Week 9 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings: Colston Loveland Breakout on the Horizon

Discover the top tight ends heading into Week 9, including Colston Loveland who is poised for a breakout game against the Bengals vulnerable secondary.

Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland (84) smiles during the Rookie Minicamp at Halas Hall. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The tight end position has been the most volatile for years but it’s been even harder to predict this season. Thus far, Tucker Kraft appears to be one of the best value picks of the entire draft. With a preseason ADP of TE11, he’s currently the TE2, just behind Jake Ferguson. But he’s played one fewer game and is tied with Trey McBride for the most fantasy points per game (16.2) at the position. 

Jake Ferguson had been on an absolute tare but a bagel in Week 8 against the Denver Broncos has him barely in the lead on the tight end leaderboard. We all knew that CeeDee Lamb’s return would eventually eat into his target share and that’s exactly what happened on Sunday. Still, Ferguson is a solid tight end that fantasy managers shouldn’t hesitate to fire up. 

Meanwhile, the consensus top tight end entering draft season, Brock Bowers, has missed the last few weeks of action but is poised to return in Week 9. And the consensus TE2 this draft season, Trey McBride, exploded for a season-high 29.4 fantasy points after catching 10 of 13 targets for 74 yards and two touchdowns in his last outing before the Cardinals’ Week 8 bye. McBride has now scored three touchdowns in two games with Jacoby Brissett under center, but Kyler Murray looks poised to return to the lineup. 

In Week 7, we saw the return of George Kittle, who did nothing to reward fantasy managers with a donut of his own in a tough victory over the Atlanta Falcons in primetime. However, he got back into the scoring column on Sunday, posting four catches for 43 yards and a touchdown en route to 14.3 fantasy points and a TE8 finish. 

In Week 9, fantasy football managers will need to navigate the bye week blues with four teams idle. It’s not quite as bad as last week but the Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, and Cleveland Browns won’t be on the field this week. Fantasy managers will need to find replacements for Dallas Goedert (who seems to score a touchdown every single game), Cade Otton, Mason Taylor, and the tandem of Harold Fannin Jr. and David Njoku.  

But before we get to this week’s rankings, let’s take a look at the tight end leaderboard after eight weeks of action. 

The Top Fantasy Football Tight Ends In 2025

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

1. Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys
2. Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
3. Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
4. Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts
5. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
6. Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
7. Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns
8. Hunter Henry, New England Patriots
9. Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
10. Zach Ertz, Washington Commanders
11. Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
12. Oronde Gadsden II, Los Angeles Chargers

It’s shocking to see Brock Bowers, Sam LaPorta, and George Kittle missing from this list. No analyst would have predicted that as we inch closer to the midway point of the season. 

With Week 9 underway after the Ravens dismantled the Dolphins, let’s take a look at the best and worst tight ends of the week.

Colston Loveland Breakout Incoming in Week 9

Loveland didn’t explode in Week 8 the way some hoped, but the underlying metrics are all trending in the right direction. Over the past two weeks, he’s flirted with a 20% target share and remains a consistent presence near the goal line with three red-zone looks in just three fully healthy games. Detroit’s offense has historically leaned on tight ends in scoring territory — remember Sam LaPorta’s 20% red-zone share under Ben Johnson last year — and Loveland is starting to inherit that same role.

If there were ever a week to unleash him, this is it. The Bengals have been brutalized by tight ends all season, as they have surrendered the most fantasy points per game to the position. Cincinnati is somehow allowing 6.8 catches and 1.2 touchdowns per game to the position. They are the only team in the league allowing 20+ points per game to the position. Loveland’s volume, usage, and matchup all align perfectly for a potential breakout. Fire him up with confidence — this is the spot you’ve been waiting for. He's in the top 10 for the first time all season.

Oronde Gadsden II Becomes A Staple of the Top 10

Los Angeles Chargers tight end Oronde Gadsden (86) enters the field before the game against the Indianapolis Colts at SoFi Stadium. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The rookie tight end should already be locked into your lineup. This shouldn’t even be a question. Yet, somehow, he’s still being started in only about half of fantasy leagues. That means the other 50% of managers are either sleeping or playing scared. But Gadsden has been a beast, checking into Week 9 as the TE8 after accumulating the 12th-most points at his position through the first half of the season. 

Over the past three weeks, no tight end in fantasy football has been better than Gadsden. He’s emerged as Justin Herbert’s go-to weapon when it matters most, completely eating into Quentin Johnston’s role and even starting to cut into Ladd McConkey and Keenan Allen’s target share. Since bursting onto the scene in Week 6, Gadsden has racked up eight red zone targets — converting two of them into touchdowns — while showcasing elite separation and reliability underneath. Matchup-proof might be a bold label, but he’s awfully close. Regardless of opponent, Gadsden belongs in your starting lineup moving forward. 

While the Titans have a pretty stingy defense against opposing tight ends, that’s in large part due to game script. Opposing teams take early leads and then feed the running backs in the second half to kill the clock. But with Omarion Hampton still sidelined and Kimani Vidal still earning the trust of the coaching staff, Gadsden can serve as an extension of the running attack on quick screens. The rookie is poised for yet another dominant top-10 performance at the tight end position in Week 9.

Theo Johnson Emerges As Deep Sleeper

Forget the scouting reports or preconceived notions. Theo Johnson has arrived as one of the Giants’ most important offensive weapons. Through eight games, the rookie tight end has hauled in 23 of his 35 targets for 4 touchdowns, leading the team in receiving scores by a comfortable margin. He’s also been a red-zone magnet, commanding nine targets inside the 20 for an impressive 22% share — the kind of usage that fantasy managers salivate over.

Fantasy TE streamers for Weeks 9-10:

-Theo Johnson: Every-down role, 4 TD with Dart, Bellinger (neck), gets banged-up 49ers + Bears
-Colston Loveland: Kmet (back), gets Bengals league-worst defense vs. TEs this week
-Juwan Johnson: Stock up if/when Saints trade one of their WRs

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 27, 2025

Now, with Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo both sidelined, the Giants have a serious void in offensive production. The pair combined for roughly 60 targets this season, and that volume has to go somewhere — most likely to Johnson, who’s already earned Jaxson Dart’s trust in high-leverage situations. The 49ers aren’t bad against tight ends but injuries and blown coverages have been a problem for them in recent weeks. If the Giants are going to move the ball effectively, Wan’Dale Robinson and Theo Johnson are going to have to be heavily involved. 

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Let’s examine the rest of the league’s tight ends and how they stack up in our Week 9 rankings.

Week 9 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings