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Matt's tight end (TE) fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 7 of 2025. His TE lineups advice for Week 7 fantasy football start/sit decisions.
Stop me if you have heard this before: tight end decisions are never what they seem and aren't easy. Tyler Higbee (14.0) finished Week 6 as a top 10 fantasy option despite posting a pair of goose eggs earlier this season. Rookie Oronde Gadsden also made his presence felt with an 11.8-point fantasy performance, just as we all predicted.
Let's take some of the guessing out of the equation and look at which tight ends are in favourable situations this week and which are in less-than-ideal spots. Also, check back later this week as Nick Mariano drops his weekly rankings.
Here are your starts and sits at the tight end position for Week 7 of the fantasy football season.
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Week 7 - Fantasy Football Booms
Trey McBride - TE Arizona Cardinals vs. Green Bay Packers
One of the best tight ends in fantasy gets a premium matchup this week as Trey McBride and the Arizona Cardinals host the Green Bay Packers.
With Kyler Murray (foot) out last week and uncertain for Week 7, McBride quickly got on the same page with veteran journeyman Jacoby Brissett, as the pair connected on eight passes for 72 yards and a touchdown. Brissett targeted McBride on 11 occasions, which led to the season highs in both receptions and receiving yards.
McBride has two things trending in his favour outside of being one of the best in the game. Marvin Harrison Jr.'s (concussion) status for this week is in question. If Harrison were to miss this week, we would see McBride's target share and first-read target share of 25% and 34.8% respectively, an increase from last week.
Second, Green Bay is terrible at defending opposing tight ends this season.
On the season, Green Bay has allowed 298 receiving yards on 39 receptions along with three touchdowns, leading to the third-highest fantasy production against at 17.36 per game. Over the last four weeks, that number has climbed to 18.1,3 and even more recently, during the previous two weeks, the Packers have allowed 19.80 fantasy points per game to the position.
Brissett to McBride! Cardinals take the lead in Indy.
AZvsIND on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/iHYmAZsPfV
— NFL (@NFL) October 12, 2025
Mason Taylor - TE, New York Jets vs. Carolina Panthers
Another tight end with a great matchup this week is Mason Taylor of the Jets as they take on the Carolina Panthers. This season, Carolina is allowing 17.57 fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends, having allowed 444 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 37 receptions, thus far. The receiving total is the highest in the NFL, with the fantasy points per game trailing only the Cincinnati Bengals for the second-most.
Against the Broncos, Taylor was an afterthought. Then again, the entire Jets offense was an afterthought as Justin Fields was sacked nine times, producing a negative 10 net passing yards in London. Before London came calling, Taylor had produced 11.5 and 17.7 fantasy points in back-to-back contests and became a focal point of this Jets offense.
With a favourable matchup on the docket, the smart money would be to bet on Taylor reverting to his Week 4 and 5 form that saw him haul in 14 receptions for 132 yards, the 10th-most among all pass catchers for that period. During those two weeks, Taylor's route participation was 78.7% and the 19 targets in those two contests were the fourth-most behind Puka Nacua, Justin Jefferson, and Stefon Diggs.
Any time there is potential for a tight end to earn a 26% target share in a favourable matchup, it's a smash start.
Sam LaPorta - TE, Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
After three sub-7.5 fantasy performances, Sam LaPorta seems to be back in fantasy managers' good graces after averaging 18.35 fantasy points over his last two contests, finding the endzone against the Bengals and the Chiefs.
Over the previous two contests, LaPorta has earned 12 targets and accounted for an air yard Share of 30.7%, a target share of 22.6%, and a first-read target share of 14.3%. Digging deeper into LaPorta's usage, the Lions' "tight end" has run 37% of his routes from the slot and 23.9% out wide.
While the Buccaneers haven't been terrible this season defending the tight end position, they haven't been great either. In six games, Tampa Bay has surrendered four touchdowns and 280 receiving yards on 30 receptions, resulting in 14.17 fantasy points against per game (14th-most).
However, in Weeks 4 and 5, the combination of Dallas Goedert and AJ Barner accounted for all four touchdowns, and last week, Jake Tonges stepped up in the second half to haul in six passes for 58 yards.
WOW @samlaporta 🤯#DETvsKC 📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/iTmh9Nh1AS
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 13, 2025
Week 7 - Fantasy Football Busts
T.J. Hockenson - TE, Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia is one of the season's more challenging matchups for opposing tight ends. Entering Week 7, Philadelphia has limited the opposition's tight ends to 168 receiving yards on 21 receptions and 7.30 fantasy points per game. Against the Giants on Thursday night football, the Eagles contained the Giants' tight ends to just 4.70 fantasy points on two receptions for 27 yards.
Sometimes, you have to gamble on talent in difficult matchups in fantasy. However, T.J. Hockenson has not given fantasy managers any reason to trust him. In five contests, Hockenson has topped 10 fantasy points just once, and his 8.1 fantasy points per game average places him as the TE24. Look at the names ahead of him: Barner, Chig Okonkwo, Tonges, Brenton Strange.
Hockenson's 152 receiving yards sit 23rd among tight ends, the 24 targets are 22nd, the 10.7% air yard share is 27th among his peers, and the 13.6% of team receiving yard market share is 25th. That porous production is coming off a 16.4% target share, 15th among tight ends. Hockenson has now become a bye-week replacement at the position, and if I am replacing Mark Andrews or Dalton Kincaid this week, I'm looking elsewhere.
Theo Johnson - TE, New York Giants at Denver Broncos
Before running into the Eagles on Thursday Night Football, Theo Johnson was one of fantasy's most talked-about tight ends. Everywhere you turned, people were asking about adding him off the waiver wire and inserting him into their lineups. It's incredible how six catches, 33 yards, and a pair of touchdowns can lead people to disregard matchups in fantasy as they seek a quick fix.
As a result, Johnson caught two of four targets for 27 yards against the Eagles, and he follows that difficult matchup with a matchup that is just as difficult as the Giants head to Denver to face the Broncos.
While the Eagles allow 7.20 fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends, the Broncos aren't far off that number, allowing 8.08 fantasy points this season. In London, Denver held Taylor to 1.2 fantasy points as they made life uncomfortable for Fields in the pocket. In just six contests this season, Denver has sacked the quarterback on 30 occasions, five sacks per contest.
While Jaxson Dart has been good, Philadelphia ranks in the bottom third of the league with nine sacks. The heat will be cranked up more than a few notches this week.
Tyler Warren - TE, Indianapolis Colts at Los Angeles Chargers
Two years ago, LaPorta finished as the overall TE1 in fantasy as a rookie. Last season, Brock Bowers accomplished the same feat in an even more impressive fashion. This season, as we enter Week 7, only Jake Ferguson stands between Tyler Warren and that top overall spot in the fantasy peaking order at the tight end position, as the rookie has averaged 14.1 fantasy points per game and produced 84.6 fantasy points this year.
Okay, two things stand in Warren's path in Ferguson and the Los Angeles Chargers. While Darren Waller had success last week against the Chargers, scoring his fourth touchdown in just three games this season, Los Angeles has been a formidable unit, allowing less than 10 fantasy points per game. Expect Warren to see plenty of Derwin James Jr., who has been part of some epic battles with Travis Kelce over his seven-year career.
Warren runs his routes from his inline position 43.3% of the time, but also has run 40.8% of his routes from the slot and 14.6% out wide. James has played about 47% of his snaps from the slot this season, so this matchup will happen. You aren't sitting, Warren, but you should proceed with caution this week.
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