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Dave Ventresca looks at five veteran fantasy football tight ends who are set to lose targets in 2025. These TEs are fantasy football bust options in 2025.
Tight end is probably the most polarizing position in fantasy football. Every year, there are only a few elite contributors at the position. That means that unless you land one of the top guys, it becomes a real pain to fill the position each week. This has led to many fantasy gamers lobbying to remove the tight-end position from lineups altogether. However, some prefer the challenge that comes with finding a weekly starter.
Regardless of where you fall in this debate, if your league requires you to start a tight end, you’re going to need a plan of attack for the position. While you should have a list of tight ends you wish to target, you should also have those you want to avoid. Several veteran tight ends enter the 2025 season facing new target competition. This could lead to disappointing results. Today, we will examine five veteran tight ends who could see reduced roles this year.
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Travis Kelce - Kansas City Chiefs
This is the most obvious tight end who meets the above criteria. Kelce is arguably the greatest tight end in the history of the NFL, but he’s on his last legs. While he was still targeted 133 times and caught 97 receptions last year, his efficiency took a major dip.
Kelce only produced 823 receiving yards on nearly 100 catches and only averaged 8.5 yards per reception, as well as scoring just three touchdowns. It seems he has lost a step and may not offer gamers the same upside he once did.
FOUR TDs for @Tkelce ‼️
📺: #LVvsKC on ESPN
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/qRoro7dq9P pic.twitter.com/2UlpSsq1Lk— NFL (@NFL) October 11, 2022
Third-year receiver Rashee Rice is expected back following an LCL tear he suffered in Week 4 of the 2024 season. Rice seemed to emerge as Kansas City’s top receiver in the first three games of the 2024 season.
Before his injury, Rice posted a 24-288-2 line on 29 targets during the first three games of 2024. This is noteworthy because Kelce’s splits with Rice healthy last year were very troubling. In that same three-game sample, Kelce posted an 8-69-0 line on just 12 targets.
It seemed that Kansas City wanted to utilize Rice as its new intermediate/short-yardage threat. This would make sense as he offers much more juice after the catch than Kelce currently does at this stage of his career.
Second-year receiver Xavier Worthy also showed signs of improvement to close 2025, and the team has stated its desire to further incorporate him into the offense. Marquise Brown also re-signed with Kansas City and is healthy entering the season. His presence adds more target competition for Kelce.
Kelce is one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL, but Father Time catches up to everyone. Combine that with a very crowded, young, and talented receiving room, and it becomes obvious Kelce takes a step back in 2025.
Cole Kmet - Chicago Bears
After the Bears hired former Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to be their next head coach, Kmet seemed like an instant winner. That would soon change in the months following Johnson’s arrival.
The Bears selected tight end Colston Loveland with the 10th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Loveland presents a huge issue for Kmet and will immediately challenge him for the team's TE1 spot.
Great two minute clip that shows just how athletic Colston Loveland is.
A guy that big running routes getting in and out of breaks and changing direction like that is VERY uncommon.
🎥: @scoutdnfl #DaBears #Bears #ChicagoBears pic.twitter.com/FphgIUcpC4
— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) May 5, 2025
On top of that, Chicago would then select wide receiver Luther Burden III in the second round of the NFL Draft.
LB3 in the Windy City 🏙️
Welcome to Chicago, @lutherburden3! pic.twitter.com/4joJc3tJfp
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) April 25, 2025
Kmet now faces target competition from two highly selected rookies in addition to incumbent receivers DJ Moore and Rome Odunze. Even if Kmet remains the team’s starting tight end, there is so much target competition in this offense that it’s impossible to see him garnering a significant target share.
The reality is that the selection of Loveland completely nuked any fantasy value Kmet had left. He’s not a bad player, but this is not a great situation for fantasy success. Kmet should not be on the radar for season-long fantasy players.
Jake Ferguson - Dallas Cowboys
Ferguson was a very popular late-round tight end in fantasy drafts last year. With the Dallas Cowboys lacking a clear WR2 behind CeeDee Lamb, it looked like Ferguson was a lock for a high target role.
However, things didn’t materialize as such. Ferguson only caught 59 receptions for 494 receiving yards on 86 targets across 14 games. He only managed a feeble 8.37 yards per reception and failed to score a touchdown. Gamers who waited to select Ferguson were let down in a big way.
Part of Ferguson’s struggles can be explained by starting quarterback Dak Prescott missing nine games with a torn hamstring. Cooper Rush took over as the starter, and while he filled in nicely, he is not the same caliber of player that Prescott is. Playing with a backup quarterback (and Trey Lance for one start) certainly hurt Ferguson’s production.
Ferguson also suffered an MCL sprain in Week 1. He would only miss one game with the injury, but perhaps he rushed his return to the field. This could explain why Ferguson only averaged the aforementioned 8.37 yards per reception.
Be that as it may, Dallas recently acquired receiver George Pickens in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pickens is a talented player who struggled to reach his ceiling in Pittsburgh for various reasons. He immediately slides in as the Cowboys' WR2 and second-best pass-catcher behind Lamb.
Pickens' presence hurts Ferguson’s ceiling. It’s unlikely we ever see him emerge as a high-volume fantasy tight end, and we may have already seen Ferguson’s ceiling.
Whether Pickens reaches new heights in Dallas is up for debate. The one thing that isn’t debatable is that Pickens is an issue for Ferguson. He could be a nice bounce-back candidate, but gamers shouldn’t expect Ferguson to finish anywhere close to his TE3 finish from 2023.
Hunter Henry - New England Patriots
Henry was New England’s top receiver in 2024. He tied for the team lead in receptions and led the team in targets and receiving yards. However, he only scored two touchdowns on the year. Still, his efforts were good enough to finish as the overall PPR TE12.
Even though he technically finished as a TE1, Henry wasn’t a reliable option and was more of a streamer tight end. The Patriots have also made several additions to their wide receiver room this offseason. New England signed Stefon Diggs to a three-year, $69 million contract and drafted underrated rookie Kyle Williams in the third round of the NFL Draft.
The team also used a second-round pick to select former Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson. He profiles as a pass-catching back and is expected to be utilized as such. All of these new additions mean it’s highly unlikely Henry will remain the team’s top pass-catcher. He may even have trouble repeating his modest 66-674-2 line from a year ago.
Either way, Henry faces a lot more competition in 2025 than he did in 2024. He could still be a decent bye-week streamer, but it’s unlikely he becomes more than that.
Dalton Schultz - Houston Texans
With Tank Dell recovering from a major leg injury and the team opting not to re-sign Stefon Diggs, Schultz was primed for a larger role in Houston’s offense. However, that quickly changed as the offseason unfolded.
Houston soon acquired wide receiver Christian Kirk in a rare interdivision trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The team would then add receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Schultz has quickly gone from the No. 2 option in the passing game to possibly the fourth. He also only posted a 53-532-2 line on 85 targets and finished 2024 as the PPR TE20. Houston’s additions this offseason mean it’s unlikely Schultz will improve on these numbers in 2025.
He is now safely off the redraft radar and should only be started as a bye-week filler or streaming option in plus matchups. There’s just little fantasy value with a low-volume tight end in a run-first offense.
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