Following a lackluster rookie season, Ja’Tavion Sanders enters year two as the Carolina Panthers’ clear starting tight end. In an offense without an obvious second option in the passing game, could Sanders carve out enough of a role to make him a viable fantasy football tight end?
Ja’Tavion Sanders Fantasy Outlook
Interestingly, Sanders played 73% of the snaps in his first game as a rookie. While he wasn’t involved as a receiver, earning just one target on 28 route runs, seeing him on the field so soon was encouraging. Unfortunately, that never translated into anything consistently reliable for fantasy.
Sanders wound up playing 16 games, averaging 4.6 fantasy points per game. He showed flashes of his upside and had some moments where he looked to be turning a corner. Most notably, from Weeks 6-9, Sanders posted starter-worthy fantasy point totals in three of his four games. Even in Weeks 10 and 12, his next two games played, he was at 8.8 and 7.9, which is passable in a bind.
Ja’Tavion Sanders played his rookie year at 21 years old, and was doing things like this in a grown man’s league.
Imagine what he’s going to do now that he’s gotten in shape. Still only 22 years old is crazy. pic.twitter.com/SeIzOJfNIk
— Sundownmadeit (@BCole100) July 1, 2025
Perhaps it was due to a neck injury that cost him Week 13, but Sanders was never able to build upon his solid midseason stretch. He didn’t catch a pass in the next three games and scored 8.0 fantasy points over his final five games. Sanders finished his rookie year averaging 1.2 yards per route run on a mere 9% target share.
Of course, we’ve seen plenty of productive tight ends who do not do much as rookies. However, this doesn’t preclude Sanders from taking a significant step forward this season.
Sanders should be the Panthers’ TE1 this year. Although Tommy Tremble is back, he’s a trusted veteran. If Sanders can’t beat out Tremble, there would never be anything for fantasy.
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The Panthers do have more target competition, though. They drafted the overall WR1 of this year’s class, Tetairoa McMillan, inside the top 10. Jalen Coker showed promise as a rookie UDFA in 2024. Adam Thielen is back. And Xavier Legette still exists. There’s no clear second option in this passing game, but it’s hard to fathom it will be Sanders.
The sophomore tight end carries a TE30 average draft position (ADP). No one outside the top 16-18 tight ends needs to be considered in fantasy drafts. You’re not drafting Sanders. Watch for how he’s used and what he does early in the season. He might emerge as a viable back-end TE1 who can be acquired via the waiver wire.
Dan Fornek’s Ja’Tavion Sanders Fantasy Projection
Ja’Tavion Sanders had a quiet rookie season with the Carolina Panthers, catching just 33 of 43 targets for 342 yards and a touchdown in 16 games. He finished as the TE37 in PPR points per game (4.6).Â
Sanders, the team’s fourth-round pick, was a dynamic weapon during his final two seasons at Texas (99 receptions for 1,294 yards and seven touchdowns), so the production was somewhat disappointing.
That said, the Panthers’ offense took a significant step toward the end of the season with Bryce Young at quarterback. And while the Panthers used a top 10 pick to improve their receiver group (Tetairoa McMillan), there is still plenty of room for other pass catchers to emerge within the offense. By all accounts, Sanders has been one of the stars in training camp, but he will need to convert that promise into production to be reliable for fantasy football.
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It is fair to be optimistic about Carolina’s passing attack after Young showed he could succeed as a passer to close out his second season. However, this offense still has plenty of players capable of earning targets like McMillan, Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, and Jalen Coker. Sanders isn’t a player to draft, but he is one worth monitoring throughout the season. If he can increase his snap share, targets may follow.
