Everyone knows to draft Brock Bowers and Trey McBride in the early rounds of fantasy football drafts. Leagues are won by finding those under-the-radar guys who significantly outperform their ADP. We still have a long way to go in preparing for 2025 fantasy drafts, but here are some early fantasy tight end sleepers that managers should target.
Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears
It’s tough to find true tight end sleepers because the position really tails off after the top 6-8 guys. In the absence of obvious breakout candidates, why not the rookies?
Colston Loveland’s offensive situation does not appear conducive to a massive rookie season. He will be competing for targets with DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, and Luther Burden III. Those passes will be thrown by Caleb Williams, who needs to take a large step forward as a sophomore if there is to be any hope of all these guys returning value.
So, why am I touting Loveland? I’m not really touting him. This is more of a value proposition.
Historically, only a handful of tight ends really matter very year. You can largely stream 10 ppg. In 2024, a total of five TEs averaged more than 13 ppg. One averaged around 12 ppg. Then, we had 10 or so in the 9-11 ppg range. The difference between those guys is negligible.
Loveland is an elite prospect with early-first-round draft capital. If I’ve punted the TE position, I’d rather take the swing on the talented unknown in the rookie. If it doesn’t work out, whoever I pick up will be no worse than whoever I could’ve drafted. But who I could’ve drafted will have had less upside than Loveland.
Mason Taylor, TE, New York Jets
Once upon a time, the Jets had a logjam at pass-catcher. There were too many guys and not enough offense. This year, it’s the complete opposite.
Garrett Wilson remains entrenched as the WR1. He will dominate targets likely at a career-best level. Beyond him, though, there’s very little. Currently, Josh Reynolds and Allen Lazard project to be the WR2 and WR3. Why can’t Mason Taylor emerge as the second option in this passing game?
The Jets have no real incumbent at tight end. Maybe the guy ends up being Jeremy Ruckert. In that case, you drop Taylor. But what if Taylor impresses right away and earns the TE1 role? Justin Fields is capable of supporting two fantasy-relevant pass-catchers. The only one we know for sure is Wilson. This is a no risk, pure upside play.