2025 Pre-Draft Dynasty Rookie Rankings: Tight Ends

We are starting to lay the groundwork for the 2025 season.

Kicking things off in that capacity, we are digging into this incoming rookie class for Dynasty rookie drafts, startups, and even the potential these young players can have in 2025 seasonal formats.

Even before the NFL Draft in April, rookies are available in Best Ball formats across all open platforms.

If you are new to how I evaluate rookies, my process is more of an evidence-based approach.

I am not always 100% aligned with my prospect models, but I am also not an NFL Scout and do not have a background in that area.

Now that the NFL Combine has passed, we have a plethora of new athletic data on this upcoming rookie class.

That information can be applied to athletic models and used to shape complete portfolios and production profiles, a general overlay of what these players put on tape for NFL teams.

We will add notes about those prospects as we receive more athletic testing data through Pro Days.

Overall, however, athletic testing has a low correlation to actual fantasy output, and when it does, it is typically counted twice for productive players.

But when a prospect has subpar athletic testing paired with a limited or nonexistent production resume, we are playing with fire when attempting to elevate or count on that player for NFL production.

Post-draft, we’ll have the added influence of draft investment and landing spot to add to the layout.

Those two components most influence predicting immediate player usage, so things will be shaken up a bit come April.

We will revisit both ranks and adjust accordingly.

With all of that set up out of the way, let’s dig into the top prospects of this class at the tight end position.

The tight end position has received an injection of much-needed youth in recent seasons.

We have had a rookie tight end close the season as a TE1 scorer in three of the past four seasons, with Sam LaPorta and Brock Bowers leading overall PPR points the past two seasons.

The 2025 class has another objectively good group of players who can make immediate impacts at the top. It also has several intriguing options to monitor during the upcoming draft.

That does not mean we will not see some of the players here get higher draft investment than projected, but this class carries far less cache than the crop of players we had a year ago.

You can examine the successes and failures along the way by finding the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 versions of this article.

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Tier 1 Dynasty Rookie Tight Ends

• Tyler Warren

Tyler Warren, Penn State

Final Year Age: 22.6

Warren shattered his ceiling this past year after catching 49 passes over his first four seasons at Penn State.

Warren flashed for 7 touchdowns in 2023 but was still limited playing behind Theo Johnson.

With Johnson leaving Penn State for the NFL, Warren took over this past season, collecting 104 receptions for 1,233 yards and 8 touchdowns over 16 games.

A Swiss Army Knife, he rushed 26 times for 218 yards and 4 more touchdowns.

He went 3 of 6 for 35 yards and a touchdown throwing the ball.

He also had a punt for good measure.

The Mackey Award Winner was targeted on 30.5% of his routes (third among tight ends in this class), posting 2.78 yards per route (second).

49.6% of his targets resulted in a first down or touchdown (second).

Warren caught 61.9% (13 of 21) of his contest catches. No tight end with as many targets as he had posted a higher rate.

He led all tight ends with 19 targets in the red zone, catching 16 for 7 touchdowns.

Warren has seen a lot of man coverage, facing man on 48.7% of his routes, the highest rate of any tight end in this draft class.

Against man coverage, he posted a robust 3.98 yards per route run while drawing a target on a class-high 42.8% of his routes.

No player (wide receivers included) in this class had more yards against man coverage than Warren’s 521.

He will face more zone coverage in the NFL, but Warren still posted 2.46 yards per route against zone coverage while a class-high 53.5% of his targets against zone coverage resulted in a first down or touchdown.

As versatile as his production suggests, Warren played 47.3% of his snaps in the slot, 33.1% inline, and another 14% out wide while also logging snaps in the backfield and at quarterback.

The only small slice of shade to throw his way was a late-career breakout behind an inferior player, but Warren is drawing live to be selected inside the top 10 of the draft.

Depending on how you label Travis Hunter, he is also drawing live to be the first pass catcher selected.

