2025 Fantasy Football: Week 17 Tight End Sleepers and Streamers

If you’re reading this, congratulations — there’s a strong chance you’re playing for a fantasy football championship this week. If you have been reading all year; Thank You. Getting here took preparation, discipline, and yes, a little luck, of course. Now comes the most important part: finishing the job! Don’t let a title slip away by ignoring what’s left on the waiver wire — or by letting your opponent fill a hole you could have blocked.

More Week 17 Fantasy Football Fun!: | Sneaky Starts | Fantasy Football Waiver Wire | Weekly Sleepers & Streamers | Starts & Sits | Skrip’s Week Winners | NFL DFS | NFL Player Props | IDP Analysis | Bold Predictions | Survivor Picks | NFL Injury Report | Dynasty Trade Targets | Weekly Rankings | Dynasty Risers and Fallers

Tight end has been a wasteland all season, and Week 17 is no different. Injuries and inconsistency have thinned the position even further, which makes usage and matchup more important than name value. If you’re hunting for an edge, it’s time to get aggressive.

Week 17 Tight End Streamers

Taysom Hill – New Orleans Saints

The moment we have all been waiting for. Taysom Hill is a thorn in our side. He went full chaos mode, and fantasy managers should be paying attention. With Alvin Kamara and Devin Neal sidelined, Hill became the Saints’ de facto RB1 in Week 16, leading the team with 12 carries for 42 yards while also catching four passes for 36 yards and throwing a 38-yard touchdown. He finished with a season-high fantasy output, and that kind of usage at tight end simply doesn’t exist elsewhere.

Hill’s floor is always volatile — that’s the deal — but when he’s getting double-digit carries and targets, the upside is impossible to ignore. The key news will be if Kamara misses another game, Hill is a borderline top-12 tight end in Week 17 against Tennessee, and a viable championship-week swing for managers chasing the ceiling.

Brenton Strange – Jacksonville Jaguars

Strange has quietly become one of the more reliable tight ends since returning from injury. Since Week 12, he ranks top-seven at the position in receiving yards and is averaging over 10 fantasy points per game. That may not sound flashy, but at tight end, it absolutely plays.

Jacksonville’s offense funnels through Trevor Lawrence, who is playing some of the best football of his career. While there are a lot of mouths to feed in this offense, Strange has carved out a meaningful role. He’s posted double-digit fantasy points in three of his last five games and just tied a season high with seven targets while finding the end zone. The matchup lines up well in Week 17 against Indianapolis, a pass-funnel defense that’s struggled to contain tight ends all season. The volume competition keeps him from being risk-free, but Strange profiles as a low-end TE1 with a solid floor.

Colston Loveland – Chicago Bears

Loveland is a classic case of context masking opportunity. His box scores haven’t jumped off the page the last two weeks, but Chicago has played through brutal weather conditions that capped passing production across the board. That changes in Week 17, as the Bears head to sunny Santa Clara.

Loveland has recorded at least three catches in every game since Week 7 and is steadily earning Caleb Williams’ trust. He also logged a season-high 82 percent route rate in Week 16, signaling that his role has finally stabilized. With multiple Chicago pass-catchers banged up and weather no longer an issue, Loveland sets up as a sneaky top-12 tight end option against a depleted 49ers front seven that still ranks bottom-five in pressure rate.

Darren Waller – Miami Dolphins

Waller didn’t deliver the nuclear game we were hoping for, but the usage remained intact. He led Miami’s tight ends in snaps and turned in a modest three-catch, 40-yard performance.

The touchdown upside remains very much alive in Week 17. Tampa Bay has been one of the softest defenses against tight ends, allowing top-six fantasy production to the position, and Miami should be in a game script that favors passing. Waller is still a bet on red-zone involvement, but the floor is stable enough to trust in championship week.

Week 17 Tight End Sleepers

Mike Gesicki – Cincinnati Bengals

Gesicki continues to show up just often enough to matter. He found the end zone again in Week 16, giving him two touchdowns in his last three games, and now draws a juicy matchup against Arizona. The Cardinals have struggled mightily against tight ends all season.

With Noah Fant dealing with an ankle injury and potentially sidelined again, Gesicki could see a small bump in snaps and targets. He’s a viable streaming option for managers who need a touchdown to swing the matchup.

Stone Smartt/ Mason Taylor – New York Jets

Stone Smartt and Mason Taylor represent pure Week 17 variance — but sometimes variance wins titles. Smartt stepped in for Taylor last week and caught all five of his targets for 34 yards, while Taylor himself would immediately become a focal point if he returns, especially with Garrett Wilson ruled out for the season.

This situation isn’t pretty, but opportunity is opportunity. If Taylor plays, he could see heavy usage. If he doesn’t, Smartt remains a volume-based dart throw. Either way, it’s the kind of uncomfortable play that can pay off in a championship matchup if you’re desperate for points.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 17 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!