The preparation for your perfect 2025 fantasy football draft begins now.
Have a battle plan when you show up for your in-person draft or fire up the laptop for your online draft. But don’t make it a rigid plan.
Fantasy drafts are unpredictable. Average draft position goes out the window. Your competitors will make unexpected picks. You’ll occasionally get snaked on a player you wanted.
Be flexible. Be nimble. Be prepared.
And get those reps in before draft season arrives! Test your draft strategies by mock-drafting with the FantasyPros Draft Simulator.
Here’s an overview of the battle plan our analysts will be using for their 2025 fantasy football drafts. And you can find each of their perfect draft plans below.
- Fitz’s Perfect Draft Strategy
- DBro’s Perfect Draft Strategy
- Erickson’s Perfect Draft Strategy
- Fantasy Football Draft Kit
Perfect Fantasy Football Draft: Strategy, Advice & Targets
Fitz’s Three Core Draft Principles
Let’s start with three important tenets of draft strategy:
1. Tailor your draft strategy to the number of WRs your league requires you to start each week.
The number of wide receivers you’re required to start each week is far and away the most important setting in your league.
If your league requires you to start only two receivers each week, you can choose between RBs and WRs in the early rounds based on where the value is. You have tactical flexibility.
If your league requires you to start three receivers each week, WR becomes a critical position, and you should attack it aggressively in the early rounds. Your goal should be to outgun nearly every team in your league at the WR position since you’re starting so many WRs each week.
2. Take advantage of discounts on high-upside rookies.
This should be a staple of your draft plan every year, but it’s an especially good approach this year, with an outstanding group of rookie running backs entering the NFL.
The top rookies are often underdrafted because they haven’t played in the NFL yet, and it’s human nature to fear the unknown. But rookies with early-round NFL Draft capital have historically been good fantasy bets.
3. Chase upside.
Upside is important. You need to draft a lot of players with plausible ways of delivering high-ceiling outcomes. Even if such players have rock-bottom floors in their range of possible outcomes, invest anyway.
You’ll miss on a few of these types. That’s what waivers are for. The potential rewards outweigh the risk of a low-end outcome.
Check out Fitz’s complete Perfect Fantasy Football Draft Strategy
Erickson’s Mid-Round Draft Strategy
Approach to Round 5
At the start of the middle rounds of drafts, you must come prepared with an optimal and flexible approach. Following up on a strong start is critical to your success. The player pool isn’t as strong as at the beginning of the draft, but the difference in hitting on the right guys in this range can make or break your roster.
Don’t try to be perfect; get as many shots on net as you can.
Four rounds deep, you have already drafted a good chunk of your team. This is your core. Your strategy may differ slightly depending on the foundation you built during the early portion of your draft. Ergo, if you already roster three strong running backs for some reason (or at least ones you spent high draft capital on), there’s virtually no need to address the position in any capacity. Depth, especially in leagues where you have access to the waiver wire, tends to be overrated in fantasy football.
The overarching approach to the middle rounds remains static for the most part, regardless of what you have already done. The focus is still on drafting the best player available. Too often, drafters make the mistake of drafting for need in the middle rounds, when the priority should be filling your roster with as many potential level jumpers or league-winners as humanly possible. Especially at the wide receiver position. Because it’s easy to find plug-in production (especially at running back) later on. Focus on drafting players that have difference-making upside in their range of outcomes.
The name of the game with wide receivers is to scoop up value in the middle-to-later portions of drafts, with the position counting for the biggest part of your roster in leagues that require you to start three receivers. Take advantage of wideouts who fall in ADP, while other teams “reach” on running backs they think they need. The same goes for the reverse narrative. Take advantage of backs that fall in ADP while others reach on subpar wide receivers they think they need.
You will be shocked how quickly the wide receiver position dries up despite the false narrative that the position is deep every year. It’s not deep. If anything, it’s extremely diluted outside of the top 12, which makes it much more essential you draft the remaining wideouts toward the start of the middle rounds. You’ll feel (and perform) much better knowing you aren’t trudging out wideouts ranked outside the top 40 as your weekly WR3.
Wide receivers in the middle rounds tend to take massive leaps and vastly outperform their ADP. Others comically crash and burn, but we just need one or two hits for a net positive return.
When in doubt, keep drafting wide receivers who have breakout potential. Chances are they all won’t hit… but all you need is one to hit big to reap the benefits. Draft rookie wide receivers. Aggressively.
Draft Tetaoria MacMillan. I know everybody loves the No. 1 WR role in Kansas City. But the top wideout in Carolina under Dave Canales is extremely underrated.
For more on finding the next breakout wide receiver, check out my full article on the topic.
