The NFL’s 2025 rookie class may not have the star power of the 2024 group, but it’s still crucial to know the names that matter for fantasy football rankings.
Sometimes, one bad bite can ruin a whole meal.
The food can be incredible, but if one thing tastes off, that is the part of the meal that most people remember.
As we head into the 2025 NFL season, that seems to be the way most people view rookies in fantasy football. The 2024 draft had a historically good offensive class, with the first 14 picks all being on that side of the ball.
For fantasy football purposes, Marvin Harrison Jr. was the face of the class. The Arizona Cardinals wide receiver got pushed up on draft boards and ended up as an early second-round pick.
Then Harrison’s floor turned out to be lower than anyone thought and he only surpassed 65 receiving yards in three of his 17 games. He didn’t come close to returning value on his high draft slot in fantasy.
But with all the attention on Harrison not matching expectations, it’s easy to miss just how many rookies were league winners last year. Brian Thomas Jr. of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Malik Nabers of the New York Giants were top-six wide receivers. Bucky Irving of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rushed for over 1,100 yards after being an afterthought in most fantasy drafts.
Although this year’s rookie class isn’t as loaded with offensive talent, there are still some league-winning players hidden somewhere in it. So let’s break down the most important fantasy rookies in 2025.
RB Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders
Like last year, the 2025 draft class featured an electric skill-position player who fantasy managers have pushed up to an ADP early in the second round.
Will Ashton Jeanty follow in Harrison’s footsteps and disappoint or exceed value by instantly being one of the most valuable players in fantasy?
Fantasy football boils down to three things: talent of the player, opportunity for the player (factoring in both playing time and injury possibility), and the team context of the player. Players with no questions in any of the three categories are exceedingly rare and go in the top few picks of any fantasy draft.
For Jeanty, it’s hard to poke holes in the first two categories. We’ve already broken down how Jeanty is a generational prospect, and the Raiders clearly believe the same because they drafted him sixth overall, making him the highest-drafted running back since Saquon Barkley in 2018. New Raiders coach Pete Carroll has always cared about the running game, so Jeanty will be the bell cow in an offense that should run plenty.
The efficiency of the Raiders offense remains to be seen, though. They have a long way to climb after finishing with the sixth-fewest total yards and fewest rushing yards in the league last year.
With a new coach and quarterback upgrade, the offensive line is the big question. Alex Cappa was the biggest free agent brought in, with the Raiders hoping internal improvement from some of their young players like Jackson Powers-Johnson will be enough. If the line can maintain average play, Jeanty will likely return value even in the second round. But if it struggles, an underwhelming season could be in the cards.
Still, Jeanty’s talent gives him a high ceiling, and his opportunity should give him a high floor. He projects as a top-10 running back in all formats and can be taken in the second tier behind the obvious superstars who project to go early in the first round.
Robbie Dunne / Data JournalistRB Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers
Hampton flew a tad under the radar because of the Jeanty-hype train, but he’s an excellent prospect in his own right and should be in a decent position in Los Angeles.
The Chargers didn’t run as much or as well as many thought they would last year (12th in run percentage, 27th in run success percentage), but it’s clear coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman want to move the ball on the ground. They used a first-round pick on Hampton and signed Najee Harris to a one-year deal.
Harris still isn’t fully practicing due to an eye injury, which should give Hampton a better chance of securing the top spot in the backfield early in the season. But don’t assume the rookie will get huge volume if Harris is unable to start the season. Roman said there will be a rotation no matter what, which caps a bit of Hampton’s upside. Rashawn Slater’s season-ending injury is a big blow to the offensive line as well.
Still, Hampton is a talented back who figures to get the most carries for a team that wants to run the ball more in 2025. Our model projects him as the 16th-best running back in half-PPR, which is in line with his consensus ranking of RB15.
