Fantasy Football Rankings - Tight Ends (TE) Week 16 Early Updates

December 16, 2025

Fantasy football rankings - tight ends (TE) Week 16 rankings early edition for 2025. Read the top-accuracy fantasy football TE rankings.

Finding the right tight end streamer can be the difference between winning and losing your fantasy football semifinals matchup, so we're here to assist with our Week 16 fantasy football tight end rankings for 2025. Below, find out where TEs on the start-sit bubble like Travis Kelce, Colston Loveland, Juwan Johnson, AJ Barner, Mike Gesicki, Darren Waller, Brenton Strange, and more stand for the Week 16 NFL slate.

Our tight end fantasy football rankings for Week 16 are put together by Nick Mariano. Below the rankings, you will also find a summary of the important TE 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 Tight End Rankings for Fantasy Football

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

Week 16 Tight End Rankings Outlooks

Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins tight end Darren Waller recorded seven receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns in Monday night's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Waller scored the only touchdowns of the night for the Dolphins and notched his second two-touchdown game of the season, with the other coming back in Week 4 against the Jets. Both touchdowns came in garbage time in the fourth quarter as Miami's offense struggled to generate anything for most of the game.

The 33-year-old tight end was quiet in the last two games after returning from a pectoral injury, totaling three catches for 60 yards on six targets, but he remains a dangerous threat in the red zone. Waller profiles as an interesting streamer in Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals, who have been the worst defense in the league against tight ends.

Theo Johnson, New York Giants

Across 14 games this season, New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson has recorded 45 receptions for 528 yards and five touchdowns on 72 targets. While the 24-year-old has yet to demonstrate explosive upside, he's been highly consistent. Johnson has recorded exactly three catches in seven of his last eight games and double-digit PPR fantasy points in six out of his last eleven contests. Johnson has also dominated tight end snaps in New York this season, playing 80% or more of the team's offensive snaps in 12 out of 14 weeks.

The Giants will host the Minnesota Vikings in Week 16 before a more favorable matchup in Week 17 in Las Vegas against the Raiders. In fantasy leagues with 12 or more teams, Johnson could be worth targeting as a streaming option off the waiver wire at the tight end position.

Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans

Houston Texans tight end Dalton Schultz had a big game in his team's Week 15 win over the Arizona Cardinals, recording eight receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown on nine targets. Over his last nine games, Schultz is earning 7.3 targets per contest. While he's not an explosive player, Schultz's proven target-earning ability gives him a relatively safe production floor for fantasy managers.

He's racked up at least 11 PPR fantasy points in five out of the last seven weeks. Houston will host the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 16 before traveling to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers in Week 17. In fantasy leagues with 12 or more teams. Schultz is a viable streaming option for managers in need of tight end help to target on the waiver wire.

Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears rookie first-round tight end Colston Loveland had another solid showing for his fantasy managers in the team's 31-3 blowout win over the visiting Cleveland Browns on Sunday, catching four of his five targets for 63 yards. Most of Loveland's damage in this game came on receptions of 24 and 19 yards, and he wasn't really involved late with the game already in hand. The 21-year-old 10th overall pick out of Michigan got off to a slow start in his first year in the NFL, but he's been more involved in the second half of the season and is worth rostering in most fantasy leagues.

It started with a six-catch, 118-yard, two-touchdown breakout in Week 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Since then, Loveland has had at least 40 receiving yards in five of seven games, including all four of his touchdowns in 2025. He has had at least five targets in four straight games. More work could be coming for Loveland in Week 16 against the Packers, especially if receiver Rome Odunze (foot) misses a third straight game.

Colby Parkinson, Los Angeles Rams

Fantasy managers should no longer ignore Los Angeles Rams tight end Colby Parkinson. The 26-year-old has been a bigger part of L.A.'s high-scoring offense ever since Tyler Higbee (ankle) landed on Injured Reserve, and he's not slowing down. In the team's 41-34 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Parkinson played a season-high 86% of the offensive snaps and set season-highs in catches (five), targets (seven), and receiving yards (75) while finding the end zone twice.

The former fourth-rounder now has a whopping six touchdown receptions in the last six games for the Rams, and yet somehow, he's only rostered in 4% of Yahoo leagues. Higbee's return isn't imminent, so Parkinson could be the team's top pass-catching TE the rest of 2025. The Rams' Week 16 matchup against the division-rival Seahawks on Thursday night isn't ideal, but with receiver Davante Adams (hamstring) potentially out, Parkinson could have an even bigger role in the passing attack. Parkinson should be a priority waiver-wire addition at the TE position this week.

Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles

For the second straight week, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert made his fantasy managers smile. He caught six of his seven targets for a team-high 70 yards and two touchdowns in the 31-0 blowout win over the visiting Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15. The big performance comes less than a week after the 30-year-old veteran caught eight of 10 targets for 78 yards in Monday night's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. This was Goedert's third two-touchdown performance in 2025 and his first time finding the end zone since he had two TDs on Oct. 26 against the New York Giants.

Both of his trips to paydirt against Vegas came on short goal-line shovel passes from quarterback Jalen Hurts. Like most TEs in the league, Goedert has had his moments of inconsistency, but he's trending up at the right time for fantasy managers, and he'll be a clear TE1 for a juicy Week 16 matchup versus the division-rival Commanders.

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