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11 Players Experts Love to Draft (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.

    fantasy football rankings expert consensus

    Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Players to Target

    Let’s dive into players our experts like more than the expert consensus rankings.

    Players to Target

    Drake Maye (QB – NE)

    Drake Maye might not have moved the needle for fantasy in his rookie season, but his performance over 12 starts was impressive considering how terrible his supporting cast was. From Week 6 of last season, when Maye made his first start, through Week 17, Maye averaged a respectable 16.8 fantasy points per game. The third overall pick in last year’s NFL Draft, Maye has immense potential as a passer, but it’s his rushing that should make him attractive to fantasy games. Maye had 421 rushing yards last season, and there’s potential for much more. As a sophomore at the University of North Carolina, Maye had 698 rushing yards in 14 games. Bear in mind that college quarterbacks’ sack yardage counts against their rushing yardage, and Maye lost about 200 yards from his rushing total that year. Maye should have it a little easier in the passing game this year, with New England beefing up its offensive line in the offseason and adding WRs Stefon Diggs and Kyle Williams. It’s possible we get a Drake Maye breakout in 2025.
    – Pat Fitzmaurice

    Trevor Lawrence (QB – JAC)

    Will 2025 bring the long-awaited Trevor Lawrence fantasy breakout? The No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Lawrence has never finished better than QB12 in fantasy points per game. He was limited to 10 games last year, missing time due to a concussion and an AC joint injury in his shoulder that required offseason surgery. There’s optimism that 2025 will be the best season of Lawrence’s career. New Jaguars head coach Liam Coen coaxed a career-best season out of Baker Mayfield last season in Tampa. And the Jaguars aggressively traded up to the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft to take two-way college star Travis Hunter, with the intention of primarily using Hunter as a wide receiver.
    – Pat Fitzmaurice

    Bucky Irving (RB – TB)

    Irving’s RB19 fantasy points per game finish last year doesn’t do him justice. Last year, after he wrestled the lead job away from Rachaad White, he was lights out as the RB6 in fantasy points per game, averaging 18.5 touches and 115.2 total yards. Overall, Irving was fantastic, ranking top-15 in explosive run rate (seventh), missed tackles forced per attempt (third), yards after contact per attempt (fourth), receiving yards per game (14th), and yards per route run (fifth, per Fantasy Points Data). After Week 9 last season, he had 55% of the red zone rushing attempts as the preferred back near the goalline over White and Sean Tucker. Iriving should be a strong RB1 again in 2025.
    – Derek Brown

    Kenneth Walker III (RB – SEA)

    It will fly under the radar that Walker was the RB12 in fantasy points per game last season. Unfortunately, his season was cut short by injuries, but if Walker can stay healthy in 2025, he could finally put it all together with a top-five running back season. Walker proved last year that not only is he still one of the best pure rushing talents in the league, but he is also a true three-down back with passing-catching chops. Among 45 qualifying backs, Walker ranked third in first downs per route run, sixth in target per route run rate, and sixth in receiving yards per game (per Fantasy Points Data). Add all of that on top of leading the NFL in missed tackles forced per attempt and ranking tenth in yards after contact per attempt, and Walker could be a league-winner in 2025.
    – Derek Brown

    Joe Mixon (RB – HOU)

    Mixon volume-hogged his way to an RB8 finish last year. He’s primed to do it again in 2025. Last year, he ranked 14th in snap share, fifth in opportunity share, 17th in weighted opportunity, and sixth in red zone touches. The efficiency aspect hasn’t been there, and I doubt that it will change in 2025 with another year of touches hitting the body odometer. Last year, he ranked 22nd in explosive run rate, 38th in missed tackles forced per attempt, and 29th in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). Woody Marks is Mixon’s closest competition in the backfield for volume, which means he’ll handle as much as he can this season. Mixon is a solid RB2 with RB1 upside.
    – Derek Brown

    Chuba Hubbard (RB – CAR)

