2025 Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings: TE, K, DEF

Trey McBride hopes to stay sizzling for Arizona, Kyle Pitts settles in as the Falcons’ only weapon, and Tyler Warren goes big game hunting in Kansas City.

Other positions: Quarterback | Running Back | Receiver

Updated 11/22 at 10:30 PM ET. Added Brenton Strange.

Week 12 Tight Ends

1	Trey McBride	ARI	vs. JAC
2	Brock Bowers	LV	vs. CLE
3	George Kittle	SF	vs. CAR
4	Travis Kelce	KC	vs. IND
5	Tyler Warren	IND	at KC
6	Dallas Goedert	PHI	at DAL
7	Kyle Pitts Sr.	ATL	at NO
8	Jake Ferguson	DAL	vs. PHI
9	Mark Andrews	BAL	vs. NYJ
10	Dalton Schultz	HOU	vs. BUF
11	Theo Johnson	NYG	at DET
12	Hunter Henry	NE	at CIN
13	Cade Otton	TB	at LAR
14	Juwan Johnson	NO	vs. ATL
15	Colston Loveland	CHI	vs. PIT
16	AJ Barner	SEA	at TEN
17	Mason Taylor	NYJ	at BAL
18	Noah Fant	CIN	vs. NE
19	Harold Fannin Jr.	CLE	at LV
20	T.J. Hockenson	MIN	at GB
21	Isaiah Likely	BAL	vs. NYJ
22	Brenton Strange	JAC	at ARI
23	David Njoku	CLE	at LV
24	Brock Wright	DET	vs. NYG
25	Ja’Tavion Sanders	CAR	at SF
26	Chig Okonkwo	TEN	vs. SEA
27	Luke Musgrave	GB	vs. MIN
28	Dawson Knox	BUF	at HOU
29	Jonnu Smith	PIT	at CHI
30	Darnell Washington	PIT	at CHI
31	Pat Freiermuth	PIT	at CHI
32	Mike Gesicki	CIN	vs. NE
33	Gunnar Helm	TEN	vs. SEA
34	Taysom Hill	NO	vs. ATL
35	Michael Mayer	LV	vs. CLE
36	Cole Kmet	CHI	vs. PIT

TE Notes: For the second time this season, Michael Penix Jr. (knee) and Drake London (knee) are both sidelined for the Falcons. The first time it happened in Week 8, Kirk Cousins targeted Kyle Pitts nine times, with the seam man going 9/59/0. That was and remains Pitts’ second most targets of the season. It’s a formula shoring up what was beginning to look like shaky TE1 status. … Dalton Schultz is the TE5 by total PPR points and TE8 by average points since Davis Mills started filling in for C.J. Stroud three games ago. There is zero reason to believe the Texans can curtail their passing-game volume against the Bills, though it must be said Buffalo is currently permitting the fewest TE fantasy points. … With the Bears slowly moving on from their veteran pass-catching riff raff, Colston Loveland has quietly reached 38 yards in four straight contests. Arbitrary, etc. but the greater involvement has had him north of 50 yards twice heading into a matchup with the Steelers’ bottom-basement pass defense.

Theo Johnson keeps furnishing a nice floor, catching at least three balls in seven of his past eight appearances. Might it finally be time for some ceiling? NYG/DET is vying for the week’s highest game total, and Jaxon Dart is back under center for the Giants. He found Johnson for a season-best 7/75 his last time out. You are given permission to go big-game hunting. … Cade Otton had what was probably a long-overdue dud in Week 11, but he’s not yet worth burying for one bad game. … AJ Barner finally spiked a week, finishing as the TE4 against the Rams even without a touchdown. It was fueled by a 44-attempt outburst for Sam Darnold, which was 10 more passes than he had previously thrown all season. The Seahawks will undoubtedly hope to avoid a repeat in Week 12, or any week for that matter. The Titans are a plus matchup, but one where Barner would likely need a score to get home in fantasy. … Brock Wright, Dawson Knox and Luke Musgrave are all decent-enough touchdown dart throws with zero-catch floors.

Mike Gesicki (pec) is suddenly practicing in full, complicating the outlook for Noah Fant in Ja’Marr Chase’s (suspension) absence and Joe Burrow’s (toe) return. He will be the preferred TE2 play over Gesicki, either way, but both his floor and ceiling odds take a big hit if Gesicki suits up, as is currently looking likely. … Mason Taylor finally has a quarterback in Tyrod Taylor who will at least be asked to pass the ball. Taylor came close to establishing a TE2 floor even with scattershot Justin Fields under center. He could become a “surprise” asset for the fantasy stretch run and postseason. … Although the Browns will presumably try to scare up some easy completions for an overmatched Shedeur Sanders in his starting debut, the quarterback change is bad news for Harold Fannin, “easy” target though he is. No one in this offense has a Week 12 floor, to say nothing of the ceiling. … Ja’Tavion Sanders was one of a plethora of Panthers to have one of his better games of the season in Week 11 against the Falcons. Maybe he can keep it going against a paper-tiger 49ers pass defense.

Week 12 Kickers

1	Brandon Aubrey	DAL	vs. PHI
2	Jason Myers	SEA	at TEN
3	Jake Bates	DET	vs. NYG
4	Cairo Santos	CHI	vs. PIT
5	Jake Elliott	PHI	at DAL
6	Ka’imi Fairbairn	HOU	vs. BUF
7	Michael Badgley	IND	at KC
8	Andy Borregales	NE	at CIN
9	Cam Little	JAC	at ARI
10	Harrison Butker	KC	vs. IND
11	Chris Boswell	PIT	at CHI
12	Tyler Loop	BAL	vs. NYJ
13	Matt Prater	BUF	at HOU
14	Chase McLaughlin	TB	at LAR
15	Evan McPherson	CIN	vs. NE
16	Chad Ryland	ARI	vs. JAC
17	Matt Gay	SF	vs. CAR
18	Will Reichard	MIN	at GB
19	Ryan Fitzgerald	CAR	at SF
20	Daniel Carlson	LV	vs. CLE
21	Harrison Mevis	LAR	vs. TB
22	Blake Grupe	NO	vs. ATL
23	Younghoe Koo	NYG	at DET
24	Nick Folk	NYJ	at BAL
25	Zane Gonzalez	ATL	at NO
26	Joey Slye	TEN	vs. SEA
27	Lucas Havrisik	GB	vs. MIN
28	Andre Szmyt	CLE	at LV

Week 12 Defense/Special Teams

1	Seattle Seahawks	at TEN
2	Baltimore Ravens	vs. NYJ
3	Green Bay Packers	vs. MIN
4	Cleveland Browns	at LV
5	Las Vegas Raiders	vs. CLE
6	Detroit Lions	vs. NYG
7	New Orleans Saints	vs. ATL
8	Atlanta Falcons	at NO
9	Buffalo Bills	at HOU
10	Kansas City Chiefs	vs. IND
11	Chicago Bears	vs. PIT
12	Pittsburgh Steelers	at CHI
13	Jacksonville Jaguars	at ARI
14	Los Angeles Rams	vs. TB
15	Houston Texans	vs. BUF
16	New England Patriots	at CIN
17	Philadelphia Eagles	at DAL
18	Arizona Cardinals	vs. JAC
19	San Francisco 49ers	vs. CAR
20	Minnesota Vikings	at GB
21	Dallas Cowboys	vs. PHI
22	Carolina Panthers	at SF
23	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	at LAR
24	Indianapolis Colts	at KC
25	New York Jets	at BAL
26	New York Giants	at DET
27	Tennessee Titans	vs. SEA
28	Cincinnati Bengals	vs. NE