The Cardinals’ third-year tight end, Trey McBride, made the jump in 2024 and is entering 2025 as the second-highest paid at the position, only behind George Kittle. The 25-year-old had the second-most yards and catches for a tight end last season, only behind rookie Brock Bowers. However, coming off a stellar season, there could be a higher ceiling incoming for McBride, as he could cement himself as the top dog based on a few factors. The main one is simply touchdowns.
Trey McBride 2024 Stats and Fantasy Production
Two, that’s the number of receiving touchdowns McBride had in 2024, with one rushing mid-season, while the receiving came in the last two weeks of the regular season (which sucked for fantasy). The Cards’ tight end was their main pass-catcher, as rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. was inconsistent weekly.
Despite the pairing with Kyler Murray, the duo had their ups and downs, and while that is still a factor, he is still slated to be the top guy in Arizona. McBride had 111 catches, which ranked 4th among all pass-catchers, and 1,146 receiving yards, ranked 11th among all pass-catchers.
He finished second at the position in 2024, behind just Bowers, according to Fantasy Pros. McBride had nine top-five finishes, catching at least four passes in every single game, and with eight double-digit catch games.
Trey McBride 2025 Fantasy Outlook
The Cardinals’ tight end was a consistent force for Arizona and fantasy football week to week. The former second-round pick brought stability as a PPR machine. However, for standard or half-PPR, he wasn’t the best option every week despite being a top fantasy tight end.
The format of your fantasy league will determine if he’s worth the ADP as the first or second tight end gone, with three of his single-digit weeks in PPR going up to 12 for standard and half. Although K1 made me frustrated at times as a Kyler and McBride owner in most of my leagues last year, there is one thing that benefits him more than Bowers on paper.
Final Thoughts
That is the strength of schedule, as he is ranked top among all tight ends. That could be a minor factor, but for someone who will need touchdowns to go his way in 2025, I think that is just a bonus on top of what you get as a reliable target option over the middle for Murray.
McBride was also relatively healthy, missing just a game last year, and career-wise, has been. The target options around him also stayed the same, along with the quarterback.
I am more optimistic about McBride, who stays in Arizona with the same offensive coordinator compared to Bowers in Vegas, a team that has a new play-caller, head coach, and quarterback. Even at ADP, most likely a second or third round pick, it will be worth it, despite passing up an elite receiver, running back, or quarterback.
Many fantasy players will wait on positions like quarterback or tight end, but depending on where you pick in redraft formats for PPR, having that insurance of double-digit fantasy points is nice to have.
That embodies McBride in PPR redraft fantasy football leagues as essentially a glorified top ten receiver but just at a different position. 2025 should be the year the touchdowns positively regress toward his favor with other players on teams with moving parts, compared to in Arizona with the Cardinals.
