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Craig's tight end (TE) fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 8 of 2025. His top TE fantasy football pickups, free agents to add, tight end streamers.
The talent pool is going to be a lot shallower in fantasy football leagues this week.
Six teams are on bye this upcoming week. Six! The tight end position will be missing several key players, including Detroit’s Sam LaPorta, Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers, Arizona’s Trey McBride, and Seattle’s A.J. Barner. This is probably the worst bye week of the season for fantasy managers, and definitely at tight end since four of the top eight will not be on the field.
There is a good chance you need a tight end this week to plug into your lineup or to fill out your roster. Here are the top candidates at tight end to pick up on fantasy waiver wires heading into Week 8, starting with a first-year tight end no one thought would be at the top of his draft class:
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Top Tight Ends to Pick Up - Week 8 Waiver Wire
Oronde Gadsden II, Los Angeles Chargers
Oronde Gadsden II keeps plugging and chugging along, although what he did in Week 7 was extraordinary compared to what he did in the weeks leading up to it. Gadsden has gone from loading up on small gainers to breaking big gainers. He piled up seven catches for 164 yards and a TD after posting seven catches for 68 yards the week prior.
oronde gadsden.
📺 | @nfloncbs pic.twitter.com/zRyZnhEqsv
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) October 19, 2025
This fifth-round rookie is the biggest tight end surprise of 2025. Gadsden should be scooped up in all fantasy formats before the week’s end. He has the speed of a greyhound but the size of a tight end. Gadsden hopefully has the staying power to be a fantasy force for future years in dynasty and keeper leagues. Still, he is certainly worthy of a waiver wire selection in standard leagues with the way Justin Herbert and he are connecting lately.
Kyle Pitts Sr., Atlanta Falcons
Here we go again. After being the headline guy over the past couple of columns, Pitts takes a step down to the second tier of tight ends available in most leagues. Yet after catching seven passes for 62 yards on a season-high 10 targets on Sunday evening, Pitts definitely stays in the conversation about who the best tight end on the waiver wire is.
Pitts has one of the easiest matchups in Week 8. He should have no trouble finding open spaces against a Miami Dolphins defense that has given up and is finding innovative ways to get head coach Mike McDaniel fired. Pitts should have his best game of the year this week. I wish someone would give him a compass so he could find the end zone more often (11 TD in 66 career games).
Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns
Harold Fannin Jr. was Cleveland’s top pass catcher again in Week 7, catching four passes for 36 yards. He now has 15 receptions for 130 yards and a TD over his last three games and has shown that he can produce whether David Njoku (knee) is playing alongside him or not.
Fantasy managers should hope for both of their sakes that Njoku is dealt to a contender before the NFL trade deadline. Both tight ends deserve more targets and a higher fantasy value. Tight end tandems never do fantasy managers justice, and this is another case. Fannin should be able to have another solid outing against New England’s shaky secondary on Sunday.
Other Tight Ends to Consider Adding
Theo Johnson, New York Giants
New York has been losing receivers at a rapid rate, but Theo Johnson has been standing upright through the firestorm of injuries. He was able to have a great game against a staunch Denver defense that is arguably the best in the league. He had three catches for 66 yards and a fluky touchdown, but those touchdowns count like the rest of them.
TIPPED. CAUGHT. THEO JOHNSON 41-YARD TD!
NYGvsDEN on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/lvra7BVdWo
— NFL (@NFL) October 19, 2025
Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
Just when millions of fantasy managers gave Pat Freiermuth his walking papers in their leagues, the burly-bodied tight end racked up five catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns against Cincinnati. It might just have been a one-game wonder and not a precursor of things to come, though. Jonnu Smith is still on the team, too.
Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
Juwan Johnson got off hot with three good games to start the season, then followed it with a three-game slump that caused many fantasy managers to drop him. Now he is back in fantasy football’s good graces after his 79-yard outing against Chicago. Johnson faces a Tampa Bay team this weekend that he has tallied 218 receiving yards and a touchdown against over his last three games.
Do Not Forget About…
Evan Engram, Denver Broncos
Denver’s passing attack will never be confused with Mike Martz’s high-flying St. Louis Rams teams of yesteryear, but that does not mean all of their pass catchers have minimal fantasy value. Take tight end Evan Engram, for instance. The longtime stalwart has now posted back-to-back games of five catches for 42 yards.
Engram’s value is better in PPR leagues as he no longer seems capable of producing 25-yard TDs or 80-yard games, but he does have the ability to haul in four to six passes per game.
Noah Fant, Cincinnati Bengals
Noah Fant is taking advantage of Mike Gesicki (pectoral) being on the injured list, and that Joe Flacco is now his quarterback and not the inaccurate Jake Browning. The veteran just had his best game of the season this past Thursday when he caught four passes for 44 yards and a TD against Pittsburgh. A home game this week versus the hapless and hopeless New York Jets only makes Fant more attractive.
Jonnu Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers
Cincinnati’s Swiss-cheese secondary allowed Smith to have his best game of the season during the exciting Steelers-Bengals shootout. The problem is that Smith has not had a 30-yard game yet this year, is averaging under six yards per catch, and is sharing time and targets with the aforementioned Freiermuth.
Mason Taylor. New York Jets
I know Justin Fields would have a hard time hitting the broadside of a planet from 25 yards away. If Tyrod Taylor is taking over, though, the vet can get the ball to a tight end that is only 10 yards away. Mason Taylor’s fantasy value gets a slight uptick thanks to the quarterback change.
Do not expect him to be Rob Gronkowski, but he should see plenty of passes considering the Jets' receiving corps is one of the worst in the NFL, especially when top target Garrett Wilson (knee) is not on the field.
Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints
Taysom Hill only had two rushing attempts and two receptions and amassed all of eight yards between the four touches this past weekend. That does not mean you should erase him from your memory banks, though. The multidimensional threat keeps getting used in different ways, even though the coaching staff has turned over.
As long as he is TE-eligible in your fantasy league, he is always worth a look.
Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
2025 is not the season that Colston Loveland will put his stamp on the fantasy football world. 2026 is when he will begin to shine, especially if the Bears move on from longtime starter Cole Kmet. You can pass on Loveland in year-to-year standard leagues, but seriously think about picking him up in keeper leagues where you can stash him on your roster and wait for him to blossom into a Pro Bowl player in the coming years.
He could see an increased role in the short term as Kmet exited Sunday's game with a back injury.
Daniel Bellinger, New York Giants
Theo Johnson is not the only Giants tight end who tore up Denver’s secondary on Sunday. Daniel Bellinger uncovered himself from the rock he was living under and broke out with 88 yards and a touchdown. Considering he only had 85 yards in the first six contests combined, I would take his effort this weekend with 10 grains of salt.
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