It’s important to know who to target as you prepare for your fantasy football drafts. Of course we want to let value come to us in places, but sometimes you have to reach a bit to get your must-have fantasy football players in drafts. Our analysts provide players they are targeting wherever possible. Here are a few of their must-have fantasy football players for 2025 drafts.
You can find all of their must-have players here: Fitz | DBro | Erickson | Joe
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Must-Have Fantasy Football Draft Targets
Here are a few must-have fantasy football draft targets our analysts love.
Fitz’s Must-Have Draft Targets
Drake London (WR – ATL)
London turned into a monster last year, finishing third in the league in targets (158), ninth in receptions (100), and fourth in receiving yards (1,271) while scoring a career-high nine touchdowns.
The 6-4, 213-pound London really popped when rookie QB Michael Penix Jr. made three starts for Atlanta at the end of the regular season. London had 22 catches for 352 yards and two touchdowns in those three contests, on a whopping 39 targets.
London fared well with Kirk Cousins quarterbacking the Falcons for most of last season. But Penix is taking over at QB for Atlanta this season, and with his abundant arm talent, I think Penix can be a rainmaker for London.
Check out all of Fitz’s must-have fantasy football draft targets
DBro’s Must-Have Draft Targets
Christian McCaffrey’s 2024 season was derailed by bilateral Achilles tendonitis. Yes, I know it crushed many fantasy teams. Yes, I know that if you drafted him last year, you’re probably saying, “hell no… I won’t be walking down that road again.” I’ll get this out of the way quickly. I’m back in.
George Kittle had similar issues with his Achilles, but after he received stem cell infusions, it hasn’t remained a problem. McCaffrey had a similar treatment last year and enters this season fully healthy from all reports. In the small sample we got from McCaffrey last year, his numbers remained strong.
In the three full games McCaffrey played, he averaged 18.6 touches and 93.7 total yards, all while playing 81-94% of the snaps. McCaffrey’s 22% missed tackle forced rate and his 1.80 Yards per route run were strong, per Fantasy Points Data. Among those two statistical categories, McCaffrey ranked eighth-best (70 qualifying backs) and sixth-best (53 qualifying backs). McCaffrey has at least one more big season left. I’ll be investing heavily in him for 2025.
Evan Engram (TE – DEN)
Evan Engram could smash his ADP this year as Sean Payton’s Joker. Everyone will point to last year as a reason to have worries about Engram, who ranked 20th in Yards per route run, but his target-drawing ability was just fine, ranking fifth in targets per route run and third in target share. He was also dealing with shoulder and hamstring issues. Those were his first injuries to deal with during a season since 2021.
In Engram’s two previous seasons, he ranked 13th and 14th in Yards per route run and second and 12th in target share, per Fantasy Points Data. Also, in 2023-2024, Engram excelled in one of the hallmark metrics that I look at when evaluating talent and upside at the tight end position: Yards per route run versus man coverage. In those seasons, Engram ranked fourth and eighth in this metric.
Engram’s best competition for targets is Courtland Sutton. Engram could lead Denver in targets this season. If that happens, he’ll likely be knocking on the door of the top-three/top-five tight ends in 2025.
Check out all of DBro’s must-have fantasy football draft targets
Erickson’s Must-Have Draft Targets
Drake Maye (QB – NE)
Drake Maye sits firmly entrenched in my top 12 fantasy quarterback rankings this season.
The offensive environment in New England has only improved for Maye with offensive additions in NFL free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Pats drafted offensive tackle Will Campbell, running back TreVeyon Henderson, wide receiver Kyle Williams, and center Jared Wilson. In free agency, they acquired wide receiver Stefon Diggs, offensive tackle Morgan Moses, and center Garrett Bradbury.
They needed to bolster the offensive line and add explosiveness for their second-year QB. They achieved both.
And don’t sleep on offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. As a head coach? Terrible.
As an OC? You have my attention. He’s had past success with non-GOAT QBs: Mac Jones (rookie QB) and Cam Newton (mobile QB).
And fantasy gamers can’t afford to ignore Maye’s dual-threat skill set. The Patriots QB HAS the cheat code.
Last season, he ranked 5th in QB scramble efficiency (@PattonAnalytics) behind only the 4 starting QBs who played in the conference championship games.
Among the seven passers in 2024 that recorded 30+ rushing yards per game (including Maye), five finished inside the top six scoring signal-callers on a per-dropback basis.
What Maye was able to achieve as a rookie in a terrible situation cannot be understated.
According to @NextGenStats, Maye was 1 of just 2 QBs to post positive EPA on tight window throws (The other was Lamar Jackson).
He threw at least one touchdown pass in the 10 games he played fully as a rookie (finished on a streak of eight games overall as a rookie – the longest streak by a rookie since Justin Herbert in 2020.
That resulted in 18.1 fantasy points per game, which would have ranked QB15 on the year.
Maye’s current draft position is QB16, according to our consensus best ball ADP.
He is the perfect late-round QB to draft. He is the archetype of a quarterback who makes the leap and wins leagues.
Check out all of Erickson’s must-have fantasy football draft targets
Joe’s Must-Have Draft Targets
Jordan Mason (RB – MIN)
Outside of Issac Guerendo, Jordan Mason is my favorite backfield backup speculation. Mason proved with the 49ers that he could handle a full workload. All that stands in his way is an aging and declining Aaron Jones, and Mason would immediately become a high-end RB2 with the Vikings if he became the lead back. There’s a reason Minnesota looked for a legitimate backup for Jones. Pass on Jones and draft Mason late instead. Then, play the waiting game.
Check out all of Joe’s must-have fantasy football draft targets
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