It’s a sparse tight end landscape this season. That means many fantasy football managers may turn to a pair of old reliables: Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews. Both are seemingly past their primes, but the name value may be too much for some to resist. Are either worth the selection in 2025, and if so, who?
Travis Kelce’s 2025 Fantasy Outlook
Speculation swirled that Kelce was expected to retire following the 2024 season, but a Super Bowl beatdown may have been the only result that changed his mind. Now, he returns for at least one more year with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, with revenge on the mind.
It might not matter for fantasy purposes, though. Despite receiving a standard workload of targets and receptions, Kelce returned career-low numbers in yards and touchdowns, excluding his redshirted rookie season. This continues a trend of decreasing efficiency that started in 2023, which broke a streak of seven consecutive finishes as a top-two tight end.
To make matters worse, the Chiefs’ consistent Super Bowl aspirations have them focused on the end goal of a successful playoff run. The team doesn’t need to force Kelce the ball during the grind of the regular season and can focus on keeping him healthy for the playoffs.
That was likely the plan last year before Rashee Rice went down with a knee injury early in the season. With Hollywood Brown also sidelined, that only left rookie Xavier Worthy as a credible receiving target. Because of that, Kelce’s workload saw a slight uptick from 2023 to 2024. Now with both Rice and Brown returning, that seems unlikely to be the case this year.
There were still signs of life, though. A run of 20+ point games in the middle of the season had managers excited, but Kelce’s floor would fall from beneath him too often to be relied upon.
Mark Andrews’ 2025 Fantasy Outlook
Andrews was the lone tight end to usurp Kelce as TE1 during his prime back in 2021. It’s been a rocky road since then, as injuries have made Andrews a far less reliable option over the past few seasons.
In 2023, an ankle injury ended his season early, leaving managers scrambling to find another option. In 2024, a car wreck left Andrews slow to start the season, easing back into his previous workload.
Andrews’ 11.1 fantasy points per game last year were his lowest total since his rookie year. If you drafted him, you likely traded or even dropped him outright, only for Andrews to find his groove and finish six straight weeks with a touchdown.
Mark Andrews vs. the Cleveland Browns:
– 43 Catches
– 541 Receiving Yards
– 7 Receiving TouchdownsFeed Money Mark 🍽️
— The Ravens Realm (@RealmRavens) September 29, 2023
Advanced stats say Andrews recovered quite well. If his end-of-season stretch is any indication, then he may be a valuable pick in fantasy and potentially a competitor for TE1 once again.
Andrews will enter his eighth season at age 30, so the age cliff shouldn’t be a massive factor yet. The Baltimore Ravens’ offense could still feature him as well.
Only DeAndre Hopkins was added to Baltimore’s pass-catching corps, with Rashod Bateman re-signed, and Isaiah Likely and Zay Flowers returning. The offense will still run through Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, but the former’s ceiling as an MVP-level passer supports multiple fantasy assets.
Who Should I Draft in 2025?
The answer to me is a resounding Andrews. These two players trended in opposite directions throughout the season, and odds are that will continue.
While Andrews’ struggles can be attributed to bad luck and last year’s car accident, his underlying stats suggest he can still be an elite player. Kelce’s issues, meanwhile, seem purely age-related — a cliff that comes for all players.
MORE: PFSN’s Fantasy Draft Simulator
Add to that the fact that Kelce already has one foot in the door of retirement, and this may be more of a farewell tour. That doesn’t mean he won’t be usable, but Kelce could be a frustrating player at best, with excellent weeks followed by a string of no-shows.
Andrews isn’t a slam dunk, either. He hasn’t been particularly healthy and has had his share of duds, too. But there’s more confidence that he can be an elite player for an extended stretch of the season.