Tyler Warren, Brenton Strange Headline 2025 Fantasy Football Breakout Tight Ends

Tight end can be a very top-heavy position for fantasy football managers. There's typically a handful of truly elite options and then a second tier of about five serviceable starters.

But after that? There's a lot more variance and touchdown-dependent players than any of the other fantasy football positions.

Not that there aren't great players to be found. Every smart fantasy football managers will target a tight end sleeper or two. It can be just be a little more challenging to find that emerging player at a shallow position.

I'm here to try and help. Here are three tight end breakout candidates for the 2025 season that fantasy football managers should have on their radars in fantasy drafts.

Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts

Drafting rookies can sometimes be tricky in re-draft leagues. Hype will often get the better of some managers, which leads to first-year players getting overdrafted.

There's literally nothing about players entering their first NFL season except hype. Well, nothing of substance anyway. There's only so much fantasy managers can deduce from training camp and the preseason.

So, be careful not to overdraft Warren. But the Colts rookie tight end has a strong chance to be among the breakout players at the position. In his final season at Penn State last fall, he had 104 receptions, 1,233 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

It's unfair to expect him to be this year's Brock Bowers. But he has that kind of potential, and the Colts average-at-best quarterbacks may look to the rookie tight end as a safety valve often in 2025.

Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars

The former second-round pick had a much more productive second NFL season with 40 catches, 411 receiving yards and two touchdowns in 2024. As a rookie during 2023, Strange had just five catches for 35 yards and a score.

With a fully healthy Trevor Lawrence in 2025, the hope for Strange is he will take another step in his development. Last season, he had four performances of at least 50 receiving yards.

The Jaguars have a lot of different playmakers they will have to get involved on offense. It's possible Strange gets lost in the shuffle. But if Jacksonville's offense improves overall under first-year head coach Liam Coen, Strange could greatly benefit as the team's No. 1 tight end, especially in the red zone.

Chig Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans

Staying in the AFC South, our last pick for the tight ends breakout list is the Titans fourth-year tight end.

A 2022 fourth-round pick, Okonkwo has been rather consistent to begin his career, posting between 450 and 528 receiving yards every season. Last year, he had 52 catches, 479 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

There could be more on the table for Okonkwo in 2025 with No. 1 pick Cam Ward taking over behind center.

"Chigoziem Okonkwo enters 2025 as one of the more intriguing tight end sleepers after flashing late-season potential in back-to-back years," SI on Fantasy's Shawn Childs wrote. "While he’s struggled with consistency and big-play regression, his increased usage late in 2024 hints at a potential breakout in a new-look Titans offense."

Okonkwo didn't have a target in the team's regular season finale, but he played just three offensive snaps in that game. The prior three weeks in December last year, Okonkwo averaged 49 offensive snaps and 7.3 receptions.

During Weeks 15 and 16, Okonkwo received more than 10 targets. Over the three-game period, he posted 22 catches for 182 receiving yards.

Fantasy managers shouldn't feel comfortable going into the season with Okonkwo as TE1 even in 16 or 20-team formats. But he's a deep sleeper TE2 that managers should monitor during training camp.