For most leagues, fantasy football season ended a little over a month ago.
For some, the fun is largely just beginning. “Dynasty” or “keeper” fantasy football leagues are becoming more popular as NFL fans shift to a year-long, macro outlook of the league by retaining their favorites stars and players every year.
The most important aspect of these leagues is the yearly rookie draft. You’ll cut a few underperformers from the roster to make room for incoming rookies as the potential stars of tomorrow. Just last season, teams could have gone from the bottom of the league to the top with selections of Jayden Daniels, Bucky Irving, or Ladd McConkey.
Rookie tight ends struggling on impact is a myth that has been busted. In half-PPR formats, Sam LaPorta and Brock Bowers have delivered TE1 seasons in consecutive years as rookies. In a strong draft class at tight end, is it crazy to think some of these prospects could do the same?
Dynasty 2025 Rookie Tight End Rankings
1. Tyler Warren, Penn State
This tight end class had a few midseason contenders for TE1, but one became very apparent in the College Football Playoff (CFP).
Tyler Warren is a unicorn. Beyond rare and obvious fluidity in his movement for the position, he put pen to paper with the Penn State Nittany Lions in the biggest of moments.
He finished the regular season with a 31.1% target share (18th in FBS) and concluded the entire campaign at 2.79 yards per route run (YPRR). That was 16th in the country across all players — not tight ends. He also handled 26 carries for 218 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground.
Penn State’s lack of receiving talent didn’t bite them because of Warren’s ability to line up anywhere. He’s not quite Bowers as a prospect but firmly sits on whatever tier is right below that.
He’ll likely go in the top-20 picks and ranks 7th overall on my top 50 big board weighted for positional value.
2. Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green
I’m sticking to my guns on Harold Fannin Jr., who didn’t have the best Senior Bowl as a blocker. He may not be a three-down tight end in the NFL, and that hurts to an extent.
However, he’s also the only other tight end prospect that, analytically, compares to any pass-catcher in the country.
Fannin Jr. actually led all of FBS in catches (117) and receiving yards (1,555), and while his opponents in the MAC weren’t NFL-caliber, Bowling Green State Falcons quarterback Connor Bazelak (55.6 QBR) wasn’t either. How many tight end prospects — ever — could do that?
Undersized at 6’3″ with said blocking concerns, he’ll need a massive weekend at the combine to sniff the first round.
Even if it doesn’t happen, his 100th-percentile dominator score and 91st-percentile breakout age, according to PlayerProfiler, indicate the 20-year-old is an athletic mold of clay to mold for the right offensive artist.
3. Colston Loveland, Michigan
By all accounts, Colston Loveland should be the second tight end off the board. NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah thinks he’s the seventh-best overall prospect in the draft.
I don’t see a bust at tight end — just not a special one.
Obviously, Loveland had to overcome extreme quarterback concerns with the Michigan Wolverines this year to post 582 receiving yards and 5 tuddies on 8.4 targets per game. However, that’s not dissimilar to the position Michael Mayer was in coming out of school, and Mayer posted 809 yards and 9 scores on 8.5 targets per game.
The production is a red flag — and so is a below-average 20.0% contested catch rate, per Pro Football Focus (PFF). The lanky, efficient tight end really just got what was there.
I see Dalton Schultz in his frame, plus athleticism, and ability to do it all. Schultz just hasn’t been a difference-maker in the NFL. While the bust potential is minimal, a top-10 ranking on a big board seems preposterous to me.
4. Oronde Gadsden II, Syracuse
While you want a tight end to block to stay on the field, there’s also the possibility of rotating in a third-down receiving option that may not be ideal for running plays.
To me, Oronde Gadsden II has the highest potential outside of the top-two guys. Along with an NFL pedigree from his father, Oronde Gadsden, the 6’5″ matchup nightmare really checks every box from an ACC squad, the Syracuse Orange.
Gadsden II’s blocking is the primary concern, but his 66.0 run block grade, per PFF, was actually above average historically.
As a pass-catcher, he was top five at the position in deep catches and contested catches, producing a solid 1.95 YPRR despite plenty of competition. LeQuint Allen could be a Day 2 pick in this draft as an RB, and Orange wideout Trebor Pena put up first-round numbers as a sophomore in 2024.
Truthfully, I see fewer holes with him as a prospect as I dig outside of a mediocre drop rate (3.9%). He’ll shoot up draft boards with the 40-yard dash time I believe he’s capable of posting.
5. Mason Taylor, LSU
Here’s another potential bad look for Brian Kelly.
Mason Taylor was a part of the “super team” 2023 LSU Tigers that featured Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers, and Brian Thomas Jr. to win…exactly nothing. Taylor had only 36 catches for 348 yards that season, but 2024 led to an increase in both grabs (55) and yardage (546) with the crowd thinned out.
