5 Tight End Sleepers for 2025 Fantasy Football

Identifying tight end sleepers before your Fantasy Football Draft can have a major impact on gaining a league edge and winning a championship. Especially with how difficult it can be at times to draft for that position. The term “sleeper” in the Fantasy Football world is used often, but is defined differently from person to person. So, for this article, I will give you my definition:

Sleeper: a player whose market and/or draft value is much lower than what their Fantasy Football production is projected to be.

Some tight end sleepers from 2024 fantasy football (ADP = average draft position):

• Zach Ertz – ADP TE21 vs. TE7 Fantasy Football finish
• Hunter Henry – ADP TE22 vs. TE12 Fantasy Football finish
• Jonnu Smith – ADP TE24 vs. TE4 Fantasy Football finish
• Tucker Kraft – ADP TE37 vs. TE10 Fantasy Football finish

In the above cases, the positive gap between where these players were drafted and then what their actual production was for Fantasy Football was a huge benefit to managers. These guys could have been waiver pick-ups, but the same point remains. The tight end position is typically rough outside of the elite obvious names, so sorting out who to draft if you end up waiting on tight end can be easier said than done. For 2025, I have five tight ends who I feel can follow the same path as the above list from 2024 and have a positive gap between ADP and performance. Let’s get it

5 TE Sleepers for 2025 Fantasy Football

1. Chig Okonkwo, Titans

The following write-up came from my 4 Breakout Tight Ends for 2025 Fantasy Football article. So I am double-dipping here for Chig Okonkwo in 2025:

Chig has played all 17 games for three straight seasons, which is impressive in itself, finishing with 450, 528, and 479 receiving yards in those years. 70+ targets in each of the last two seasons has shown some role consistency. Chig has scored over 13 Fantasy Points six times through three seasons. This has all been tied to quarterbacks Will Levis, Mason Rudolph, Ryan Tannehill, and Malik Willis.

The Titans selected Cam Ward out of Miami with the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to fill their starting quarterback role. Ward finished 2024 with 4,313 passing yards and 39 passing touchdowns. Elijah Arroyo, a rookie tight end for the Seahawks, finished last season with 590 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Calvin Ridley is the clear #1 target for this Titans offense, but that #2 role is wide open for me. Veteran Tyler Lockett, Van Jefferson, Treylon Burks, and rookies Chimere Dike, Elic Ayomanor, and Xavier Restrepo highlight the target competition. Chig could fight for the second target role with a gunslinger in Ward, who has clear passing yardage and touchdown upside, which could result in a true Fantasy breakout for 2025.

2. Brenton Strange, Jaguars

The Jaguars selected Brenton Strange in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, who has primarily sat behind Evan Engram (when healthy) the last two seasons. Back in 2023, Engram earned 143 targets, caught 114 balls for 963 yards, and scored four touchdowns, which emphasizes the tight end role in Jacksonville. In 2024, Engram played in just nine games but averaged 7.1 targets, 5.2 receptions, and 40.6 receiving yards. Strange saw opportunity in 2024 due to Engram being off the field, with some flashes. Strange finished with 65 (Week 2), 73 (Week 15), and 60 (Week 18) receiving yard weeks, scored a pair of touchdowns, and caught 11/12 targets in Week 15.

Brian Thomas Jr had an explosive rookie season last year, and earned 133 targets with the next most targeted players being Engram, (64 in nine games) and then Strange (53). The Jaguars selected Travis Hunte with the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but we are unsure to what percentage he will play wide receiver vs. corner. New Head Coach Liam Coen was quoted saying about Strange: “You can tell he’s hungry, wants to continue to get better, and he showed some really nice things last year, especially after the catch. Doing some nice things of breaking tackles and getting extra yards.”. Evan Engram had a strong connection to Trevor Lawrence, targets outside of Brian Thomas Jr. are wide open, we saw flashes of Strange last year, and Cade Otton had some major weeks under Liam Coen last year in Tampa. Positive signs.

