- Kyle Pitts Sr. finished as the overall PPR TE2 after all had lost hope: Pitts finally had the fantasy season most had been hoping for, although the majority of his production came in the final month of the campaign.
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Estimated Reading Time: 7minutes
Every NFL season is full of good and bad surprises, and 2025 was no exception. Plenty of fantasy football assets emerged seemingly out of nowhere to become quality starting options, while others let us down, either due to injuries, poor play, inefficiency or a benching.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the pleasant surprises and surprise disappointments at tight end from 2025, leaving out players who missed significant chunks of time due to injury.
Editor's note: Fantasy points/rankings are from Weeks 1-17
Pleasant Surprise: Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns
- Finish: TE4
- ADP: TE34
Fannin Jr. was a personal favorite heading into the 2025 NFL Draft, as his top-four potential was clearly highlighted in the rookie tight model this offseason. Still, it was a surprise that he delivered immediately in year one, finishing as the PPR TE4 — a big win for the model.
Fannin’s high-end receiving metrics as a prospect overcame the worries of target competition, team situation and lower athletic testing scores, helping him serve as a massive fantasy value this year.
The Browns’ offense and David Njoku‘s role were thought to be limiting factors for Fannin, and while both played a part, his talent allowed him to be a key contributor. With Njoku in the lineup (Weeks 1-8 and 10-13), Fannin was still the PPR TE7. And with Njoku out of the lineup (Week 9 and Weeks 14-17), he was the PPR TE4. Fannin led the Browns in targets (104), receptions (72), receiving yards (731) and receiving touchdowns (six), ranking in the top six among tight ends in those categories.
Fannin was a great example of trusting a prospect's high-end talent to overcome poor circumstances, especially when the price (TE34 ADP) is right. While there were many rookies picked ahead of Fannin this year in fantasy drafts, arguably no first-year player performed better while also creating a higher return on investment.
Weekly Fantasy Football Rankings
Weekly rankings for standard, PPR, half-PPR and IDP leagues for the 2025 season.
Explore Fantasy RankingsPleasant Surprise: Kyle Pitts Sr., Atlanta Falcons
- Finish: TE2
- ADP: TE17
Pitts let down fantasy managers for the past few seasons, even making this list last year as one of the surprise disappointments when he was drafted as the TE6 and finished the year as the TE15. It took fantasy managers giving up hope for him to finally deliver on his potential as the PPR TE2 in 2025.
The majority of his fantasy production came in the final five games of the season. Heading into Week 13, Pitts was just the PPR TE16 overall, which is right in line with where he was being drafted. But from Weeks 13-17, he delivered 49% of his total fantasy production (98.1 PPR points), creating the massive jump to the PPR TE2.
Pitts still ended up leading the Falcons in targets (106), receptions (82) and receiving yards (870) on the year, although star wide receiver Drake London missed five games, which certainly helped. Essentially, while Pitts’ PPR TE2 finish was a pleasant surprise, it comes with many caveats and shouldn't necessarily reset fantasy managers’ expectations heading into the 2026 season. He is also set to enter free agency and could land with another offense.
Pleasant Surprise: Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
- Finish: TE8
- ADP: TE32
Johnson was one of the top surprises among tight ends this year, delivering a top-10 finish at the position despite going undrafted in the majority of fantasy drafts this offseason. He was essentially the 2025 version of Zach Ertz from last year, finishing as exactly the PPR TE8 despite drafters having no faith that he’d come anywhere close to that mark.
Johnson finished among the top-12 weekly fantasy tight ends nine times across his 16 games this season, and he ranked second among Saints pass catchers in targets (95), receptions (74), receiving yards (828) and receiving touchdowns (three).
Without a consistent WR2 option, the Saints relied heavily on their tight end to produce next to Chris Olave. And more often than not, that was enough for him to be a weekly starter in fantasy lineups this year.
Johnson was a waiver add this year for most fantasy managers. For those who lost players like George Kittle early in the year, or Tucker Kraft or Sam LaPorta due to mid-season injuries, Johnson was the best replacement option of the bunch — and a pleasant surprise.
Read More
Fantasy Football: Biggest surprises of 2025 — WRs
Read More →Surprise Disappointment: T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
- Finish: TE22
- ADP: TE5
When Hockenson returned from an ACL injury in 2024, he was able to deliver top-12 fantasy production across nine games between Weeks 9 and 17, which was encouraging for his 2025 potential.
Unfortunately, similar issues that plagued Justin Jefferson in 2025 proved true for Hockenson, as well. Drafted as a top-five fantasy tight end, Hockenson delivered on that potential just once across 15 games and managed a top-12 finish just three times this year.
Hockenson was the Vikings' only tight end who ran more than 150 routes (418), although his 64 targets and 15.3% target rate ranked 40th among tight ends who ran at least 150 routes. His lack of involvement in the offense ultimately sank his fantasy value, and his efficiency also dropped off significantly.
Hockenson set career lows in yards per reception (8.6) and yards per route run (1.05), in addition to earning his lowest PFF receiving grade (62.6) since his rookie season. The Vikings‘ passing game as a whole significantly underperformed relative to expectations this year, and the hope will be that the unit can bounce back in 2026, specifically for the sake of Hockenson and Justin Jefferson.