NFL teams are deep into the dog days of training camp, and fantasy football draft season is getting underway.
FantasyPros analysts Mike Maher, Derek Brown, Andrew Erickson and Pat Fitzmaurice continue a series of preseason roundtables by discussing tight end strategy, a potential dilemma at the 1.04 spot in drafts, rookie running backs and more.
You can find the first two articles in our roundtable series here and here.
Fantasy Football Roundtable
What is your tight end strategy for 2025?
Stay Flexible
Pat Fitzmaurice: With attractive options at a variety of price points, fantasy managers have the luxury of flexibility at the tight end position this year. It all depends on whether I like the available tight ends more than players at other positions when I’m on the clock.
Brock Bowers came into the league as the best tight end prospect of the modern era and did nothing to diminish that lofty pedigree in his rookie season, so I’m willing to take him in the first half of round two. George Kittle is a fine option in the late third or early fourth.
I think Travis Kelce, David Njoku and Tucker Kraft are early values at their average draft position (ADP). And I’m willing to take two tight ends from a pool that includes Tyler Warren, Dallas Goedert, Jake Ferguson, Kyle Pitts and Zach Ertz.
Top Tier or Middle Class
Derek Brown: My tight end pool is fairly consolidated this year. I’m paying up for one of the top three tight ends in that elite tier (Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, George Kittle), or I’m drafting one of Evan Engram, Mark Andrews or Tucker Kraft later. I want access to elite production from the position or top-five upside that each of those players has for 2025.
Mike Maher: This is a great question because I’m pretty torn on tight end this season. I typically don’t love paying up for a top tight end if I can avoid it, but every year (and every draft) is different.
This year, I have three tight ends in my top 50 overall as of this writing. And I only have three more in my top 100. That Brock Bowers ADP (17) is painful, but I might be willing to pay it depending on who else in that range is already off the board. Trey McBride at 27 is less painful, but George Kittle at 35 might be just right, even though my current ranking is below his ADP.
If I don’t get one of those top three, then tight end will be something I look at every round until I get one to see if I can find the right fit at the right price. But I won’t be waiting very long because once you get beyond my TE6 (T.J. Hockenson), there’s a lot of uncertainty and bust potential waiting for you.
Andrew Erickson: I’m going to be stringent with my fantasy football rankings here. I’m very open to the top three elite options — it’s just a matter of weighing them against the running backs and wide receivers available in that range.
In half-PPR, I’m more interested in George Kittle, whereas I am eyeing both Brock Bowers and Trey McBride in full PPR formats.
But if I don’t draft an elite tight end, I feel good about the later tier of Evan Engram and their ADPs (85), David Njoku (88) and Tucker Kraft (100). Kraft is my favorite. Pair one of these veterans with Tyler Warren or Colston Loveland to round out your tight end room.
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You’re picking 1.04 in a 12-team, half-PPR league that requires you to start two running backs and three receivers. Ja’Marr Chase, Bijan Robinson and CeeDee Lamb are the first three picks. Who are you taking fourth overall?
Mike Maher: As much as my heart wants to say Saquon Barkley, this is going to end up being Justin Jefferson for me. I think the Barkley concerns are overblown, but Jefferson feels like an extremely safe pick who could have a new ceiling if J.J. McCarthy is as good as Vikings homers and some smart NFL Draft analysts think.
Derek Brown: I’m still locked in on Justin Jefferson. Yes, I know he’s dealing with a hamstring issue at the moment, but we still have plenty of time before the season for that to mend itself.
Everyone is concerned about Jefferson’s production this year with J.J. McCarthy. Didn’t we just do this last year with Sam Darnold at the helm? Jefferson finished as the WR3 in fantasy points per game.
Jefferson has a 1,800-yard season and a 10-touchdown campaign on his resume, but he’s never accomplished both feats in the same season. I think 2025 could be that season.
Pat Fitzmaurice: In a league where I need to start three receivers, I’ll take Justin Jefferson. At this time a year ago, there were irrational concerns about how Jefferson would pair with quarterback Sam Darnold. Let’s not fret about Jefferson being attached to the inexperienced but highly touted J.J. McCarthy.
But in a league where I only need to start two receivers, I’ll pivot to Saquon Barkley. Yes, he shouldered a massive workload last season, but he’s wildly talented and runs behind the best offensive line in the league.
