The tight end position remains one of the most volatile spots in fantasy football, with weekly performances swinging dramatically based on matchups and game scripts. Several players are dealing with health concerns that could create streaming opportunities, while others are emerging as reliable weekly starters despite flying under the radar in most leagues.
This week presents obvious plays and potential sleeper picks that could make the difference in your matchup. Competent fantasy football managers must weigh floor versus ceiling when making their final lineup decisions at this unpredictable position.
Brenton Strange | JAX
An early hip injury ended Brenton Strange’s night prematurely on Monday night, and he was placed on injured reserve Tuesday afternoon, ruling him out for a minimum of four games.
The production had been plenty fine in the two weeks prior, as the former Penn Stater earned 14 targets on 56 routes and was playing roughly three-quarters of the snaps. He’s not consistent enough to hold through this injury, and there’s no replacement option worth your time on this roster.
If there is a beneficiary to this situation, Jacksonville may put more urgency on Hunter as a receiver. I didn’t change any of my rankings for the surrounding pieces in my Week 6 rankings after this news broke.
Brock Bowers | LV
The Raiders continue to use the “day-to-day” label for Brock Bowers as he recovers from a knee injury that has limited him for the majority of this season.
It’s worth noting that Las Vegas goes on bye in Week 8, making it very possible that the team opts to slow-play this situation through October with a player they view as a centerpiece to their growth.
RELATED: Free Fantasy Waiver Wire Tool
Michael Mayer is likely to return this week (concussion), and the Raiders did open the season in something of a split. You’re playing Bowers once he returns to action, but he has to earn back his status as a Tier 1 tight end.
Cade Otton | TB
Seeing 12.1 PPR points from a tight end on your bench or the waiver wire is going to catch your attention, but I encourage you to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
Cade Otton had a pair of 20+ yard catches against the Seahawks on Sunday, doubling his total since last Thanksgiving. Baker Mayfield is playing at an MVP level, and that’s going to result in one-off weeks like this. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that this was a game without Bucky Irving and Mike Evans, in which Chris Godwin totaled just 26 yards, yet still managed to score 73 points.
I didn’t view Otton as a viable streamer next week, and I still don’t. His routes are essentially empty calories, and we have too large a sample of that being the case to put much weight into one productive afternoon.
Chig Okonkwo | TEN
Ward got his first career win and took advantage of the door being left open by the Cardinals. He threw 39 passes with a banged-up WR1 and an emerging WR2 that managed to shake free for just four targets.
In theory, that should lock in top 10 production for Chig Okonkwo, but he earned just five looks and 8.8 PPR points. At this point, we know what he is: he’s 5-6 targets that come with limited accuracy and almost no touchdown equity.
I’ll pass.
If you told me that you’re vying for a fantasy title in Week 17 and looking twice at streaming Okonkwo against the Saints with Ward finding his stride, I wouldn’t call you crazy. That said, there’s nothing you have to do at this moment in time when it comes to Tennessee’s TE.
Cole Kmet | CHI
Cole Kmet soaked up nine targets before the bye, but that was with Colston Loveland (hip) sidelined. He was the preferred option in the first two weeks over the standout rookie (six targets on 62 routes compared to Loveland’s three on 42), but that feels more like a placeholder than a predictive trend.
Kmet is walking so Loveland can run. If you want to hold onto him for now while Loveland recovers and eases toward the seemingly inevitable explosion, fine. You can do that, but I suggest not moving forward under the assumption that Kmet is a long-term solution.
Colston Loveland | CHI
This is precisely the type of player that savvy fantasy managers cash in on.
Colston Loveland was targeted three times on five routes in Week 3 against the vulnerable Cowboys, a usage pattern that would have resulted in a groundswell toward the rookie, but we never really got that.
He left that contest after those five routes due to a hip injury, missed Week 4, and went on bye in Week 5. Most of your league mates have larger fish to fry and have zero memory of Loveland being prioritized by Ben Johnson the last time we saw him.
Case in point? Cole Kmet was a featured target in Week 4.
