Tight end is arguably the trickiest position to navigate in fantasy football, with so few enticing options available at the position. The 2025 season is no different, giving thousands of managers another year of headaches.
For years, Travis Kelce dominated the position and was a popular first-round target due to the positional edge he provided his owners. Now 35, Kelce remains a premier option, but is no longer the clear-cut TE1.
Instead, managers have understandably gravitated towards Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers as the first player taken off the board in most leagues. Coming off a historic rookie campaign, Bowers has looked every bit like a generational talent with elite athleticism, route-running, and ball skills. His ceiling is sky-high after receiving a quarterback upgrade over the offseason.
Behind Bowers, the traditional second tier remains. George Kittle, Mark Andrews, Trey McBride, Sam LaPorta, T.J. Hockenson and Dallas Goedert are all satisfactory draft choices, with Kelce now also falling into that category. However, beyond that group, finding a serviceable option is a daunting task for any fantasy football manager who struck out early.
With 32 starting tight ends in the league, any manager can find a player who will be on the field for the majority of his team's offensive snaps. Getting one who will put up meaningful numbers in the box score is an entirely different task. Yet, each year, a few players come flying out of left field and into fantasy relevance to bless those who spot them out of a crowd.
Predicting fantasy breakouts is often a dart throw, but a few players stick out more than others. Ahead of the 2025 NFL season, look out for these potential fantasy football darkhorses at tight end.
5. Ja'Tavion Sanders, Carolina Panthers
Ja'Tavion Sanders began his career buried on the Carolina Panthers' depth chart behind veterans Tommy Tremble and Ian Thomas. Yet, by the end of the year, he led the group with a 51.35 percent offensive snap share.
Sanders looked like he was on his way to taking over the position before he suffered a scary neck injury against the Chiefs. The injury surprisingly did not result in any absences, but it clearly affected his playing time. Sanders played over 70 percent of the offensive snaps in five of the six games before the injury, but never played more than 57.4 percent of the snaps for the rest of the season.
Entering his second season, Sanders now appears to be fully past the injury. Tremble returns to the team, but spent the entire offseason on the PUP list and was only activated on the day of the Panthers' final preseason game. Barring any significant changes, the tight end room should be entirely Sanders' to lose in 2025.
There are still several asterisks with Sanders, as he did not appear to be on the same page as Bryce Young in 2024. Carolina's receiving corps also improved over the offseason, which could further complicate his role in the offense. Regardless, the team has been high on Sanders since the 2024 NFL Draft, and he has now had a full offseason working with Young and the first-team offense under his belt.
With Tremble still ramping up to game speed, Sanders has a massive opportunity to take over the offense early on. With a soft early-season schedule, he could easily emerge as a popular fantasy football waiver wire target as soon as Week 1. However, nearly all his value relies on Young building on the momentum he generated late in the 2024 season.
4. Terrance Ferguson, Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams relinquished their first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but they were pleased to wind up with Terrance Ferguson in the second round. Although the team returns three of its four tight ends from 2024, Ferguson is already in position to potentially take over the position as a rookie.
Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford have both historically thrived with high-level tight ends, something the Rams have not had during their overlapping tenures. Tyler Higbee has been a serviceable starter, but he is preparing for his 10th year after missing most of 2024 due to a torn ACL and MCL. Higbee looked like his old self in the playoffs, but is now entering his age-32 season.
Colby Parkins and Davis Allen, who supplanted Higbee during his absence, both return in 2025. Neither was particularly effective with their opportunities, posing little threat to Ferguson, who is already listed ahead of them on the depth chart.
Even if Higbee returns to full health, his performances have declined over the last five years. Considering most tight ends begin to decline at age 32, reversing that trend seems unlikely. Higbee has just one season with more than 700 receiving yards and has not topped 500 receiving yards since 2022.
Higbee will likely still begin the season in the starting lineup, but Ferguson is arguably the best pass-catching tight end on the team. He entered the 2025 NFL Draft as an elite receiver with average blocking skills, suggesting that the vast majority of his snaps will come on passing sets. Fantasy football managers are looking at Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren from the rookie class, but Ferguson could potentially emerge as the best of the group, depending on how aggressive McVay wants to be with him in 2025.
