Players Experts Avoid: Jonathan Taylor, Ashton Jeanty (Fantasy Football)

Drafting the right players is key to winning your fantasy football league, but avoiding the wrong ones is just as important. Every year, certain players get overhyped, over-drafted or simply don’t live up to expectations.

To help you steer clear of potential landmines in your 2025 fantasy football draft, we asked our collection of Featured Pros to weigh in on which running backs they’re avoiding at their current average draft position (ADP). Whether it’s due to workload concerns, injury risk or inflated cost, these are the running backs our experts believe carry more risk than reward. Before you make your next pick, make sure these names aren’t on your draft board.

Players Fantasy Football Experts Avoid

What one RB inside the top 100 in our consensus ADP do you plan on avoiding in all your drafts relative to their price and why?

Jonathan Taylor (RB – IND)

“Jonathan Taylor will not be considered in any draft this upcoming draft season. Before last year, Taylor had gone the previous two campaigns with fewer than 200 carries and 10 touchdowns in both due to injury. Taylor is a workhorse who will get the ball; however, the health red flags stand out. Taylor is no PPR threat either, with 35 catches possibly being an optimistic outlook for the Colts running back. At the cost of a top-20 selection, the risk associated with Taylor is not worth it for 2025.”
– Ed Birdsall (Talking Points Sports)

Ashton Jeanty (RB – LV)

“This has nothing to do with talent, and everything to do with the situation and the draft capital you have to spend. Ashton Jeanty is coming off a season at Boise State that saw him record 397 touches. That is an enormous workload. The Raiders had a bottom-third offensive line in the league last season, according to most advanced metrics, and an entirely new coaching staff. While new Raiders head coach Pete Carroll and new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly like to run the ball and prefer a workhorse back, I’m afraid drafting Jeanty at his potential ceiling is too rich for my blood.”
– Lee Wehry (FantasyPros)