Fantasy Football TE Exit Interview: There were 2 paths to tight end success in 2025 — one of them was Trey McBride

The 2025 fantasy football season gave us two paths to succeeding at the tight end position:

1. Draft Trey McBride

2. Punt, play the value game

McBride’s smash year obviously left a mark. His 119 catches (and 161 targets) are both records for the tight end position. His 302.4 points in full-PPR scoring ranks fifth all-time, trailing Rob Gronkowski (2011), Travis Kelce (2020, 2022) and Jimmy Graham (2013). McBride ranked fourth on the Yahoo MVP list, the chart of the players most commonly on the top 500 teams in Yahoo Public Leagues. If you landed on McBride, you picked a winner.

But you need to power-scroll down that MVP list to find additional tight ends. McBride was on 37.2% of the best teams. After that, among the tight ends, we’re looking at Harold Fannin Jr. (11.8%), Kyle Pitts Sr. (11.4%), Brenton Strange (9.8%) and Darren Waller (9.0%). It can be argued that Strange and Waller are mostly on this list because they reflect how winning managers play, not that they necessarily drove winning managers to success.

Top TE scorers (through 17 weeks)

Trey McBride, Cardinals — 242.9 half-ppr points
Kyle Pitts Sr., Falcons — 158
Dallas Goedert, Eagles — 155.1
Travie Kelce, Chiefs — 152.5
Harold Fannin Jr., Browns — 150.4
Jake Ferguson, Cowboys — 146.1
Tyler Warren, Colts — 145.4
Brock Bowers, Raiders — 144.2
Hunter Henry, Patriots — 140.7
Juwan Johnson, Saints — 135.8
George Kittle, 49ers — 127.6
Dalton Schultz, Texans — 127.4

If you lump all the tight ends into the wide receiver bucket, McBride comes out as the WR5. He was the right answer here. But it’s tricky to guess where McBride’s story might be headed.

Kyler Murray hasn’t been able to deliver the ball to McBride consistently in the red zone, and although McBride and Jacoby Brissett had a wonderful couple of months this year, that’s not a sustainable business model. The Cardinals are 3-13 and might fire the entire coaching staff. Can they make things work with Murray, who’s at a crossroads at the end of his age-38 season? Brissett is 33, and for all his fun moments this year, Arizona went 1-11 on his watch.

McBride’s ADP will rise to the first or second round next year, and I don’t think I’ll pay the freight. But even mock draft season is a ways off. This is all a pencil sketch; nothing committed to ink yet.

More 2025 Positional Exit Interviews: QB | RB | WR | TE

The only tight ends within hailing distance of McBride this year on a per-game basis were the injured stars: George Kittle, Tucker Kraft and Brock Bowers. They played 10, 8 and 12 games, respectively. Kraft would have been a screaming right answer if he hadn’t suffered a torn ACL in Week 9.

Kittle also could have had a special season if health allowed for it. He’s sitting on 52-599-7 for his 10 games, and teammate Jake Tonges has a 24-293-5 log. It’s cheating to combine their stats because Tonges can also produce while Kittle is playing, but stick with the bit. The two tight ends combine for a lovely 76-892-12 line this year, which gets you to about 200 fantasy points. That would be TE2 on this board, or WR8 if you lump the tight ends with the wideouts.

Whatever they’re paying Kyle Shanahan, it probably isn’t enough. His passing game pieces were consistently hurt all year, but he kept finding ways to win.

2025 Booms at Tight End

The Rookies: Fannin was a miracle worker in Cleveland, charting as the TE5 despite spotty quarterback play around him. I don’t know if Kevin Stefanski will survive after the year, but he was creative with Fannin from Day 1, to success. Tyler Warren (TE7) had a fast start and easily returned his ADP, while Colston Loveland (TE14) was more of a second-half star (three smash games after Week 8). Initially, I worried that the Bears took the wrong tight end, but that feels silly now. Oronde Gadsden II (TE17) was part of a crowded tree with the Chargers but had several useful weeks.

The success of this rookie group encourages us to be open-minded with future rookie classes. Kenyon Sadiq of Oregon is considered the No. 1 prospect for 2026.

The Comeback: Sometimes it’s hard to remember that Pitts is just 25. His season popped late in the year when Drake London and Michael Penix Jr. were both hurt; in one four-game sequence, Pitts rolled up a 31-395-4 line (including a three-touchdown explosion at Tampa Bay). Pitts timed the resurgence well, heading into his free-agent period. From out of nowhere, he finished TE2 this year. He was also second in targets (109), though that was a whopping 52 opportunities below McBride.

Old and Boring — but Useful: Time-honored touchdown deodorant was the story for Dallas Goedert (TE3), Jake Ferguson (TE6) and Hunter Henry (TE9); that trio combined for 25 spikes in all. The six-point plays were essential for Goedert and Henry, because they had just 82 and 80 targets, respectively.

The Sleeper: Juwan Johnson received a juicy extension before the year and if you followed the money, you were rewarded. Johnson pushed off to a strong start and it was a legitimate signal, the start of a useful (if not quite seismic) TE10 season. The Saints are looking up, with Kellen Moore a savvy hire at head coach and QB Tyler Shough an interesting player, no matter that he’s already 26.

2025 Busts at Tight End

Injuries, still the worst: Bowers didn’t return his second-round ADP because his health wouldn’t allow it, though Geno Smith was also a hindrance. Kittle and Sam LaPorta missed significant time, too.

Sometimes Old is just Old: The Broncos envisioned Evan Engram as the joker in their passing game, but the joke was on them. Engram scored just one touchdown and had 47 catches that no one remembers. T.J. Hockenson (51-438-3) wasn’t helped by a messy Minnesota QB room, but he doesn’t have much explosiveness left. He averaged just 8.6 yards a catch. The Ravens extended Mark Andrews for some reason, not sure why. Isaiah Likely isn’t exactly the same player, but he is five years younger. To be fair to Andrews, his lost season was also tied to Lamar Jackson, who was hurt midseason and ineffective after that.

Farewell to Kelce?

Travis Kelce deserves his own category, finishing up what’s likely his final NFL season. His TE4 finish this year was mostly about playing every game; a 73-839-5 log is solid but below his peak, obviously. He’s a walk-in Hall of Famer, and surely on the Mount Rushmore for all-time tight ends. (How about Rob Gronkowski, Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Travis Kelce as the Fab 4? I like the sound of that.)

If we examine the seasonal scans for Kelce at the bottom of his Football-Reference page, this is what we get: TE8, TE7, TE1, TE2, TE1, TE1, TE1, TE1, TE2, TE1, TE3, TE10, TE4. That’s just absurd. I still think peak Gronkowski was the best tight end in NFL history, but Kelce easily goes down as the best cumulative fantasy tight end in history.

Way Too Early 2026 Tight End Rankings

1. Trey McBride

2. Brock Bowers

3. George Kittle

4. *Tucker Kraft

5. Tyler Warren

6. Kyle Pitts

7. Harold Fannin Jr.

8. Colston Loveland

9. Jake Ferguson

10. Dallas Goedert

11. Juwan Johnson