2025 Fantasy Football TE Rankings - Week 16 Start, Sit Tight Ends

December 18, 2025

2025 fantasy football TE rankings - Week 16 start, sit tight end rankings. Win more with our updated TE fantasy football rankings and tiers for Week 16.

Tight ends always present tough start-or-sit calls in fantasy football, and it's important to get it right in the semifinal round of the playoffs. Use these Week 16 fantasy football tight end rankings as your guide for lineup calls this weekend. In the full set of TE rankings below, you will see where key players on the start 'em, sit 'em bubble like Kyle Pitts Sr., Harold Fannin Jr., Darren Waller, Dalton Schultz, Colston Loveland, Juwan Johnson, Theo Johnson, and more stand, among all others at the position.

Our TE fantasy football rankings for Week 16 are put together by Nick Mariano. Below the rankings, you will also find a summary of the important fantasy football news for this week. There are always key injuries and developments to keep track of, so check back throughout the week for updates.

Be sure to bookmark our fantasy football rankings portal and check back regularly for updates. Most importantly, our free mobile app is a must-have - download it and configure your push notifications. We deliver all the top NFL news, injuries, and fantasy analysis 24x7 with our free push notification alerts... all for free!

Week 16 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings

Bookmark our PPR rankings, Half-PPR rankings, and standard (non-PPR) rankings 

Week 16 Fantasy Football Tight End Outlooks

Colby Parkinson, Los Angeles Rams

Los Angeles Rams tight end Colby Parkinson has emerged as a potential fantasy football league-winner during the back half of the season, and he should take on an even larger pass-catching role with wide receiver Davante Adams sidelined for Thursday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16. In six games since taking over for Tyler Higbee (ankle), Parkinson has totaled 28 targets, 22 catches, 230 yards, and six touchdowns. He ranks as the overall TE4 in half-PPR leagues during that span.

While Parkinson hasn't been a major yardage threat, he commands a decent number of targets and has been finding the end zone at an absurd rate. Given that Stafford's favorite weapon around the goal line, Adams, is out for Week 16, we can expect Parkinson to earn even more touchdown opportunities. Thursday's matchup also works in the 26-year-old's favor, as Seattle has allowed the third-most catches, fourth-most receiving yards, and 10th-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends in 2025. Parkinson ranks as the overall TE6 in RotoBaller's latest fantasy football rankings for Week 16.

AJ Barner, Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner is in the streaming conversation in Week 16 against the Los Angeles Rams. Barner continues to receive variable volume, but he played well against this team in Week 11 with 10 receptions for 70 yards. The Seahawks' offense struggled in that game, but Barner found himself open underneath quite a bit as Los Angeles sold out to prevent getting beat over the top. The Rams are No. 11 against opposing tight ends in fantasy. That places them amongst the mid-tier against the position.

Barner's volume has been difficult to trust this season, but he feels due for a touchdown, and he will likely be a nice safety valve for quarterback Sam Darnold this week. If you need to simply stay afloat at the tight end position this week, there are worse options than Barner.

Gunnar Helm, Tennessee Titans

Tennessee Titans tight end Gunnar Helm (toe) was a limited participant during Wednesday's practice ahead of Week 16 against the Kansas City Chiefs. The 23-year-old rookie has been trending up in the Titans' offense, outscoring fellow tight end Chig Okonkwo since the bye week. Over the last five weeks, Helm is averaging 5.0 targets, 4.2 catches, and 32.0 yards per game.

He also scored his second career touchdown last Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. Moving forward, Helm should be viewed as a low-end TE2 for the rest of 2025, and he has the potential to be a low-end TE1 in future seasons if Tennessee's passing attack takes a step forward. Looking in the short term, Helm has a trickier matchup this week against the Chiefs, who have allowed the fifth-fewest fantasy points to tight ends this year. Nevertheless, Helm is a potential streamer in deep leagues given that Sunday's game script will likely force the Titans to throw the ball early and often.

Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton (knee) practiced in a limited capacity on Wednesday ahead of Week 16 against the Carolina Panthers. Otton missed last Thursday's game against the Atlanta Falcons, but he's looking to make sure his absence doesn't span more than one week. Wednesday's limited practice session gives him a decent opportunity to upgrade to a full participant over the next two days. Even if he remains limited, though, he should have a strong chance to suit up against the Panthers in Sunday's battle for the top spot in the NFC South.

Otton ranks as the overall TE26 in PPR leagues this year with 46 catches, 430 yards, and zero touchdowns. He typically struggles when Mike Evans and Chris Godwin Jr. are healthy, which should be the case on Sunday. As a result, managers can expect Otton to rank outside the top 24 fantasy tight ends in Week 16.

Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins tight end Darren Waller (rest, knee) was limited on Wednesday after taking a scary-looking hit to the knee during Monday night's loss to the Steelers. Waller has played in each of the last three games since missing five weeks with a pectoral injury, and began each of those weeks with a limited/rest practice. The additional designation of the knee injury is new for Week 16 and will need to be monitored, though he seemed to finish the game without limitation, catching two late touchdown passes.

Waller will be one of the most difficult start/sit decisions for the fantasy semifinals. The Dolphins face a historically bad Bengals defense, but the Wednesday news that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will be benched in favor of 7th-round rookie Quinn Ewers casts a considerable shadow over Miami's offensive outlook. Waller is RotoBaller's TE8 for Week 16, but the new injury designation may be the deciding factor for many fantasy managers to pivot to another streamer.

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