The 2025 NFL Draft is a little over a month away and that means it’s time for positional rankings. Below are my top 10 rookie tight ends for dynasty fantasy football purposes, though without knowing landing spots, they are largely how I would draft these players from a real-life perspective as well.
1. Tyler Warren, Penn State
Warren is a throwback to the days of Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski. At 6’6/256, he’s built like your dad thinks tight ends should be and blocks like it too. On the other hand, the Penn State offense used him as their de facto WR1. Warren didn’t see much run until his fourth season at Happy Valley, playing behind a laundry list of future NFL tight ends including Pat Freiermuth, Brenton Strange, Zack Kuntz, and Theo Johnson. He gained traction as a senior, splitting reps with Johnson and out-producing him with a 34/422/7 line. Warren then put his himself in the first round of the draft with 104 receptions for 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns in his final season. He averaged a stellar 2.9 yards per route run and recorded a wide receiver breakout with a 30 percent College Dominator (the amount of receiving yards and touchdowns a player accounted for within their offense). Warren was a strong YAC producer, adding seven yards after the catch per reception last year. This shouldn’t come as a surprise given that he ran for 218 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries while getting reps at running back and quarterback.
All the Tyler Warren wildcat plays from 2024 📽️
— Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg) March 14, 2025
PSU coaches: Let's leverage a huge, left-handed TE... he's the best player on the field pic.twitter.com/mkLIqRDkyT
Side note: How does a tight end have four minutes (4!) of wildcat quarterback highlights in a single season?
There aren’t real flaws in Warren’s game, just things he doesn’t lap the field in. He doesn’t have an extra gear to stretch the seam deep like Kyle Pitts did. Pitts went for 278 yards on deep targets in his final season at Florida, over three times as many deep yards as Warren had last year. And he’s missing the deep catalog of elite seasons that Brock Bowers had. The latter was above two yards per route run in all three of his collegiate seasons and left Georgia with a career average of 2.6. Warren accomplished that feat once and has a career average of 1.9. The lack of NFL Combine numbers for Warren also creates some ambiguity on just how elite of an athlete he is. I don’t see Warren in the same tier of prospects as Pitts or Bowers, but he’s not far behind.
2. Colston Loveland, Michigan
The second of many big tight ends in this class, Loveland is slightly taller than Warren but brings a more slender frame at just 248 pounds. Loveland still has the size to be a formidable blocker in the NFL, but that wasn’t his focus in college. His primary objective was to be the entirety of Michigan’s passing game. Loveland first made a name for himself as a sophomore with a 45/649/4 line with J.J. McCarthy throwing him the ball. He only posted 582 yards in 2024 but did so on 56 catches and scored an additional touchdown. More importantly, he amassed these stats in five fewer games. Those stats were good for a 42 percent dominator at 2.2 yards per team pass attempt. Assuming his name is called in the first 32 picks, Loveland—along with Warren—will join Vernon Davis, Heath Miller, and Noah Fant as the only round-one tight ends with a true breakout in the past 20 years. A dreadful passing attack forced Michigan to use him primarily as an underneath option last year. He excelled in that role, averaging 2.7 yards per route run at a 7.1 aDOT. Loveland was a true seam-stretcher in the season prior with a 9.6 aDOT. He averaged 2.4 YPRR.
Loveland does most of his damage before the catch. His career mark of 5.4 YAC per reception is subpar for the class and Pro Football Focus charted him with a measly eight missed tackles forced in his career. That lack of dynamism with the ball in his hands will limit his ceiling, but only to the extent that it means he isn’t George Kittle. The aforementioned Noah Fant sticks out as a close comp for Loveland.
3. Harold Fannin, Bowling Green
Fannin put his name on the map in his sophomore season at Bowling Green. He accounted for 34 percent of the Eagles’ passing attack with 623 yards and six scores. Fannin then set the world on fire as a junior with an 117/1,550/10 receiving line, netting him the season-long and per-game NCAA records for catches and yards by a tight end. His career data on a per-route basis is sublime. Since 2018—likely much farther back than that—Fannin’s .13 first downs per route and 2.9 YPRR lead all tight ends and it’s not a close race. Fannin did the bulk of his work from the slot or inline and was a monster after the catch. His 873 YAC in 2024 would have been the fourth-most total receiving yards for a tight end. Fannin didn’t just beat up on weaker competition at Bowling Green. He totaled an absurd 19 catches for 282 yards and two touchdowns in his pair of games against Power Four teams (Penn State and Texas A&M).
