Tight end is an interesting position for 2025 and my approach to it very closely mirrors my approach to the quarterback position. There is a clear “Big 3” at the tight end position and all of them present the potential for a massive positional advantage against many of your league mates. Brock Bowers and Trey McBride are both candidates for 300-point seasons in PPR leagues in 2025 after posting 263 and 250 points, respectively, in 2024. Bowers enters his second season as the clear focal point of the Raiders offense with a quarterback upgrade, while McBride’s situation remains almost exactly the same but he is due for some massive positive regression in the touchdown department. This gives both of them clear paths to that 300-point threshold, while George Kittle is not far behind after his 237-point season in 2024 despite missing two games and the 49ers wide receivers seemingly all dealing with injuries. Kittle finishing near 300 points is also in the range of outcomes, with 230+ points seeming like a near certainty if he plays most of the season.
The reason that those statistics for the “Big 3” mean so much for our purposes is the fact that in 2024, the only other tight end to score over 200 points was Jonnu Smith with 222 – and he is now on a different team that throws at a much lower rate. Obviously, some of the next tier of tight ends could have improved seasons in 2025, but even with a reasonable jump in production, there is still a large gap between the Tier 1 tight ends and everyone else. This leaves us with a situation where there is a good chance that any/all of the top three tight ends could reasonably give us an average of a four-to- seven-point positional advantage over our opponents on a weekly basis. Fantasy football is a weekly head-to-head game, so that kind of advantage is nothing to sneeze at.
Likewise, as discussed at the quarterback position, these three tight ends give us very consistent production, as they cumulatively scored double-digit PPR points in 38 of 49 active games in 2024. In addition to the consistency and floor that these players provide, they also offer an elite weekly ceiling. There were 40 instances in 2024 of tight ends scoring 20+ PPR points and Bowers, McBride, and Kittle combined for 16 of them (40%). Yes, you read that correctly, the top three players at tight end had nearly as many 20-point games as the rest of the league combined.
Just like my approach to quarterback, I want to get one of these top tight ends on my roster whenever possible. This allows us to use only one roster spot on the position and take more “shots on goal” at running back and wide receiver. The benefits are massive, and frankly, I trust myself to find strong values at the other positions and be effective on the waiver wire and in finding quality trades if needed.
If I am unable to secure one of the “Big 3”, my strategy at the position will be largely influenced by the other aspects of my team and early portions of my draft. My preferred targets from Tier 2 and Tier 3 are: Mark Andrews, T.J. Hockenson, Tyler Warren, and Colston Loveland. Andrews and Hockenson have posted top-three seasons in the past and are in offenses that could help them push for 240 points on the season while also having the availability of some key teammates in question – raising their floors and ceilings. Meanwhile, Warren and Loveland are bets on talent who could be included in that top tier entering 2026. They are worth the risk to get on your roster. Some things that I will consider when deciding how to handle the position when I do not select a premium option ::
