Tight ends are a volatile bunch from week to week, but they can also be key to winning your fantasy matchups in season-long or single-week formats. Getting value from fantasy football sleeper plays at the position can unlock the salary you need to pay up for other stars. In Week 9, the main slate on DraftKings includes 11 games, with plenty of solid fantasy football sleeper plays on the board at tight end.
Since the one-week DFS fantasy football salaries on DraftKings go lower at TE than at WR and RB, you can slide an ultra-bargain tight end in your FLEX, freeing up more spending power in other spots. It’s possible to go cheaper at this position than at any other besides defense.
I list out my top fantasy football sleeper tight ends each Saturday from the main slate of the week to help you find the biggest production for the lowest salary.
The picks in this post can be excellent values for DFS contests and can also serve as sneaky plays in your season-long league since they are in a position to exceed expectations. Earlier this week, I highlighted my top-15 starters at tight end, and in this list, we’ll focus on players mostly outside those 15 players who still bring a high fantasy football ceiling in their Week 9 matchups.
Week 9 Fantasy Football Sleeper TEs (analysis below):
- Noah Fant, Cincinnati Bengals ($3,300)
- Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints ($3,200)
- Gunnar Helm, Tennessee Titans ($2,900)
- Ja’Tavion Sanders, Carolina Panthers ($2,800)
- Hunter Long, Jacksonville Jaguars ($2,800)
Week 8 Results:
- Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($3,400, 8.0 FPTS)
- Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans ($3,300; 4.4 FPTS)
- Gunnar Helm, Tennessee Titans ($3,100; 10.3 FPTS)
- Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears ($3,000; 6.8 FPTS)
- Tanner Conner, Miami Dolphins ($2,600; 2.6 FPTS)
Whether you’re looking for value plays in your DFS contests like the NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st] or looking for a last-minute addition from the waiver wire, here are my top five fantasy football sleeper tight ends for Week 9 of the 2025 season:
Noah Fant, Cincinnati Bengals ($3,300)
The highest point total on Sunday afternoon is from the marquee matchup between the Chiefs and Bills, but just behind that game, with a total of 51.5 points, is the contest between the Bengals and the Bears. While I do like Colston Loveland ($3,300) as well in this contest, he’s priced a little high for me, with Cole Kmet ($3,100) expected back after a one-week absence. Instead, I’m going to the Bengals’ side and tapping Fant, who should benefit from Joe Flacco ($5,600) playing through his shoulder issue.
Fant has stepped into a larger role with Flacco under center the last three weeks, which also coincides with the injury to Mike Gesicki (pectoral), which opened up more targets and snaps. Fant played 49% of snaps in Flacco’s debut in Week 6, 68% of snaps in Week 7, and 47% of snaps in Week 8. He has at least three catches in each game and found the end zone against the Steelers in Week 7
Last week, Fant hauled in all three of his targets for 41 yards against the Jets. He actually tied for second on the team in targets, but Ja’Marr Chase had an incredible 19 targets in the team’s loss. Flacco will need to spread things around a little more this week against the Bears, and Fant could benefit from the extra work in a favorable matchup.
He’s been more consistent than the other options in this price range, catching at least three passes in all but one of his seven games this season. He’s found the end zone twice, and even though he isn’t a vertical threat to make big plays, he has a high enough floor to be a good value play this week in his home matchup with the Bears.
Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints ($3,200)
Johnson doesn’t have a high floor at all for the Saints, but he does have a high ceiling, since he gets heavily involved in the team’s passing game some weeks.
This week, the Saints’ passing game will be led by rookie Tyler Shough ($4,400) instead of Spencer Rattler ($4,400), who had a boom-or-bust connection with Johnson. A new quarterback only increases the uncertainty for Johnson, but he still brings tantalizing upside since he gets so many targets some weeks.
He has had over 10 fantasy points in five of his eight games this season, including each of his last two. He had five catches in each of the last two weeks, producing 79 yards against the Bears and 53 yards against the Buccaneers.
Johnson hasn’t found the end zone since Week 2, but if Shough can get the offense going and lock in on his big tight end near the end zone, he could end up forming a strong connection that boosts both players to fantasy relevancy.
Even in this tough matchup against the Rams, Johnson’s ceiling is high enough to make him an interesting value play.
Gunnar Helm, Tennessee Titans ($2,900)
The Titans’ offense is stuffed full of young players at skill positions, and with veteran Calvin Ridley (hamstring) missing a third-straight week, there’s a chance for those youngsters to step up and gel with rookie QB Cam Ward ($4,500).
I included Helm in my picks last week, too, and he delivered with two catches for 23 yards and his first NFL touchdown.
Helm had more than 10 fantasy points for the first time in the season, but he has had over 7.0 fantasy points in three of his last four weeks. His snap share and target share are on the rise, and he could pass Chig Okonkwo ($3,200) as the season goes on. The Titans could also trade Okonkwo this week to open the position for Helm moving forward.
The rookie’s salary actually went down this week because of his tough matchup against the Chargers, but while I’m not sure that the Titans will keep it close, I do think they’ll throw the ball a lot while trying to stay in the game. I highlighted rookie receiver Chimere Dike ($3,900) in my fantasy football sleeper wide receivers, and I think both rookies will continue to emerge in Tennessee’s offense as the season continues.
Ja’Tavion Sanders, Carolina Panthers ($2,800)
A year before Helm was drafted by the Titans out of Texas, Ja’Tavion Sanders was drafted out of Texas by the Panthers. Both former Longhorns have good value potential under $3,000 this week, and Sanders makes sense in his matchup as the Panthers visit Lambeau Field to face the Packers.
Sanders missed a few weeks with an ankle injury and didn’t have a catch in his Week 7 return. His Week 8 results were better, but still underwhelming since he only had three catches for 19 yards against the Bills.
Sanders and the whole offense will get a boost this week from the return of Bryce Young ($5,300).
The last complete game Young and Sanders were healthy together for was Week 2, when Sanders hauled in seven catches for 54 yards and a season-high 12.4 fantasy points against the Cardinals.
The Packers have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game this season to tight ends. They have allowed five tight end touchdowns in seven games, along with an average of 57.9 yards per game to the position. Sanders hasn’t had big games lately, but the potential for him to break through in Bryce Young’s return is definitely there.
Hunter Long, Jacksonville Jaguars ($2,800)
Sometimes, when teams come back from their bye week, they use the week off to get healthy and come back at full strength. That’s not the case, though, for the Jaguars, who are still without starting tight end Brenton Strange (quad, IR), and also lost star rookie receiver Travis Hunter (knee, IR) to a new injury on Friday.
While Parker Washington ($3,700), Dyami Brown ($3,800), and Brian Thomas Jr. ($6,200) all have high ceilings while they divide up Hunter’s targets this week, don’t sleep on Hunter Long as a bargain basement tight end option that is cheaper than every single wide receiver and running back on the slate.
Long has multiple catches in four of his last five games, including the two he has played since Strange’s injury in Week 5. He had two touchdowns earlier this season while playing behind Strange, and he could get more involved in the offense and in the red zone now that Hunter’s targets are also up for grabs.
The 27-year-old isn’t expected to be a breakout star that establishes himself as a fantasy stalwart going forward, but as a one-week option against the Raiders, he’s a very interesting plug-and-play solution if you’re looking for a fantasy football sleeper coming from off the radar this week.
