2025 Fantasy Football TE Rookie Rankings (Pre-NFL Draft) - Tyler Warren, Elijah Arroyo, Harold Fannin Jr., and more

The positional strengths of certain positions cycle every year. Last year, the quarterback and wide receiver classes were strong. This season, they give way to the running back and tight end positions.

As prospects prepare to hear their names called at the NFL Draft, fantasy managers look to gain the upper hand on their competition by gaining more insight into some of the top prospects.

If you want to take the next step, you have come to the right place. The tight end position in 2025 is shaping into one of the strongest tight end classes in recent memory. Here are the Top 10 tight ends ahead of the NFL Draft.

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NFL Rookie Rankings for Fantasy Football (Pre-Draft)

Rookie rankings are from before the NFL Scouting Combine and before the NFL Draft

Pre-Draft Top 10 Fantasy TE PIcks

10. Jake Briningstool, Clemson

You are in luck if your fantasy roster requires a tight end this year. At No. 10 is former Clemson Tiger Jake Briningstool, who is bringing plenty of talent with him to the NFL this season. Bringingstool is a red zone threat at 6-foot-4 with a 78" wingspan. Briningstool's size, ball skills, and leaping ability allow him to gain the upper hand on linebackers and safeties alike.

Since 2023, in 26 contests, the former Tiger averaged 10.3 yards per reception and accounted for 1,098 yards in Clemon's offense. 

Jake Briningstool pic.twitter.com/uBE9lnezi7

— Clemson Highlights (@ClemsonRT) September 19, 2024

Briningstool will need to bulk up and get stronger this offseason if he is to produce in the NFL as a tight end.

9. Terrance Ferguson, Oregon

This tight-end class is loaded and will send some tight ends in the league to the unemployment line. Terrance Ferguson, in any other year, would be a top-5 tight end; this year, he barely cracks the top 10. Watching him throughout the season, he and Dillon Gabriel took advantage of their timing to work out leverage and angles to create separation.

Terrance Ferguson (TE, Oregon) is definitely going to be a riser this week at the #SeniorBowl! @AtoZSportsNFL crew are fans already pic.twitter.com/RMI6d5ZyCt

— Travis May (@FF_TravisM) January 28, 2025

Versatility is the name of the game these days, and Ferguson showed his running 40% of his snaps as an in-line tight end and 43% from the slot. If it weren't for the drops in 2024, Ferguson would be a little higher on this list.

8. Gunnar Helm, Texas

At the start of the 2024 season, Gunnar Helm was likely much higher on teams' draft boards. There was a stretch during the season in which Helm struggled, yet he only had a pair of drops and produced 786 receiving yards on 60 receptions. Like most prospects, "you either die a hero or live long enough to be the villain."

Here is every reception for Gunnar Helm vs Michigan

Stat line: 7 for 7, 98 yards, 1 TD pic.twitter.com/4mt159NQAk

— Nash (@NashTalksTexas) September 8, 2024

As the draft process plays out through the Combine and Pro Days, Helm is one of those prospects who can regain some value. He's arguably the best blocking tight end in this year's class, which will earn him some snaps early on. While he isn't a freak athlete like some of his peers, Helm is smart enough to find open space and uses his body well. He's not sexy; he's Dalton Schultz.

7. Oronde Gadsden II, Syracuse

Over the last three seasons, Oronde Gadsden II has played in 28 games: 13 in each of his sophomore and senior seasons and just two as a junior in 2023. In those two 13-game campaigns, Gadsden produced more than 930 receiving yards in each of those seasons while hauling in 134 passes. That works out to roughly 14.2 yards per reception to go along with his 13 touchdown receptions.

It will be interesting to see what position he plays at the next level. He could be labeled as a wide receiver, which would hurt his fantasy value. He is much more valuable to fantasy managers as a tight end, where he can be used all over the field. He is too big for nickel corners to defend and too fast for linebackers to keep up with.

TE Oronde Gadsden II impressing on Day 1 of the Shrine Bowl?!

*pretends to be shocked*

This TE class is REALLY good, and Gadsden is one of the lesser known names that will continue to rise up rankings once people become familiar with his game 🔥⬇️

pic.twitter.com/PQNRRBnKuq

— Matt FF Dynasty 🏈 (@MattFFDynasty) January 25, 2025

6. Luke Lachey, Iowa

Can Luke Lachey continue the Iowa Hawkeye tight end talent tree? 

Something about Iowa TEs, man.

Luke Lachey is the next one. pic.twitter.com/ebrU5Ag8PQ

— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) January 25, 2025

Iowa has produced some very good fantasy tight ends. From Dallas Clark to George Kittle. To more recent pass-catchers such as Noah Fant, Sam LaPorta, and T.J. Hockenson. The tight end position may be a fantasy wasteland, but it seems like a right of passage at Iowa.

Let's see how well Lachey tests at the Combine before selecting him in drafts. The production over the last couple of seasons has been a letdown after showing promise as a prospect as a freshman and sophomore. College production as a tight end is not as important as it is at other positions, but it also can not be ignored.

