Fantasy Football's Biggest Winners and Losers from 2025 NFL Draft

The 2025 NFL Draft is in the books—and it was a wild one.

The first few picks went pretty much according to script. But it didn’t take long for things to get wacky. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who was widely regarded as a first-round prospect, free-fell all the way to Round 5—two rounds after 5’11”, left-handed Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

That the Browns drafted both is maximum Cleveland.

Now that the draft is over, the fantasy football offseason will shift into another gear. In dynasty formats, rookie drafts will be firing up in earnest. Even in redraft leagues, Now that we know who landed where we’ll start to get a much better feel for how players stack up against one another in 2025.

I hear Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is still good.

As is the case every year, the draft has a major impact on the fantasy value of rookies and veterans alike. First-year players wind up in dream landing spots. Veterans who were expected to have a larger role in the season to come get kneecapped by highly-drafted rookies.

2025 was no different—there’s plenty to sift through regarding whose value went up the ladder and whose fell down the chute.

So, let’s break out the game board and see what’s what—with the biggest fantasy winners and losers from this year’s draft.

Two years ago, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud passed for over 4,100 yards and was a top-12 fantasy option in terms of fantasy points per game. There was considerable enthusiasm surrounding Stroud entering last year, but due in part to injuries at wide receiver, Stroud’s numbers took a dip in his sophomore season.

With Stefon Diggs gone and Tank Dell’s status for 2025 very much in jeopardy, the Texans needed to bolster the WR corps. Houston didn’t wait long to do so, making Iowa State’s Jayden Higgins the first wideout drafted on Day 2.

As Brentley Weissman wrote for Pro Football and Sports Network, Higgins’ arrival should portend a statistical rebound for Stroud in 2025.

“This is a great pick for C.J. Stroud and fantasy managers who have him on their teams,” he said. “Stroud is coming off another productive season both in real life and fantasy, but his sophomore year didn’t quite match his prolific rookie campaign. The dip was mainly because of injuries, especially to his receivers. Now, with Higgins in the fold, his receiver group just got that much deeper. If injuries hit again, the Texans are better prepared to weather the storm. Look for Stroud to bounce back from his “sophomore slump” and reestablish himself as a premier QB1 in fantasy football.”

The Texans actually doubled down on wideouts on Day 2, selecting Higgins’ Cyclones teammate Jaylin Noel in Round 3.

If Houston’s re-vamped offensive line can keep Stroud upright, his improved passing-game weapons should vault him into the top-10 fantasy quarterbacks in 2025.

The long slide by Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the 2025 draft was the weekend’s dominant storyline. It overshadowed everything else that happened at the position—including New York’s move back into Round 1 to make Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss the second signal-caller taken this year.

While addressing the media, Giants general manager Joe Schoen said that the Giants are confident they got their quarterback of the future in the 6’2” 223-pounder.

"Yeah, again, we went through an extensive process and moved up for Jaxson. We're fired up to have him," Schoen said. "At the end of the day, we went through the process, we rank them, this is how we had them ranked and with Jaxson we thought the value matched up."

You can’t fault the Giants for taking a quarterback relatively early—Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston are both in the Big Apple, but neither is a long-term answer at the game’s most important position.

But if fantasy managers were hoping that quarterbacks like Dart or Alabama’s Jalen Milroe (who is now buried on the depth chart in Seattle) were going to see the field sooner or later, they can stop now.

They won’t.

Dart was admittedly regarded by many draftniks as a player who needed some time to develop in the pros. But now he may not see the field at all as a rookie. The team’s passing-game talent and offensive line remain massive question marks.

And if Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll are let go after a bad 2025 season, Dart could find himself playing for a new regime that didn’t draft him.

It was no secret that the Cleveland Browns needed help in the backfield. After a dismal 2024 campaign, the Browns elected not to bring back Nick Chubb. Jerome Ford is an OK passing-down back, but little more.

The Browns addressed the running back position early on Day 2, taking Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins with the 36th overall pick. It was a selection that met with the approval of Matt Brandon and Shawn Childs of Sports Illustrated.

“Last year, the Browns’ running backs ranked last in rushing attempts (312) and 31st in rushing yards (1,253) with only seven scores on the ground. They averaged only 4.0 yards per carry, with 63 catches for 429 yards and one touchdown on 87 targets,” they said. “Judkins can excel on third downs due to his ability to pick up blitzes, and he can catch passes, providing clear value in PPR formats. Additionally, he has the potential to thrive in short yardage and goal-line situations. Judkins should emerge as a workhorse in Cleveland and should be viewed as one of the top rookie running backs in 2025 fantasy football leagues.”

The Browns became the first team in 12 years to draft two backs in the first four rounds when they selected Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson on Saturday, but Cleveland needed depth in the backfield as badly as they needed talent.

