Top 40 fantasy football standard tight ends for 2025

The 2025 season is knocking on the door, but it will need to wait for a bit longer. We need to do our fantasy football research first! And when it comes to non-PPR tight ends, we really need to get our picks right or we could have some real scrubs on our hands. PPR gives us a bigger pool of tight ends to choose from, while standard shrinks that pool to a few studs or the ability to predict a touchdown reception each week from an inconsistent group of waiver wire picks.

The best non-PPR tight end is George Kittle. He doesn’t need many targets or receptions to put up yardage and touchdowns. His ability after the catch and after contact is the best in the league, meaning he doesn’t need deep passes to have a great yards per reception number year in and year out.

Last season he led all tight ends in standard scoring despite seeing almost 60 fewer targets than Brock Bowers and Tre McBride. Those two are who Kittle is up against for the top tight end crown in standard leagues and if either can start finding the end zone with more regularity, they could pass Kittle this season. However, the 49ers are hurting at receiver at the moment, as Brandon Aiyuk will start the season on IR and Jauan Jennings is hurt/holding in for a new contract. Christian McCaffrey does cut into Kittle’s work, but I expect Kittle to be a top 2 target in this offense right now and McCaffrey’s recent injury history isn’t exactly great.

Okonkwo has always been a tantalizing tight end for fantasy, but he has yet to see enough snaps to be consistent. That may change this season though, as Okonkwo’s preseason usage looks promising. He hasn’t been a part-time player in preseason and with the promise of Cam Ward elevating the offense from the doldrums of Will Levis and Mason Rudolph, there is real hope he can be a fantasy asset.

Last season Kraft was one of the few constants in the Packers passing game. And the Packers need some consistency there, as their wide receivers can’t seem to stay healthy. Kraft has good touchdown upside and could easily take a step forward this season. He’s not going to put up huge numbers, but he’s one of the safer tight ends you can get later in drafts.