2025 Fantasy Football TE Rookie Rankings (Pre-NFL Draft) - Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland, Mason Taylor, and more

April 23, 2025

RotoBaller's 2025 fantasy football TE rookie rankings by Matt Donnelly. These early TE rookie rankings are from before the NFL Draft on April 24.

The 2025 NFL Draft may have more tight-end talent entering it than ever. We have the most versatile group of pass-catchers and mismatch creators who have made the jump to the NFL at the same time.

If you are a team needing an injection of talent in your offense or a fantasy manager who has procrastinated for years and lived by the zero-tight-end theory, now is the time to change those fortunes.

Here are your top 10 fantasy football rookie tight ends available ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. For a deeper dive into dynasty strategy, rankings, and trade tactics, be sure to check out our complete Dynasty Fantasy Football Guide.

NFL Rookie Rankings for Fantasy Football (Pre-NFL Draft)

Rookie rankings are from before the NFL Scouting Combine and before the NFL Draft

Pre-NFL Draft Top 10 Fantasy Football TE Picks

10. Mitchell Evans, Notre Dame

Mitchell Evans is an interesting prospect. In his final collegiate seasons, the Fighting Irish tight end averaged 11.7 yards per reception as he hauled in 72 passes for 843 receiving yards. Evans won't be confused for a burner; however, he is quicker than he looks, running a 4.74 40 time. 

Evans is also good at creating separation and using his frame to shield off defenders. He's also deceptively shifty after the catch and has impressive body control when he needs to go up for the ball. In the right system and given an opportunity, Evans has some potential that should interest fantasy football managers.

9. Jake Briningstool, Clemson 

One tight end I'll be looking for come the 2025 NFL Draft is Clemson's Jake Briningstool, and what situation he finds himself in. Briningstool is a beast of a man, measuring in at 6-foot-6, but he moves like a receiver and has playmaking ability, especially once he finds himself in mismatches. For a man his size, he is a legitimate red-zone threat and has proved to be an excellent route runner.

5 catches. 126 yards. 2 Touchdowns. @JBriningstool having himself a game‼️ pic.twitter.com/2CB2Jslwq9

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) October 22, 2023

In his final two seasons at Clemson, Briningstool recorded 99 receptions for 1,028 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging 10.3 yards per reception. Briningstool also had just three drops over that period on 111 targets.

8. Oronde Gadsden II, Syracuse

In the two seasons in which Oronde Gadsden II played 10 or more games, he was able to convert 134 passes into 1,909 receiving yards. That works out to 14.2 yards per reception over that 26-game sample.

Over his career, Gadsden's first down per route run share was 10.7 percent, which is the fourth highest among the 2025 tight-end class. The former wide receiver convert posted a career average of 2.02 yards per route run and a 56 percent contested catch rate. Gadsden shows that receiver training off as he looks comfortable making plays away from his body, and in the NFL, he is going to be a quarterback's favorite option down in the red zone.

7. Terrance Ferguson, Oregon

This may be too low for Terrance Ferguson, but this is a loaded tight-end class. Whoever drafts Ferguson is getting some real value, whether it's at the draft or during your fantasy drafts. At the combine, Ferguson showed off his explosive nature, posting a 4.63 40 time with a 10-yard split time of 1.81 and an elite composite explosion grade with elite performances in the broad and vertical jumps.

Since his junior season, Ferguson has averaged 11.8 yards per reception, thanks to his explosiveness, which translated into yards after the catch. Ferguson averaged 9.0 yards after the catch per reception last season, which was the most among tight ends in the FBS with at least 30 targets.

6. Gunnar Helm, Texas 

Can a tight end look smooth? If not, then Gunnar Helm may not be a tight end as he was out there hurdling dudes while on his way to a 60-catch, 786-receiving-yard season for the Longhorns.

Over the last two seasons, Helm averaged 13.2 yards per reception and has some of the best contested catch film of this group. Everyone talks about Tyler Warren's ball skills, but the way Helm highpoints the ball and adjusts his body may give him the best ball skills of any of the tight ends waiting to hear their names called.

Helm will make a living attacking the seams and stretching defenses, and if his 420 yards after the catch last season indicate what's to come, he will put up fantasy points in bunches.

5. Mason Taylor, LSU

Mason Taylor enters the conversation after turning 129 receptions while at LSU into 1,308 yards and six touchdowns. Taylor understands how to create separation and has a refined skill in getting in and out of his breaks. Taylor can line up in the slot or run/pass block in line, so he never has to come off the field. He's also proved to be quarterback-friendly, as his drop rate in 2024 was a minuscule 1.8 percent.

It's all about opportunity for tight ends, and Taylor's skills should create opportunities for fantasy managers to gain a weekly advantage. Taylor has the potential to make a living, much like the great Jason Witten, while working as an underneath option.

Mason Taylor (#86) receptions against Florida

Taylor is a smooth athlete at TE that nicely transitions in and out of his route breaks and can really eat up ground with his strides. pic.twitter.com/8wvbUi8HTG

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) April 9, 2025

4. Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green

Do you want production? How about 1,555 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 117 receptions? Not only did Harold Fannin Jr. lead all tight ends in receiving yards last season, but he also led the nation in that category. That's more receiving yards than Tetairoa McMillan, Travis Hunter, and Jeremiah Smith. He did this in just his third season playing the position.

Some will question the level of competition, so I shall submit the act from an encounter with Penn State. Fannin had 11 receptions for 137 yards in that contest and a touchdown, gouging the Nittany Lion defense down the seams. After seeing the skill set, I know the combine was a letdown, but I'm willing to bet on the talent here.

3. Elijah Arroyo, Miami

Like Fannin and Gadsden, Elijah Arroyo is a wide receiver with a tight-end designation. The former Hurricane can stop and start on a dime and accelerate at an elite rate. Arroyo was clocked at 21.8 miles per hour last season, and at 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, few defenders can match that size/speed combination. If Arroyo hits the seam, he has breakaway speed and can house it from anywhere on the field.

2. Tyler Warren, Penn State

Tyler Warren is currently the consensus top tight end heading into the draft, but it feels like we are splitting hairs in the Warren/Loveland tight-end tier. Oddly, Warren has only one scheduled top-10 visit leading up to the draft in Green Bay.

The Warren hype is real. He had one of the greatest performances of any pass-catcher this past season, annihilating the USC Trojans defense with 224 receiving yards on 17 receptions.

1.  Colston Loveland, Michigan

You could argue that Colston Loveland is the top fantasy option at the tight-end position, despite having fewer numbers than Warren. Loveland is a rare tight end these days. Not only does he have exceptional receiver skills, but he's one of the best blocking tight ends around. With his ability to block, he is going to get favorable in-line matchups starting Week 1.

Looking at Loveland versus Warren, Loveland had the greater targets per route run rate, assuming a 38 percent rate, while Warren checked in at 31 percent. For career first downs per route run: Loveland, 11.5 percent, Warren, 10.9 percent. Warren may have had the numbers advantage, but Loveland had the higher percentage of his team's receiving yards, receptions, and touchdowns. 

Colston Loveland's film showed a player who almost always finishes through contact for extra yardage.

It might not be a strength of his game, but I don't think it's a weakness! pic.twitter.com/el0LCAWTzW

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) April 9, 2025

Just Missing: Jackson Hawes, Luke Lachey, Benjamin Yurosek, Caden Prieskorn, Thomas Fidone II, Jalin Conyers, CJ Dippre

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