Dalton Kincaid (TE, BUF) led tight ends in yards per target in 2025 at 11.65. 39 players with 40+ targets qualified.
Yards per target is what a team got back every time it threw at a player, whether or not he caught it. Because the denominator is targets rather than catches, drops and contested misses count against him, which is exactly what you want when judging efficiency.
| Rank | Player | Pos | Team | Yards Per Target | Targets | Receptions | Rec Yards | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dalton Kincaid | TE | BUF | 11.65 | 49 | 39 | 571 | 12 |
| 2 | Tucker Kraft | TE | GB | 11.11 | 44 | 32 | 489 | 8 |
| 3 | Sam LaPorta | TE | DET | 9.98 | 49 | 40 | 489 | 9 |
| 4 | Oronde Gadsden II | TE | LAC | 9.62 | 69 | 49 | 664 | 15 |
| 5 | George Kittle | TE | SF | 9.10 | 69 | 57 | 628 | 11 |
| 6 | Brenton Strange | TE | JAX | 9.00 | 60 | 46 | 540 | 12 |
| 7 | Pat Freiermuth | TE | PIT | 9.00 | 54 | 41 | 486 | 15 |
| 8 | Hunter Henry | TE | NE | 8.83 | 87 | 60 | 768 | 17 |
| 9 | Juwan Johnson | TE | NO | 8.72 | 102 | 77 | 889 | 17 |
| 10 | Colston Loveland | TE | CHI | 8.70 | 82 | 58 | 713 | 16 |
| 11 | Dawson Knox | TE | BUF | 8.51 | 49 | 36 | 417 | 16 |
| 12 | Darnell Washington | TE | PIT | 8.47 | 43 | 31 | 364 | 13 |
| 13 | Brock Bowers | TE | LV | 7.91 | 86 | 64 | 680 | 12 |
| 14 | Travis Kelce | TE | KC | 7.88 | 108 | 76 | 851 | 17 |
| 15 | Kyle Pitts | TE | ATL | 7.86 | 118 | 88 | 928 | 17 |
| 16 | AJ Barner | TE | SEA | 7.63 | 68 | 52 | 519 | 17 |
| 17 | Dalton Schultz | TE | HOU | 7.33 | 106 | 82 | 777 | 17 |
| 18 | Trey McBride | TE | ARI | 7.33 | 169 | 126 | 1,239 | 17 |
| 19 | Mike Gesicki | TE | CIN | 7.31 | 42 | 28 | 307 | 12 |
| 20 | Colby Parkinson | TE | LA | 7.29 | 56 | 43 | 408 | 14 |
| 21 | Tyler Warren | TE | IND | 7.29 | 112 | 76 | 817 | 17 |
| 22 | Cole Kmet | TE | CHI | 7.23 | 48 | 30 | 347 | 16 |
| 23 | Dallas Goedert | TE | PHI | 7.21 | 82 | 60 | 591 | 15 |
| 24 | Theo Johnson | TE | NYG | 7.14 | 74 | 45 | 528 | 15 |
| 25 | Chig Okonkwo | TE | TEN | 7.09 | 79 | 56 | 560 | 17 |
| 26 | Cade Otton | TE | TB | 7.06 | 81 | 59 | 572 | 15 |
| 27 | Noah Fant | TE | CIN | 7.02 | 41 | 34 | 288 | 13 |
| 28 | Zach Ertz | TE | WAS | 7.00 | 72 | 50 | 504 | 13 |
| 29 | Harold Fannin Jr. | TE | CLE | 6.83 | 107 | 72 | 731 | 16 |
| 30 | T.J. Hockenson | TE | MIN | 6.64 | 66 | 51 | 438 | 15 |
| 31 | Michael Mayer | TE | LV | 6.56 | 50 | 35 | 328 | 13 |
| 32 | Gunnar Helm | TE | TEN | 6.49 | 55 | 44 | 357 | 16 |
| 33 | Jake Tonges | TE | SF | 6.37 | 46 | 34 | 293 | 10 |
| 34 | David Njoku | TE | CLE | 6.10 | 48 | 33 | 293 | 11 |
| 35 | Evan Engram | TE | DEN | 6.07 | 76 | 50 | 461 | 16 |
| 36 | Mark Andrews | TE | BAL | 6.03 | 70 | 48 | 422 | 17 |
| 37 | Jake Ferguson | TE | DAL | 5.88 | 102 | 82 | 600 | 17 |
| 38 | Mason Taylor | TE | NYJ | 5.68 | 65 | 44 | 369 | 13 |
| 39 | Jonnu Smith | TE | PIT | 4.11 | 54 | 38 | 222 | 17 |
Yards Per Target leaders, all positions
Yards Per Target by position: wide receivers · running backs
More 2025 leaderboards: Receiving EPA leaders · Rushing EPA leaders · Receiving Yards leaders · Rushing Yards leaders · all NFL stats
Dalton Kincaid (TE, BUF) led tight ends in yards per target in 2025 at 11.65. Tucker Kraft (TE, GB) was next at 11.11.
Yards per target is what a team got back every time it threw at a player, whether or not he caught it. Because the denominator is targets rather than catches, drops and contested misses count against him, which is exactly what you want when judging efficiency.
39 players with 40+ targets qualified for the 2025 yards per target leaderboard among tight ends. The table above lists the top 39.
Stats as of July 28, 2026. Data from nflverse (nflverse-data), licensed CC BY 4.0. Source: nflverse-data. License: CC-BY-4.0.