Fantasy Football ‘25: 10 takeaways from the NFL Draft

Quick takes for Fantasy from a chaotic Draft weekend

The 2025 NFL Draft is in the books. Unless you were hiding under a rock, you know that the biggest story of the weekend was Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders sliding all the way to the fifth round, where the Browns mercifully ended his free fall and made him their second quarterback selection of the weekend.

I don’t have too much to say on the Sanders situation, other than this: I don’t need to hear Mel Kiper, Jr.’s voice again anytime soon. Hopefully, he’s been given a few fresh bottles of oxygen and a horse tranquilizer, and is recovering comfortably at home.

I’ll do some in-depth fantasy football rookie analysis in future columns. For today, I’ve got ten quick fantasy takeaways from what went down over the weekend in Green Bay. These takes are mostly meant for season-long fantasy, but some are relevant for Dynasty leagues, which are now in rookie draft season.

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1. Let’s stay put, and start in Green Bay. For the second straight year, the Packers are going to have the hardest group of pass-catchers to evaluate for fantasy. They took a receiver in Round 1 for the first time in more than 20 years (Aaron Rodgers, eat your heart out), and speedster Matthew Golden from Texas joins a deep group that already includes wide receivers Jaden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks, Mecole Hardman, and Christian Watson (who suffered a torn ACL late in the 2024 season) plus tight ends Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave. Is there a WR1 here? Doubtful, and draft accordingly.

2. Green Bay has some competition though, including their long-time rivals the Bears, who bring back D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, and TE Cole Kmet, and add in two early draft picks in TE Colston Loveland and WR Luther Burden, III, whose draft comp for many analysts was…wait for it…D.J. Moore! All of this quality depth is great news for second-year quarterback Caleb Williams, but the biggest draft-weekend winner on the Bears may have been D’Andre Swift, as the club didn’t take a running back until Round 7. Ben Johnson’s group should be a lot more fun for fantasy in 2025, and while Chicago could still add a running back to the mix, Swift currently profiles as an RB2 with upside.

3. Staying on the same theme, the Texans have Nico Collins as their clear WR1, and then it’s anyone’s guess. There are at least half a dozen guys who could emerge as viable receiving weapons. Christian Kirk, Tank Dell (if he is able to play this year), rookies Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel (both from Iowa State), plus John Metchie III, Xavier Hutchinson and newcomers Braxton Berrios and Justin Watson are all in the mix. Looking for dart throws? Right now I’d put Higgins at the top of the list, but after Collins and maybe tight end Dalton Schultz (given the position he plays), it might be hard to count on anyone for consistent fantasy contributions.

4. Speaking of overflows at wide receiver, the Bucs are another team that used an early pick to add to an already strong group. First-round selection Emeka Egbuka is Ohio State’s all-time leading receiver and he joins a wide receiver corps that includes future hall-of famer Mike Evans, Chris Godwin (returning from an ankle injury), and Jalen McMillan, who came on late last season. They also have depth pieces Trey Palmer and Sterling Shepard. I like Egbuka long-term and especially with Evans and Godwin being older players, but I wouldn’t expect WR2 or even Flex numbers from him this season.

5. The Najee Harris hype didn’t last very long. The Chargers used the 22^nd overall pick on North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton, a bruising runner with plenty of speed who profiles as a three-down back. While that won’t happen immediately, and Harris will certainly get plenty of usage, Hampton is the Chargers back I want for this season. On the flip side, a couple of backs who should benefit from their teams not adding rookie backs to the mix until very late on Day 3 are Chase Brown (CIN) and Isiah Pacheco (KC).

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6. Ashton Jeanty was going to be a first- or second-round pick in fantasy for the 2025 season almost anywhere he could have realistically landed, but the Raiders are an especially attractive spot for him. Zamir White? Sincere McCormick? Dylan Laube? Raheem Mostert? Come on…Jeanty is going to be the main man in what should be a vastly improved offense with Geno Smith under center and Chip Kelly calling plays. Jeanty could end up with an Average Draft Position (ADP) around the 1-2 turn, or even solidly in Round 1.

7. I’m not even remotely interested in any of the rookie quarterbacks this year, in 1-QB leagues. Cam Ward is the only one with a fairly clear path to starting, and I’d only consider him towards the back end of the QB2 tier in a Superflex format. This class should not be confused with last year’s outlier class of productive rookie QBs.

8. This was a deep and talented running back class, and while we may not get another Bucky Irving-type breakout from a Day 3 pick, there are rookie RBs beyond Jeanty and Hampton who are going to be valuable fantasy assets this season. Each of these RBs will have a good chance to see meaningful snaps and opportunities (and as of now I like them in this order for this season): R.J. Harvey (DEN), Quinshon Judkins (CLE), TreVeyon Henderson (NE), Kaleb Johnson (PIT), and Cam Skattebo (NYG). Change-of pace speedster Jaydon Blue (DAL) is a player to watch as a sleeper.

9. The Browns’ quarterback room is a laugh riot right now (DeShaun Watson, who will probably miss this season as he recovers from his second achilles injury, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders), and unless Flacco is the starter for most of the season, I don’t think the situation bodes well for Jerry Jeudy, David Njoku, and Cedric Tillman, although they could be values if they fall far in drafts.

10. I’m not expecting all that much production from either No. 8 overall pick Tet McMillan (CAR) or second rounder Tre Harris (LAC) in year one. I like both long-term, though. In fact, I don’t love any of the rookie wide receivers for fantasy this season, unless Travis Hunter (JAC) is going to be playing WR almost full-time. Much like the quarterbacks, this year’s mediocre WR class should not be confused with last year’s stellar class.

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Before I go, here’s a bonus takeaway for today: I think TEs Mason Taylor (NYJ) and Elijah Arroyo (SEA) both have sleeper appeal this season, and will likely be essentially free in drafts. More on that in a future column.

That’s it for today. I need to go check in on Mel.