Tier 2 Dynasty Rookie Tight Ends

• Colston Loveland

Colston Loveland, Michigan

Final Year Age: 20.7

Loveland caught more passes in all three of his seasons at Michigan, ending the 2024 season with 56 receptions for 582 yards and 5 touchdowns over 10 games before suffering a shoulder injury.

The counting stats for Loveland are not as sexy as they were for Warren since he was in an anemic passing offense, but Loveland anchored the Michigan passing game.

He led all tight ends in this class with a target on 37.6% of his routes, posting 2.67 yards per route run. That is third in this class behind Warren and Harold Fannin Jr.

Loveland was used everywhere, playing 47.6% of his snaps in the slot, 32.5% inline, and 18.6% out wide.

He posted 2.01 yards per route from the slot, one of only three tight ends to post 2.0 yards per route inside.

If there are holes to poke in Loveland’s game, he was not a big-time producer with the football in his hands.

Loveland was only credited with forcing three missed tackles, posting a class-low 5.4% missed tackle rate per reception.

Loveland did not participate in any athletic testing at the NFL Combine due to his shoulder injury, but we would like to see some background testing on him.

Loveland only ran 13.3% of his routes against man coverages (the third lowest rate in the class) and only had 6 downfield targets (20 yards or more).

He also only collected 2 of 10 contested catches last season, but Loveland is a big body (6-foot-6 with 32.75-inch arms and 10-inch hands), suggesting that he could have been running cold on variance on those tight-window targets.

Loveland does not have Warren's versatility, but he is projected to be selected in the first round of the draft and be a focal point of his passing offense out of the packaging in his first season.

If he is selected in the back half of Round 1, he could potentially land in an offense with an established quarterback, further enhancing his initial upside.

Loveland is also on the younger side of things, turning 21 this April.

Tier 3 Dynasty Rookie Tight Ends

• Harold Fannin Jr.

Harold Fannin Jr, Bowling Green

Final Year Age: 20.4

Fannin had record-setting production for a pass-catcher in 2024, not just a tight end.

He led the country in receptions (117) and receiving yards (1,555) with 10 touchdowns.

He punctuated his career by catching 17 passes for 213 yards and a touchdown in Bowling Green’s bowl game against Arkansas State.

He led the FBS in yards per team attempt (3.71 yards).

Fannin was the Bowling Green passing game, collecting 42.4% of the team receptions (second in the country) with 49.7% of the team receiving yards (first).

He forced a class-high 34 missed tackles.

He caught many passes to inflate opportunities, but his 29.1% missed tackle rate is second in this class.

He did all of that at age 20.

Fannin is the youngest tight end in this draft, turning 21 this July.

Fannin is an interesting fantasy player. His projected draft capital is nebulous due to his tweener size (6-foot-3 and 241 pounds), athletic profile, and stacking production in a MAC passing game that suited his playstyle.

It is fair to siphon off some of the raw counting stats due to his conditions, but I do not want to overly dock Fannin because he still smashed when he faced front-end opponents this past year at Penn State and Texas A&M.

He caught 11 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown against Penn State while catching 8 passes for 145 yards and 1 touchdown against A&M.

That said, Fannin still has obstacles to overcome transitioning to the NFL since he is not much of a blocker (he was in protection on a class-low 1.6% of passing plays) and needs to find an offense that is selecting him to be used in a similar fashion that he was in college as a zone-busting pass catcher.

Fannin averaged 4.09 yards per route run against zone coverages.

No other tight end in this class was over 2.46.

Fannin must prove he can line up and win against NFL defenders to reach his ceiling as a full-time player, but he is entering the NFL at the perfect time for his skill set.

The NFL has been increasing the rate of zone coverages and forcing short passes.

Fannin is talked about as a running back in a tight end body, but he did receive the second highest run blocking grade per Pro Football Focus in this draft class at his position on 263 run snaps.