The WR18-WR50 ADP range remains the richest pool for first-time WR1s. The sweet spot lies from the end of round three to round eight.
Gravitate toward the pass-catchers in a high-powered offense with some target ambiguity versus the guy who has a more obvious high-end target floor in a bad offense. And do not shy away from the real-life No. 2 WRs… as these players often represent the best fantasy values because their ADPs are almost always suppressed as they aren’t their team’s “No. 1 WR.”
But be wary that you need to be price-sensitive to these WR2s. For example, in 2023, the most expensive WR2s — Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith and Tee Higgins — failed to live up to expectations.
In 2024, Brandon Aiyuk, Cooper Kupp and Jaylen Waddle (again) were busts as the three most expensive WR2s. See a pattern?
But the majority of cheaper real-life WR2s by ADP (outside the top-24) — Tee Higgins, Chris Godwin, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Brian Thomas Jr., Jameson Williams — were excellent value selections who drastically beat their ADPs.
Some of my favorite wide receivers to targets from rounds 5-9 (picks 50-100) include Tetairoa McMillan, Jameson Williams, Jaylen Waddle, Calvin Ridley, Jauan Jennings, Rome Odunze, Jakobi Meyers, Ricky Pearsall, Jayden Reed and Josh Downs.
In 2025 early drafts, some of the cheaper real-life No. 2 WRs (outside top-24) include:
Jameson Williams, George Pickens, Chris Godwin, Jaylen Waddle, Jordan Addison, Rome Odunze, Deebo Samuel, Ricky Pearsall, Matthew Golden, Cooper Kupp, Darnell Mooney, Michael Pittman Jr., Keon Coleman, Jayden Higgins, Tre Harris, Rashid Shaheed, Rashod Bateman and Marvin Mims.
Make sure you are getting the real-life No. 2 WR discount. Because you should be, or else it’s bad business.
In round five specifically, you’ll want to bolster depth with the next tier of wide receivers and/or running backs. But do your best to push running back out as much as possible in this range, coined the RB Dead Zone. Note that this is specific to non-rookie backs, who I wouldn’t categorize as Dead Zone RBs. They are more like breakout wideouts based on their large range of outcomes.
Try to go wide receiver, rookie running back or even elite tight end first before another running back. Elite quarterbacks may also be drying up at this point, so don’t be afraid to pull the trigger if a top-tier passer falls.
James Conner has some optics of a Dead Zone RB, but he goes late enough that I feel the price to pay for his healthy early-season production is justified if your roster needs some stability at running back (maybe you waited longer for your Hero RB).
Round 5 Players to Target
Approach to Round 6
Many of the elite quarterbacks will be off the board before this round. If you desire a quarterback, draft whichever top-tier passer, if any, remains. The opportunity cost of drafting an elite quarterback is so much better in rounds 5-7 versus rounds 2-4.
And as always, don’t feel pressured to draft a signal-caller because there are still plenty of great options in the following rounds.
Again, to hammer your edge at wide receiver, you need to hit on these discounted No. 2 WRs in the middle-to-late rounds as the actual difference-makers/level-jumpers. The RB Dead Zone and the WR Shred Zone are the same.
Last year’s group in round six featured Tee Higgins, Chris Godwin and Terry McLaurin as major hits.
Another thing to consider is that scoring tends to be flatter. Again, you have the elite elite wideouts at the top. In 2023, the top five scorers were at 17+ PPG. They were also in the top seven overall picks in ADP.
In 2024, the top five scorers were at 15+ points per game. The ones who played a full season were drafted as top-eight overall picks in ADP.
If you can draft a truly elite fantasy wideout in rounds 1-2, as alluded to at the top, it’s worth it. But after the elite guys, we see things stagnate and scoring flatten. Wideouts ranked sixth to 21st fluctuated between 15-14.7 and 12.5-12.1 PPG. Receivers from 22nd to 46th score between 12 and 9.5-9.0 PPG. Ergo, non-elite fantasy wideouts are basically all just fantasy WR2s. And low-end fantasy WR2s are just a massive tier that leaks into the WR4 range.
The significant point drop after the elite tier, although admittedly there is a strong tier behind Chase/Jefferson/Lamb, is a flatter scoring curve for the wide receivers ranked 10th and beyond, up to the WR4 range (top-48).
In past years, the data suggested it’s a viable strategy to wait on drafting wide receivers after the elite options are off the board, particularly in drafts where the value of securing top performers at other positions (such as running backs or quarterbacks who may have a steeper drop-off in scoring) could outweigh the benefits of selecting an elite or pseudo elite wide receiver outside the top 10. The reasoning here is that you might still be able to draft wideouts with similar scoring expectations later, allowing you to maximize value at other positions in the earlier rounds.
But this year, with wide receiver at the top being a bit deeper because of the 2024 WR class, we as drafters can have our cake and eat it too. We can access elite WR1 seasons later in round one and round two because of how great it is at the top. The exact tiering might vary, whether it’s eight, 10 or 12, etc. But I’m finding it hard, if not extremely difficult, not to select at least one of my top-12 ranked wide receivers in the first two rounds.
Non-elite fantasy wideouts tend to just be fantasy WR2s. And low-end fantasy WR2s are just a massive tier that leaks into the WR4 range.
So it’s not WR1, WR2, WR3, etc. It’s more like elite WR, WR2 and WR4 as the 3 tiers of wide receivers based on last year’s scoring.
This supports the strategy of potentially waiting to draft wide receivers after the top performers are off the board, as the variance in performance increases, but it doesn’t drastically change once you move past the top 20 at the position.
Focus on players who could make major leaps based on archetype. Not necessarily their median projection.
If a receiver in the middle rounds looks and smells cheap, they probably are. And the same goes for if you feel they are overvalued.
Because inherently the way receiver scoring is, those with higher ADPs are more difficult bets to return on their ADP. They are preferred for a reason — upside arguments, etc. But there’s no denying you can always grab another wide receiver a round later that will probably meet or potentially exceed a player before them in scoring.
However, you must acknowledge you can’t keep punting the position because there is another cliff after the WR4 tier. Eventually, you need to compile points at the position, even if it’s a neutral or negative-EV selection at the time of drafting.
There’s a reason the “late-round receiver” strategy hasn’t caught on like its late-round counterparts. It does not work nearly as successfully compared to waiting at the other positions. And why is this? Two-fold. Wide receivers are just tough to project year to year because they are more dependent on their surroundings (quarterback, offensive line, etc.). And most leagues require three starting receiver slots by default, with a fourth eligible in the Flex sport. High demand, low supply.
Be firm and concise in creating three or four tiers for receivers, with an elite tier (potential for top-five scoring), a pseudo elite tier (just on the cusp), a top-20 tier and then a 21-48 range tier where you can pick your flavor. Based on your platform’s ADP, you can mix up your receiver exposure in this range.
For me, the top three wideouts are clear as day. After that, I could see a lot of arguments for the next 6-8 guys.
It’s not until we get to Terry McLaurin that things start to taper off in the back-end WR2 range.
And after we hit George Pickens as my WR36, there’s a clear drop-off in the wide receiver rankings with rookies, second-year receivers and third-year receivers entering the conversation.
Round 6 Players to Target
Approach to Round 7
Once you’ve got a plethora of breakout and staple wideouts to work with (after all, late-round wide receiver is not usually a winning formula), I now permit you to dive back into the running back pool before we enter the double-digit rounds.
I can guarantee you will feel better about overloading with receiver breakouts than settling for an RB2 because you have to in the first six rounds.
Because after wide receivers, breakout running backs are the next target in the middle rounds. Specifically, once the drafts enter the late RB2/early RB3 range (RB20-RB38) or running backs with a top-40 ADP.
That group has traditionally had the greatest hit rate for fantasy running backs.
However, last year was not the case — RB20-RB36 was terrible. Part of that was due to the majority of BACKS staying healthy last season without any rookies rising to the occasion. Last season was not the norm.
For whatever it’s worth, we still did see a few running back hits toward the later portion of this range: Chase Brown, Chuba Hubbard, J.K. Dobbins, and Rico Dowdle (RB37-RB44 range).
Here are some of my favorites in 2025:
RJ Harvey, James Conner, TreVeyon Henderson, Kaleb Johnson, Isiah Pacheco, Jaylen Warren, Jordan Mason, Travis Etienne, Javonte Williams, Bhayshul Tuten, J.K. Dobbins, Trey Benson, Braelon Allen and Rico Dowdle.
Identify running backs with the potential to see/possess goal-line roles in high-scoring offenses. Pinpointing a team’s primary red-zone back is an easy way to hit on a fantasy running back.
Last year’s examples? James Cook and Brian Robinson Jr.
If you are low on the “starter,” you should naturally be higher on the No. 2 RB in the same backfield. Didn’t believe in Rachaad White? You should have drafted more of Bucky Irving (I wish I did).
Target impending free agent running backs.
The biggest hits from 2022 include Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley, Tony Pollard, Miles Sanders and Jamaal Williams. In 2023, it wasn’t as successful, but I wanted to see if this was a trend or more of an outlier. In 2024, we saw a ton of running backs on new teams hit in a big way after signing big contracts.
What’s interesting, though, is that many who were forced to play on one-year deals, such as Dobbins, Jones, Conner, Harris, Dowdle and Hubbard, provide solid ROIs.
Guys like Conner/Hubbard earned extensions before the season ended after showing out. What’s even more interesting is that these two backs played on the two teams that invested some of the highest draft capital into running backs in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Notable running back free agents at the end of the 2025 season include:
Jaylen Warren, Najee Harris, Austin Ekeler, Travis Etienne, Javonte Williams, Rico Dowdle, J.K. Dobbins, Nick Chubb, Elijah Mitchell, Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker III, James Cook, Miles Sanders, Rachaad White, Brian Robinson Jr., Tyler Allgeier and Isiah Pacheco
Target running backs on quality offenses (cumulative offensive ADP deemed above average). I will be dropping more on this topic soon.
Aim for running backs on teams with no clear-cut starter — aka ambiguous backfields. This is where breakout running backs are often found.
Other major hitters were running backs who boasted pass-catching chops. Volume is and remains king. When in doubt, draft the guy who has a proven track record.
Bet on explosive backs who can make plays as receivers.
Bet against running backs on offenses that have not yet proven to be above average, while treading lightly on running backs that don’t have a lot of job security.
With running backs, ask yourself: What would it take for RB “X” to lose the starting job?
Seriously. Do it.
Fade expensive early-season opportunities in favor of late-season production when the weeks and points become more critical in specific formats. You need to strike a balance between early and late-season production. Drafting the upside rookie early is fine as long as you draft the dusty old veterans later on to backfill the weeks while the rookies get ramped up.
Hitting on the right running back late can be the true difference-maker.
Also, this is specific to best ball, but Patrick Mahomes is going egregiously late (outside of the top 80 picks). This is almost late-round quarterback territory. If he’s available that late and you don’t love the rest of the players on the board, just take him.
Round 7 Players to Target
- Patrick Mahomes, Ricky Pearsall, Quinshon Judkins, Rome Odunze, Kaleb Johnson, Aaron Jones, Isiah Pacheco.
Check out Erickson’s complete Perfect Fantasy Football Draft Strategy
DBro’s Late-Round Draft Targets
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.
Cam Skattebo (RB – NYG)
The Giants added Cam Skattebo to the backfield via the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He should be considered the early favorite to be the team’s workhorse after Tyrone Tracy‘s inconsistent rookie season and the team shelving any thought of Devin Singletary as their leading back.
Skattebo was a volume monster during his final season in college and a true three-down back. He ranked 21st in yards after contact per attempt and 11th in elusive rating while also sitting inside the top 10 in receiving grade and Yards per route run, per PFF.
It could take some time for Skattebo to wrestle 60-65% of the snaps away from the other players in this backfield, but it does feel like the eventual reality. Skattebo is a strong RB3/Flex who could easily vault into an every-week top-15 running back.
Mark Andrews (TE – BAL)
Mark Andrews is one of the best tight end values this year, with the talent to revisit top-three/top-five fantasy tight end status. Last year, Andrews was the TE7 in fantasy points per game, but it was heavily influenced by his 11 receiving scores as he ranked only 14th in receptions and ninth in receiving yards among tight ends. His recovery from tightrope surgery impacted his early-season effectiveness and usage.
In Weeks 1-9, Andrews was the TE16 in fantasy points per game, posting an 11.3% target share, an 18% target per route run rate (TPRR), 1.77 Yards per route run rate (YPPR), 32.1 receiving yards per game, a 13.9% first-read share and 0.110 first downs per route run.
After Week 9, every discernable per-route metric that we should care about improved for Andrews as he posted an 18.1% target share, a 24% TPRR, 2.31 YPRR, 48 receiving yards per game, an 18.9% first-read share and 0.127 first downs per route run as the TE5 in fantasy points per game, per Fantasy Points Data.
Buy the dip on Andrews and enjoy another stellar year from the Baltimore stalwart.
Jordan Mason (RB – MIN)
Jorcan Mason moves from San Francisco to Minnesota in an offseason trade to become Aaron Jones‘ running mate/handcuff. Mason sustained a shoulder injury and an ankle injury last year. The bum ankle ultimately ended his season. In the brief six games, he played 64% or more of the snaps as the starter for the 49ers, with an average of 21.3 touches and 111.8 total yards. He was a top-24 fantasy option at the running back position in four of those six outings and an RB1 in 50% of them.
Mason finished in the top six among running backs last year in explosive run rate (second), missed tackles forced per attempt (sixth), and yards after contact per attempt (third, per Fantasy Points Data). Mason is a top-shelf handcuff again this season who could offer some stand-alone value in Minnesota’s high-scoring offense.