    Hubbard blew away everyone’s expectations last year as the RB13 in fantasy points per game. He was the Panther’s everydown workhorse and is primed to roll back into that job this year. Last season, he ranked third in snap share, fourth in opportunity share, 12th in weighted opportunities, and 14th in red zone touches. If Carolina’s offense can improve in 2025, the red zone numbers should climb. In 2024, Carolina ranked 24th in yards per play and 21st in red zone scoring attempts per game. The addition of Tetairoa McMillan, the continued development of Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker, and the ascension of Bryce Young should improve those numbers. Hubbard has the talent and projected workload to crack the top ten backs in 2025. Last year, he ranked 11th in explosive run rate and seventh in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data).
    – Derek Brown

    Davante Adams (WR – LAR)

    Despite splitting time between the Raiders and Jets last season, Davante Adams still posted his fifth straight 1,000-yard campaign and finished as the WR14 (WR10 in points per game). He averaged over 2.0 yards per route run and ranked top-5 in both red-zone targets and targets share (27%), showing no signs of an age-related decline. Pairing with Matthew Stafford only boosts his outlook, especially under dome conditions in a highly competitive NFC West. Adams should feast as a reliable WR2, and his ceiling only rises if Puka Nacua misses time entering his third season.
    – Andrew Erickson

    Calvin Ridley (WR – TEN)

    Calvin Ridley quietly returned solid value in 2024, topping 1,000 yards and leading the NFL in air yard share (48%). He surged late in the year, averaging 11.6 points per game (WR26) after DeAndre Hopkins was traded. With Nick Westbrook-Ikhine gone and No. 1 pick Cam Ward stepping in, Ridley remains the clear WR1 in Brian Callahan’s offense. He’s never finished worse than WR26 in a healthy season, making him a strong bet to beat his ADP again in 2025.
    – Andrew Erickson

    Jayden Reed (WR – GB)

    Jayden Reed flashed big-play upside in 2024, posting two games with 138+ yards early in the season and finishing as fantasy’s WR26 overall (WR38 in ppg). However, his slot-only usage capped his opportunity – with just 68% route participation (71st among WRs) and only 4.4 targets per game. Despite the limited volume, Reed remained efficient, ranking 19th in yards per route run (2.2), and has led Green Bay in receptions and yards for two straight seasons. Even after the team drafted Matthew Golden in Round 1, Reed is still viewed internally as the pseudo-WR1. In an offense that spreads the ball around, his ceiling may be capped, but a bump in target share could lead to Reed smashing his ADP in 2025.
    – Andrew Erickson

    George Kittle (TE – SF)

    George Kittle continues to string together outstanding seasons. He cleared 1,000 receiving yards in 2024 for a second straight year, finishing with 78 catches for 1,106 yards and eight touchdowns despite missing two games. A model of efficiency last season, Kittle established new career bests in catch rate (83.0%) and yards per target (11.8). Kittle was also a gem in last season’s fantasy playoffs, producing two of his four 100-yard games in Weeks 16 and 17. Since his second NFL season, Kittle has finished TE3, TE2, TE3, TE4, TE2, TE5 and TE1 in half-point PPR fantasy points per game. Kittle turns 32 in October, and his violent style has led to some injuries over the years, but he has shown no signs of slowing down, and he has a bright 2025 target outlook for a 49ers offense that might not have a clear alpha wide receiver.
    – Pat Fitzmaurice

    Mark Andrews (TE – BAL)

    After getting off to an alarmingly slow start last year, Mark Andrews went on a touchdown spree that reaffirmed his status as a valuable fantasy tight end. Five games into the 2024 season, Andrews had 10 catches for 120 yards and zero TDs. He was TE32 in PPR fantasy points per game over that stretch. From Week 6 through the end of the regular season, Andrews scored 11 touchdowns in 12 games and averaged 3.8 catches and 46.1 yards per contest. Andrews turns 30 the day before the Ravens’ 2025 season opener, and his 2024 downturn in target volume and yardage suggests that his days as an elite fantasy tight end may be over. But Andrews has been a reliable TD scorer and remains an important cog in the Baltimore offense. Consider him a midrange TE1 for fantasy.
    – Pat Fitzmaurice

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