• Tyler Warren, PFF’s No. 1 tight end prospect, brings an impressive profile: The Penn State product is the No. 13 overall prospect on the PFF Big Board.

• Michigan’s Colston Loveland should be a productive NFL tight end: The strong and athletic Loveland is coming off back-to-back productive seasons for the Wolverines with more than 500 receiving yards and solid PFF receiving grades in both years.

• 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF’s best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.

Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

PFF+ subscribers instantly have the work of the largest scouting department in history (in the form of the PFF data collection team) at their fingertips — much of the same information used by all 32 NFL front offices. And we’ll use that data here to scout tight ends for the 2025 NFL Draft.

Tight ends rarely produce at high levels as rookies in the NFL. Only five first-year tight ends in the past seven seasons have reached 600 receiving yards, compared to 27 wide receivers who produced 800-yard seasons during the same span.

The slower adjustment is often because they are asked to do more than they did in college from schematic and route tree standpoints, in addition to having to block larger, more athletic opponents.

A classic case of a young tight end’s development curve can be seen in Trey McBride, who as a rookie earned only a 53.6 PFF receiving grade with 265 receiving yards. Those marks grew to an 80.5 PFF receiving grade and 825 receiving yards in his second season, and he improved to an 89.6 PFF receiving grade and 1,146 yards this past year. When projecting rookie tight ends to the NFL success, as we’ll do here, we need to take into account that learning curve.

Thirty-four tight ends have notched at least 600 receiving yards in a season over the past seven years. One, Logan Thomas, was drafted as a quarterback and converted to tight end. Eight played their last college season before PFF started collecting college data in 2014, which leaves 25 productive NFL tight ends to build a sample size around.

For this article, we will focus only on a tight end’s receiving ability and production — not their blocking prowess. Specifically, we are looking at PFF receiving grade, yards after the catch per reception and yards per route run, all of which you can easily access if you’re a PFF+ subscriber.

Here are the 34 tight ends who have had at least 600 yards receiving in the last seven seasons and what their stats were in their final year of college. 

• Brock Bowers – PFF 87.0, YAC/REC 8.6, Y/RR 2.74
• Trey McBride – PFF 95.0, YAC/REC 5.0, Y/RR 2.78
• George Kittle – PFF 62.9 (92.2 in 2015), YAC/REC 7.0, Y/RR 1.48
• Travis Kelce – Last year in college predates PFF grades
• Jonnu Smith – PFF 63.0, YAC/REC 7.0, Y/RR 1.42
• Zach Ertz – Last year in college predates PFF grades
• Sam LaPorta – PFF 82.7, YAC/REC 6.0, Y/RR 2.10
• Mark Andrews – PFF 80.4, YAC/REC 5.2, Y/RR 2.78
• Tucker Kraft – PFF 85.2, YAC/REC 5.8, Y/RR 2.3 (last healthy season) 
• Hunter Henry – PFF 90.8, YAC/REC 4.4, Y/RR 2.23
• Pat Freiermuth – PFF 80.9, YAC/REC 5.7, Y/RR 2.33
• Mike Gesicki – PFF 75.7, YAC/REC 4.6, Y/RR 1.47
• Cade Otton – PFF 60.6, YAC/REC 5.6, Y/RR 1.43
• Kyle Pitts – PFF 95.9, YAC/REC 6.5, Y/RR 3.29
• Evan Engram – PFF 80.5, YAC/REC 6.2, Y/RR 2.59
• T.J. Hockenson – PFF 90.9, YAC/REC 6.9, Y/RR 2.26
• David Njoku – PFF 76.0, YAC/REC 11.6, Y/RR 2.37
• Jake Ferguson – PFF 85.5, YAC/REC 5.0, Y/RR 1.68
• Cole Kmet – PFF 73.7, YAC/REC 4.8, Y/RR 1.58
• Dalton Kincaid – PFF 92.3, YAC/REC 5.7, Y/RR 2.54
• Dalton Schultz – PFF 57.3, YAC/REC 3.4, Y/RR 0.90
• Tyler Conklin – PFF 67.7, YAC/REC 4.6, Y/RR 1.85
• Dallas Goedert – PFF 94.9, YAC/REC 8.2, Y/RR 3.18
• Tyler Higbee – PFF 89.0, YAC/REC 6.8, Y/RR 2.51
• Rob Gronkowski – Last year in college predates PFF grades
• Noah Fant – PFF 80.6, YAC/REC 6.8, Y/RR 1.86
• Darren Waller – PFF 76.7, YAC/REC 3.7, Y/RR 1.88
• Logan Thomas – Played quarterback at Virginia Tech
• Austin Hooper – PFF 68.2, YAC/REC 3.9, Y/RR 1.62
• Jared Cook – Last year in college predates PFF grades
• Eric Ebron – Last year in college predates PFF grades
• Jimmy Graham – Last year in college predates PFF grades
• Kyle Rudolph – Last year in college predates PFF grades
• Vance McDonald – Last year in college predates PFF grades