Loveland was drafted to be the future of this position for this team, and if Johnson is cooking up plays for that spot, you better believe Loveland will have his moments moving forward, health provided.
He’s not a top 10 tight end for me this week due to the lack of clarity regarding his health, and this being one of the rare teams with a viable second option, but I’d make sure the kid is rostered.
The surge in value is coming, and I’d rather be a week or two early to the party.
Dallas Goedert | PHI
We’ve spent 1.5 months excusing the limited production of the Eagle receivers due to game script and the style of offense that this team wants to run, so why not play the other side of that coin?
Philadelphia is throwing the fourth fewest passes per game this season (27.8), and yet, Dallas Goedert is one of six players across the league to have scored in each of their past three games. Three of his seven touches over the past two weeks have come in the red zone, and while it’s been a fun ride, the math part of me simply cannot get behind assuming that it continues.
Goedert turned nine targets into 19 yards against the Broncos over the weekend: what happens if/when the volume dries up?
You’re starting him for now, especially in a matchup that doesn’t scare me, but he’s not in my circle of trust when it comes to tight ends I roster and know that I won’t need to sweat it at any point.
Dalton Kincaid | BUF
Is this Buffalo’s WR1?
Dalton Kincaid has been a top 10 tight end in three of five weeks and has seen multiple deep targets in consecutive games. He may not look like one of these size/speed blends that profiles well, but he always seems to be sitting in zones, and Josh Allen is clearly comfortable with his emerging tight end.
For the season, Kincaid is being targeted on 22% of his route,s and on Sunday night, he held a season-high slot usage rate (57.6%). The Bills are moving their former first-round pick all over the place and, even if it’s not with high-end volume, his connection has him sitting as a top 10 TE for me both this week and the rest of the season.
Through five weeks, he has an 18+ yard grab in every game and has improved his yards per catch from 10.2 in 2022 to 14.4.
Darren Waller | MIA
Evan Engram and Jonnu Smith are on the list of the tight ends who have scored fewer fantasy points than Darren Waller this season, while Daniel Bellinger and Charlie Kolar have run more routes than the one-time elite TE and one-time rapper.
The touchdowns result in the fantasy spikes, but a 34-yard seam route and a first-quarter fourth-down reception point to the Dolphins really wanting Waller to be a thing.
I’m getting there.
He looks spry, and this is a great spot: a bad team that lacks stabilized target distribution patterns with Tyreek Hill done for the season. After playing just 25.4% of the offensive snaps in the Week 4 win over the Jets, Waller posted a 60.4% snap share in Carolina and hasn’t been asked to block a single time this year.
Waller is my TE12. Maybe that’s more a positional thing than a Waller thing, but at tight end, I don’t mind riding a hot hand like this, where there is usage to chase and an athletic profile in hand.
David Njoku | CLE
Dillon Gabriel wasn’t willing to take many shots in his first professional start, but when he did, David Njoku was the target.
It all started with a well-timed play to get the rookie on track (a 13-yard completion on his first career pass), and his confidence in targeting Njoku grew over time. The touchdown helped his fantasy stock in a major way, but moving forward, I’m more intrigued by him leading the Browns in catches (six), targets (nine), and yards (67); none of his teammates had even 30.
Harold Landry Jr. caught the first touchdown of Gabriel’s career and remains involved, but it was pretty clear that he was most comfortable when going the way of his veteran tight end. It’s hard to truly feel good about any pass catcher in this offense, but given the skill set and the position, Njoku is a viable weekly option.
Evan Engram | DEN
He scored!
That was good to see, but we are still talking about a tight end who has yet to reach 35 receiving yards, is picking up just five yards per target, and has yet to play the majority of snaps in any of Denver’s games this season.
I want to believe. I really do. Troy Franklin has looked good at moments, but I think the Broncos are a good team, and I think their secondary role next to Courtland Sutton is wide open.
Engram was brought in to be that person, and I’ll be buying back in if he can build on the 13 targets he’s earned on 50 routes back from injury this week. After this matchup, games against the Giants, Cowboys, Texans, and Raiders loom.
