• Foyesade Oluokun should return to LB1 territory in 2025: After being misused last season, Oluokun’s streak of three-straight LB1 overall IDP seasons came to a screeching halt, but he’ll get a fresh start and new chance to deliver this year.
• Return of the king: Alex Singleton has been the king of tackle efficiency over the last several seasons and coming off an ACL injury in 2024, he’ll look to reclaim his throne in 2025.
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Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Injuries and inefficiencies are the plagues of the fantasy football world, but for the fantasy managers who are willing to forgive and forget, several options are ready to make things right in 2025.

Listed below are five players who fantasy managers have depended on in the past but are coming off down years. Not included is maybe the most obvious option, Aidan Hutchinson, who does qualify, but with such a high ranking already, he’s a little too obvious to include. Instead, we focus on players who missed some time and/or also disappointed as fantasy assets when they were on the field in 2024.

Referenced scoring uses the settings below, with a link to all point leaders for 2022 through 2024 (minimum of 100 defensive snaps) here.

Chubb didn’t play at all in 2024 after tearing his ACL late in 2023, so there has been a long runway to heal up since the injury, putting him in as good of a spot as any player coming off injury to look better than most when returning to the field. Prior to his injury in 2023, Chubb was in the midst of a career year in terms of his PFF grades and IDP production, and that is the bar that we’re hoping he can bounce back closer to in 2025.

As a pass-rusher, Chubb ranked 93rd percentile in expected sacks, 13th in pass-rush grade and ultimately finished as a top-15 overall player at his position in PFF grade. Helping Chubb’s IDP production was that he was playing a workhorse role, averaging 81% of the team’s defensive snaps, which allowed him to rack up tackles at a very high rate, ranking 95th percentile in tackles versus expected. That translated to his IDP numbers, as he finished the year as the ED6 overall.