Nonetheless, the 6’5″ target is the best blocker of the guys we’ve seen thus far, and he was eighth at the position with eighth contested catches. His 1.8% drop rate is an excellent sign of sure hands.
There’s an athletic gap between the top-three options and Taylor. There’s also value in the known quantity he’ll be at the next level. Jeremiah ranks him 35th overall, so it might not be surprising to see him turn into a second-round pick — and a starter for a team next year.
6. Elijah Arroyo, Miami
Elijah Arroyo was the cover guy for our biggest winners from the Senior Bowl. With Fannin Jr. in attendance, he was most’s top-ranked tight end in Mobile.
The almost-22-year-old needed a boost like that. Frankly, Arroyo didn’t have the type of season that would normally encroach a Day 2 pick. He posted just 1.71 YPRR in a crowded Miami (FL) Hurricanes offense on an 8.8% target share.
It’s fair to even say the production, but he did deliver big plays when called upon at 16.9 yards per reception (YPR). He was tied for fourth among all FBS tight ends with eight “deep” catches, per PFF.
The combine is extremely important to the 6’4″ Arroyo, who is sort of a “workout warrior” type of prospect. I can’t put him higher than sixth with such glaring holes in production that mattered.
7. Terrance Ferguson, Oregon
If there’s a prospect I might be too low on, I’d acknowledge it might be Terrance Ferguson of the Oregon Ducks.
Ferguson suffered a bit from what plagued Mason Taylor in 2023. With NFL draftees at running back and wide receiver in combination with six Oregon games decided by at least 20 points, we just didn’t see him utilized a lot in 2024.
His PFF receiving grade (70.3) and YPRR (2.04) certainly make the grade. His analytical profile is very similar to Gadsden’s, but the 20-pound difference does demonstrate an athleticism discrepancy downfield. For said trade-off, his run-block grade at PFF (60.6) wasn’t better.
The four-star recruit’s best game arguably came via a 5-for-71 performance in the 2025 Rose Bowl, and he made an imprint on the Senior Bowl. The arrow is up headed into the combine.
8. Mitchell Evans, Notre Dame
Durability has undoubtedly pushed Mitchell Evans down the board.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish certainly have a claim as “Tight End U” with Michael Mayer, Tyler Eifert, Cole Kmet, and Kyle Rudolph all producing within the last decade, and Evans will certainly be another draftee.
At 6’5″, 260 pounds, he has ideal size for the position as a two-year starter after Mayer. The problem? He missed five games in 2023 and sat out a pair of contests in 2024. Now, he did play — and deliver — in all four of Notre Dame’s 2024-25 CFP tilts, hauling in 14 passes for 149 yards.
He’s got surprising downfield ability for his stat line, and you love a 72.2% contested catch rate for a tight end.
The difference between Loveland and Evans is where they’ll be selected. Likely waiting until Day 3, I’m much more forgiving of the Irish’s guy. He also might be the start of where a tight end isn’t worth selecting in four-round dynasty drafts.
9. Jalin Conyers, Texas Tech
My sleeper in this class is Jalin Conyers from the Texas Tech Red Raiders. I was surprised to see such a force in a random Big 12 showing in December.
Conyers battled issues with incumbent personnel himself. Tahj Brooks is my RB13 in this year’s pre-combine running back rankings and Texas Tech’s all-time leading rusher. Josh Kelly is the best slot receiver no one has heard of after a season posting a 2.26 YPRR on 10.2 targets per contest. Heck, 6’9″ tight end Mason Tharp was — obviously — a red zone weapon, too.
Yet, the Arizona State Sun Devils transfer largely delivered in his small role. 1.43 YPRR doesn’t jump off the page, but a 60.0% contested catch rate and 68.4 receiving grade, per PFF, do. Most impressive? His 80.1 run-blocking grade is the highest of any prospect on this list.
He also had 8 carries, 31 yards, and 2 rushing scores as a “wildcat” option. That’s good news that Joey McGuire wanted to get him the ball.
Conyers’ 6.3% drop rate is a place to improve, but that’s a small, correctable issue for a great athlete that might have been overshadowed by other weapons.
10. Gunnar Helm, Texas
Some might have Gunnar Helm ranked as high as fifth in the class. It’s a thin margin after the top three, and I’m higher on Gadsden than most.
Helm definitely suffered from room at the inn, too. Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond are wideouts that’ll both be selected in this class, and the down year for Quinn Ewers (75.4 QBR) hurt all of them. That’s why 1.61 YPRR isn’t great, but it meets the grade of a draftee.
He’ll still draw fans via raw production, posting 60 catches last year. That was fifth among all FBS tight ends and only trails Warren, Fannin Jr., and Gadsden among draft candidates.
My biggest issue with Helm is his run blocking. He frequently gets blown off blocks in the run game, and a 43.5 PFF grade in that area agrees.
Does he have the upside to be a security blanket at the next level? Sure. There are just a lot of questions in a deep class that, to me, merit only a late-round pick.
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