Jayden Higgins (WR – HOU) | Christian Kirk (WR – HOU)
We all wanted a piece of this Houston passing attack last draft season. Everyone was clamoring to plant their flag for their favorite Houston wide receiver and pay up for them in drafts. Well, what a difference a year makes. Nico Collins is the only Houston skill player that you have to pay up for in drafts, which leads me to want to draft Jayden Higgins and Christian Kirk as much as possible.
One of these guys is set to step up as C.J. Stroud‘s No. 2 WR. Kirk likely has the inside track as a productive veteran, but he has struggled to stay healthy and is no bet to do so this season. At Kirk’s cost in drafts, the injury risk is baked in, but his talent and upside in this offense aren’t.
At first glance, Kirk’s numbers last year look solid but not overwhelmingly impressive. He had an 18.7% target share, 1.84 Yards per route run, and 0.087 first downs per route run, per Fantasy Points Data. Those numbers put him in the WR3/WR4 realm, but his per-route separation data lays out the upside case for Kirk. Last year, among 128 qualifying wide receivers, Kirk ranked 14th in separation and 21st in route win rate. He’s an easy click in the later rounds of drafts, as he could have one more WR2/WR3 season left for fantasy.
If Kirk doesn’t stand up as Stroud’s clear No. 2 WR this season, I expect Higgins to take the role. HE should immediately fill in as the starting outside receiver opposite Collins. Higgins was an underrated player during the entire draft process after ranking 27th and 16th in Yards per route run and first and 18th in receiving grade during his final two collegiate seasons, per PFF.
One of these Houston wide receivers (or both) will be a value this season, along with Collins. I’m not opposed to anyone drafting both (considering their costs), holding them on their bench, and seeing how things play out the first few weeks of the season before dropping one to the waiver wire.
Darnell Mooney (WR – ATL)
Last year, Darnell Mooney posted the second WR3 finish of his career in fantasy points per game (WR34), and he could easily do it again in 2025. There’s no disputing that the Falcons’ passing attack will be led by Drake London and Mooney this season. The target tree is extremely consolidated.
Last year, Mooney had a 19.6% target share while averaging 62 receiving yards per game (29th-best), posting 2.04 Yards per route run (31st) and 0.099 first downs per route run (28th, per Fantasy Points Data). With Michael Penix looking to push the ball downfield more than Kirk Cousins did, I could see Mooney’s target share jumping above 20% and his fantasy stock increasing accordingly. Mooney is a nice late-round WR3/Flex who could offer more if Penix puts it all together in 2025.
Tre Harris (WR – LAC)
Tre Harris, the soul-snatching route savant, landed with the Bolts in the second round of the NFL Draft. He should quickly become Justin Herbert‘s trusted second option in the passing game opposite Ladd McConkey. Yes, Harris will have to hop either Mike Williams or Quentin Johnston to crack the starting lineup, but I’m not worried about his ability to do so.
We’re discussing a player who has ranked first and ninth in Yards per route run over the last two years, stacked up against arguably a former first-round bust and a veteran who looked like he was running on empty last year, per PFF. As outlined earlier in the Ladd McConkey section, the Bolts were a more pass-centric team than many realized last year. If that continues and Harris can spread his wings in this offense, he could crush his ADP in 2025.
Bhayshul Tuten (RB – JAX) | Tank Bigsby (RB – JAX)
One of these talented Jaguar backs will turn out to be a massive value this season. If you miss out on one of them, target the other in your draft. Bhayshul Tuten found a port in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Liam Coen and company hope that Tuten can pull their offense up the scoring ranks in 2025.
Tuten has the juice to make the most of his touches. During his final collegiate season, he ranked 10th in yards after contact per attempt and breakaway percentage and eighth in elusive rating, per PFF. Tuten’s upside is mouthwatering.
Tank Bigsby had an awesome sophomore season for Jacksonville, especially considering how his rookie season unfolded. He finished as the RB40 in fantasy points per game, with eight weeks as the RB36 or better in weekly fantasy scoring. Bigsby wasn’t involved in the passing game, with just 12 targets last year.
I don’t see that changing this season, so he’ll need to manufacture fantasy points on the early downs with his legs. He proved he can do that last season. Among 46 qualifying backs, he ranked 21st in explosive run rate and second-best in yards after contact per attempt, per Fantasy Points Data. Bigsby will have to fight Travis Etienne and Tuten for playing time, but he has the raw talent to carve out a fruitful role in this offense in 2025.
Check out DBro’s complete Perfect Fantasy Football Draft Strategy