5. Mason Taylor, LSU

Mason Taylor may never be a Hall of Famer like his father, Jason, but he is one of those tight ends who is in line to have an excellent career as a pro.

Taylor's buzz grew throughout the Senior Bowl as the LSU product showed an ability to create separation against elite talent. He doesn't have that elite athleticism of, say, Harold Fannin Jr., Elijah Arroyo, or Tyler Warren, but he has good hands and runs good routes with a knack for finding soft spots in zone coverages.

Mason Taylor | TE | LSU

Size to play Y TE w/ movement of an F TE. Smooth in/out of breaks + body control to maintain speed. Uses strength to attack/create leverage and excellent hands in contested spots. Works as a blocker on the LoS & second level but needs refinement. pic.twitter.com/VRfXvgqU7c

— Matt Lane (@Matty_KCSN) February 1, 2025

In three seasons down in the Bayou, while competing for targets with some elite pass-catchers, Taylor quietly put up reasonable production, accounting for over 1300 yards in 39 career contests, averaging more than 10 yards per reception throughout college.

4. Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green

No player in the FBS averaged more receiving yards than Bowling Green's Fannin. Fannin's 1,555 receiving yards topped that of elite receiver prospects Tetairoa McMillan (1,319) of Arizona and Travis Hunter (1,258) of Colorado.

Harold Fannin Jr. with the best single-season performance of any FBS TE in at least a decade? Okay, okay, okay. pic.twitter.com/asS4hMUJYG

— Scott Barrett (@ScottBarrettDFB) February 12, 2025

Some will push Fannin down the board because he does not measure up to traditional tight-end standards when it comes to size. At 6-foot-3 and 231 pounds, he will struggle to be an in-line blocking tight end. However, he is as exciting to watch as they come after the catch. There won't be many linebackers who can match his speed in the open field or when the ball is in the air.

3. Colston Loveland. Michigan

Like many tight ends in today's game, the position can be advantageous for offensive coordinators if appropriately schemed, as they create mismatches all over the field. Colston Loveland is another tight end who fits that mold. 

Michigan TE Coleston Loveland is going to be a MENACE at the next level 😮‍💨

👣 Elite Route Running

🔗 Stellar Body Control

🤯 Produced NEARLY 50% of Michigan’s TDs this season (45.2%)

He’s our TE2, where do you see this Wolverine going? pic.twitter.com/UWCPmOoI6x

— 2025 NFL Draft (@DraftRT) February 11, 2025

Loveland possesses the size, athleticism, and catch radius to be a productive tight end in the NFL, especially down in the red zone. If put in the right situation, Loveland is more than capable of attacking the seams of opposing defenses, much like we had envisioned Darren Wallerdoing when he became a Giants.

In Loveland's final 25 games at Michigan, he turned 101 receptions into 1,231 receiving yards and nine scores.

2. Elijah Arroyo, Miami

Elijah Arroyo helped his stock more than just about anyone at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. What many saw in person was on display on film all season long. Arroyo created separation all week and showed a quickness that 251 pind individuals should not have. The former Hurricane was also a dominant presence in the red zone, where he proved to be a mismatch nightmare.

Here is every one-on-one rep by Miami (FL) TE Elijah Arroyo pic.twitter.com/VjjmBUxrKG

— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) January 28, 2025

Arroyo has plenty of speed and athleticism to spare. Not only is he a nightmare in the red zone, but he also has the vertical speed to blow past defenders in the vertical game while refined enough as a route runner to create separation. 

Let's see how those Combine medical checks go. The one knock on Arroyo and some reasoning why he didn't have more hype heading into the Senior Bowl was his lack of production, having played in just eight contests the previous two seasons.

When people talk about this being a very special TE class, here's what they mean...

1⃣ Harold Fannin had a record-breaking 1,555 receiving yards last year, +203 more than any other FBS TE in CFB history. (He'll be 20 years old on draft day.)

2⃣ Tyler Warren had a…

— Scott Barrett (@ScottBarrettDFB) February 12, 2025

1. Tyler Warren, Penn State

Tyler Warren led all Penn State pass-catchers a season ago with 104 receptions for 1,233 receiving yards (seventh-most in FBS)  and eight touchdown grabs in 16 Nittany Lion contests in 2024.

Since 2021, Warren has averaged 12 yards per reception, and in his senior season, he posted 77.1 receiving yards per game. That is more yards receiving per outing than Tez Johnson, Elic Ayomanor, and Emeka Egbuka.

Warren will make an immediate impact for fantasy managers. Maybe not at Brock Bowers's level, but he should be considered a top-12 dynasty option at the position for years to come. Not only does he have elite playmaking ability as a receiver, but he has also proven to be a more than willing in-line blocker, which will suit him well at the next level.

Impressive hurdle from Penn State TE 44 Tyler Warren pic.twitter.com/TrPn7EKXwC

— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) February 9, 2025

Just Missing: Mitchell Evans, Benjamin Yurosek, Caden Prieskorn

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