Editor’s note: PFF is PFF receiving grade, YAC/REC is yards after the catch per reception and Y/RR is yards per route run.

We are left with the following averages from the above group:

• PFF receiving grade: 79.3
• Yards after the catch per reception: 5.96
• Yards per route run: 2.12

PFF Receiving Grade

PFF receiving grade is an indicator of a tight end’s receiving ability. Positive grades are earned for making plays that move the chains, scoring points or making tacklers miss. The grade isn’t in itself an indicator of how a player will produce at the NFL level; it is solely based on how the player produced that season.

The player with the highest PFF receiving grade in his last college season of the 600-yard tight ends was Kyle Pitts (95.9). Six of the 25 tight ends earned a PFF grade above 90.0 — Pitts, Trey McBride (95.0), Dallas Goedert (94.9), Dalton Kincaid (92.3), T.J. Hockenson (91.9) and Hunter Henry (90.8). Fourteen players recorded a PFF receiving grade above 80.0. The average PFF receiving grade of these players was 79.3. Only four of the 600-yard NFL tight ends garnered PFF receiving grades under 65.0: Jonnu Smith (63.0), George Kittle (62.9), Cade Otton (60.6) and Dalton Schultz (57.3).

The following 10 tight ends in the 2025 NFL Draft class posted a PFF receiving grade above 75.0:

• Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green – 96.0
• Tyler Warren, Penn State – 93.1
• Colston Loveland, Michigan – 90.6
• Oronde Gadsden II, Syracuse – 82.7
• Avery Boyd, Georgia Tech – 82.0
• Brant Kuithe, Utah – 79.8
• Seven-year average of the 600-yard NFL tight ends: 79.3
• Gunnar Helm, Texas – 78.5
• Miles Kitselman, Tenneesee – 78.4
• Holden Willis, Middle Tennessee – 77.1
• Terrance Ferguson, Oregon – 76.0

Yards After the Catch per Reception

Yards after the catch per reception is just as it sounds: how many yards a player nets after making a catch and before being tackled. Yards after the catch can be skewed by screens or by the velocity and separation created by the player before the ball arrives, but at the end of the day, you don’t want a tight end who just catches contested passes and doesn’t gain any additional yardage. The high mark in the players listed is David Njoku’s 11.6 yards after catch per reception. The average number of yards after the catch per reception is 5.96, and only four of the 25 tight ends had a figure under 4.5 yards: Hunter Henry (4.4), Austin Hooper (3.9), Darren Waller (3.7) and Dalton Schultz (3.4).

The 2025 tight end class includes 19 players with a yards after the catch per reception mark at 6.5 or higher (minimum 20 receptions):

• Elijah Arroyo, Miami (FL): 9.9
• Terrance Ferguson, Oregon: 9.5
• Joshua Simon, South Carolina: 9.0
• Matthew Hibner, SMU: 8.8
• Jermaine Terry II, Oregon State: 8.8
• Brant Kuithe, Utah: 8.5
• Avery Boyd, Georgia Tech: 8.4
• Pat Conroy, Old Dominion: 8.2
• Matt Lauter, Boise State: 8.2
• John Copenhaver, North Carolina: 7.6
• Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green: 7.5
• Tyler Warren, Penn State: 7.0
• Moliki Matavao, UCLA: 7.0
• Kamari Morales, Boston College: 6.9
• Eli Wilson, Appalachian State: 6.8
• Tyler Fromm, Georgia Southern: 6.7
• Tre Watson, Texas A&M: 6.7
• Gunnar Helm, Texas: 6.6
• Kole Taylor, West Virginia: 6.6
• Seven-year average of the 600-yard NFL tight ends: 5.96

Yards per Route Run

PFF’s yards per route run metric divides a player’s total receiving yards by the number of routes they ran, providing a better indicator of production than yards per reception or even yards per target. Of the 25 600-yard NFL tight ends we are studying, the highest yards per route run number in college belonged to Kyle Pitts (3.29). The average yards per route run was 2.12. Fourteen of the players had a yards per route run mark above 2.0. Only one player had a yards per route run below 1.4: Dalton Schultz. 

