The tight end position has been even more volatile in 2025 than in recent years, particularly with George Kittle on Injured Reserve and Brock Bowers and Trey McBride failing to live up to their lofty expectations. Now in Week 5, we have four teams on bye including the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, and Green Bay Packers. That means that fantasy managers will need to find production at the scarcest position in fantasy football outside of Kyle Pitts, Pat Freiermuth, Jonnu Smith, Colston Loveland, Cole Kmet, and emerging breakout Tucker Kraft.
The Top Fantasy Football Tight Ends After Week 4
While McBride is still producing in PPR formats, his continued struggles to find the end zone has plagued his early-season production. With just one touchdown through the first four games, he’s still the TE2, but the fantasy managers who drafted him were hoping for far more than the 13.3 fantasy points per game he’s averaging.
Heading into Week 5, it appears that punting the tight end position has been a winning strategy. Let’s take a look at the top 10 tight ends after the first four games of the season.
- Jake Ferguson: 62.3 points
- Trey McBride: 53.4 points
- Hunter Henry: 53.4 points
- Tyler Warren: 51.9 points
- Tucker Kraft: 50.8 points
- Dalton Kincaid: 49.9 points
- Juwan Johnson: 48.4 points
- Kyle Pitts: 46.5 points
- Brock Bowers: 43.5 points
- Zach Ertz: 42.9 points
It’s hard to envision a world where Bowers doesn’t rebound but given Geno Smith’s struggles protecting the football, the consensus top tight end entering 2025 is barely among the top 10. Jake Ferguson will continue to dominate targets with CeeDee Lamb sidelined and Tyler Warren is looking like the real deal through the first four games of his rookie season.
With two of the top 10 tight ends on a bye this week, let’s take a look at this week’s tight end rankings as Thursday Night Football features the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams.
Jake Ferguson Remains An Elite Top-Tier Tight End In CeeDee Lamb’s Absence
Ferguson has tallied 16+ fantasy points in each of the Cowboys’ previous three matchups. In Dallas’ Week 4 tie against the Green Bay Packers, the veteran tight end hauled in all seven of his targets for 40 receiving yards and a touchdown. He’s now seen 33 targets in his last three games (11 per game) and should continue to be Dak Prescott’s second option behind George Pickens with CeeDee Lamb still sidelined.
In Week 5, the Cowboys face a New York Jets secondary that has struggled containing opposing tight ends, as they have allowed the third-most fantasy points to the position. Given the favorable matchup, a recent uptick in opportunity and production, and Lamb’s absence, Ferguson is about as trustworthy as you can get at the tight end position this week.
Travis Kelce Remains A Top-10 Tight End Despite Lackluster Production
Despite Rashee Rice’s suspension and Xavier Worthy’s mult-game absence, Kelce has failed to deliver difference maker stats through the first month of the NFL season. In four games, the future Hall of Famer has tallied just 15 receptions for 182 yards and one touchdown en route to 9.8 fantasy points per game (TE13 in PPR formats).
Kelce is rostered in almost 100% of leagues, yet surprisingly, he’s only being started about two-thirds of the time. The early-season chatter has been all about whether this could be his last season and whether Kelce has lost a pep in his step. However, through four games, Kelce ranks as the TE5 per PFF, with four red zone looks and a 16% target share.
With Rice returned to action in Week 7, the next few weeks will be Kelce’s best opportunity to produce a breakout game. In Week 5, Kansas City faces a Jacksonville Jaguars defense that ranks in the middle of the pack at defending opposing tight ends. While Kelce isn’t the sure thing that he was in years past, he’s still a fringe TE1 entering Week 5.
Darren Waller Enters The Top 20
Plenty of us were skeptical about Darren Waller’s NFL return. Would he still be productive? That was the gamble, and as a risk-averse fantasy player, it wasn’t one I was willing to take, especially in Miami’s crowded offense.
But in Week 4, Waller wasted no time proving he still has something left in the tank. On just 16 of 58 offensive snaps, he drew four targets and turned them into two touchdowns. Now, with Tyreek Hill sidelined for the year, Waller slides in as the Dolphins’ potential No. 2 pass-catcher and could quickly become a weekly must-start. The matchup doesn’t hurt either, as Carolina’s secondary has allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to tight ends this season.
Let’s take a look at how the rest of the tight ends across the NFL stack up in our Week 5 rankings.
Week 5 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings
