5 Dynasty Buy-Low Candidates 2025: Tight Ends to Acquire
When it comes to dynasty buy-low candidates, knowing when to acquire a player is a critical skill in dynasty fantasy football. More importantly, it can make or break your team’s long-term success. Today, I’ll break down 5 dynasty sell-high tight ends to trade for during this off-season.
Dynasty Buy-Low Candidates 2025: Tight Ends
For those of you who are managers in dynasty leagues, you know that there truly is no off-season. Once Week 17 is over, the analysis of your roster and your competitor’s rosters for the following seasons begins. This year, it’s time to get to know the rookies in the 2025 NFL Draft class.
Which players do we need to sell high? Which ones should we look to trade away? Conversely, which players should we look to acquire? What other managers are we willing to trade with? Which players would they be looking to trade and trade for? Player analysis and trades are an all-year phenomenon in dynasty leagues.
In this article, I will look at 5 tight ends that you should look to acquire for next season and beyond. Let’s get into the picks.
Sam LaPorta – Detroit Lions
Sam LaPorta had a phenomenal 2023 rookie campaign. He was the TE1 in most points scored and average points scored per game (11.6). Heading into the 2024 season, LaPorta’s ADP was either as the TE1 or TE2 just behind Travis Kelce. He would have most likely been drafted in the 2nd or early third round.
Needless to say, the sophomore tight end did not live up to his production from last year. Ultimately, he finished as the TE7, scored 50 points less, and averaged 2.6 points less than he did in 2023.
There were a myriad of reasons why LaPorta didn’t come close to his production from last year. Early in the season, the Lions were steamrolling their opponents on the ground and became a run-heavy team. The emergence of Jameson Williams had looks/touches taken away from LaPorta. There is also the fact that NFL defensive coordinators/coaches had an offseason to look at tape/film to further analyze how to stop and game plan against the tight end.
However, things were not all doom and gloom for LaPorta in 2024. From Weeks 13-17, he was the TE2 averaging 12.9 fantasy points per game. The question is, which LaPorta will emerge in 2025? The disappointing version from the beginning of the season or the one near the end of the season that resembled the dominating force he was last year?
If you drafted LaPorta last year, especially after his magnificent 2023 season, you probably thought you had the next Travis Kelce for the next 10 years. Don’t fret my fellow dynasty managers. LaPorta is still a top-tier tight end who will probably only be ranked behind rookie Brock Bowers and Trey McBride. If anything, this offseason represents a good opportunity to trade for LaPorta as his manager may feel burned or disenchanted from this past season.
Jonnu Smith – Miami Dolphins
Raise your hand if you had Jonnu Smith finishing as the TE4 this past season on your bingo card. Anyone? I certainly didn’t.
Perhaps we all owe former Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Arthur Smith an apology. Maybe he was correct in the end and Smith is a better tight end than Kyle Pitts. Impressively, he was one of only six tight ends to average more than 10 points per game at the position this season.
From Weeks 11-17, Smith was the TE1 averaging 15.3 points per game. George Kittle, who was the TE1 for the season, averaged 13.9 points per game. Smith was a key piece of the Dolphins’ short passing strategy whose goal was to limit the hits and contact to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Furthermore, Smith will be turning 30 years old before the start of next season. This will make his pricetag even lower. However, there is no reason to think that he cannot have another 2-3 years of good production at the tight end position. If you are a contender and require a productive tight end who could finish within the top five, Smith may be the cheapest one to acquire.
T.J. Hockenson – Minnesota Vikings
Hockenson entered the 2024 season still rehabbing from a torn ACL and MCL on his right knee that he suffered on Christmas Eve the season before. He did not return to the Vikings lineup until Week 9.
From Weeks 9-17, he finished as the TE12. However, was the TE16 in average points per game at 7.1. It isn’t uncommon for players recovering from a torn ACL/MCL to not fully be themselves and healthy at least 1.5-2 years after their surgery.
It was only two years ago when Hockenson finished as the TE2. Last season, even with missing Week 17, Hockenson finished as the TE3 only 13.4 points behind the TE1. He was the TE3 averaging 11.4 points per game only 0.1 behind the TE2 in Travis Kelce and 0.2 points behind the TE1 LaPorta.
Dynasty managers with Hockenson on their roster may not remember what a top-end tight end he is. He will be turning 28 years old entering next season and is in the prime of his career. Ultimately, the value of Hockenson may never be lower. More importantly, the time is now to acquire the potentially elite tight end.
David Njoku – Cleveland Browns
In 2023, Njoku was the TE5 for the season. Many were expecting him to match if not beat his 2023 production. However, Njoku experienced an up-and-down 2024 season.
Njoku finished as the TE11 while missing five games and catching passes from three different quarterbacks. Impressively, he was on pace to have almost 150 targets which would have been number one for tight ends and top five for any positional player. Even more impressive was Njoku’s average fantasy points per game. In the end, he was the TE5, averaging 10.6 points per game.
Furthermore, with the news of DeShaun Watson re-tearing his Achilles, the Browns will need to look for a new starting quarterback entering the 2025 season. Will the Browns find their new quarterback in the upcoming draft in Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward with the second overall pick? Through free agency with the likes of Sam Darnold or bringing back Jameis Winston? Regardless, it seems as though Njoku will finally get a stable quarterback throwing him the ball in 2025.
Noah Gray – Kansas City Chiefs
If you have watched any Chiefs game this year, you can tell quite clearly that Kelce is nearing the end of his career. The 35-year old and understandably so, doesn’t move as well as he used to. Clearly, he is less explosive and not the dominating force that he used to be. Father Time never loses. In the end, I wouldn’t be shocked if Kelce ends up retiring.
Enter Noah Gray. Gray only finished as the TE18 this year. However, he did see his usage expand during the second half of the season. From Weeks 11-15, Gray was the TE4 overall and the TE6 in average points per game at 11.7
This buy-low candidate is clearly based on speculation and trying to forecast Kelce’s future. The cost would be minimal for the 25-year-old who could be stepping into a coveted starting role in the Chiefs offense at the beginning of the 2025 season. All things considered, Gray might be a solid buy-low candidate during this coming off-season.
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