Andrew Erickson: Jahmyr Gibbs led all running backs in weekly RB1 (63%) and RB1/RB2 finisher rate (94%) in 2024. The third-year back is entering his uber-prime.
Rookie running backs RJ Harvey, TreVeyon Henderson and Kaleb Johnson are all bunched pretty tightly in ADP. Which one do you like most, and why?
Derek Brown: Seriously? Did you expect me to type any name other than RJ Harvey? Yes, I love Kaleb Johnson, but he doesn’t have the receiving upside Harvey has. We know what Sean Payton likes to do: Feed running backs in the passing game. J.K. Dobbins has never been a prolific pass-catcher at any level. Harvey will shine in 2025.
Mike Maher: This might just be DBro wearing me down, but I’m excited about Harvey’s potential. And after displaying some juice in his first preseason action, I’m ready to swing for his ceiling. But the early reports out of camp about TreVeyon Henderson are exciting and can’t be ignored, either. And that brings us to Kaleb Johnson, the running back of this group I was highest on coming out of the NFL Draft. So maybe the answer is just that I don’t know? But my answer is Harvey right now.
Pat Fitzmaurice: Sorry, DBro. It’s TreVeyon Henderson. The kid is electric. Henderson is terrific in the passing game as both a receiver and blocker, and he’s going to have a ton of explosive plays in the running game.
Andrew Erickson: It’s Kaleb Johnson for me. Even though these guys are closely clustered together, Johnson is still the cheapest at RB28. And his fit in the Arthur Smith offensive scheme is just too good to ignore.
Yes, Johnson has pass protection/receiving concerns, but I feel confident he will be the Steelers’ early-down hammer and preferred red-zone back. I think he has the highest total touch ceiling among these three rookie backs.
Who is your favorite deep sleeper — someone typically being drafted outside the top 200?
Andrew Erickson: Bears head coach Ben Johnson continues to praise the seventh-round rookie running back, with Johnson citing the former Rutgers star as a player who can be trusted this fall with reps as the No. 2 RB. The Bears’ new head coach has no allegiance to either D’Andre Swift or Roschon Johnson.
The 5-foot-8, 211-pound Kyle Monangai posted back-to-back seasons at Rutgers with 1,200+ rushing yards, with a top-10 Pro Football Focus (PFF) rushing grade in 2023 (33% dominator rating). His ball security (zero career fumbles) and overall dependability as a workhorse will be appreciated by NFL coaches. So far, so good.
Mike Maher: He’s buried on the depth chart in Houston right now, but I’m a Jaylin Noel truther. He put on a show at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, and I’m hoping the talent ends up forcing him onto the field.
I wish Noel and fellow Iowa State Cyclone Jayden Higgins were drafted to different teams, and the main reason Higgins was drafted a round before Noel is that Higgins has ideal height (6-foot-4) and Noel does not (5-foot-10).
It’s going to take an injury or Noel outplaying veteran receiver Christian Kirk by a wide margin to force Houston’s hand, but I’m betting on the talent late in drafts while acknowledging the situation is not ideal. I might end up having to cut him if I start dealing with my own team’s injuries and need the roster spot.
Derek Brown: All roads in the late rounds lead back to Brashard Smith. He has the pass-catching chops to be inserted into the yesteryear Jerick McKinnon role, which we have seen pay dividends in the Chiefs’ offense. Smith also has the ability on early downs to take over if Isiah Pacheco misses any time.
Kareem Hunt is a dependable known commodity, but he offers no upside at this juncture of his career in any department. For everyone who says a seventh-round pick could never assume the starting role in the Kansas City backfield, I smugly point to Pacheco.
Pat Fitzmaurice: Miles Sanders is the forgotten man in the Dallas backfield, but based on training camp reports, it seems as if he has a chance to play a prominent role.
Sanders became an afterthought during his two years with the Panthers, but in 2022, he ran for 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns with the Eagles. The 28-year-old Sanders has averaged 4.7 yards per carry and 3.03 yards after contact per attempt for his career, with a 27.7% breakaway percentage over his six NFL seasons, per PFF. And he’s a functional pass-catcher.
Sanders is as unsexy a pick as you can make, but he might be able to help fantasy teams win ugly.
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