Fantasy Football ‘25: 7 burning questions

Big unknowns that could make or break fantasy seasons

The 2025 NFL schedule was released last week, and while it was easy to get distracted with some of the schedule release videos and get caught up in the analysis of each team’s slate, it was also a reminder that the 2025 season will be here before you know it. For those who play fantasy football, the gears are starting to turn.

Drafts for most season-long fantasy football leagues are still about three months away, but plenty of other leagues are already holding drafts – for example, rookie and start-up drafts in dynasty leagues, and best ball drafts. If you’re drafting now, plenty of speculation is necessary in a lot of cases, with training camps not yet underway and opening week still so distant. Free agency, trades and the draft did a lot to solidify NFL depth charts, but big questions remain.

Today I’m presenting seven burning fantasy questions about the upcoming season. Some of these will be answered before the season starts, while others will linger right through fantasy draft season for redraft leagues. All of them are going to matter in terms of fantasy fortunes.

All fantasy point totals and rankings given are for Half PPR scoring, and are on a points per game basis unless otherwise specified. Here we go!

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1. Will the Lions’ offense continue to steamroll without OC Ben Johnson?

Detroit has restored the roar, and the team has been an offensive juggernaut the last two seasons. In 2024 the Lions led the NFL in scoring at 33.2 points per game, and they and the league-leading Ravens were the only teams to average more than 400 yards of offense per game. This wasn’t a fluke; in 2023 Detroit was fifth in points and third in yards per game. This is an explosive unit that’s stocked with playmakers at multiple positions, working behind a great offensive line. Detroit’s defense was extremely banged up last season, and if it can stay healthy the team might find itself in fewer shootouts. Ben Johnson has been given a lot of credit for this unit, and we’ll see if it can stay as potent under new coordinator John Morton, who returns to the Lions’ coaching staff after two years in Denver. Between the coordinator change and an expectation of a more reliable defense, I’m not quite as high as I was last season on the Lions’ key pieces for fantasy, but I’m hardly fading them.

2. QB Questions: Who is going to be the main quarterback for the Browns, Steelers, and Saints, and will any of those teams get anything close to competent QB play?

I’m asking that on behalf of their skill position players, and the brave souls who’ll be drafting them. There are 32 teams in the NFL, and 29 of them appear to have a pretty clear picture at quarterback. Sure, Cam Ward still has to “officially” beat out Will Levis (trust me, he will), and if the Giants get off to an awful start, we might see rookie Jaxson Dart a little sooner than expected. Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones could both end up seeing plenty of starts for the Colts. But while those three situations might not be ideal for drafting the QBs on those teams, valuing the receivers and tight ends feels manageable.

The Browns, Saints, and Steelers are another story. Cleveland and New Orleans have unclear (and crowded) quarterback situations at the moment, and the Steelers are still stuck in the Aaron Rodgers waiting game. Where (or maybe, just “if”) Rodgers will sign could have been one of my burning questions, but frankly I’m too sick of his annual drama to go there. Crap or get off the pot already. The things some guys will do to avoid workouts…

For those drafting right now, it’s a little hard to figure out the appropriate draft capital to use on D.K. Metcalf, Pat Freiermuth, Jerry Jeudy, David Njoku, Chris Olave, and Rashid Shaheed, among others. Those last two are especially tough because it’s unclear if any of the three young QBs on the Saints roster can be even marginally competent this season, plus both are coming off of injuries and Olave has major concussion concerns. For the Browns’ pass-catchers, more Joe Flacco could mean more of the bounty we saw in 2023, but two rookies and Kenny Pickett are also in the picture, so fantasy managers could be in for a lot of the heartache of 2024, when Cleveland’s offense was the worst in the NFL for much of the season. As for the Steelers, can D.K. Metcalf be a WR2 with upside with Mason Rudolph (or, gulp, Will Howard or Skylar Thomspon) under center? I have my doubts.

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3. Where will Nick Chubb sign?

I don’t think Chubb will ever again be a major fantasy factor, but he still has the potential to earn early-down and/or goal-line work and is likely to harm the value of other backs if he lands on a team and sticks. If he signs with, say, Chicago, then D’Andre Swift will no longer be the big winner that he was coming out of the 2025 NFL draft. J.K. Dobbins could also sign with a new team. There are a few other RBs still looking for work but these are the two that could throw the most cold water on whatever situation they land in.

4. Will any Packers receivers be reliable weekly starts? Last season, the answer was no, and I can probably just run back what I wrote about this flat wide receiver group last summer. Jordan Love finished as the QB13 last season, but at the same time the Packers didn’t have a Top-35 WR on the season, even with Jayden Reed leading all wide receivers with 31 points in Week 1. They’ve added speedster Matthew Golden from Texas (their first Round 1 WR in more than 20 years), and Christian Watson might not return until mid-season. They’ve still got a glut of decent options at the position, with no clear WR1, plus they’ve got two tight ends who factor in. While we’re here, a few other WR groups that currently are hard to handicap (and to value for fantasy) are Buffalo (again), Chicago, San Francisco, and Houston beyond WR1 Nico Collins.

5. Is Christian McCaffrey going to return to elite running back status? Perhaps no player has a wider range of outcomes in 2025 than CMC, and his last two seasons prove it. CMC was the No. 1 non-QB in all of fantasy in 2023, with a whopping 358 fantasy points (and he was the No. 3 scorer overall), but then last season he appeared in just four games and scored a grand total of 40 fantasy points. Nobody destroyed more fantasy seasons last year, as the draft cost was so high. We should learn more about his health as the summer progresses, but he’s going to be a big risk-reward player no matter where his average draft position (ADP) settles. If you do draft him, handcuffing is a must.

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6. Can J.J. McCarthy pick up were Sam Darnold left off? For the second straight year, fantasy players are wondering if the Vikings’ new QB can support the team’s elite pass-catching talent (Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson). Those who took the risk last year were rewarded (and then some), as Darnold blossomed and threw for 4,319 yards and 35 TDs, which obliterated his previous season highs. Jefferson and Addison were slightly discounted in drafts and finished as the WR2 and WR18, respectively. Darnold was an exceptional value, as he ended up as the QB8 on the season. Enter national champion quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who missed his entire rookie year after suffering a season-ending knee injury during the preseason. On the plus side, McCarthy has terrific pass catchers to throw to, a solid O-line and running back rotation, and offensive guru Kevin O’Connell running things and teaching him. On the minus side, McCarthy has no NFL regular season game experience and while he technically isn’t a rookie, he effectively is, and first-year QBs are at best a mixed bag for fantasy.

7. Will any big trades go down? I’m not talking about Jaire Alexander or Jalen Ramsey switching teams. Yes, those trades could matter for fantasy to the extent that they strengthen or weaken a couple of defenses. I’m talking about trades that could have a major impact on fantasy values. If Breece Hall or Tyreek Hill gets moved, there would be a fantasy impact on both the team losing the player and the team getting the player. I don’t expect either of these players to be traded, but there have been rumors around both. Mark Andrews is another impactful player who could be moved, but again, it’s unlikely.

Got a burning question? Leave it in the comments. And keep it here for more offseason fantasy content!