I’m proceeding with cautious optimism. If you have room to stash him off the wire this week, I would. I wouldn’t force the issue in a less-than-ideal spot, and he’s ranked outside of my top 15 this week, but I’m open to the idea of returning to the low-end TE1 tier if we get a third straight week of 6+ targets.
George Kittle | SF
George Kittle was doing George Kittle things until he decided to do less fun George Kittle things in the Week 1 win over the Seahawks.
Early on, he caught all four of his targets and scored on an extension play to the pylon, where he flexed his athleticism and awareness. When he’s right, he’s as good as it gets at the position.
The problem is that we almost always have to navigate injuries, and that is already the case in 2024.
Kittle has played the full slate of games just once in his eight-year career and is now nursing a hamstring injury that landed him on IR ahead of Week 2, ruling him out through Week 5 at the very least.
What causes Kittle to miss time is the same mindset that makes him an elite option when active. He can return this week, but a Week 7 (ahead of the Week 8 National Tight End Day that gives him life) activation seems to be most likely based on reporting out of San Francisco.
We are getting close. Stay the course and be patient: this is a game-changer at the highest of levels for the second half of your fantasy season (and, hopefully, the playoffs).
Harold Fannin Jr. | CLE
Harold Fannin Jr.’s first career touchdown catch came in London last week on Dillon Gabriel’s first career TD toss, and while the rookie tandem connected on all four of their attempts, 13 yards isn’t going to get it done.
For me, Fannin is more of a long-term piece than one you can rely on in 2025. He’s going to have a chance to develop alongside what the franchise hopes is its solution at the quarterback position. Still, with David Njoku offering more upside and showing well last week, this TE does not profile as anything more than a streamer.
Hunter Henry | NE
Do you think the Patriots win or lose this game?
Hunter Henry usage by result:
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Wins (3): 64 routes and 9 targets
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Losses (2): 75 routes and 19 targets
He had the long touchdown in Week 4 against the Panthers, but he’s looking like a script-dependent tight end, and that makes his weekly value reliant on what you think of New England as a whole.
I worry that his looks are trending down with Stefon Diggs finding the Fountain of Youth: can this offense only sustain one pass catcher?
I’m keeping Henry on the TE1 fringe, but that third tier at the position is awfully fluid, and I don’t think you’re out of the long-term streaming mix if you’re currently comfortable holding New England’s TE1.
Isaiah Likely | BAL
One target on 31 routes since returning to action in Week 4 is nothing to write home about, but at least he’s getting on the field and running a route on 67.4% of his offensive snaps.
The athletic profile is superior to that of Mark Andrews, and the Ravens are nearing desperation mode. I don’t think you can use either Baltimore tight end while Lamar Jackson is banged up.
Still, after the Week 7 bye, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Likely is ahead of Andrews in the hierarchy of this offense and the secondary pass catcher in an above-average offense.
The time to buy is nearing, but not just yet, not with the bye looming and roster slots so valuable.
Ja’Tavion Sanders | CAR
Ja’Tavion Sanders suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 3 and is going to miss “multiple weeks”.
The 22-year-old tight end sparked in Week 2 against the Cardinals with seven catches, but even that came in that chaotic comeback attempt where Young threw 30 (!) passes in the fourth quarter.
I continue to think there is something in this profile. The blend of size and athleticism is that of an asset in this league, especially for an offense that is theoretically in the process of building. His target share, albeit in a small sample, was improved last season, and that’s impressive with an aDOT that was up 25.4% from his rookie campaign.
McMillan is going to be the alpha target earner in this offense for years to come, but after that, we are looking at a lot of middling talents without much proof of concept in the target-earning department.
Sanders doesn’t need to be held onto in redraft leagues if he was ever on a roster in the first place. Maybe he can be a streaming option in the second half of this season, but we will address that when we see that he is fully healthy and involved.
Jake Tonges | SF
Jake Tonges is not Kittle, and he’s not going to be worth your time when the Tier 1 TE returns, but until then, why not?
He’s run at least 27 routes in four straight games and has scored three times this year (he capped the first drive on Thursday night with a six-yard TD). The 49ers are banged up across the board, and that makes a short, middle-of-the-field option ultra-appealing.
Christian McCaffrey threatens opposing defenses everywhere, but he’s an asset horizontally, and San Francisco has a handful of options capable of demanding attention deep down the field.
Tonges doesn’t have a 60-yard game yet, and I don’t expect that to change. But as long as Kittle is out, 5-7 high-percentage targets feels like a safe projection, and that puts him on the low-end of the TE1 radar based on everything we’ve seen at the position this season.
Jake Ferguson | DAL
You’d never know that Jake Ferguson had a touchdown-scoring problem up until two weeks ago, as fantasy’s top performer at the position has now found paydirt three times in eight quarters.
The spike in TD fortune is always good to see, but 7+ grabs in four straight is more of what gets my juices flowing. Reasonable minds can argue if he sees a downtick in production when CeeDee Lamb returns or if the increased pressure put on defenses puts the chain mover (6.6 yards per catch) in a better spot to succeed, but I’m not sure it matters.
Dak Prescott has three pass catchers he trusts, and a defense that struggles to stop anyone: Ferguson’s ranking among the fantasy elite is here to stay.
I won’t be paying the premium in DFS spots this week because I’m not sure this game environment resembles the ones Dallas has been a part of in the past, but that’s picking nits.
Jonnu Smith | PIT
I believe that there is no true “bad” option at the tight end position because one big play has the potential to land you comfortably inside the top 10 for any week, but Smith is challenging that belief.
The veteran TE has yet to reach 30 receiving yards in a game and is running just 17.5 routes per game (10 in the Week 4 win over the Vikings before the bye). In theory, the conservative nature of Aaron Rodgers these days should elevate a big body like Smith. Still, it’s the Metcalf Show, and there isn’t nearly enough volume in this offense to sustain another player.
The big season with Miami was less than a year ago, but it may as well have been 15: this situation isn’t the same at all, and there’s no reason to roster him.
Juwan Johnson | NO
The return of Taysom Hill didn’t really take any food off of Juwan Johnson’s role plate (85.5% snap share with 26 routes run), but Spencer Rattler did.
Say what you will about New Orleans’ QB, but he knows what he likes. I think we can agree that Johnson is the fourth most talented pass catcher on this roster, and Rattler simply loaded up the three names ahead of him on Sunday to get the Saints their first win (Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, and Rashid Shaheed combined for 71% of the targets and 82.4% of the receiving yards).
That’s going to happen.
We saw Josh Allen routinely go to a wide-open Dalton Kincaid against these Patriots on Sunday night (six catches on six targets for 108 yards). But I think it’s safe to say that not only does Rattler not impact defensive alignment in quite the same fashion as the reigning MVP, but the Bills also have inferior talent at the receiver position.
I think you probably get more this week than last, but that’s a low bar to clear. Johnson sits comfortably outside of my top 12 this week, but I would hold if at all possible: the Saints still have games against the Bears, Buccaneers, and Panthers before going on bye.
Kyle Pitts Sr. | ATL
Kyle Pitts caught all five of his targets for 70 yards and scored against the Commanders in Week 4 ahead of the Week 5 bye, his second top-7 finish at the position in September.
This, to me at least, looks different than Pitts’ tease runs of years past. His PPR points per target are trending toward a career high, and the efficiency is in a good spot to sustain, given his target diet.
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2021: 11.2 aDOT
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2022: 13.7 aDOT
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2023: 12.0 aDOT
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2024: 8.7 aDOT
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2025: 5.6 aDOT
We’ve been fed the “he’s in the wide receivers room” propaganda for years now, and while that role came with theoretical upside, he’s been unable to cash in on any of it. Reasonable minds can disagree as to why the struggles happened, but they happened and showed no signs of correcting.
This chain-moving plan is going to keep Pitts’ ceiling case below that of a top 5 tight end, and that’s OK if it means locking him into top 12 status.
Like it or not, this is a different version of Pitts, and this version is a lineup lock due to the state of the position.
Mark Andrews | BAL
We’ve got a problem here.
The touchdown regression was always going to be a red flag, and that’s paying off outside of the one big game. With Isaiah Likely now splitting reps, Mark Andrews is sitting outside of my starting tier at the position.
Forget for a moment the mess that is this offense without Lamar Jackson. Over the past two weeks, Andrews has out-targeted Likely 11-1 and has a whopping 14.2 PPR points in what might be the biggest usage edge he has at the position for the rest of the season.
He’s earning targets ahead of Likely, for now. We know he’s not an opportunity vacuum, so the fact that the on-field metrics are tight (Andrews leads 53-46 in snaps and 37-31 in routes) tells me that we’ve been fortunate to get what little we have over the past two weeks (52 yards).
OK, now you can stop forgetting about the Jackson injury.
That’s obviously a real thing. Zay Flowers had five catches, and the Texans had three. Outside of that, nobody caught more than two passes from Cooper Rush on Sunday despite a game script that was entirely out of hand.
Mason Taylor | NYJ
There are nine players in the entire NFL with more catches than Mason Taylor (18) over the past three weeks.
Not tight ends. Not players who hail from LSU. Nine. Total. Players.
That’s obviously not going to sustain, and garbage time certainly factored into his nine-catch Week 5, but outside of Garrett Wilson, what Jets pass catcher can you name?
During this stretch, the rookie has earned a target on 24% and has seen the vast majority (13) of his receptions come shy of the sticks. If he were Jameson Williams, I’d highlight a stat like that as a reason for concern, but for a 251-pound tight end playing in an offense with a sporadic passer?
Sign me up.
He’s sitting outside of my top 12 this week, but not by much. Zach Ertz and Juwan Johnson are on a lot of rosters at the moment, and I have them both looking up to Taylor in my Week 6 rankings.
Mike Gesicki | CIN
We saw this pass game finally get going against the Lions last week, albeit after the game was in hand, and that fueled Mike Gesicki, who saw a season-high in opportunities.
He responded by averaging a whopping three yards per target, and we are now more than 11 months removed from his last touchdown. I was bearish on Gesicki with Joe Burrow under center, and I’m not pivoting any time soon, regardless of who is under center.
This offense isn’t built to support a tight end, even if he essentially functions as a receiver in terms of route-to-snap rate.
There are better options on your wire for Week 6 (Mason Tayloe and Chig Okonkwo, as they mean more to their respective offenses), and I’m not optimistic that we see a lineup-lock version of Andrews for the rest of the season.
Sam LaPorta | DET
Sam LaPorta got into the end zone for the first time this season on Sunday in Cincinnati, and it won’t be the last time a player gets right against the Bengals.
Even with the context of the matchup mentioned, it was good to see. We know that LaPorta is a highly efficient player (12 catches on 14 targets over the past three games), and it’s been good to see him add a little spice to things (27+ yard gain in three of five games).
The nature of this Lions offense is such that their tertiary option will change on a weekly basis. That’s a pain, but less so at the tight end position.
You’re starting LaPorta every week, and you’re gaining on many of your opponents in the process.
Travis Kelce | KC
Travis Kelce is coming off a Monday night game that featured him catching a season-high seven passes, the most productive of which was a two-yard score on their second drive of the evening.
There’s a high floor to his game these days (4+ receptions in four straight games isn’t overwhelming, but at the TE position in 2025, it’s not nothing), but the ceiling isn’t there and is at risk of falling even further with Rashee Rice now a week away from eligibility.
Kelce hasn’t picked up more than 15 yards on a catch in three straight games and has yet to earn more than seven targets in a game this season. As long as you’re realistic with your expectations (10-ish PPR points), this future Hall of Famer is still a valuable asset, even if it’s not close to the version of him we saw during the peak of his powers.
Trey McBride | ARI
Scoring at least nine PPR points in all five weeks this season may not seem like the highest of bars to clear, but he’s the only TE in the sport that can lay that claim, and Trey McBride continues to offer a floor that is rare for this position.
The lack of usage in those ultra-valuable spots continues to irk me (12 end zone targets since the beginning of 2024 and a red zone target rate that is down nearly nine percentage points this year from last), but that’s like being bothered by having to fill up your Rolls-Royce with gas.
Like, you have a Rolls-Royce. What are you complaining about?
Marvin Harrison is starting to show some signs of a breakout, and if defenses continue to shade his way over the top to prevent the game-shifting play, McBride could well go 17-of-17 when it comes to scoring 9+ fantasy points.
It’s not a direct matchup, obviously, but seeing McBride and Tyler Warren on the same field will excite the fantasy nerd in me.
Tucker Kraft | GB
Have you ever been more confident through four games in a season (Week 5 bye) in a player who has one finish better than 15th at the position?
Tucker Kraft looked like one of the five best options at the position during the Week 2 beatdown of the Commanders in an island game, but he has just 16.5 PPR points since, leaving those committed to him a bit underwhelmed.
Stay the course.
He caught all five of his targets against the Cowboys in Week 4, and with a little fortune, two of them ended in touchdowns.
This is still going to be a big season, potentially a very big season.
The Packers still lack a true WR1, and that is why Kraft is running a route on over 80% of Jordan Love’s dropbacks each week. Green Bay has been leveraging his YAC skills over the past two games (0.0 aDOT), and I think that elevates his floor in a serious way to complement the ceiling that comes with his ability to run those seam routes.
If the Kraft manager is willing to part ways with him at the price of anything but a lineup lock, I think you pounce and pounce fast. This buying window won’t last long.
Tyler Warren | IND
I thought it would be impossible for a rookie tight end to impress me this season. Not because the top two prospects weren’t talented, but because of how much we had been spoiled by newcomers at the position in consecutive years after basically nothing in that regard outside of the Jeremy Shockey and Kyle Pitts seasons for a 20+ year sample.
Dead wrong.
Colts’ Tyler Warren is essentially Nittany Lions’ Tyler Warren, but with better TV coverage. Indy is exploring every nook and cranny of his skill set, and fantasy managers should feel great about the investment they made in August (and especially in keeper/dynasty formats).
Sunday was a great example. They went with an exotic package that basically gave Warren the chance to do as he saw fit in the red zone. After taking the ball and seeing nothing in the way of running lanes, he calmly threw it away and gave the Colts another down to work with in the red zone.
Sure, the next play was an 11-yard TD to him, so the symmetry works, but the fact that he didn’t feel rushed in a high-pressure spot was what I took from the series. He’s calm beyond his years, and we see that in his route-running every week.
He has easily been a TE1 in four of the last five weeks and is on a trajectory that could make him the TE1 entering 2026. I’m not going that far yet, and his target rate has declined every week this season. But you’re swimming in profit if you drafted Warren in the middle rounds this summer, and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon.
Zach Ertz | WAS
If you were under the impression that Jayden Daniels was the missing piece when it comes to Zach Ertz’s fantasy value, I’m sorry to report that he wasn’t.
The train of thought was logical: Ertz cleared 11 PPR points in each of the first two weeks with Daniels and totaled just 12.9 in the next two with Marcus Mariota at the controls, but he’s simply not a full-time player these days.
He’s played under 62% of the offensive snaps in four of five games and was held without a catch on his 22 routes against the Chargers on Sunday. This season, 12 of his 14 catches have come on first or second down, a role that tells me he’s more an extension of the run game than a weapon in the traditional pass game.
If I thought the running game was cooked, you could sell me on that role-holding value in a PPR scheme sort of way, but I don’t. Obviously, Daniels adds a rare dimension with his legs, but Croskey-Merritt finally lived up to what the advanced metrics suggested was likely, and that was why Ertz wasn’t used much over the weekend.
He’s still a viable player who can move the chains when called upon, but I’ve got my eye more on upside at the tight end position. The Waller heater isn’t going to last forever, but I’d rather stream him in this spot. I’d rather gamble on Loveland’s health coming out of the bye or Njoku’s potential connection with Gabriel.