Robbie Dunne / Data JournalistRB Kaleb Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers
Kaleb Johnson is the biggest riser when comparing our model’s projections with ADP. He’s fifth in ADP among rookie running backs but is the third-best rookie according to the model and 24th overall in half-PPR scoring.
Johnson gets the nod over exciting rookies TreVeyon Henderson (New England Patriots) and RJ Harvey (Denver Broncos) per the model due to his projected rushing opportunities.
Jaylen Warren is a nice player, but he’s yet to exceed 150 carries in a season. Najee Harris got at least 250 carries in each of his four seasons in Pittsburgh, and he wasn’t the most explosive player.
Now, Johnson will get an opportunity to step into that role. Johnson is projected for the 19th-most carries in the league, and the second-most among rookies. Harvey is 29th among all players and Henderson is 33rd.
If those projections come to fruition, it gives Johnson an edge that will be tough for the other rookies to close the gap even if they perform better. Henderson is a particularly tantalizing high-ceiling play and Harvey could be good as well.
But if you need a higher floor from a rookie, Johnson is your guy.
Robbie Dunne / Data JournalistWR Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers
Bryce Young took a lot of positive steps in the second half of 2024, and the Panthers are hoping that getting him a go-to receiver will unlock the offense even more.
T-Mac is a big target for Young. In the preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, the Young-McMillan connection flashed potential but also looked like a work-in-progress. McMillan hauled in a beautiful deep ball from Young for a big reception before being unable to haul in a potential touchdown catch later in the drive.
The important thing is that Young continued to look sharp. If he is an NFL-caliber starting quarterback, McMillan will have a lot of value as a WR3 with upside. He won’t enter the league with as much buzz as the three-best wide receiver prospects in 2024, but he’s clearly going to get a substantial target share in an offense that could be on the upswing.
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Our model is generally pessimistic about rookie wide receivers, which makes some sense.
It’s easier to assume a role for rookie running backs taken high in the draft. Ashton Jeanty obviously projected to get the overwhelming number of touches for the Raiders. But targets have to be earned. And even though several rookie receivers have great upside cases, the model is below ADP on every one of the top 10 receivers taken in the 2025 draft.
Except one.
Matthew Golden is projected to be a value pick by our model, coming in as the WR34 while his ADP is WR43. The speedy first-rounder already appears to be getting opportunities in two-receiver formations, which is crucial for a Packers team that utilizes a lot of wideouts.
The Packers offense should get even better this year if Jordan Love stays healthy and they don’t have a player who dominates targets for Golden to overcome. It’s plausible that he will become the highest-scoring wide receiver in fantasy this season on a good offense. That possibility, coupled with a solid floor for a rookie, make him a value add in all formats.
TE Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts and TE Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
Our model projects both of these highly touted tight ends as TE2s despite both being drafted as late TE1s. But it still makes sense to get them around cost in a 10- or 12-team league because of their upside.
Of tight ends taken after the 10th round, Warren and Loveland are two of the only real breakout candidates. Warren has impressed in training camp and is clearly going to get a lot of looks in a Colts offense that might struggle. But if newly minted starter Daniel Jones can improve the offensive output at all (a big if), Warren could be in line for a productive season.
Loveland is on a Bears offense that should be better with Ben Johnson and a revamped offensive line, but the target competition in Chicago is fierce. DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and second-round receiver Luther Burden will all get touches along with Loveland’s fellow tight end Cole Kmet. And, of course, Caleb Williams’ first touchdown pass in the preseason went to Olamide Zaccheaus, who has had a great camp.
With all those options, there will be weeks when Loveland doesn’t get a lot of targets. But he could be a huge weapon in the red zone and gain more targets as the year progresses.
Neither player is likely to match the sensational production of last year’s top rookie tight end Brock Bowers, but pairing Loveland or Warren with a veteran dart throw like Dalton Kincaid (Buffalo Bills) or Dallas Goedert (Philadelphia Eagles) makes sense as a strategy for those who wait on tight end.
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