Fannin embodies the boom/bust moniker. As good as the stats are, he has legitimate red flags. On tape, Fannin has solid straight-line speed but is an upright runner who looks shockingly stiff when moving laterally. The Senior Bowl confirmed Fannin’s underwhelming stature but he could’ve changed the narrative on his movement with a strong combine. Instead, the 6’3/241 tight end posted a 7.82 RAS with sevens in nearly every drill. That’s not a bad showing, but it’s not ideal at a position that typically requires elite athleticism. It’s especially concerning given the level of competition he is coming from.
4. Mason Taylor, LSU
Taylor’s counting stats look solid. He caught 129 passes for 1,308 yards during three years at LSU and peaked at 55 catches for 546 yards in 2024. However, his career dominator rating of nine percent means those numbers are inflated by strong offensive environments. On the other hand, the Tigers’ have been loaded with NFL talent at wide receiver over the past three years. You can’t blame them for not throwing to Taylor that often. While a bigger cut of the pie would have helped his profile, it’s not a prerequisite to NFL success. Taylor has plenty of experience with nearly 1,200 career routes run and is an adequate blocker. At 6’5/251, he has the size to be a plus blocker if he hones his technique.
The bigger issue is Taylor’s lack of athletic testing. He didn’t run at the combine and plays a position that almost requires upper-echelon athleticism, even for NFL standards. Unlike Fannin, Taylor doesn’t have an elite resume to fall back on in the face of underwhelming or unknown combine numbers. Taylor has good hands and can stretch the seam with his speed but isn’t going to be a team’s top target at the next level. I’ve seen Tucker Kraft and Dallas Goedert given as pro comparisons for Taylor. I don’t see him as dynamic as either player, particularly after the catch. Austin Hooper strikes me as a better fit.
5. Elijah Arroyo, Miami
Arroyo was a backup for three years and missed time in his sophomore and junior seasons due to injuries. He finally hit the spotlight as a senior and broke out as Cam Ward’s top tight end, catching 35 passes for 590 yards and seven touchdowns. Arroyo was at his best when Miami schemed up looks for him. He was targeted on 12 screens, 10 of which were caught for 81 yards including 96 YAC. All of those numbers were top-10 among Power Four tight ends.
Arroyo had a knack for slipping past zone coverage, averaging 2.2 YPRR versus zone compared to .6 against man coverage. He also failed to catch any of his five career contested targets. I don’t think every prospect breakdown needs a player comparison, but it’s becoming an addiction: Chig Okonkwo.
6. Terrence Ferguson, Oregon
Ferguson was credited with a start in roughly half of his games through his sophomore campaign and worked his way into a larger role every year. He peaked at a 15 percent dominator with 43 receptions for 591 yards and three scores in 2024 and crept just north of two yards per route run. Ferguson put his name in the Day Two conversation with an elite combine.
He posted a 9.84 RAS at 6’5/247 and highlighted the weekend in Indy with an 4.63 40-yard dash. For as big and as athletic as he is, Ferguson is only an adequate blocker. His production is also inflated via play action reps. He earned 62 percent of his 2024 receiving yards on play fake looks. This isn’t entirely a negative, it just means he was put in advantageous situations more than most tight ends. The top-end athleticism plus a solid production profile still make Ferguson worth a shot on Day Two of the draft and the third or fourth round of dynasty drafts.
7. Gunnar Helm, Texas
Helm backed up future NFL tight end J’Tavion Sanders for three seasons before breaking out in his senior campaign. Once installed as the full-time starter, Helm proved his worth with a 60/786/6 line on the Longhorn’s playoff-bound offense. He averaged 1.6 yards per route run and was responsible for 18 percent of the team’s passing output. These aren’t elite numbers, but they look better when you pencil in first-round draft capital for Matthew Golden—who Helm caught more passes than—and Day Three capital for Isaiah Bond.
