The 2025 NFL Draft gave us landing spots for all of our favorite rookie tight ends, headlined by a pair of first-round picks. You can see my pre-draft rookie right end ranks here. That article includes more detailed breakdowns of most of the prospects. For players who are new additions to the ranks or landed in unique spots, I’ve added some extra analysis after the rankings listed below.
Dynasty Rookie Tight End Rankings
Early Round TE Targets
I had Tyler Warren as my TE1 heading into the draft, but Colston Loveland wasn’t far behind him. With four extra picks of draft capital and an infinitely better landing spot for near-term production, Loveland should go ahead of Warren in rookie drafts.
With middling production and efficiency, I wasn’t overly enthused about Mason Taylor before Day Two of the draft. However, his film evaluations were overwhelmingly positive and he looked like a good bet for draft capital. Not only did that play out, but he also managed to land with a team projected to roll out Stone Smartt as their Week 1 starter. Taylor is a good bet to put up usable fantasy numbers as a rookie, pushing him up both the redraft and dynasty rankings.
While the landing spot for Harold Fannin Jr. wasn’t ideal, it could have been worse. He will be parked behind David Njoku as a rookie, but Kevin Stefanski has a history of using multiple tight ends if you look back far enough. Cleveland led the NFL in dropbacks with multiple tight ends on the field in 2020. They then ranked third in 2021 and seventh in 2022 before falling out of the top 10 over the past two seasons. Fannin Jr. could provide a few usable weeks as a rookie and then Njoku will be a free agent in the 2026 offseason. I’m still buying the historically productive tight end in rookie drafts.
TE Premium Fantasy Picks
Oronde Gadsden was fortunate to get drafted by a Chargers team with blocker Will Dissly penciled in for a starting role. Dissly was a productive receiver as a starter down the stretch, but that’s not his calling card. Gadsden is a de facto slot receiver who could earn a surprising amount of targets as a backup tight end.
The final three tight ends in my new top 10 only check a box or two, but that’s enough to make them worth stashing in TE premium formats. Gunnar Helm led a talented Texas team in catches with a 60/786/6 receiving line last year and only has Chig Okonkwo to dethrone in Tennessee. Luke Lachey was on pace to be the next high-upside Iowa prospect early in his career. He accounted for 21 percent of the Hawkeyes’ offense as a true sophomore and then earned a 41 percent yardage share in the first two games of his junior campaign before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Lachey did not return to form in 2024, but maybe he can in the pros. Mitchell Evans has a stunningly similar story. He topped two yards per route run with a 24 percent yardage share as a junior. However, a torn ACL ended his season at seven games. He didn’t look like the same player on a run-first Fighting Irish offense in 2024. At 6’5/258, Evans has the build of an NFL tight end and was only drafted one round after Panthers incumbent J’Tavion Sanders.
