RADIO
Joey's rookie tight ends to draft in 2025 fantasy football leagues. His potential first-year TE fantasy football sleepers in redraft leagues, including Tyler Warren and more.
Fantasy football managers have seen several rookie tight ends become strong fantasy options in Year 1. A rookie tight end has finished as the overall TE1 in back-to-back years. Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta finished as the top overall tight end in 2023, and Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers finished as the best tight end in 2024.
Dalton Kincaid was also a low-end TE1 option back during his rookie campaign in 2023. The former first-round pick finished as the TE11 in PPR formats that season. With the recent success of rookie tight ends, fantasy managers will likely be on the lookout for the next rookie tight end who could be a fantasy star right away.
So, which rookie tight ends should you select in fantasy drafts? Can any of them finish as a TE1 in 2025? Let's dive in and find out.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
- Running back (RB) rankings
- Wide receiver (WR) rankings
- Quarterback (QB) rankings
- Tight end (TE) rankings
- Defense (D/ST) rankings
- Kicker (K) rankings
- FLEX rankings
- Dynasty rankings
Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts
It was not a surprise to see tight end Tyler Warren go in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He was coming off a fantastic final college season at Penn State and has the tools to be an elite tight end in the NFL. Warren did a little bit of everything in that Nittany Lions offense last year, including catching over 100 passes, rushing for multiple scores, and even throwing a few passes.
That could all play a major factor in his career. The 6-foot-6 tight end caught 104 passes for 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns across 16 games last season. Warren also rushed 26 times for 218 yards and four touchdowns while completing three passes for 35 yards and one touchdown through the air. What he was able to do all over the field was very Taysom Hill-like.
Now, we don't know if the Colts will give Warren some opportunities to run in Year 1. However, the 14th overall pick in this year's draft should be very involved in his rookie campaign. Reports have already come out that the Penn State product was "very active" in his first OTAs with the team. That is surely a good sign of what could come in his first season.
Some Tyler Warren for your feed. pic.twitter.com/XuY6aPkc50
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) May 13, 2025
While quarterback play does remain a concern for Warren, he should still be a major factor in this Indianapolis offense. Just look at Bowers last season. He caught passes from Gardner Minshew II, Aidan O'Connell, and Desmond Ridder throughout the 2024 campaign. So, a top-6 tight-end finish is not totally out of the question for the rookie.
He could emerge as a security blanket in the passing game, making him someone to target in all fantasy drafts. Daniel Jones ranked 36th in yards per pass attempt in 2024, meaning Warren could see a ton of checkdown opportunities. That works in the rookie's favor, as he averaged 6.7 yards after the catch per reception and forced 19 missed tackles at Penn State last year.
Mason Taylor, New York Jets
Many analysts thought the New York Jets would take Warren seventh overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. Although they passed on the Penn State star early in the first round, the team didn't wait too long to select its future tight end. New York eventually took LSU playmaker Mason Taylor with the 42nd overall pick in April's draft.
Taylor comes to the pros after three solid seasons with the Tigers. He totaled a combined 129 catches for 1,308 yards and six touchdowns across his three seasons at LSU, including a 55-catch, 546-yard, two-touchdown campaign in 2024. After posting solid numbers in each of his three college seasons, the Jets tight end could be a sneaky fantasy option this year.
The 21-year-old landed in an ideal spot in New York and has a great chance to be involved often in this offense. Taylor should be the team's starting tight end right away over both Stone Smartt and Jeremy Ruckert. That makes him someone to target in the later round of 2025 fantasy football drafts.
Justin Fields ➡ Rookie TE Mason Taylor 🎯#Jets | 🎥 @nyjets pic.twitter.com/QOP1s77bwr
— Harrison Glaser (@NYJetsTFMedia) May 29, 2025
Taylor could see plenty of targets in this New York offense, considering the Jets have one of the weakest wide receiver corps in the NFL. They will enter the season with Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, and Xavier Gipson as their top three wideouts. Rich Cimini of ESPN also believes that the young tight end will have a "significant role as a rookie."
As a result, he could be a sneaky pick in the double-digit rounds. Given that Justin Fields has been known to target tight ends in his career, Taylor could emerge as a low-end TE1 option throughout the year. When Fields was the quarterback of the Bears, he helped Cole Kmet finish as a top-8 fantasy tight end in back-to-back seasons (2022 and 2023).
So, Taylor could wind up being a low-risk, high-reward selection in drafts. He doesn't have much competition for targets and should be featured quite frequently in this Jets offense.
Terrance Ferguson, Los Angeles Rams
The last must-have rookie tight end fantasy managers should be taking in drafts is Los Angeles Rams playmaker Terrance Ferguson. Ferguson was selected in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft and was the fourth tight end off the board. Colston Loveland (seventh overall), Warren, and Taylor were the only three tight ends taken before him in the draft.
Given that high draft capital, we could expect Ferguson to have a nice role in Year 1. Tyler Higbee is entering his age-32 season, and the rookie just brings more to this offense than the veteran. He caught 43 passes for 591 yards and three touchdowns at Oregon this past year. More importantly, he emerged as one of the best yards after the catch tight ends during that 2024 campaign.
He ranked tied for fifth among all qualified tight ends in yards after the catch per reception (9.0) in his final college season. The Oregon product also forced eight missed tackles across his 12 games. Therefore, there's a solid chance Ferguson will eventually be featured in this Los Angeles offense.
Something to keep in mind with him is that it might take him a few weeks to get going. Higbee will likely still have a role, and this offense features some star wideouts in Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. Still, Ferguson is someone to keep an eye on during your drafts this summer.
👀 ESPN’s Ben Solak says Rams rookie TE Terrance Ferguson will take over the starting job by Week 5…
…and finish 2025 as L.A.’s No. 2 target behind Puka Nacua (yes, ahead of Davante Adams). pic.twitter.com/3bDvTnTUK5
— LAFB Network (@LAFBNetwork) May 29, 2025
Los Angeles has been known as one of the more pass-friendly offenses in the NFL, and quarterback Matthew Stafford has completed over 325 passes in four of his past five seasons. Even if Nacua and Adams both catch around 100 passes, there is a path to a 50-catch season for the rookie in his first year. It's only a matter of time until he passes Higbee on the depth chart.
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
More Fantasy Football Analysis