That came mainly against MAC competition, but he also had high marks from them in that department against Penn State and A&M, which is counterintuitive to the narrative surrounding his game.

He did not help his cause at the NFL Combine, posting a composite physical score in the 52nd percentile.

His 4.71 time in the 40 was 38th percentile, but he had one of this class's best 10-yard splits (1.56).

Top-down, Fannin reminds me of where we were with Isaiah Likely entering the 2022 Draft.

Likely was hyper-productive at a smaller program that did not face much Power-5 competition. Likely also entered the league with nearly an identical physical profile.

While that comparison should keep Fannin's lights on as a rookie pick since Likely is regarded as a fringe TE1 in Dynasty circles, it should also be a heat check.

Fannin is not a player we should lock in immediate production from in the NFL and could require a slower burn. He needs his landing spot to nurture his upside.

That said, if Fannin is a faller in rookie drafts, he becomes appealing to take shots on rosters that are not pressing for instant production at the position.

Tier 4 Dynasty Rookie Tight Ends

• Terrance Ferguson
• Mason Taylor
• Elijah Arroyo
• Gunnar Helm
• Oronde Gadsden II

We are into the depth portion of the position.

Gamers should not be buying anyone in this tier with lofty expectations for production out of the gates, but this tier of players has positives in their profiles to keep tabs on for later-round picks in deeper rookie drafts.

We should see most of these players selected on Day 2 of the NFL Draft.

Terrance Ferguson, Oregon

Final Year Age: 21.9

Ferguson improved his receptions and receiving yards every year in college, ending 2024 with 43 catches for 591 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Ferguson was heavily utilized as a short field pass catcher in the Oregon offense, with a limited usage tree beyond the line of scrimmage.

24% of his receiving yards were on screen passes, the highest rate for a tight end in this class.

47.7% of his targets resulted in a first down or touchdown, which is fifth in this class.

He was targeted on 22.5% of his routes, which was sixth.

He caught only 3 of 12 contested catch opportunities when tasked to win downfield.

Despite playing 42% of his snaps in the slot, Ferguson only averaged 0.90 yards per route there, 17th in this class.

He had a 6.2% drop rate, 17th in this class.

Ferguson helped his cause at the NFL Combine, posting a 77th percentile physical score.

Ferguson takes a step of faith in developing as a full-field option, but his athletic profile will get him drafted, and his ability near the line of scrimmage fits the current state of the NFL.

Mason Taylor, LSU

Final Year Age: 20.6

Taylor is coming off career bests with 55 receptions for 546 yards this past season at LSU, adding 2 touchdowns.

Taylor is the second-youngest tight end in this class behind Fannin, so there is a runway for him to grow.

Taylor has picked up steam throughout the draft process and could be the third tight end selected after Warren and Loveland, but his production profile is mixed.

He was not a heavy target earner, drawing an opportunity on 17.9% of his routes (12th in this class).

But when targeted, 46.9% of his opportunities resulted in a first down or touchdown, which was sixth.

If you watched the NFL Combine, you saw Daniel Jeremiah rave about Taylor’s run in the gauntlet.

Taylor was credited with only one drop on 79 targets (1.3%).

The only other tight end in this class with a lower drop rate is Robbie Ouzts, who only had 10 total targets.

While Taylor has good hands, explosive plays are lacking from his profile.

He was 18th in this class in yards per route run (1.24).

Just 4.7% of his career receptions went for touchdowns, which ranks 19th in this draft class.

His 10.1 yards per reception average for his career is the lowest rate for a tight end in this class.

Elijah Arroyo, Miami

Final Year Age: 21.7

Arroyo was a riser at the Senior Bowl, coming off a season with 35 receptions for 590 yards and 7 touchdowns at Miami.

A splash-play option at the position, 31.9% of Arroyo’s targets were 20 or more yards downfield, the highest rate in this class.

53.2% of his targets resulted in a first down or touchdown, the highest rate of this draft class.

