Fantasy Football Sleepers to Draft: Tight Ends (2025)

Winning your fantasy draft comes down to selecting the guys who end up returning a positive ROI relative to their draft cost. What’s great is that once you get to the middle and late rounds, you don’t need to hit on every player (or even half of them) to wind up with a league-winning squad. You just need to be right enough so that the value your picks provide is greater than that of your competition. That’s where targeting the right fantasy football sleepers becomes important.

Part of the difficulty built into this game we love is that no two sleepers are created equally. You can’t just nab a bunch of upside players in the late rounds and expect to dominate your draft. You need to know which sleepers are the most undervalued and offer the most upside compared to their price. To help you figure out which mid-to-late rounders stand out from the pack, we have polled 50+ experts on who the best sleepers are at Tight Ends in half-PPR heading into the new season. Check out who they chose below.

Top Consensus Fantasy Football Sleepers: Tight Ends

Tight End Sleepers

Player Count
Tyler Warren 8
Kyle Pitts 5
Hunter Henry 4
Brenton Strange 3
Chig Okonkwo 3
Colston Loveland 3
Zach Ertz 3
Harold Fannin Jr. 2
Isaiah Likely 2
Jake Ferguson 2
Juwan Johnson 2
Chig Okonkwo 1
Dalton Kincaid 1
Darren Waller 1
Elijah Arroyo 1
Ja’Tavion Sanders 1
Mason Taylor 1
Theo Johnson 1
Tucker Kraft 1

Tyler Warren (IND)

Tyler Warren has a realistic chance to finish as a top 5 tight end this season. While he may not finish as TE1 overall like Bowers did (although it is in the range of outcomes), the situation is similar going into the 2025 season, and Warren has the talent and physical tools to perform. Regardless of who is playing QB for the Colts, Warren should get peppered with targets, and is almost a lock to outperform his ADP and ECR.”
Jacob Piccolo (TrueRGM)

Tyler Warren (IND) – The last two years have taught us a simple lesson: the NFL is changing, and rookie TEs are leading the way. Warren led all college pass-catchers (yes, that includes WRs) in receiving yardage versus man-to-man coverage. His slot usage of 47% also hints at the type of pass catcher the Colts could use him as in Year 1. I’m not projecting him to finish as the TE1 like Bowers or LaPorta did the past two years, but finding another difference-making TE in the later rounds can be league-winning.”
Marc Shannep (Fantasy Knockout)

Colston Loveland (CHI)

Colston Loveland was drafted tenth overall by the Bears and landed in a role that enabled Sam LaPorta to have a TE1 season in his rookie year. Ben Johnson’s offense is predicated on getting mismatches across the formation, and Loveland’s abilities as a blocker and pass-catcher will allow him to leverage matchups into chunk plays and touchdowns. Of course, Caleb Williams will have to take a step forward. But Loveland has the draft capital, profile, and role that could lead to a monstrous rookie season.”
Dave Kluge (Footballguys)

Colston Loveland is a case in which the draft status, collegiate film, and camp buzz are all telling the same story. This is an elite tight end prospect who’s had a noisy camp (in a good way). Loveland is an every-level receiver with size (6-foot-6), wheels, and excellent hands. He’s the rare big-play tight end. Assuming good health, he’s going to deliver a top-10 positional finish as a rookie.”
Andy Behrens (The Deep Shot)

Evan Engram (DEN)

Evan Engram is playing for Sean Payton this year and is going to be a tight end that changes fantasy teams, making him the biggest sleeper in fantasy! Tight ends are a very volatile position in fantasy football, and if an owner can find the next hot player, they will be a team to contend with during the regular season and into the playoffs. Engram is that guy this year! He is currently TE11 and getting drafted around the middle of the 8th round, which is a steal for a player who Payton plans to use in the Joker role in Denver. Wait on TE and draft Engram with confidence that he will reward teams with over 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns!”
Adam Dove (The Fantasy Couriers)

Juwan Johnson (NO)

Juwan Johnson finished the 2024 season catching 12 (6,6) of 17 (10,7) targets in the last two games for a combined 146 yards (80,66). He proceeded this with 12 (7,5) targets in weeks 13 and 14. With a TE-friendly OC in Kellen Moore and Taysom Hill not expected to factor in much, at least early on, Johnson will likely continue to see six to nine targets on a regular basis, and plenty of redzone looks. This makes Johnson a steal, considering he can be your final pick in a draft.”
Dan McLellan (WBLZ Media)

Darren Waller (MIA)

“Everyone is sleeping on Darren Waller, leaving him undrafted in most leagues, but the former All-Pro did not unretire and sign a one-year deal that is incentive-heavy, just to ride the bench. He signed with Miami to reunite with Frank Smith, his old TE coach from his peak Raiders days, and steps into an offense that just traded away Jonnu Smith, coming off of a career year with 800+ Yards/80+ Catches/8 TDs. Tua loves getting the ball out quickly to avoid taking any contact, and Waller is the perfect outlet. While the expert consensus ranks him outside the Top 30 TE, he has clear Top 10 TE upside on Any Given Sunday.”
Muntradamus (Beast Dome)

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