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Is Elijah Arroyo starting for the Seattle Seahawks in fantasy football? Should I Draft Arroyo in 2025? Read the rookie fantasy football outlook and depth chart analysis.
In one week, we will finally be getting ready to enjoy the first game of the 2025 NFL season. The preseason has officially come to an end, and teams have set their 53-man rosters heading into the season.
One of the best ways to win your fantasy league is to grab rookies who can be productive in their first season. Oftentimes, fantasy managers fear the unknown, leading to really good values in drafts for unproven players.
Tight end Elijah Arroyo is a rookie who has upside, especially at a position that historically struggles to produce fantasy points. Is Arroyo starting for the Seattle Seahawks? Read below to find out.
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Elijah Arroyo Fantasy Outlook
Arroyo was one of the most physically gifted tight ends in the 2025 NFL Draft class. Unfortunately, his production in college rarely matched up with his physical tools.
Arroyo was seldom used during his first three seasons at Miami (11 receptions for 163 yards and a touchdown), but missed most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons due to a torn ACL. He was finally healthy in 2024 and showed what he could do, catching 35 passes for 590 yards and seven touchdowns. He averaged a 10.0 average depth of target, 16.9 yards per reception, and 12.6 yards per target in his final collegiate season.
Cam Ward to Elijah Arroyo 74 YARDS TO THE HOUSE pic.twitter.com/X209VA4wUw
— Grant Speaks (@GrantSpeaks1) November 9, 2024
More importantly, Arroyo was used all over the offensive formation, including out wide. He frequently made plays down the field, winning matchups against cornerbacks with his size and beating linebackers and safeties with his speed in the open field.
The hype around him continued to grow at the Senior Bowl, where he routinely dominated his matchups and looked like one of the most talented players on the field. Unfortunately, a knee injury ended his pre-draft process. Still, the Seattle Seahawks saw enough to select him in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Arroyo had a strong preseason camp and entered his rookie season in an offense with an ambiguous passing attack under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. We know that Jaxon Smith-Njigba will lead the team in targets if he’s healthy, but there is very little certainty after that. Arroyo caught all four of his targets for 33 yards and sat with the starters in the team’s final preseason game. That at least suggests that he will be part of the team’s offensive plans in 2025.
There was hope that Arroyo had secured a bigger role in the offense once the team released veteran tight end Noah Fant. Unfortunately, the Seahawks have frequently utilized 2024 fourth-round pick AJ Barner on the field as well due to his strong blocking.
It will be impossible to trust Arroyo to start the season in a timeshare situation on a low-volume passing attack. Seattle has a defense that can keep game scripts neutral (or positive) and showed throughout the preseason that they will be effective running the ball.
However, Arroyo also has the physical tools to emerge as a viable pass catcher in an uncertain wide receiver group as a rookie. He may not be a player who is worth drafting initially, but fantasy managers need to pay close attention to his snap shares and utilization early in the season. He could see his snap share and route participation rise quickly, especially if Cooper Kupp continues to struggle with injuries.
Is Elijah Arroyo Starting in Week 1?
All of the breadcrumbs suggest that Elijah Arroyo will have a role in Seattle’s offense as a rookie. He got plenty of training camp snaps with Sam Darnold under center and was held out of the team’s final preseason game. However, we just don’t know how that role will translate to fantasy points.
Seattle wants their identity to be a run-first offense to set Darnold up for play-action opportunities. That already suggests that they may not have a high passing volume in 2025. Arroyo has legitimate target earners ahead of him in the offense (Smith-Njigba and Kupp) and an exciting rookie (Tory Horton) set to be on the field as well.
If Arroyo can overtake Barner and become a full-time tight end, his fantasy outlook improves significantly. As it stands, he cannot be trusted to provide consistent scoring into 2025 and can be safely avoided in drafts.
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