Judkins is a do-it-all back with a three-down skill-set who showed at Ole Miss that he can handle a featured back’s workload.

He’s not going to outscore Jeanty, but Judkins is this writer’s pick to finish second in PPR points among rookie running backs this year.

Los Angeles Chargers running back Najee Harris isn’t a player that elicits a ton of excitement from fantasy managers. The former first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers has averaged less than four yards per carry for his career. But Harris has been durable, he topped 1,000 rushing yards all four years in Pittsburgh, he finished just outside the top-20 running backs in PPR points last year and Harris appeared to have landed in a favorable fantasy spot when he signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in free agency.

At least, it seemed like a favorable spot until the Chargers used a first-round pick on North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton. Now, as Jamey Eisenberg wrote at CBS Sports, in the short-term we’re likely looking at a committee, and in the long term Harris is all but certainly one and done with the Bolts.

“Hampton can play on all three downs, and he averaged 5.9 yards per carry,” Eisenberg said. “We know the Chargers want to run the ball under coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman, and they should maximize Hampton's skillset. It's just a matter of how much Harris and Hampton will hurt each other this season. I'm planning to draft Hampton first in the Round 5 range, with Harris a Round 6 pick at best. I'm going to lean toward the younger talent in Hampton, who is tied to the team for at least the next four years. The Chargers could opt to run Harris into the ground, but he's 27 and not nearly as explosive as Hampton.”

The fantasy gods giveth, and the fantasy gods taketh away.

Unless he was hit by a bus on the stage at Lambeau Field, Ashton Jeanty was going to be a fantasy “winner” this year. He’s a generational talent—the highest-drafted running back since Saquon Barkley after nearly breaking Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record a year ago.

He’s all but certainly going to be great—a legit Round 1 fantasy pick.

But we knew that was going to happen regardless of who drafted him. There were other backs who were more landing-spot dependent.

And in that regard, Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson hit the jackpot.

With Najee Harris gone, the Pittsburgh Steelers needed an early-down back to pair with Jaylen Warren. And as Dale Lolley wrote for the Steelers website. Johnson should be an excellent fit in that role.

“Johnson, 21, is a bruising one-cut runner who should fit perfectly as a zone-scheme runner in offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's offense,” he said. “He accounted for 66 missed tackles in 2024, sixth-most in college football. Of his rushing attempts last season, 191 were zone runs according to Pro Football Focus, while over 1,000 of his yards came after first contact. Johnson faced stacked boxes on over 50 percent of his career runs, with 8 or more defenders in the box (50.4 percent), while no other RB from this year's class (min. 250 career runs) was over 39 percent. Johnson had at least one touchdown in all 12 Iowa games in 2024. He also did not have a single fumble.”

Heck, he’s even used to wearing black and gold.

It’s been a good weekend for Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who you can also add to the fantasy “winners” list from this year’s NFL draft. First the Bears made Michigan’s Colston Loveland the first tight end taken. Then the team circled back for another passing-game weapon on Day 2 in Missouri wideout Luther Burden III.

Burden’s numbers fell considerably last year relative to his stellar 2023 campaign. But he was still regarded by many as one of the most explosive playmakers in this year’s class. Josh Fahlsing of Footballguys actually had Burden as the No. 1 rookie receiver, but he acknowledged that landing in Chicago didn’t do his 2025 prospects any favors.

“I am ecstatic that my rookie receiver number one got high second-round draft capital,” he wrote. “I am devastated that my rookie receiver number one will now compete for targets with DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Colston Loveland, and Cole Kmet. It's the Duality of Man. It's roulette on a spreadsheet. Isn't fantasy football fun? From a redraft perspective, well, there isn't much to like. Burden will go right into the mix at wide receiver, but, barring injury ahead of him, he's a long shot to get much beyond Chicago's wide receiver three as a rookie.”

Burden was widely regarded as a player who needs some refinement, and a year as a complimentary option could give him time to do that. But unless the Bears find a trade partner for DJ Moore next year, his contract makes releasing the veteran cost-prohibitive.

And with all the pass-catchers ostensibly ahead of Burden in the pecking order in the Windy City, consistent targets are going to be hard to come by.

Two-way phenom Travis Hunter was (not surprisingly) the first pass-catcher drafted in 2025. But the first “pure” wide receiver went eighth overall, when the Carolina Panthers drafted Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan.

Nick Baumgardner of the Athletic saw a lot to like with the selection.

“A long and flexible WR with a giant catch radius and elite ball skills, McMillan’s college tape is filled with acrobatic catches that were also turned into big plays after the catch – as his vision and feel in traffic is outstanding for a man his size,” he said. “There are speed concerns here and it remains to be seen how effective he’ll be against press coverage (he has to get stronger). McMillan will have to show more of what we saw in 2023 as he had moments where he looked either hurt, disinterested or a bit of both in 2024. He’s another version of Drake London.”

