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Dan's dark-horse candidates to finish as the overall fantasy football TE1 in 2025. Target these five tight ends with league-winning upside, including Tucker Kraft
2025 feels like the deepest the tight-end position has been in years. Not only do we still have dependable veterans who remain fantasy viable, but an influx of youth at the position over the last three seasons has made the position deep in fantasy football.
It is perfectly acceptable to use an early draft pick to take one of the three elite tight ends from last season (George Kittle, Brock Bowers, and Trey McBride). However, there are several other tight ends who, in the right offensive environment, can challenge those three for a TE1 overall finish.
This article will explore five different tight ends who can be considered dark horses to finish as the TE1 in fantasy. The ADPs in this article come from FantasyPros, whose ADP is averaged across six different popular fantasy platforms, so it may not directly reflect your exact league’s draft board.
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T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
ADP: 63.7, TE6
T.J. Hockenson missed the first eight games of the 2024 season recovering from a torn ACL. When he did return, it was clear that he was still recovering from the injury to regain full strength. From Weeks 8 to 18, Hockenson was the TE19 in PPR points per game (8.7) with a minimum of five games played.
During that stretch, Hockenson averaged 6.2 targets, 4.1 receptions, and 45.5 receiving yards per game while playing just a 61% snap share. Before last season, he had never posted four straight seasons with at least a 73% snap share. His best game of the season occurred in the NFL playoffs (five receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown), so it goes largely unrecognized in fantasy. Still, it was a step in the right direction.
Hockenson has now had a full year (plus an offseason) to recover from his ACL tear, so he is going into 2025 strong. He had posted four straight seasons of TE7 or better production, including a TE2 finish in 2023, before injuring his knee (14.6 PPR points per game). He also has at least 10.0 yards per reception in five of six career seasons.
During that season (his first full year with the Vikings), the veteran tight end caught 95 of 127 passes for 960 yards and five touchdowns while competing for targets with Justin Jefferson (10 games played due to injury) and rookie Jordan Addison. At the very least, he’s shown that he can be a top target earner alongside strong receivers.
Hockenson will also get a boost from the fact that Addison will miss the first three games of the regular season due to a suspension. Tight ends are generally utilized as security blankets for young quarterbacks, and now Hockenson will have an opportunity to function as the complementary target to Jefferson to start the season.
If he can maintain that production throughout the season, a TE1 finish is not out of the question.
Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
ADP: 73.8, TE7
Mark Andrews has been an elite fantasy tight end for nearly a decade. The veteran has finished as a top-7 tight end in six of seven career seasons. He’s been a top-5 tight end in five of the last six years, including a TE1 overall finish in 2021 (17.7 PPG).
The veteran tight end got off to a painfully slow start in 2024, catching just 10 of 14 targets for 120 yards through his first five games. A lot of that can be attributed to an offseason car accident that kept him out of part of training camp.
However, Andrews rebounded strongly starting in Week 6. Over the final 12 games of the season, Andrews caught 45 of 55 passes for 553 yards and 11 touchdowns, ranking as the TE7 in points per game (13.9).
Mark Andrews' 2024 red zone usage was insane
15 RZ Targets, 11 Rec TD. Totally repeatable! pic.twitter.com/LTlZDBcbpY
— Matthew Betz (@TheFantasyPT) August 12, 2025
It is highly unlikely that Andrews finishes a season with 11 touchdowns again, but history also suggests that he won’t have just 69 targets. From 2019 to 2023 (71 games), Andrews averaged 102.6 targets per season. Even with added target competition from first-round receivers Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman, Andrews can command enough targets to finish as the TE1.
With dynamic tight end Isaiah Likely breaking his foot during training camp, it clears the way for Andrews to dominate tight-end touches to start the season. We still don’t have clarity on when Likely will return to the lineup.
Andrews will certainly see his touchdown totals regress in 2025. However, if he can see his target share climb once again, he could offset the decreased touchdown production with more receptions and yardage. The Ravens are one of the best offenses in the NFL, and Andrews is a key part of their passing attack. That is a bet worth making in fantasy.
Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts
ADP: 95.8, TE10
For years, the worst bet to make in fantasy football was on rookie tight ends. However, over the last two seasons, a rookie tight end has finished as the TE1 in total points (Sam LaPorta and Brock Bowers).
