Ranking The Best Tight End Rooms Heading Into the 2025 NFL Season

These five teams have the strongest group of tight ends, with an offensive strategy that highlights their skill and size.

Dec 1, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews (89) catches a pass for a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Tight end is my favorite position in football. Give me some flex spots on my roster, and I will absolutely fill them with tight ends. Why? It's controversial, but I happen to think they're just as valuable as a receiver. The tight end position is one of versatility: they block, run, receive, and score touchdowns. It doesn't get more exciting than that! Here are my favorite tight end corps for 2025.

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens have long been one of the teams with the best usage of tight ends in the league. They leaned into using two tight ends heavily last season, with Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely combining for 1,150 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns, and the targets were nearly evenly split. Baltimore generated the highest expected points added (EPA) league-wide from those sets.

Baltimore’s tight end room remains top-tier heading into this season, with Andrews (ranked 4) and Likely (ranked 9) both ranked inside PFF’s top 10 TEs for 2025. That being said, a recent setback affects this rosy outlook. Likely is expected to miss about six weeks early in the season due to a foot fracture. This means Andrews is about to see a lot more targets.

Arizona Cardinals

Much like the Ravens, the Arizona Cardinals also utilize 12-personnel formations more than usual, frequently lining up with multiple tight ends. Obviously, Trey McBride is the clear TE1, with Tip Reiman and Elijah Higgins sharing time at the second tight end spot. Reiman brought power and blocking, while Higgins offered additional receiving upside.

Going into the 2025 season, the Cardinals are doubling down on their multi-tight end approach by rewarding Pro-Bowler, McBride, with a record-breaking 4-year, $76 million contract extension. Reiman and Higgins have been joined byJosiah Deguara, who provides reliable veteran depth, particularly if injuries impact the rotation.

San Francisco 49ers

While the San Francisco 49ers don't utilize a two-tight-end package like the Ravens or Cardinals, they do make huge use of their starring TE, George Kittle. They achieved a staggering 73.4% offensive success rate when targeting George Kittle, the highest percentage among all skill players in the league. He also took 30.3% of their end-zone targets, making him a primary red-zone player.

Las Vegas Raiders

Another team that leans heavily on its TE1 is the Las Vegas Raiders. Brock Bowers led all TEs across the league in targets, receptions (112), and yards (1,194) as a rookie, earning First-Team All-Pro honors. With elite volume in his rookie year, he’s locked into Tier 1 fantasy football status and will no doubt remain the focal point of the Raiders’ passing game going into the 2025 season.

Detroit Lions

Sam LaPorta caught 60 passes for 726 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2024. He received 20.4% of the team's targets (second only to Amon-Ra St. Brown) and saw at least six targets in eight straight games to close the year. As he enters his third season with the Detroit Lions, LaPorta is a high-value, consistent fantasy TE option, continuing to command targets in one of the league's most dynamic offenses.

The topic of tight end usage is one that I could write about for days. Some might call me a "homer" for listing the Cardinals and giving them two full paragraphs, but really, I'm just following the data! Let me know who your favorite tight end offenses are this season.