3. Mason Taylor, Jets

Mason Taylor is the only tight end in LSU history to record 100+ catches and 1,000+ receiving yards through their career. Taylor has strong family roots in the NFL with his father, Jason Taylor, and uncle, Zach Thomas, both being Pro Football Hall of Famers. Taylor is a solid athlete at 6’5″, 251 pounds. Taylor can execute a wider variety of routes, adjusts to throws well, has solid catch focus, handles blocking duties, and has good body control as a tight end who is still growing. The Jets selected Taylor in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Garrett Wilson earned 154 targets last season, Davante Adams 114 (11 games), and then the next target earner for the Jets was running back Breece Hall at 76. Looking at the depth chart for the Jets for 2025, Adams is gone, and the target competition outside of Wilson is Josh Reynolds, Allen Lazard, sophomore Malachi Corley, and rookie Arian Smith. This is an extremely weak depth chart for the pass-catchers. Justin Fields was picked up by the Jets this offseason, and back in Chicago, Fields had a solid connection to his tight end Cole Kmet. Kmet had 133 catches for 1,384 receiving yards and scored 10 touchdowns through 40 games with Justin Fields, according to StatMuse. Taylor has an opportunity to not only become a consistent target as a rookie in this Jets offense but to potentially earn the #2 target role behind Garrett Wilson in 2025, which can have big Fantasy Football translations.

4. Zach Ertz, Commanders

Before 2024, Zach Ertz had a rough stretch where he simply could not stay on the field, playing just 17 total games between the 2022 and 2023 seasons for the Cardinals. 2024 was a major bounce-back for the veteran. 91 targets ranked #8, 66 receptions ranked #6, 654 receiving yards ranked #11 for the position, and 10.4 Fantasy PPG ranked #9 with a TE7 overall Fantasy Football finish. Ertz was the #2 option for a rookie Jayden Daniels last season behind Terry McLaurin, and that rookie-to-veteran connection was solid. Even in the playoffs, Ertz averaged 11.5 yards per catch in the Wild Card, scored a touchdown in the Divisional, then finished with a 16-target, 11-reception, 104 receiving stat line in the Conference Championship.

I am not sure if it is due to age, Deebo Samuel becoming a Commander, or if there is hope out there that Ben Sinnott (second-round selection in 2024) will leap forward, but Ertz is once again being faded in Fantasy Football drafts. Daniels to Ertz was very reliable last season, so even if the targets take a hit, the production can still grow as this connection grows. Ertz is nearing 35 years old, so there is always that fear of another injury or of a major decline, but with a Fantasy resume like his on top of the production he had year one with Jayden Daniels, he can once again be a major Fantasy value.

5. Darren Waller, Dolphins

Jonnu Smith was shipped to Pittsburgh from Miami in a deal involving multiple pieces at the end of June. Smith had a career year in 2024, his first and only season as a Dolphin, posting 111 targets, 88 catches, 884 receiving yards, eight receiving touchdowns, and averaged 13.1 Fantasy PPG (#5). The Dolphins then traded for Darren Waller and a 2027 conditional seventh-round pick from the Giants in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick. This meant Waller coming out of retirement at 32 years old.

Waller has had issues staying on the field during his last three NFL seasons, playing 11, 9, then 12 games from 2021-2023. During this same span, in the games he played 50%+ of the snaps, he has averaged 7.27 targets, 4.65 receptions, 54.69 receiving yards, 0.19 receiving touchdowns, and 11.28 Fantasy Points. Back in 2020, Waller was dominant, earning 145 targets, catching 107 of them for 1,196 receiving yards, scoring nine touchdowns, and averaging 17.4 Fantasy PPG. The year prior, Waller produced 1,146 receiving yards. Jonnu Smith excelled in this Miami offense last season, the offense with a healthy Tua Tagovailoa has a ton of upside in it, and that all combined with Waller even being a fraction of his former self can translate to Fantasy Football relevance. Even if it means competing with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane who may in turn just make his life easier for looks as is.

For more great fantasy football rankings and analysis, make sure to check out the 2025 FantraxHQ Fantasy Football Draft Kit!