The 2025 tight end class includes seven players with a yards per route run average at 2.0 or higher (minimum 20 receptions):

• Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green – 3.65
• Avery Boyd, Georgia Tech – 3.36
• Tyler Warren, Penn State – 2.91
• Colston Loveland, Michigan – 2.67
• Brant Kuithe, Utah – 2.55
• Terrance Ferguson, Oregon – 2.20
• Holden Willis, Middle Tennessee – 2.14
• Seven-year average of the 600-yard NFL tight ends: 2.12
• Oronde Gadsden II, Syracuse – 1.90
• Michael Trigg, Baylor – 1.83
• Gunnar Helm, Texas – 1.83

The Findings

Two tight ends in the 2025 NFL Draft class were above the average of the 600-yard NFL tight ends in one category and close to the average in the other two:

Gunnar Helm, Texas

Helm is the No. 75 overall prospect on the PFF Big Board. He is listed at 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds and appears to be a bigger-framed player than many other tight ends in the class. His 6.6 yards after the catch per reception mark was higher than the seven-year average of the 600-yard NFL tight ends.

Elijah Arroyo, Miami (FL)

Arroyo is the No. 80 overall prospect on the PFF Big Board. Knee injuries marred the earlier part of his career at Miami, but he had a productive senior season when healthy. Arroyo showed off his size, skill and athleticism at the Senior Bowl practices, impressing all week. He has the speed to collect yards after the catch, as his 9.9 yards after the catch per reception led the draft class. It appears his best production is ahead of him. 

Two tight ends in the 2025 NFL Draft class were above the average of the 600-yard NFL tight ends in two of the three categories:

Colston Loveland, Michigan

Loveland is PFF’s No. 2 tight end prospect and the No. 31 overall prospect on the PFF Big Board. The strong and athletic Loveland is coming off back-to-back productive seasons for the Wolverines with more than 500 receiving yards and solid PFF receiving grades in both years. Loveland’s 90.6 PFF receiving grade and 2.67 yards per route run were both above the average of the 600-yard NFL tight ends.

Terrance Ferguson, Oregon

Ferguson is the No. 113 overall prospect on the PFF Big Board. He was frequently targeted on screen passes and is productive after the catch. His 9.5 yards after the catch per reception mark is not only above the average of the 600-yard NFL tight ends but ranks second in the class. Ferguson’s 2.20 yards per route run was also above the average of the 600-yard NFL tight ends.

Only four tight ends in the 2025 NFL Draft class had numbers above the averages of the 600-yard NFL tight ends in PFF receiving grade, yards after the catch and yards per route run.

Tyler Warren, Penn State 

The consensus No. 1 tight end in the class and the No. 13 overall prospect on the PFF Big Board, Warren is athletic enough to be used on designed runs and as a Wildcat quarterback. He’s a physical player who is hard to bring down with the ball in his hands. He forced 15 missed tackles as a receiver and another nine as a rusher during the 2024 regular season. 

Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green

Fannin is PFF’s No. 6 tight end in the class and the No. 91 overall prospect on the PFF Big Board. He had a ridiculously productive 2024 season for a college tight end, with 100 catches, 1,342 yards and nine touchdowns. Fannin also had the highest yards per route run in the class (3.65). He brings an unusual build, as he has very long legs that make him a little stiff when changing direction on horizontal breaking routes. Fannin does have impressive after-the-catch ability with a strong stiff arm, which he used effectively to force 32 missed tackles.

Avery Boyd, Georgia Tech

Boyd’s appearance among this group is partially due to his small sample size. He finished his Georgia Tech career with only 31 receptions, and he is a converted wide receiver who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds. He has good speed for a tight end and can make people miss with the ball in his hands.

Brant Kuithe, Utah 

Kuithe has missed one entire season and big parts of two others due to injuries, with the latest occurring in November 2024. Kuithe’s injury history, age (he’ll turn 25 before the draft) and lack of prototypical size for an NFL inline tight end will push him down the list of players teams want to invest draft capital in, but when he is healthy, he can be a productive intermediate-level receiving threat in the NFL.