Helm ran a full route tree at Texas and was impressive after the catch, averaging 6.8 YAC per catch for his career. He also has sure hands with just two drops on 95 career targets. However, his production is notably inflated by play action looks. Just shy of half of his yardage came on play fakes. That was the fifth-highest rate among 33 qualified Power Four tight ends. Blocking is an extreme weakness for Helm. Pro Football Focus graded him outside the top 200 tight ends in run-blocking grade in each of the past two seasons. The biggest issue for Helm is his sub-5 RAS. Helm twisted his ankle early in the day, possibly tanking his entire suit of combine measurements.
Here is a crazy Combine story: #Texas TE Gunnar Helm twisted his ankle on his false start on the 40-yard dash, then finished all the drills anyway. Said nothing until it was over. Had an MRI on Saturday to reveal a sprain. And will run again at his Pro Day. The pics are… yikes. pic.twitter.com/fi9Uus2ASa
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 2, 2025
Still, it leaves the door open to him not being an NFL-caliber athlete.
8. Brant Kuithe, Utah
Kuithe popped as a true freshman with 227 yards and then fully broke out as a sophomore with a 34/602/6 line through the air. The former high school running back also added 102 rushing yards and three touchdowns on six carries. This was his best season by total yards, yards per team pass attempt (1.9), and yards per route run (2.7). Kuithe only played in six games during a COVID-shortened 2020 season but rebounded in 2021 with over 600 yards. He missed most of the 2022 season torn ACL and meniscus. Multiple setbacks then cost him the following season. He returned in 2024 to dominate the Utes’ passing game with a 31 percent dominator.
Kuithe is an old prospect at a position that takes time to find your footing in the NFL. He might be 28 by the time he breaks out. However, the production is undeniable and spanned the entirety of his college career. At 6’2/236, Kuithe doesn’t look like an NFL tight end and his college metrics also point to his stature being an issue. He caught less than a third of his career contested targets and PFF graded him as their No. 271 run-blocking tight end in 2024. He profiles as a team’s backup Y tight end.
9. Oronde Gadsden, Syracuse
Gadsden was recruited as a wide receiver but converted to tight end after a ho-hum freshman season. The move was a smashing success and Gadsden went for 975 yards and six scores on 61 receptions. Gadsden accounted for 33 percent of Syracuse’s passing output at 2.8 yards per team pass attempt. For reference, Kyle Pitts peaked at a 32 percent dominator and 2.5 YPTPA. Gadsden missed most of the 2023 season with a Lisfranc injury and returned in 2024 to post another 900-yard season, this time on 73 receptions. Gadsden looks like an elite seem-stretcher on paper, but a cursory glance at the film or advanced numbers pokes holes in his profile.
His conversion to tight end in 2022 is a complete fabrication. He ran eight routes from an inline position compared to 83 from out wide and 359 in the slot. As a senior, he actually played some tight end, running 189 routes from an inline alignment. However, Gadsden did next to nothing when playing the inline role. He averaged 1.1 yards per route run and was targeted on 10 percent of his routes. At 6’5/243, Gadsden has NFL tight end size, but doesn’t have the college experience of a pro tight end. The hope for him is a Juwan Johnson career arc.
10. Jake Briningstool, Clemson
Briningstool didn’t see much work as a freshman but made headway as a sophomore with 285 yards and four scores. Over his final two seasons, Briningstool posted 99 catches for 1,028 yards and a dozen scores. This was good for a 19 percent dominator rating. He averaged 1.3 yards per route run in each of his three seasons as a starter or part-time player. Briningstool primarily played in the slot and inline at Clemson but did log 73 routes out wide in total. He also worked at a variety of target depths with a 9.3 aDOT as a sophomore that trickled down to 7.6 by his senior campaign.
At 6’6, the former Tiger has the frame of an “F” tight end, but his blocking was adequate at best in college. Bulking up from his current weight 241 pounds should help and is arguably necessary. The extra pounds, on the other hand, may hinder his already-limited athleticism.
Briningstool has the size, athleticism, and production profile a future backup, but he doesn’t appear to have a signature trait that will allow him to carve out a special role in the NFL.
