Week 9 Tight End Projections & Rankings: Colston Loveland Rises, Brock Bowers Returns

Week 9 tight end projections feature Trey McBride leading the rankings, Colston Loveland emerging as a waiver-wire target, and top PPR and non-PPR options for fantasy football managers.

Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (85) at Caesars Superdome. | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

For the second time this year, Tucker Kraft posted an impact game (7/143/2 on nine targets) in Week 8. He is the first tight end to score over 30.00 fantasy points this year, giving him the top outcome for the week. Travis Kelce (21.90) was the only other tight end to score over 20.00 fantasy points in PPR formats, and it was his best game (6/99/1) of the year. Three other players scored over 15.00 fantasy points.

• Oronde Gadsden (18.70)
• Harold Fannin (18.40)
• Dallas Goedert (17.80)

Best Fantasy Football Tight Ends In 2025

After eight weeks, here are the top 10 tight ends by scoring average in PPR formats:

• Tucker Kraft (16.17)
• Trey McBride (16.16)
• Jake Ferguson (15.05)
• Dallas Goedert (14.41)
• Tyler Warren (13.85)
• Oronde Gadsden (12.75)
• Dalton Kincaid (11.67)
• Kyle Pitts (11.34)
• Harold Fannin (10.73)
• Sam Laporta (10.70)
• Hunter Henry (10.09)
• Juwan Johnson (9.73)

Week 8 Fantasy Football Tight End Bust

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson (87) celebrates a touchdown during the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys

After a great ride over six games (9/78, 13/82, 7/40/1, 7/49/2, 3/33/1, and 7/29/2), the Cowboys were only able to look Ferguson’s way once in Week 8. He failed to catch a pass, giving the fantasy market a goose egg for the week. 

Runner Up: Dalton Kincaid (1/23 on three targets) was only on the field for 22% of the Bills’ snaps last week due to an early lead and success with their run game. His lighter workload gives him more time to recover from his oblique injury.

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Each week, I’ll release my depth charts and projections on Wednesday, with a neutral eye informed by hints from previous results or in-season injuries. These statistics represent baseline outlooks, with their potential already factored in. Touchdowns create impact scores and winning fantasy days, especially in non-PPR formats. Who scores them each week is the Holy Grail that the fantasy market searches for weekly.

My projections will be sorted into rankings that won’t look anything like the weekly consensus. My man, Matt Brandon, is in charge of finding a balance between my player outlooks and the public view of each week's rankings.

Week 9 Fantasy Football Tight End Projections & Rankings Preview

Here’s a look at our opening Week 9 top 12 tight ends projections:

Shawn Childs

Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals

Over his last four games, the Cardinals gave McBride double-digit targets in three contests (11, 11, and 13). His high volume opportunity was more productive in Week 6 (8/72/1) and Week 7 (10/72/2) with Jacoby Brissett behind center. McBride has already set a career high in touchdowns (4) while on a pace to catch 114 passes for 1,022 yards and nine touchdowns.

Shawn Childs

The Cowboys are about league average in tight end defense (99.50 fantasy points) while facing two top 10 players (Dallas Goedert – 7/44 and Tucker Kraft – 5/56). 

This game has the highest over/under (54.5) of the week, suggesting a lot of pass attempts by the Cardinals. McBride is the top projected tight end of the week.

Week 9 Waiver Wire Tight End

Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland (84) before the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Soldier Field. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears

With Cole Kmet out last week with a back issue, Loveland was on the field for a career-high 81% of Chicago’s snaps. He caught three of his five targets for 38 yards. The Bears have two wide receivers (Olamide Zaccheaus and Luther Burden) listed as questionable this week, suggesting more chances for their rookie tight end.

Shawn Childs

The Bengals have the worst tight end defense, highlighted by 10 touchdowns allowed. They’ve given up the most receiving yards (594) while ranking poorly in catches (54 – 31st) and targets (80 – 32nd).

• Cleveland tight ends (10/100)
• T.J. Hockenson (5/49/1)
• Sam LaPorta (5/92/1)
• Tucker Kraft (2/43/1)
• Pat Freiermuth (5/111/2)
• Mason Taylor (5/34/1)

Loveland is a must tight end start for me, and he should offer more fantasy value over the back half of this season. I expect him to be an excellent value in the DFS market this week.

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