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Dynasty Fantasy Football tight end rankings and 2025 outlooks for Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, and Sam LaPorta. See where they rank for 2025 dynasty league drafts.
The tight-end position is one of the trickiest to navigate, especially in dynasty fantasy football formats. It's small and top-heavy. Much of the scoring is volatile and influenced by touchdowns. The cream of the crop, however, can excel with or without touchdowns.
A group of young tight ends, led by Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, and Sam LaPorta, fall into that category.
Below, we dive into the candidacies of each tight end to determine who is the TE1 for dynasty fantasy football leagues in 2025.
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Brock Bowers, TE, Las Vegas Raiders
When Sam LaPorta ended his rookie season as fantasy football's TE1, he did it on the heels of double-digit touchdowns (which we'll talk about below). Brock Bowers did it by setting the single-season receptions record for rookies and only trailed Ja'Marr Chase in catches.
That's 110 receptions for @brockbowers17! The most by ANY rookie in NFL history 🔥
📺: #LACvsLV on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/Okg4NZxm3D— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2025
What makes all of those accomplishments even more impressive is his surrounding talent (or lack thereof). Gardner Minshew II and Aidan O'Connell split quarterback duties (with one Desmond Ridder start, unsurprisingly one of Bowers' worst games).
The Raiders had the worst rushing offense in the league (79.8 yards per game, 12 fewer than the next-worst team). Jakobi Meyers was the only other Raider to catch 50 passes. It takes a special breed to succeed on an abysmal offense.
The two-time John Mackey Award winner will enter his second season at age 22 with (hopefully) a drastically improved roster. Las Vegas has been linked to numerous quarterbacks; from veterans like Russell Wilson to one-hit wonders like Sam Darnold to rookies like Shedeur Sanders. New head coach Pete Carroll won't allow the Raiders to be a rushing offense bottom-dweller, either.
Trey McBride, TE, Arizona Cardinals
Given the circumstances, Trey McBride's TE2 finish last season was an incredible feat. He missed one game (easy to recover from) but didn't score a receiving touchdown until Week 17! One earlier rushing touchdown and a (meaningless for fantasy) Week 18 score put his total at three.
So, how did he do it? He was one of three tight ends to top 1,000 yards (Bowers and George Kittle) and trailed Bowers by just one reception.
McBride's 2024 campaign marks three straight seasons of drastic improvement. The former second-round pick jumped from 29 receptions as a rookie to 81 in Year 2 to 111 last season. Yardage also increased from 265 to 825 to 1,146. Despite the draft capital invested in Marvin Harrison Jr., McBride is Kyler Murray's go-to receiver.
McBride let all tight ends in several usage categories: route participation (86.5 percent), target share (29.3 percent), and air yards share (25.3 percent). Incredibly, his target share increased in the red zone and he finished second with 21 red-zone targets. The problem? He only secured 11 of them.
End-of-season chart dump time via @FantasyPtsData!
First-Read Targets vs. Air Yards Shares
- Tyreek Hill, Marvin Harrison Jr., Calvin Ridley, and Terry McLaurin all make sense together
- Trey McBride was an alpha WR1, but without the downfield usage
- Do not downplay Nabers pic.twitter.com/j30kg9vTFs
— Ryan Heath (@RyanJ_Heath) December 31, 2024
So, where does McBride go from here? The popular consensus is that he'll enjoy positive touchdown regression in 2025, the lone fault in his game. But he's now only totaled six receiving touchdowns in three seasons. It's becoming a concerning trend.
Sam LaPorta, TE, Detroit Lions
Sam LaPorta was nearly unanimously viewed as TE1 just one offseason ago. He logged 86 receptions and 10 touchdowns en route to a spot atop tight-end scoring as a rookie. But what makes you laugh also makes you cry.
LaPorta saw fewer targets (83) than he had receptions in his first go-around. The touchdowns, a fickle stat year to year, weren't there at the beginning of the season. He had zero touchdown receptions in September and two when the calendar rolled into November.
Thankfully, his involvement became more consistent past Thanksgiving and restored confidence in dynasty fantasy managers across the globe. He earned seven or more targets in every game from the beginning of December through the end of Detroit's season. He didn't get seven targets once in the first three months.
Sam LaPorta PPR points per game:
Weeks 1-7:
7.1 (TE22)Weeks 8-14:
11.3 (TE11)Weeks 15-DR:
16.2 (TE2)— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) February 24, 2025
A TE8 finish wasn't what fantasy managers expected (especially those who spent a third-round pick on him in redraft formats) but he's only 24 years old and a pivotal piece of one of the best offenses in the NFL.
Granted, that can also be a downside. Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown will be priorities in Detroit. Depending on the game plan, Jameson Williams and David Montgomery could also be ahead of LaPorta in the pecking order.
Who Is The Dynasty Fantasy Football TE1?
Bowers, McBride, and LaPorta are 25 or younger and are considered the next generation of elite tight ends as Travis Kelce, George Kittle, and Zach Ertz navigate the twilight years.
Bowers isn't moving away from Vegas. Arizona general manager Monti Ossenfort said McBride's contract extension is an offseason priority. LaPorta is an integral part of an explosive offense. Dynasty managers rostering any of the three tight ends should feel extremely comfortable for the next half-decade.
The changes in Las Vegas could cause Bowers' production to dip, but he has wiggle room to still be the belle of the ball for tight ends in dynasty formats. McBride is a close second with LaPorta an arm's length away in third place.
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