Darren Waller 2025 Fantasy Football ranking, outlook, points projections, and forecast: Is Dolphins TE a good pick?

Prior to the start of last season, Darren Waller called it a career from the NFL and retired from the league. After sitting out the entire 2024 campaign, many were surprised to hear that Waller was planning on coming out of retirement and returning this season.

Although he was signed to the New York Giants at the time of his announcement, Waller was later traded to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a late round draft pick.

Waller was one of the top tight ends in the NFL prior to retiring, yet fantasy football managers may still be hesitant to select a player who has not played professional football in over a year.

The best stretch of Waller's career came when he was representing the Las Vegas Raiders organization, as he had PPR fantasy football finishes of the TE3 (2019) and the TE2 (2020) position. However, since that season, Waller has struggled to remain fully healthy and has missed portions of time in each campaign.

Darren Waller 2025 fantasy football outlook after return from retirement

As alluded to, Waller was one of the top tight ends in football prior to his retirement. However, in 2025, a lengthy injury past and his lack of time on the football field makes Waller a very risky and uncertain pick in fantasy football this year.

Fantasy Pros is projecting Waller as the TE35 and the No. 285 overall player available in PPR fantasy football this year. This ranking would likely mean that Waller will go undrafted in your fantasy football league draft this summer.

Yahoo Sports is projecting Waller's 2025 stat line to be approximately 46 receptions for 500 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. For fantasy football, their projection has Waller finishing the campaign with approximately 114 PPR points, averaging about 6.7 points per game for your team.

If he has a fully healthy season and looks like his past self, Waller could profile as a high-end TE2 as the campaign progresses. However, at the current time, Waller is likely best left on the waiver wire, profiling as a TE4, until more role clarity comes.