It’s mid-June, and we’re starting to solidify our takes here on who we’re looking to draft and who we’re not for the upcoming fantasy football season. There’s a group of wide receivers I just can’t get enough of. I’ll be targeting the players in this article as much as I can for the 2025 NFL season.
Who are these pass-catchers? Let’s dive in and take a look at a trio of fantasy football wide receivers I absolutely must have on my teams this season.
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Must-Have Fantasy Football Wide Receivers
Ladd McConkey (WR – LAC)
Ladd McConkey came into Week 1 last season with a lot of buzz. After some sporadic weekly production, he turned into one of the most productive and efficient wide receivers from Week 8 until the end of the season. McConkey was WR8 in total fantasy points and WR11 in fantasy points per game from that point and was a mainstay as a 70% player in the slot in 2024.
With McConkey notching double-digit PPR games in all but one from Week 8 through the rest of the season, he was insanely efficient as he made the most of his opportunities. McConkey’s 2.38 yards per route run (YPRR) proved he can be massively efficient, and he can only get better. The Chargers haven’t exactly stocked the cupboard with other target-earning options to challenge McConkey’s burgeoning reign as the top target in the Chargers’ passing game.
Ladd McConkey has League Winning Upside
Last year among 112 qual WRs
(per @FantasyPtsData)11th in separation
8th in YPRR
10th in route win rateWhat if LAC continues their pass happy ways in 2025?
Last year Weeks 7-18:
8th in neutral passing rate
6th in PROE pic.twitter.com/DZs6c0kqoC— Derek Brown (@DBro_FFB) June 11, 2025
Out is Josh Palmer; in is the returning Mike Williams, and that’s a net positive for McConkey. Quentin Johnston was solid last year after a dismal rookie season, but Johnston’s fantasy value was primarily comprised of touchdowns, with 27.4% of his fantasy scoring coming via the end zone. Besides Will Dissly‘s 61 targets last season, the next highest remaining target total from last season’s Chargers is Derius Davis‘ 15.
While the Chargers added wide receiver Tre Harris and tight end Oronde Gadsden in the NFL Draft, neither will challenge McConkey for target supremacy. He’s a rising star. While you have to draft him at the end of the second round or into the beginning of the third round, at the latest, getting Justin Herbert‘s top target is as safe as it gets in McConkey’s second season.
Rashee Rice (WR – KC)
For 2025, there is a lot to unpack here with Rashee Rice from an injury standpoint as well as his standing off the field, but there’s no denying that Rice was a massive difference-maker for the Chiefs in the early part of 2024. The Chiefs missed Rice’s ability to move the chains and rack up receptions as the team had to eat their vegetables and acquire DeAndre Hopkins midseason to try and (unsuccessfully) fill that receiving void. I mean, you had to do something if your only recourse was playing JuJu Smith-Schuster on purpose, right?
Rashee Rice
Had elite usage & production in his limited 2024 sample
Weeks 1-3
(per @FantasyPtsData)31.5% target share
3.60 yards per route run
41.2% first-read share
0.188 first downs per route run— Derek Brown (@DBro_FFB) June 16, 2025
In Rice’s three full games last season, he averaged 9.6 targets, eight receptions and 96 receiving yards per game, and he scored touchdowns in two of his three games. It’s likely Rice would have continued his ascent and would have been a clear step up in 2024 from a promising rookie campaign. Fantasy managers who drafted Rice were robbed of that thanks to a fluke knee injury on an interception return.
We’re talking a 3.16 yards YPRR in a very limited 91-route sample size, plus a 32% targets per route run (TPRR) mark; those are elite numbers no matter how you slice it. If Rice played a full season in 2024, we would not have to hear about the demise of the Chiefs’ offense because Rice very likely spearheaded its renaissance.
With suspension risk dwindling by the day thanks to the lengthy schedule afforded by the U.S. legal system, Rice will be one of the best target-earning wide receivers in fantasy when he does play. If we’re talking about third-year leaps, Rice is the poster child of that if he plays a full season. He’s a second-round pick right now and let’s face it: If an injury didn’t end his season, who’s to say he’s not a late-first-round pick right now? He’s that good.
Tee Higgins (WR – CIN)
The best part about drafting Tee Higgins is that it gets your access to the prolific Bengals’ passing game without having to spend your first-round pick and likely 1.01 on Ja’Marr Chase. The duo of Chase and Higgins will maintain the status quo as arguably the best wide receiver tandem in the NFL.
The Bengals’ offense is one of the most fruitful offenses for fantasy production, and with Mike Gesicki remaining in Cincinnati, there’s not much preventing the Bengals’ train from rolling in 2025. Cincinnati has been a top-three team in pass rate over expected (PROE) in each of the last three seasons, so there’s no danger of the team rolling back the passing game in the immediate future.
a Tee Higgins tweet perhaps pic.twitter.com/KoD8IYvpna
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) June 12, 2025
As for Higgins, he’s been amazingly consistent throughout his career, with four out of five NFL seasons with at least 1.80+ YPRR and 20% TPRR, and all five seasons with at least six targets per game. Higgins is entering his age-26 season squarely in his prime and ready to produce in a prolific passing offense that’s perfect for fantasy football.
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Kevin Tompkins is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Kevin, check out his profile and follow him on Bluesky @ktompkinsii.bsky.social.