3. Theo Johnson, New York Giants
Theo Johnson was never much of a force at Penn State, but his raw athleticism and physical traits still made him one of the top names of the 2024 NFL Draft tight end class. Johnson wound up landing in nearly the perfect situation and ended up becoming the New York Giants' starter after Darren Waller suddenly retired.
It took Johnson a while to get going, but he eventually hit a groove in the second half of the season. Unfortunately, Johnson joined many of his teammates on injured reserve in Week 13, when he was shut down with a broken foot.
Johnson's injury occurred just as he was getting into a groove. In his final five games of his rookie campaign, Johnson averaged 5.4 targets, 3.6 catches and 43.2 receiving yards. The numbers do not scream superstar, but they accounted for 65 percent of his total season production. Johnson's 331 receiving yards as a rookie were only 10 fewer than his career-high at Penn State.
Entering year two, Johnson is clearly a part of the team's plans moving forward. Brian Daboll has spoken highly of him whenever prompted, and the Giants did not add another tight end in the offseason until the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Blocking specialist Daniel Bellinger will still be a factor, but Johnson will take a lion's share of the tight end targets.
Much like the rest of his teammates, Johnson should benefit from improved quarterback play in 2025. The Giants graduate from a lackluster duo of Daniel Jones and Drew Lock to a much-improved group that includes Russell Wilson, Jaxson Dart and Jameis Winston. Regardless of what happens, whoever lines up under center should be a significant improvement from what the team endured a year ago.
2. AJ Barner, Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks intended to use the 2024 season as a developmental year for AJ Barner, but he ended up being a much more immediate factor than they anticipated. Despite joining a group led by veterans Noah Fant and Pharaoh Brown, Barner was on the field for 45.55 percent of the team's offensive snaps in 2024 and was third on the team with four touchdowns.
Barner, a 2023 All-Big 10 tight end, was already the Seahawks' top red zone target as the backup in his rookie season. That role has proven to be lucrative in fantasy football. Of his 38 targets, six were in the red zone, leading to all four of his touchdowns. If nothing else, that role will persist in 2025 with an increased volume.
Barner's role was called into question when the Seahawks selected Elijah Arroyo in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. However, after the team's minicamp and OTAs, Seattle released Fant to make room for Barner in the starting lineup.
For most of his rookie season, Fant was Seattle's downfield threat, while Barner served as the team's top short-yardage option. The athletic Arroyo is expected to assume part of Fant's role, but Barner's usage is likely to increase. Barner was scouted in college as an athletic tight end himself with elite yard-after-catch ability and above-average ball skills. The team would not have released Fant, who was coming off his best season in his three years with the team, if they did not have full belief in Barner as a mainstay in the offense.
1. Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens
It is difficult to call Isaiah Likely a fantasy football breakout candidate in 2025, considering that is what was expected of him in 2024. He started the year off with a bang, but ended the year with similar numbers to what he posted in his first two years.
When Likely began his third season with a team-high 111 receiving yards in the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, everyone believed that it would be his year. The conclusion made sense, given how poorly Mark Andrews played in 2023. Likely would end the season with a career-high 42 receptions, but his 477 receiving yards were only 66 more than he recorded the year before.
Almost everything the Ravens teased during the preseason proved to be true. Likely was on the field more — his 56.49 percent snap share closely trailed Andrews' 61.44 percent — but his performances were too inconsistent. After his Week 1 outburst, Likely only topped 50 receiving yards once more for the rest of the year. Instead, it was Andrews who benefitted most from Lamar Jackson's MVP-worthy season, bouncing back with 673 receiving yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns.
Perhaps this is another Kyle Pitts situation, but everything seems to align for Likely in 2025. The Ravens used more two-tight end sets in 2024, and that is unlikely to change. Baltimore did not do much to improve its receiving corps in the offseason other than signing a 33-year-old DeAndre Hopkins.
Andrews is still the better all-around tight end and still the preferred option in fantasy football. However, if he ever goes down, Likely immediately becomes a top-five option at the position. Andrews has only played all 17 games twice in his seven-year career.
Even without an injury, Likely is one of the most athletic and explosive pass-catchers on the Ravens, including the team's receivers. Even if he remains behind Andrews in the pecking order, Likely should be the team's third option in the passing game. He needs to be drafted in all 12-team leagues, boasting an elite ceiling and legitimate top-five potential in the event of anything happening to Andrews.