LaPorta was able to finish as the TE1 thanks to a high-volume workload (120 targets) and touchdown production (10). Bowers followed up with historic volume (153 targets) and production (112 receptions for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns).
Indianapolis Colts first-round pick Tyler Warren is a player who can follow in their footsteps.
Warren was seldom used in his first four seasons at Penn State before erupting in 2024. He posted 104 receptions for 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns. The reception total led the Big Ten conference. More importantly, he was used as a weapon across the offense. Warren logged snaps at wide receiver, in the slot, attached to the line of scrimmage, as a wing, and most importantly, as a Wildcat quarterback (26 carries for 218 yards and four touchdowns).
#Colts starters have played 35 snaps this preseason. Tyler Warren has been on the field for 34 of them. And posted 4-65-0 on six targets. pic.twitter.com/Ac75ddXa6D
— Adam Levitan (@adamlevitan) August 18, 2025
The rookie has wasted no time getting up to speed in the NFL and has already established himself as a weapon in the Colts passing attack, frequently making plays down the field.
The Colts named Daniel Jones their starting quarterback, which should mean a steady diet of accurate passes in the short to intermediate areas that Warren can turn upfield. It also opens up the possibility of a short-yardage rushing role as a rookie.
The Colts have invested heavily in pass-catchers through the draft, but Warren has the tools to be the focal point of this offense as a rookie. If that happens, he can follow the path set by LaPorta and Bowers and finish as the TE1 in fantasy.
Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
ADP: 114.2, TE11
Tucker Kraft followed up a respectable rookie season (31 receptions for 355 yards and two touchdowns) with a strong second year in 2024. Kraft caught 50 of 70 targets for 707 yards and seven touchdowns, finishing as the TE14 in PPR points per game (9.6).
The Packers passing attack is crowded, but Kraft was able to offset that by developing into one of the more dynamic tight ends after the catch. He finished as the TE31 in average depth of target (5.3) but was the TE5 in yards after the catch (456) and the TE2 in yards per route run (2.64), yards per target (10.1), and yards per reception (14.1).
Green Bay added even more target competition this offseason when it drafted Matthew Golden in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, which adds even more ambiguity to this passing attack. However, the one player in this offense whose role seems secure is Kraft, especially with Jayden Reed set to reprise his role as a slot-only weapon in 2025.
Theoretically, a player like Golden (deep speed) will help open up underneath routes and more opportunities for Kraft to generate yards after the catch. If Kraft can improve upon his 15.1% target share (TE19) while maintaining his ability to make plays after the catch, he can finish as the TE1. It is the same blueprint that led George Kittle to be the TE1 in PPR points per game in 2024 despite having just 94 targets.
Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
ADP: 115.2, TE12
Tyler Warren isn’t the only rookie tight end who can finish as the TE1 in fantasy points in his first season. Colston Loveland, Chicago’s 2025 first-round pick, can also put together a TE1 overall season as a rookie through a different path.
On paper, Loveland’s final season at Michigan was nothing special (56 receptions for 582 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games). But Michigan also had one of the worst passing attacks in college football, leading to the underwhelming totals. Loveland led all tight ends in this draft class with a 37.6% targets per route run rate and had the third-best yards per route run (2.67).
Like Warren, Loveland was used all over the formation during his time at Michigan, with most of his snaps occurring in the slot (47.6%). In his final season, Loveland showed that he was elite at getting separation from opposing defenders and explosive after the catch.
Caleb Williams to Colston Loveland.. pic.twitter.com/vqmVslb48C
— Adam Carter (@impactfbdata) August 18, 2025
Loveland missed a lot of the offseason recovering from shoulder surgery, but was ready to go during training camp and immediately flashed his dynamism as a route runner.
Chicago’s passing attack is crowded, but Loveland has the skill set to take crossing routes and seams for chunk gains. New head coach Ben Johnson is one of the best offensive minds in football and has proved his ability to maximize skill sets like Loveland’s during his time with Detroit.
Loveland can put up a big season based on his efficiency and could emerge as a weapon in the red zone given his size. If he can produce a solid touchdown total, he can finish as the TE1 in fantasy, given his versatility as a pass-catcher.
