20 Players Experts Avoid (2025 Fantasy Football)

When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and others to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few notable fantasy football players below. And you can check out which experts are higher or lower than our expert consensus rankings using our Fantasy Football Rankings Comparison Tools. Here are players fantasy football experts avoid.

Fantasy Football Players Experts Avoid

Let’s dive into players fantasy football experts avoid.

Fantasy Football Players to Avoid

Players Pat Fitzmaurice Avoids

Expert Consensus’s Rank	Player	Pat Fitzmaurice’s Rank	Diff.
30	Tyreek Hill MIA – WR	44	14
42	Rashee Rice KC – WR	57	15
59	Chris Godwin TB – WR	77	18
61	Baker Mayfield TB – QB	85	24
67	T.J. Hockenson MIN – TE	84	17
79	Kyler Murray ARI – QB	95	16
84	Jared Goff DET – QB	117	33
87	Najee Harris LAC – RB	100	13

Players Derek Brown Avoids

Expert Consensus’s Rank	Player	Derek Brown’s Rank	Diff.
10	Nico Collins HOU – WR	28	18
26	Kyren Williams LAR – RB	50	24
27	Jaxon Smith-Njigba SEA – WR	45	18
30	Tyreek Hill MIA – WR	42	12
32	Breece Hall NYJ – RB	53	21
42	Rashee Rice KC – WR	74	32
46	Zay Flowers BAL – WR	58	12
53	Sam LaPorta DET – TE	66	13
54	David Montgomery DET – RB	67	13

Players Andrew Erickson Avoids

Expert Consensus’s Rank	Player	Andrew Erickson’s Rank	Diff.
30	Tyreek Hill MIA – WR	49	19.0
49	Courtland Sutton DEN – WR	63	14
51	DeVonta Smith PHI – WR	72	21
53	Sam LaPorta DET – TE	77	24
58	Chris Olave NO – WR	91	33
61	Baker Mayfield TB – QB	75	14
63	Jordan Addison MIN – WR	93	30

Fantasy Football Outlook

Kyren Williams (RB – LAR)

Last year, Williams pulled off his best yesteryear Rachaad White or Leonard Fournette impression. A volume gobbling inefficient back who turned in an RB1 season (RB10). Williams ranked first in snap share, second in opportunity share, and first in red zone touches. Williams had 350 touches and 1,481 total yards. With all that said, Williams was one of the most inefficient per touch backs in the NFL. Among 46 qualifying backs, he ranked 44th in explosive run rate, 37th in missed tackle rate, and 40th in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). Williams could retain his stranglehold on the volume again in a contract year, but it’s also possible that Blake Corum or Jarquez Hunter could eat into his workload. Williams is a top 15-20 running back who could easily be an RB1 again or see his stock come crashing down.
– Derek Brown

Jordan Addison (WR – MIN)

Jordan Addison finished 2024 as the WR20 overall (WR21 per game) with 875 yards and 9 TDs in 15 games, but much of his value was TD-driven. His target share never surpassed 20% even with T.J. Hockenson sidelined for the first half of the season, and he averaged under 9 points per game to start the year. With Justin Jefferson and Hockenson commanding targets – and first-time starting QB J.J. McCarthy now under center – Addison’s 2025 outlook carries more risk than upside. A potential 1-3 game suspension from a 2024 DUI incident adds further uncertainty.
– Andrew Erickson

Breece Hall (RB – NYJ)

Aaron Glenn has stated this offseason that the Jets could operate with more of a committee approach for the backfield for the 2025 season. That’s definitely a worry for Hall, but he remains the most talented back in that room. If this is an equal competition for work based on talent alone, Hall should still be the unquestioned lead back in New York. Last year, Hall was the RB17 in fantasy points per game, ranking eighth in snap share, 15th in opportunity share, and tenth in weighted opportunity. Hall produced adequately on a per-touch basis last year, ranking 15th in explosive run rate, 16th in yards after contact per attempt, fifth in receiving yards per game, and 16th in yards per route run (per Fantasy Points Data). Hall should be a solid RB2 this season, even if he is ceding a little more work to Braelon Allen or Isaiah Davis.
– Derek Brown

Devonta Smith (WR – PHI)

DeVonta Smith’s 2024 season was a tale of two roles – thriving when others were hurt, but fading when the offense was at full strength. He posted career lows in receptions, yards, and targets but salvaged value with a career-high 8 TDs, finishing as the WR30 overall and WR23 in points per game (13 games). However, in eight games with both A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert active, Smith averaged just 8.3 fantasy points (WR51). When one missed time, he jumped to 14.7 points per game (WR8).
– Andrew Erickson