Bounce-back players are frequently values in fantasy football drafts. Many gamers can be bitter about players who burned them and misguidedly place them in “never-again” draft lists. Players have off years, and identifying those who will play much better the following year can yield profitable returns. A young quarterback, running back with a new coaching staff and tight end entering his third professional campaign are intriguing bounce-back candidates at the right average draft position (ADP).
Bounce-Back Players for 2025 Fantasy Football
Jordan Love (QB – GB)
Jordan Love looked like an ascending quarterback after the 2023 campaign. He also had a young pass-catching corps. However, the Packers didn’t have a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver, making their rock-solid collection of secondary and tertiary receivers and young tight ends less impactful.
Love wasn’t dreadful from a reality standpoint, but he was QB16 in fantasy points per game (16.3) among signal-callers with more than one start in 2024. Love was Pro Football Focus’s (PFF’s) 18th-ranked passer among 39 quarterbacks with at least 225 dropbacks in 2024. It was an adequate season, but Love also suffered from drops. Per PFF, Love had the fifth-most drops (26) and the sixth-highest drop rate (8.3%) among quarterbacks with at least 225 dropbacks. Even if the Packers run it back with the same skill-position players, Love’s fantasy value could benefit from better luck on drops.
However, Green Bay could be a candidate to make a substantial upgrade at wide receiver through free agency, the NFL Draft or a trade, and Christian Watson‘s torn ACL at the end of the season could enhance their likelihood to make a move. According to Over the Cap, the Packers will have the 15th-most effective cap space ($37.2 million) in the offseason. Perhaps they could be in the market for Chris Godwin, but he excelled in the slot, and Jayden Reed is best suited for the slot.
The rest of the free-agent pool isn’t overly exciting. Yet, imagine the Bengals can’t reach a long-term agreement with Tee Higgins. The Packers would be an interesting partner for the Bengals to make a tag-and-trade deal with since Green Bay could offer a draft pick or draft picks and one of their young wideouts in return for Higgins, and Green Bay has the cap space to work out a long-term contract with Higgins. And, of course, other wideouts could posture for a trade from their current team, or the Packers could make a splash in the first round and select a wide receiver to headline their receiving corps.
Finally, even if the Packers don’t add a needle-mover to their receiving room, it’s a young group with growth potential. Love is an ideal target as a QB2 to pair with a low-end QB1 to play matchups with and see if either option separates as a reliable weekly starter.
Rhamondre Stevenson (RB – NE)
Volume is the king at running back, and volume is more fantasy-friendly in competent or semi-competent offenses. Rhamondre Stevenson was attached to a pitiful offense in 2024. First, the Patriots opened the year with Jacoby Brissett as their starting quarterback. Second, the offensive line was dreadful. PFF ranked the Patriots 32nd in run blocking and 31st in pass blocking in the regular season.
Third, New England’s pass-catching corps was bereft of talent. Fourth, Jerod Mayo was an incompetent head coach and was fired. Frankly, the supporting cast wasn’t conducive to a fantasy-friendly season for a running back.
Stevenson’s stats were underwhelming. However, as Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs demonstrated in better offenses in 2024 than in 2023, a better ecosystem can significantly enhance a running back’s value.
Mike Vrabel isn’t a perfect head coach. Nevertheless, he won games with the Titans and leaned on his running game and defense. Vrabel is also unquestionably an upgrade from Mayo. Stevenson isn’t going anywhere in the offseason, either. He signed a four-year contract extension before the 2024 season, and Stevenson would cost the Patriots more against the salary cap if they cut him in the offseason, per Over The Cap.
Speaking of money, the Patriots are projected by Over The Cap to have $112.2 million in effective cap space, nearly $27 million more than the next-closest total. They can improve their offensive line and skill-position players through free agency and the NFL Draft, and Drake Maye had an encouraging rookie season. Stevenson has showcased the ability to handle a hefty workload, and improvements by Maye and New England’s roster would do wonder for Stevenson’s fantasy value. Stevenson was the RB28 in half-point per reception (half PPR) points per game (10.6) in 2024, but he’s an enticing bounce-back selection as a potential middle-tier RB2.
Sam LaPorta (TE – DET)
Sam LaPorta took the NFL by storm as a rookie, finishing as the TE1 in total half PPR points (196.3) and tied for the TE1 in half PPR points per game (11.5) in 2023. In 2024, LaPorta dipped to the TE7 in total half PPR points (144.6) and the TE9 in half PPR points per game (nine).
Obviously, LaPorta wasn’t terrible in his second professional season. Still, he didn’t meet his average draft position (ADP) expectations. LaPorta had a slow start to the season. Before Detroit’s Week 5 bye, LaPorta had only 6.5, 2.3, 4.6 and 7.3 half PPR points. He was much better the rest of the year.
According to Draft Sharks, LaPorta had a minor thigh/hamstring strain in August. Maybe the injury impacted his performance early in the season. It’s also possible Ben Johnson couldn’t quite figure out how to best utilize LaPorta while feeding Amon-Ra St. Brown, the running backs and 2024 breakout Jameson Williams.
Whatever the reason for LaPorta’s slow start, he turned it on after Detroit’s bye. According to the data suite at Fantasy Points, LaPorta had the following stats in his final 13 games, including the Divisional Round contest.
- 73.2% route participation rate
- 8.1-yard average depth of target (aDOT)
- 20.4% air yards share
- 16.8% target share
- 0.21 targets per route run
- 17.0% first-read percentage
- 54 receptions (4.2 per game)
- 630 receiving yards (48.5 per game)
- 1.83 yards per route run
- nine end zone targets
- eight touchdown receptions
- 10.6 half PPR points per game and 10.6 expected half PPR points per game
David Njoku was the TE5 with 10.6 half PPR points per game in 2024. LaPorta is unlikely to finish as the TE1 in 2025 after Brock Bowers kicked the NFL’s door down, but a top-three finish is within reach.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.