If there’s one thing fantasy football managers love, it’s a good sleeper. Yet, today, finding sleepers is more difficult than ever before. The tight end position, specifically, is always a challenging one to fill with non-elite players. While there may not be enough sleeper tight ends to pinpoint one from every NFL team, we’ve gone through the entire league and selected five you’ll want to keep an eye on.
Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
It’s tough to find true tight end sleepers because the position seriously tails off after the top 6-8 guys. In the absence of obvious breakout candidates, why not the rookies?
Colston Loveland’s offensive situation does not appear conducive to a massive rookie season. He will be competing for targets with DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, and Luther Burden III. Those passes will be thrown by Caleb Williams, who needs to take a significant step forward as a sophomore if there is to be any hope of all these guys returning value.
So, why am I touting Loveland? Well, I’m not really touting him. This is more of a value proposition.
Historically, only a handful of tight ends truly matter every year. You can primarily stream 10 fantasy points per game. In 2024, a total of five TEs averaged more than 13 ppg, one averaged around 12, and then about 10 were in the 9-11 range. The difference between those guys is negligible.
Loveland is an elite prospect with early-first-round draft capital. If I’ve punted the TE position, I’d rather take the swing on the talented unknown in the rookie. If it doesn’t work out, whoever I pick up will be no worse than whoever I could’ve drafted. But who I could’ve drafted would have had less upside than Loveland.
Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens
After Week 1 of last season, in which Isaiah Likely caught nine passes for 111 yards and a touchdown, everyone thought the changing of the guard was upon us. He scored 26.1 fantasy points and was not just the overall TE1, but one of the highest scorers of the week at any position.
Fantasy managers flocked to the waiver wire to add Likely, blowing bundles of FAAB in the process. Yet, on the season, after scoring his 26.1 points in Week 1, Likely averaged just 7.7 fantasy points per game. In fact, he had just three more games in which he was startable for the rest of the season.
This year, fantasy managers are back to viewing Likely as a backup. But what if he’s not? What if we were just a year early?
Isaiah Likely breakout season loading? 📈 pic.twitter.com/6nGiFWxtHT
— ESPN Fantasy Sports (@ESPNFantasy) May 28, 2025
We know Likely has talent. He averaged 12.1 ppg in seven games without Mark Andrews in 2023. The upside is there, he just needs the opportunity.
Whether by force or by injury, there’s a chance Likely takes over as the Baltimore Ravens’ TE1 during this season. That’s all he would need to be one of the best values at the position.
Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
Remember, after his rookie season in 2021 (averaged 9.5 ppg), how Pat Freiermuth was poised to be the next big thing at tight end? He followed that up with a 9.3 average as a sophomore. Not a breakout, but not terrible. But then, in his third season, Freiermuth fell to 6.4 points per game, making him unrosterable.
Last season, however, Freiermuth bounced back to a 9.9 average. It was the best season of his career and included borderline TE1 numbers. Yet, his ADP this season is way down at TE21.
The biggest problem for Freiermuth was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ QB situation. Well, that’s fixed — at least for fantasy purposes.
Aaron Rodgers likely won’t result in the Steelers being a serious contender or winning more games, but he will help the fantasy values of DK Metcalf, Jaylen Warren, and Freiermuth.
Unless Pittsburgh adds a legitimate WR2 or makes a move for Jonnu Smith, Pat Freiermuth is on track to be the second option in the passing game… and it’s like no one cares.
He quietly finished as a top-10 TE in 5 of the 9 games following the team’s Week 9 BYE. pic.twitter.com/SKvb2AmqPG
— Joe Beldner (@JoeBeldner) June 5, 2025
While it’s unlikely Freiermuth becomes a difference-maker at the position this season, he’s almost certain to outperform his ADP.
Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars
It’s going to be difficult for Brenton Strange to command volume in a passing game that features Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter. The reason Evan Engram was able to do it is that the WR2 was nowhere near as good as Hunter, and Engram was good enough to command volume. We have no idea, though, if Brenton Strange can do the same.
What we do have is some evidence of what Strange can do in the TE1 role. We had the benefit of seeing eight games of him without Engram last season. In those games, Strange averaged 8.5 fantasy points per game. While that’s not quite startable, it’s something.
Strange is entering his third season and is only 24 years old. There’s no reason to think he’s reached his ceiling yet. With improvement in performance and more playing time entering the season as the TE1, Strange could be a sneaky TE sleeper in 2025 fantasy drafts.
Mason Taylor, New York Jets
Once upon a time, the New York Jets had a logjam of pass catchers. There were too many guys and not enough offense. This year, it’s the complete opposite.
Garrett Wilson remains entrenched as the WR1. He will dominate targets likely at a career-best level. Beyond him, though, there’s very little.
Currently, Josh Reynolds and Allen Lazard project to be the WR2 and WR3. So why can’t Mason Taylor emerge as the second option in New York’s passing game?
The Jets have no real incumbent at tight end. Perhaps the guy turns out to be Jeremy Ruckert. In that case, you drop Taylor. But what if he impresses right away and earns the TE1 role?
Justin Fields is capable of supporting two fantasy-relevant pass catchers. The only one we know for sure is Wilson. This is a no-risk, pure upside play.