Week 17 Updated Tight End Rankings: Harold Fannin Jr. Rises, Travis Kelce Falls

Week 17 tight end rankings reveal Harold Fannin Jr. on the rise and Travis Kelce falling, offering key insights for fantasy football championship lineups.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) warms up prior to the game against the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | Amy Kontras-Imagn Images

Welcome to Week 17, the final and most decisive week of the fantasy football season! With championships on the line, there’s no room for error—especially at tight end, the NFL’s most volatile fantasy position outside of elite studs like Trey McBride.

McBride remains in a league of his own. Even after his first single-digit outing since Week 5, he’s outpacing TE2 Kyle Pitts by more than 80 fantasy points and stands alone as the only tight end to surpass 200 points (278.8) this season. But beyond McBride, the landscape is a mess of uncertainty. Scarcity defines this position, and a single big game—or injury—can instantly vault an overlooked player into fantasy relevance or doom your championship hopes.

Consider Kyle Pitts. After a four-week stretch from Weeks 9–12 where he failed to eclipse eight PPR points in any contest, Pitts suddenly caught fire. He posted back-to-back 15-point outings in Weeks 13 and 14 before unleashing a Thursday Night Football masterpiece in Week 15 against the Buccaneers. With Drake London sidelined, Pitts hauled in 11 of 12 targets for 166 yards and three touchdowns—including the game-winner—finishing with a jaw-dropping 45.6 fantasy points. Even with London back, Pitts remained Kirk Cousins’ go-to weapon, logging seven catches for 57 yards and a touchdown for 18.7 points in Week 16.

Injuries have only added to the chaos in 2025. They’ve elevated players like Pitts and Harold Fannin Jr., while impacting high-profile tight ends such as Tyler Warren and Travis Kelce due to quarterback absences like Daniel Jones and Patrick Mahomes. Breakout campaigns, like Tucker Kraft’s, were cut short by a torn ACL Combine that with more injuries and inconsistent target shares elsewhere, and fantasy managers have been forced to adapt on the fly week after week. George Kittle was banged up on Monday Night Football so that’s another situation fantasy managers will want to monitor as we inch closer to game day.

Before we dive into the full Week 17 tight end rankings, let’s review the leaderboard through 16 weeks—highlighting who’s surging, who’s fading, and which breakout candidate could carry your team to a fantasy championship.

The Top Fantasy Football Tight Ends In 2025

Let’s take a look at the top 12 tight ends after the first 16 weeks of the season.

1. Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
2. Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
3. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
4. Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys
5. Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders
6. Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns
7. Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
8. Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts
9. Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans
10. Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
11. Hunter Henry, New England Patriots
12. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers

With Week 17 kicking off on Christmas with a three-game slate featuring the Dallas Cowboys at the Washington Commanders, the Detroit Lions at the Minnesota Vikings, and the Denver Broncos at the Kansas City Chiefs, let’s take a look at some of the most noteworthy players in our Week 17 rankings.

Start Harold Fannin Jr. Against Pittsburgh

Cleveland Browns tight end Harold Fannin Jr. (44) runs onto the field carrying a team flag before the game against the Tennessee Titans at Huntington Bank Field. | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

Don’t tell Harold Fannin Jr. that the Browns haven’t had a winning season—he’s been playing like the team’s MVP lately.

The rookie tight end has quietly become Cleveland’s go-to weapon over the past few weeks, stepping up big with David Njoku sidelined. Fannin has posted double-digit fantasy points in four straight games, crossing the end zone four times during that stretch and even contributing in short-yardage rushing situations. In Week 16, he capped off a dominant performance with a one-yard touchdown run—his first multi-touchdown game of his career—and it looks like he’s just getting started. His two best games of the season have come in the last three weeks, putting him on a sharp upward trajectory just in time for fantasy championship week.

This week, Fannin draws a Pittsburgh Steelers defense that has been generous to opposing tight ends, allowing the third-most fantasy points per game at the position and one of only four teams to surrender double-digit touchdowns to tight ends this season. While he didn’t find the end zone the last time these teams met, he hauled in seven of 10 targets for 81 yards, proving he can produce even without scoring.

With the Browns expected to play from behind as underdogs, Fannin figures to see plenty of targets, making him one of the most reliable Week 17 tight end options for fantasy managers chasing a championship. And with Quinshon Judkins sidelined, Cleveland could lean even more on the aerial attack.

Time For Travis Kelce To Hang Up His Cleats

The Chiefs are navigating turbulent waters at quarterback. After a desperate Week 15 clash with the Chargers, Kansas City not only lost the game but also saw Patrick Mahomes sidelined for the rest of the season with a torn ACL—effectively ending any playoff hopes and upending the fantasy value of their entire skill-position group.

Gardner Minshew briefly offered a glimmer of hope, stepping in to stabilize the offense in Week 16. That optimism was short-lived, though, as Minshew exited on the first drive with an injury of his own. Third-stringer Chris Oladukun took over, and his lack of experience was painfully obvious, finishing 11-of-16 for 111 yards in a 26-9 defeat to the struggling Titans.

Even Travis Kelce, who’s been a PPR powerhouse for much of the season, has felt the ripple effects. Over his last three games, he’s posted two duds of fewer than two fantasy points, including a season-low 1.6 points last week with Mahomes out. At 36, the tight end’s consistency has waned—his 12-point per game average is solid, but hardly championship-level when facing a bruising Denver Broncos defense in Week 17. For fantasy managers in the title hunt, Kelce is a clear bench candidate.

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Let’s take a look at where the rest of the NFL’s tight ends stack up in our Week 17 rankings.

Week 17 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings