While it’s important to know who to target as you prepare for your fantasy football drafts, it’s equally as important to know which fantasy football draft landmines you’re avoiding. Our analysts provide players they are avoiding in their fantasy football drafts. Here are a few players they consider overvalued or are otherwise avoiding this fantasy football draft season.
You can find all of their players to avoid here: Fitz | DBro | Erickson | Joe
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Fantasy Football Draft Landmines to Avoid
Here are a few fantasy football draft landmines our analysts avoid.
Fitz’s Players to Avoid
Baker Mayfield (QB – TB)
He’s become a quality NFL quarterback, but Mayfield is being overvalued after his career year in 2024.
Mayfield had 41 touchdown passes last year. He had never thrown even 30 TD passes in any other season. Mayfield also ran for a career-high 378 rushing yards last year. He’d never had even 200 rushing yards in any previous season.
It’s easy to understand Mayfield’s appeal. The Buccaneers are loaded at wide receiver with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, and Jalen McMillan. The Bucs also have one of the better offensive lines in the league.
But after a season in which Mayfield established new career highs in pretty much every statistical category across the board, regression is in order.
Also, Mayfield is getting another new offensive coordinator after losing Dave Canales following the 2023 season and Liam Coen following the 2024 season. The Buccaneers’ new playcaller is 34-year-old Josh Grizzard, who’s never been an NFL offensive coordinator.
Mayfield’s ADP as of mid-June was QB7, 59th overall. That’s too steep a price. Last year was the time to invest in Baker Mayfield. Don’t chase last year’s fantasy points.
Check out all of Fitz’s fantasy football picks to avoid 
DBro’s Players to Avoid
Aaron Jones (RB – MIN)
The odds aren’t in Aaron Jones’ favor in 2025. He is coming off a season where he played 17 games for only the second time in his career. He amassed a career-high 306 touches with 1,546 total yards and an RB20 finish in fantasy points per game. I have worries about his ability to stay healthy after that type of workload in 2024.
Minnesota also added Jordan Mason this offseason to take some of the load off Jones, as Ty Chandler wasn’t up to the task as Jones’ running mate. This could help his health prospects but impact him in the volume and touchdown departments. If Jones’ weekly volume and touchdown expectations take a dip, I don’t know if his efficiency can pick up the slack at this point in his career.
Jones has been lightning in a bottle during his career, but last season, we saw Father Time starting to catch up to him. Among 46 qualifying backs, he ranked 36th in explosive run rate and 40th in missed tackles forced per attempt. Jones is an easier click as a mid-range RB3, but at his RB2 price tag, I’m out for 2025.
Check out all of DBro’s fantasy football picks to avoid
Erickson’s Players to Avoid
DJ Moore (WR – CHI)
DJ Moore wrapped up a strange 2024 campaign as the WR16 in total points but just WR32 in points per game (11.1). On the surface, his 98 receptions for 966 yards and 6 touchdowns look fine, especially within the confines of a dysfunctional Bears offense. Still, he posted a career-low 1.44 yards per route run and a 25% bust rate, tied for the third-highest among top-24 wide receivers. That’s especially troubling considering Moore was supposed to be the clear alpha in a broken Bears passing game. While Moore did show signs of life after Thomas Brown took over play-calling duties – topping 5.5 receptions in every game down the stretch – his role shifted to a low aDOT (5.3). He saw plenty of volume (27% target share), but the high-value looks were going elsewhere.
Rookie Rome Odunze dominated air yards and end-zone opportunities, while current street free agent Keenan Allen (before his Week 18 absence) was quietly leading the team in targets since Week 11. Looking ahead to 2025, Moore’s situation has changed yet again. Allen is gone, but the Bears added two high-upside rookies with first and second-round draft capital: WR Luther Burden and TE Colston Loveland. Both are dynamic after the catch and will challenge Moore for volume in a Ben Johnson-led offense that should be significantly more efficient with Caleb Williams entering Year 2. That said, Moore’s career production profile doesn’t scream alpha WR1. Outside of his WR6 finish in 2023 (a year heavily influenced by a few monster games), Moore has never finished inside the top-15 WRs across his career. He’s a classic boom-or-bust weekly WR2 – capable of game-breaking performances but just as likely to disappear depending on game script and usage. Moore should be drafted as a volatile WR2/WR3 with spike-week appeal, but expectations should be tempered. Moore is fine at ADP, especially if he slips. But there may be better value elsewhere in the Bears’ passing game, particularly if Rome Odunze continues to command high-value touches or Burden emerges as a YAC weapon in the slot.
Moore’s ceiling remains intact, but his path to consistency looks as murky as ever.
Check out all of Erickson’s fantasy football picks to avoid
Joe’s Players to Avoid
Brandon Aiyuk (WR – SF)
Coming off a major knee surgery, Brandon Aiyuk may be slow to start the season, and every week counts in fantasy football. He also has plenty of competition for targets if Christian McCaffrey is healthy again — George Kittle, Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall.
That potentially leaves Aiyuk in no man’s land. His weekly floor feels too low, and the ceiling could be lower as well, based on his questionable explosiveness returning from major surgery. Usually, I want at least a steady floor or an explosive upside. If someone can’t give me either, then what’s the point in drafting them?
Check out all of Joe’s fantasy football picks to avoid
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