As Baumgardner said, McMillan isn’t a flawless prospect. But he was widely regarded as the No. 1 wideout (non-Travis Hunter division) in the class. His size, hands and feel for finding holes in coverage are all excellent.

Before the draft, the Panthers’ top-two wide receivers were a guy with an AARP membership in veteran Adam Thielen and an inconsistent youngster in Xavier Legette. If McMillan is a quick study, there’s a pretty clear path there to becoming Carolina’s No. 1 wide receiver.

And potentially the highest-scoring rookie wideout in the class—including Hunter.

With Chris Godwin sidelined by injury last year, Jalen McMillan had a late-season coming-out party for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—eight touchdowns and top-12 PPR numbers in the fantasy playoffs.

That late explosion had teammate Sterling Shepard excited for what McMillan might accomplish in 2025.

“He scored eight touchdowns (in 2024), easiest touchdowns I’ve ever seen in my life,” Shepard told reporters. “I had to let him know ‘Listen man, don’t get too comfortable with this one right here. It’s tougher than what it maybe looked like last season.’ I’m super proud of him and the way he progressed throughout last season. They ain’t going to be walk ins. But he’s a great player, I’m excited to see him this second season and what he’s going to be able to accomplish.”

Um, yeah. About that.

The McMillan fantasy hype train went careening into a ditch on Thursday night when the Buccaneers selected Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka 19th overall. Egbuka was the safest, most NFL-ready wide receiver in the class—and a player general manager Jason Licht expects to make a significant impact in both the future and the present.

"We felt this was a pick for the future but also for the present," Licht told reporters. "You saw what happened last year. We had some injuries, and the coaches did a great job with what we had, but [now we're] adding another great receiver. Todd (Bowles) has said all along, I think he told you guys back in March that a good offense can help a defense. It's about scoring points.”

If Chris Godwin is 100 percent to start the season, this landing spot really doesn’t do Ebuka’s redraft value any favors.

But McMillan’s fantasy value is gone. Decimated. Toast.

The New York Jets hope to have solved their issues at quarterback (in the short-term at least) with the acquisition of Justin Fields. But for Fields to have success in 2025, the Jets needed to add passing-game weapons. Outside Garrett Wilson, Gang Green’s aerial attack looked pretty gangrenous.

The Jets looked to tight end on Day 2, taking Mason Taylor of LSU, who is the son of Hall of Fame edge-rusher Jason An athletic field-stretcher, Andy Vasquez of NJ.com expects Taylor to make an immediate impact in the pros.

“The sure-handed, big target is set to immediately become one of the most important weapons for the Jets’ new look offense the moment he takes the field,” he said. “And that will almost certainly be in September, because Taylor joins a tight end room without a proven starter. Taylor can help the Jets in the red zone and short-yardage situations with his 6-5, 246-pound frame. He’s quick enough to pick up yards after the catch and he has proven he can catch the ball in traffic. And at only 20 years old (his birthday is next month) there’s an argument that no other tight end in the draft has the upside that Taylor does.”

In each of the past two seasons, a rookie has led all tight ends in PPR points—Sam LaPorta of the Lions in 2023 and Brock Bowers of the Raiders last year.

A third straight first-year king at the position is unlikely. But after the draft, Taylor’s the best bet to lead all rookie tight ends in fantasy points.

It was a two-horse race to be the first tight end drafted in 2025 between Michigan’s Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren of Penn State. Loveland won that race, but it was Warren who was the far more productive player statistically in 2024.

As Justin Carter wrote for Rotoballer though, repeating that statistical success in Indianapolis could be exceedingly difficult.

“The Colts desperately needed a tight end, but Tyler Warren's fantasy value didn't need Indianapolis,” he said. “Why the Colts needed a tight end should be exceptionally clear when you look at last year's stats. Their best tight end was Kylen Granson, who caught 14 passes for 182 yards. Their second-best one was Mo Alie-Cox, who had 12 catches for 147 yards and a touchdown. Tight end is a huge weakness for this team. Now, it's much less of a weakness. The flip side of this, though, is that Warren joins a team that showed a severe reluctance to involve the tight ends last season. Yes, part of that was a lack of talent at the position, but that can't explain it all, right? What I mean is that Warren isn't going to suddenly completely shift the way Shane Steichen calls games. He'll create more opportunities for himself, but it's just hard to see the targets being there for Warren to be a huge fantasy value as a rookie.”

The interior of the offensive line in Indy is—let’s go with unsettled. The quarterback situation is a mess. All the talent in the world doesn’t help if he doesn’t get the ball—or the quarterback(s) just can’t get it to him consistently.

Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @IDPGodfather.