Questions for Arroyo lie with his injury history, ability to play inline, and ability to beat man coverage.

He had only 11 career receptions before his senior season, and he missed most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons with knee injuries.

Despite his efficiency per opportunity, Arroyo played 51.4% of his snaps in the slot and was not a high target earner.

He was targeted on just 13.5% of his routes (18th in this class).

He averaged 2.28 yards per route run against zone coverage (5th) compared to 0.81 yards per route against man coverage (15th).

As noted earlier, the NFL is running more zone coverages than ever to elevate Arroyo as a zone-beater in the seams, but his usage's all-encompassing components are guesswork.

He was credited with forcing only three missed tackles on his 35 receptions (8.6%), which was 18th in the class.

Gunnar Helm, Texas

Final Year Age: 22.3

After catching 19 passes over his first three seasons at Texas, Helm received his opportunity in the offense in 2024 when Ja’Tavion Sanders left for the NFL.

With Sanders out of the way, Helm caught 60 passes for 786 yards and 7 touchdowns over 16 games.

Playing in a loaded passing game, Helm was targeted on only 14.9% of his routes (16th in this class) but was productive on the opportunities he did garner.

Helm forced a missed tackle on 20% of his receptions (8th) while 47.9% of his targets resulted in a first down or touchdown (4th).

Helm is one of the few pass-catching tight ends in this class who also played traditional tight end.

He lined up inline on 68.3% of his snaps, the second highest rate in this class.

The downside is that Helm was graded as one of the worst run-blockers in the country, which could stunt his initial playing time as an inline player.

He was third among all tight ends last season in run blocking snaps (445) but was 260th in run blocking grade Per Pro Football Focus.

Helm injured himself at the NFL Combine, so I am not knocking him for his 4.84 time in the 40.

Oronde Gadsden II, Syracuse

Final Year Age: 21.5

Gadsden was a productive player at Syracuse, catching 143 passes for 2,000 yards and 14 touchdowns over what was essentially two seasons played due to an injury in 2023.

He caught 73 passes for 934 yards and 7 touchdowns this past season.

He averaged 14.0 yards per reception over his career, which is third in this draft class.

If you watched his dad play, you would feel good about what his son brings to the table in the contested catch department.

Gadsden has a massive wingspan at 6-foot-5 with 33.3-inch arms and 10-inch hands.

He had 17 contested catches this past season, the most of any tight end in this class.

His overall production will get him drafted on Day 3.

Still, Gadsden is tough to project since he is essentially a power slot receiver who may not end up with an actual NFL position because he is not fast enough to play outside and is not physical enough to play traditional tight end.

Gadsden won in the contested catch department but was forced to live there due to his limitations of blowing past coverage.

27.2% of his total targets ended up as contested catches, the highest rate in this class.

35.5% of his targets against man coverage were contested.

No tight end in this class did less after the catch.

Only 27.5% of Gadsden’s yardage came after the catch, the lowest rate in this class.

His 3.5 yards after the catch per reception were last.

He played inline on only 32.6% of his snaps, 17th in this class.

Tier 5 Dynasty Rookie Tight Ends

• Jalin Conyers
• Brant Kuithe
• Joshua Simon
• Jake Briningstool
• Mitchell Evans
• Bryson Nesbit
• Moliki Matavao
• Gavin Bartholomew
• Thomas Fidone II
• Robbie Ouzts
• Luke Lachey
• CJ Dippre
• Jackson Hawes

We are deep into the weeds of this draft class.

Many of these tight ends will not be selected in rookie drafts, drawing Day 3 or undrafted status in the NFL Draft.

With that, I will throw a few bullet points on the rest of this group.

Jalin Conyers, Texas Tech

Final Year Age: 23.4

• 86th percentile physical score at the NFL Combine, the highest in this class.
• 2.73 yards per route against man coverage (51 routes), 5th in this class.
• 0.99 yards per route against zone coverage (149 routes), 19th in this class.
• 22.8% of his receiving yards were on screens, the second highest rate in this class.
• Only 30.9% of his receptions resulted in a first down or touchdown, the second-lowest rate in this class.
• Highest run-blocking grade in this draft class (11th in the country).

