Updated 2025 Fantasy Football Rookie TE Rankings: Colston Loveland, Tyler Warren, Mason Taylor, Terrance Ferguson, Oronde Gadsden, Luke Lachey

June 19, 2025

Updated fantasy football rookie tight end rankings for 2025. RotoBaller's top rookie TEs and draft targets, including Colston Loveland, Tyler Warren, Mason Taylor, and more.

Whether you're in a seasonal, dynasty, best ball, rookie, or any other kind of draft, the tight end spot is always difficult to navigate. We're here to help with our 2025 fantasy football rookie tight end rankings. In the updated rookie TE rankings below, check out where key pass-catchers like Colston Loveland, Tyler Warren, Mason Taylor, Terrance Ferguson, Oronde Gadsden, and Luke Lachey stand among others.

Continuous tweaks will be made to these rankings for fantasy football rookies all offseason long, so be sure to check back regularly for updates. In addition to this article, you should also be sure to check out our other dynasty rookie rankings and analysis articles, including in-depth coverage of various NFL rookie profiles. It's important to identify studs, sleepers, and duds among first-year players in rookie drafts and 2025 fantasy football leagues, so we have you covered.

Four of our lead fantasy football analysts -- Phil Clark, Jackson Sparks, Andrew Lalama, and Matt Donnelly -- have put together these fantasy football rookie rankings. In addition to these rookie rankings, in our 2025 fantasy football rankings dashboard, you will also find our team's Dynasty League rankings. Bookmark that page, and use it to prepare for all of your 2025 fantasy football dynasty league drafts.

NFL Rookie Tight End Rankings for Fantasy Football (Post-Draft)

Rookie rankings are from after the 2025 NFL Draft

Fantasy Football Outlooks for Rookie Tight Ends

Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears rookie tight end Colston Loveland (shoulder) was drafted with the 10th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, giving him elite draft capital. Despite his lack of college production, he had suspect QB play last season, so his statistics were misleading.

He's an elite route-runner for a tight end and is 6-foot-6, so he has an elite catch radius. The 21-year-old is still recovering from a shoulder injury he played through in 2024 that he had surgery to address in the offseason. Loveland being thought of so highly by new Bears head coach Ben Johnson says a lot.

While the team already has wide receivers DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, and drafted wideout Luther Burden III in the second round of the 2025 draft, Loveland can immediately become the team's TE1 and take over a solid share of the passing game. Tight end Cole Kmet figures to be Loveland's backup. Still, it's a crowded pass-catcher room, making it hard to project Loveland's volume. His ADP in redraft leagues is very low, so it shouldn't be hard to draft him in the later rounds.

He's immensely talented and will be in the hands of an immensely talented offensive mind in Johnson. So, Loveland has a ton of upside for not being very expensive. He's absolutely worth drafting and should finish as a top-8 TE this season

- John Johnson

Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis Colts rookie tight end Tyler Warren was selected with the team's 14th overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The first thing that will frustrate fantasy managers about him won't be his talent, but the play of the team's current starting quarterback, Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones. Richardson is unique in that he's actually pretty accurate on deep throws, but struggles at times in the short-passing game.

The Colts also have a crowded WR room, and distributed targets frustratingly thin for fantasy managers last season. Warren had elite rushing upside in college for a tight end, though. There's been speculation that he could be good for six or more rushing touchdowns in his first season.

He's a bulldozer with the ball in his hands, and that's good for something. Warren might be a sneaky stud in standard (non-PPR) leagues, where his rushing value is more even with his receiving value, considering that zero points are awarded for receptions. It's hard to have much faith in Richardson or Jones, though the latter would probably be better for Warren's value, unironically.

His long-term outlook is exciting, making him worth a pick in rookie drafts, but he might have a hard time being fantasy-relevant in 2025.

- John Johnson

Terrance Ferguson, Los Angeles Rams

Terrance Ferguson, selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, emerges as a compelling sleeper for dynasty rookie drafts due to his athletic prowess and promising landing spot. At Oregon, Ferguson posted a 77.0 PFF receiving grade in 2024, ranking 14th among FBS tight ends, with 9.0 yards after catch (YAC) per reception, the highest in the 2025 TE draft class.

His 4.63-second 40-yard dash (fastest among TEs at the 2025 combine), 39-inch vertical jump (first), and 1.55-second 10-yard split (tied for first) resulted in a 9.32 Relative Athletic Score (RAS), second among Power 5 TEs. Despite modest volume (43 receptions, 591 yards, three TDs in 2024) due to Oregon’s run-heavy offense and target competition from WRs Tez Johnson and Evan Stewart, Ferguson’s 14th-ranked 2.1 yards per route run highlights his efficiency as a pass-catcher.

In Los Angeles, he joins an offense led by Sean McVay, where aging starter Tyler Higbee (32, recovering from an ACL injury, contract expiring in 2025) creates a clear path for Ferguson to assume the TE1 role by 2026, making him a prime stash with low-end TE1 upside. His ADP as a late-second to early third-round pick (TE6-8) in dynasty drafts offers excellent value for a player with his athletic profile and opportunity.

Ferguson’s skill set and situation amplify his long-term dynasty appeal, particularly in TE-premium formats. His 6’5”, 247-pound frame, paired with a 75% contested catch rate in 2024, makes him a red-zone mismatch, evidenced by his 23% touchdown-to-catch ratio (top-10 among TEs). His route-running fluidity allows him to create separation against linebackers, with 70% of his 2024 receptions resulting in first downs or touchdowns.

While Higbee’s presence and Matthew Stafford’s historical reluctance to target TEs (Rams TEs averaged 12% target share since 2020) may limit Ferguson’s 2025 production, Higbee’s injury history and impending free agency position Ferguson for a breakout in Year 2. The Rams’ top-10 passing offense in 2024, combined with Ferguson’s 90-grade prospect score as a former four-star recruit, suggests he can emulate past McVay TE1s like Higbee, who was a top-6 fantasy TE in 2022.

Dynasty managers should target Ferguson in the late second or third round of rookie drafts, stashing him on taxi squads for a potential 2026 leap into TE1 territory.

- Brandon Murchison

Mason Taylor, New York Jets

The tight end position was a big need for the Jets entering the draft, and Taylor immediately fills that void. The 6-foot-5 tight end totaled 129 catches for 1,308 yards and six touchdowns in his three college seasons at LSU, including a career-high 546 receiving yards in 2024.

Given the team's lack of receiving options outside of Garrett Wilson, Taylor could have a solid role in Year 1. He should be New York's starting tight end over Stone Smartt and Jeremy Ruckert to begin the year, and both Allen Lazard (WR2) and Xavier Gipson (WR3) shouldn't take too many targets away from the rookie.   

In addition, it helps to have a quarterback who targets tight ends frequently. When Justin Fields was the Bears quarterback, Cole Kmet had two top-10 tight end finishes in 2022 and 2023. In both seasons, Kmet caught at least 50 passes and totaled over 500 receiving yards.

We shouldn't expect Taylor to finish as a top-10 tight end in PPR formats in his first year. However, seeing him maintain a solid target share in 2025 wouldn't be shocking. Rich Cimini of ESPN also believes the 21-year-old will "have a significant role as a rookie."

So, he's someone fantasy managers should be targeting in the later rounds of drafts. He could emerge as a low-end TE1 option in deeper leagues throughout the year.

- Joey Pollizze

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