than spending a Round 2 pick on a player who is being drafted at ceiling who offers what amounts to a few extra points per week--if things pan out.

This is the target area--the TE4-TE10 range. I'm more inclined to draft a starter in the back half of the group than the front, but there are multiple potential values here. Old Man Kelce now finds himself in this bunch--coming off the board over five full rounds after Bowers.

The payoff here should be obvious--the potential for high-end fantasy production at tight end available multiple rounds after the big names are drafted. The opportunity to match points with the managers who chose Door No. 1--while also having built a better cadre of running backs or stable of wide receivers. There are multiple tight ends with an ADP of 90+ with a realistic path to a top-five fantasy finish. That's value. Value wins leagues. 

The downside? An admittedly lower fantasy floor. Kelce is 35 years old. Minnesota's T.J. Hockenson didn't look the same last year after tearing his ACL late in 2023. Baltimore's Mark Andrews was completely invisible over the first month of the 2024 campaign. Jonnu Smith of the Dolphins is coming off far and away the best season of his career. There will be busts among these tight ends. Ga-Ron-Teed.

But it's still generally the wisest course of action.

Door No. 3: Sweet Surrender

If 10 (or more) tight ends have been drafted and a fantasy roster still doesn't have at least one tight end on it, then you might as well just sail past the edge of the map. Navigate your team to the point where is says, "Here There Be Monsters." Roll all the way out to the giant ice wall at the edge of our flat planet.

No, really. People believe that. Actual people.

At this point, all hope is lost. Might as well just call it a day and look to 2026. Because it's the end of the world.

What? There's a theme this time. Music me likey.

Also, it really isn't.

Granted, punting tight ends until this late carries risk. Quite a bit. It's "Late-Round QB" with a side of tequila, because the depth available under center is exponentially better than at tight end. It's Using the Force, without Obi-Wan's help. The deeper drafters get into the tight end puddle, the higher the odds they will be looking for a player at that position on the waiver wire.

Good luck finding him.

But just one year ago, Bowers was the 11th tight end drafted on average. Smith was a total afterthought--that proverbial unicorn who was available on the waiver wire. If the elite options are too pricey and fantasy managers can't land the second-tier player they want in the right spot, waiting even longer and then throwing a couple of darts late can work.

Audentes Fortuna Iuvat.

Values, Busts, and Sleepers

I literally just mentioned darts.

TE Values

Evan Engram, Jacksonville (ADP: TE9)

Engram's 2024 was forgettable--eight missed games, less than 400 receiving yards, and a single touchdown. However, the Broncos are paying the 30-year-old $11.5 million per year over two seasons to be Sean Payton's "Joker," and two years ago, Engram caught 114 passes and had more PPR fantasy points than Travis Kelce. His ADP in the back half of the eighth round is--intriguing. 

David Njoku, Cleveland (ADP: TE10)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Cleveland's quarterbacks are a mess. A quintet of questions that includes a has-been, a never-was, two rookies, and a contract that makes this Browns fan cry twice a week. Over the last three years, Njoku has ranked sixth, sixth, and ninth among tight ends in PPR points per game. And he did that with quarterbacks who were every bit as terrible. Dorian Thompson-Robinson is nightmare fuel for anyone who catches footballs for a living.

TE Busts

Brock Bowers, Las Vegas (ADP: TE1)

This has nothing to do with Bowers as a player; he was as advertised and then some for the Raiders. But not only is he being drafted much closer to his fantasy ceiling than his floor, but he's going ahead of the likes of Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown and Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. For Bowers to pay off, he'll have to dominate target share for a Raiders passing game that exceeds expectations.

T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota (ADP: TE5)

Hockenson's supporters aren't without a case--he was the NFC's highest-scoring tight end in points per game in 2023 and the highest-scoring tight end in the conference the year before. But that was before Hockenson blew his knee out late in the 2023 campaign, and the guy we saw last year was a shadow of that force. Drafting Hockenson is fine. Drafting him with the assumption he will automatically revert to his 2023 form is not.

TE Sleepers

Jake Ferguson, Dallas (ADP: TE16)

Ferguson's 2024 (like so many Cowboys players) was a mess--he missed time, didn't clear 500 receiving yards, and scored as many touchdowns as Martin Van Buren (who died in 1862--spoiler alert). But in 2023, Ferguson was a top-10 PPR option at his position, who was seventh at his position in targets. So long as Dak Prescott is upright, Ferguson is a value at this price.

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta (ADP: TE19)

Stop laughing. No, seriously. Knock it off. The reason why Pitts has been cast out into the hinterlands is legitimate, even if this writer still believes that Arthur Smith should get The Wicker Man treatment for his involvement in the fiasco. Atlanta picked up Pitts' fifth-year option. He was TE15 last year in PPR points in a season almost universally regarded as poo. Why not roll the dice? What's the downside?

Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow Gary on X at @IDPGodfather.