Brant Kuithe, Utah

Final Year Age: 25.0

• No tight end in this class has as many career receptions as Kuithe (183), but as the oldest tight end, he also played 60 games to get there.
• He did score a high rate of touchdowns, turning 12.0% of his catches into scores (7th in this class).
• Kuithe also forced a missed tackle on a class-high 42.9% of his receptions, averaging 8.5 yards after the catch per reception (5th).
• His 2.55 yards per route run average is fourth in this draft class.

Joshua Simon, South Carolina

Final Year Age: 24.1

• Forced a missed tackle on 22.5% of his receptions, fifth in this class.
• 8.7 yards after the catch per reception (3rd).
• 46.2% of yardage came against man coverage, the highest rate in this class.
• 35% of his receptions came against man coverage, second in this class.

Jake Briningstool, Clemson

Final Year Age: 22.1

• 13.4% of his career receptions went for touchdowns, fourth in this class.
• Targeted on 20.1% of his routes (1.54 yards per route) against zone coverage compared to 11% of his routes (0.46 YRR) against man coverage.
• 26.0% of total targets were contested catches, the second highest rate in this class.

Mitchell Evans, Notre Dame

Final Year Age: 21.8

• 1.27 yards per route against zone coverage (182 routes), 18th in this class.
• 9.8 yards per reception in 2024, 19th in this class.
• Caught 72.7% (8 of 11) contested catch opportunities, the highest rate in this class.
• Played 28.2% of his snaps inline, the second-to-lowest rate in this class.

Bryson Nesbit, North Carolina

Final Year Age: 22.3

• Targeted 27.4% of his routes, fourth in the class.
• Only 12.8% of his snaps inline, the lowest rate in this draft class.
• A class-high 80.1% of his snaps in the slot.
• Highest depth of target in this class (11.9 yards).
• 12.2% of his career catches were touchdowns (6th).
• Highest drop rate in this class (10.4%).

Moliki Matavao, UCLA

Final Year Age: 21.8

• Played a class-high 30.5% of his snaps lined up wide.
• 2.28 yards per route against zone coverage (149 routes), fourth in this class.
• 1.20 yards per route against man coverage (115 routes), 12th in this class.

Gavin Bartholomew, Pittsburgh

Final Year Age: 21.7

• Class-low 0.79 yards per route run on 406 routes.
• Targeted on 12.6% of his routes, second to last in this class.
• Zero targets 20 or more yards downfield.

Thomas Fidone II, Nebraska

Final Year Age: 22.3

• 75th percentile physical profile score, fourth in this class.
• Forced a missed tackle on 22.2% of his receptions in 2024 (6th).

Robbie Ouzts, Alabama

Final Year Age: N/A

• Played a class-high 68.4% of his snaps inline.
• In pass protection on 20.4% of his snaps (2nd).
• 81st percentile physical score, second in this class.
• 16 career receptions.

Luke Lachey, Iowa

Final Year Age: 23.5

• Only 30.8% of his targets resulted in a first down or touchdown, the lowest rate in this class.
• Averaged a class-low 8.3 yards per reception in 2024.
• 3.5 yards after the catch per reception (20th).

CJ Dippre, Alabama

Final Year Age: 21.3

• 1.3 receptions per game over his career, second to last in this class.
• Targeted on a class-low 4.4% of his routes against man coverage.

Jackson Hawes, Georgia Tech

Final Year Age: 23.1

• With zero career touchdowns and only 16 catches, Hawes is an asset in the running game over pass catching.
• His 4.3 air yards per target is the lowest in this draft class.
• Targeted on a class-low 10.5% of his routes.

2025 Dynasty Rookie Tight End Rankings