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 Fantasy Football Draft Tips
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 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 receivers each week.
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.
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.
Anticipate injuries.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking “mission accomplished” after you’ve drafted your starters for Week 1. The injury gods are cruel. Few fantasy teams escape a season unscathed by injuries.
Try this thought exercise: Imagine that your top RB and top WR both get hurt in Week 1. What will your starting lineup look like in Week 2?
Build a deep, robust roster that can weather RB and WR injuries. Depth at QB and TE is less important in 1QB leagues since there are usually playable options available on waivers. You need to have viable backup options at RB and WR.
Don’t handcuff your RBs.
Dedicating two roster spots to the RB position on a single NFL team is a suboptimal strategy. You’re better off spreading your bets around and trying to strike gold in a different backfield.
Drafting the backup to one of your starting RBs robs you of a chance to find the next Bucky Irving – the sort of late-round gem who can tilt the balance of power in a fantasy league. Don’t pick a handcuff RB to solidify your team’s floor; use that pick to try to raise your team’s ceiling.
Draft defenses and kickers in the final rounds.
Don’t be among the first people to draft a team defense or kicker. Scoring is too volatile and unpredictable at these positions to justify addressing them with middle-round picks.
Target defenses and kickers with favorable matchups in the first week or two of the season, then play waivers at these positions the rest of the season, seeking the best possible matchups each week.
Check out Fitz’s complete Perfect Fantasy Football Draft Strategy 
Erickson’s Approach to Round 1
Last season, I faded Christian McCaffrey and ranked Ja’Marr Chase at WR1.
I know what you’re thinking. Erickson, why are you still writing fantasy football articles and not sitting pretty, sipping Mai Tais on your private island from all your winnings? Well, informed reader, I got spooked by the Chase contract holdout late into draft season. As a result, I moved Breece Hall to RB1 and first overall… Yikes.
I won’t make the mistake again.
I’ve toyed with the idea of Bijan Robinson (RB1) over Ja’Marr Chase (I just recalled that the Falcons did throw out “Bijan Robinson in the Christian McCaffrey role” last offseason), but I just don’t feel the need to do it. Even with roster builds feeling slightly better with RB starts at the 1.01 (based on the crop of WRs vs RBs at the Round 2/3 turn). Round 3 is super polarizing, and I’m not sure I like the idea of having a more ambiguous round influence my No. 1 overall pick. Besides, the Falcons are going to miss starting RT Kaleb McGary for the majority of the season.
Even with the amount of parity atop the standings every year in fantasy football, Chase is “chasing” Antonio Brown (for the right reasons) as he attempts to be the first back-to-back WR1 fantasy finisher since 2015. And with Joe Burrow as his quarterback, he seems as primed as ever to repeat.
So for me after Chase, it’s Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson to round out my top-five overall players. Felt that way back in the middle of June, and don’t feel the need to change anything.
That is correct. No Saquon Barkley. For more on that, be sure to read my “players to avoid” piece.
Also, I’m much lower on Amon-Ra St. Brown as a first-round pick. But besides those two players, I’ve got no qualms about the rest of the first round crop. It’s extremely deep this year, which is why I often prefer picking toward the end.
A common theme with fantasy football positional tiers is to stay out of the middle, and I think you can make the same application here within round one.
I love the idea of going Christian McCaffrey/Ashton Jeanty and then the best available wide receiver in round two (Drake London). The same approach works with a top-three selection with either Robinson or Gibbs.
I’m not even opposed to double-tapping receivers at the round one/round two turn, although I prefer it in full PPR formats where the best WRs can really flex.
All things considered, I do prefer going with a running back more than a wide receiver in round one.
And that’s because it’s very likely I’ll go the wide receiver route in the second round (again Drake London). But every rule has exceptions and Nico Collins is the WR I am drafting ahead of the CMC, Jeanty, Barkley RBs.
Nico today
Nico tomorrow
Nico forever
— Andrew Erickson™ (@AndrewErickson_) August 24, 2025
Sure a Collins-London start isn’t an ideal “build” per se, but I just can’t pass on two guys that I think have the highest odds of finishing as the fantasy WR1 overall outside the top-3. I know can still get some high upside RBs in Rounds 3-4 that can be my hero baby…
A first-round back sets you up greatly for a Hero RB build, which is the strategy I typically abide by before entering any draft.
You’ve got one spot dialed in, and the other spot can be filled by the rotating carousel of remaining running backs on your roster.
I believe the golden standard approach of selecting a running back with your first- or second-round pick has not changed. Yes, I understand how hip it is to draft wide receivers and go Zero RB in recent years.
But running backs who see work as both receivers/rushers score the most points. Running backs are still the drivers behind fantasy-winning teams, so get your talented studs early because the backs who score the most points are drafted accordingly, based on average draft position (ADP) data. The longer you wait, the odds of landing a true Hero RB diminish.
And there’s no better time to get back in on running backs. We have a strong crop of diverse, hungry and young running backs in the player pool.
I bet last season that we would return to the glory days when the top running backs would reign supreme as they had done the two previous seasons. It wasn’t exactly how I thought it would play out, but backs were more productive (and healthy). It was a bit of an outlier season by health standards.
But even so, draft running backs in the early rounds that you think can be league-winners and true difference-makers. You’re not looking for floor or value this early on. Shoot for the moon or punt running back down the road. You’d be surprised how easy it is to fill your fantasy RB2 slot.
Solidifying a top back early also helps you avoid reaching for running backs in the dreaded RB Dead Zone (RB2 range), where your primary focus should be drafting wide receivers poised for significant leaps in 2025 and/or elite quarterbacks/tight ends
There’s a long tier of running backs drafted after the top options who can be true Hero RBs, where you are much better off just waiting, with such a gradual decline in projection. It’s important to identify backs that can stand out from the crowd. If you are going to take a running back early, you can’t have any reservations about their upside. If you do, you are better off waiting on running backs with similar median projections at much better prices.
Especially considering wide receivers in full PPR can score a lot of points. And the top of the position looks primed to stake its claim — I will divulge more later.
From 2018 to 2020, in PPR scoring, wide receivers had the highest percentage of top-12 finishes (55%). In 2021, seven of the top 12 overall finishers (58%) were receivers, with six finishing in the top eight. That was true in both PPR and half-PPR. However, the trend did not continue in 2022. Just six wideouts finished inside the top 12, with five backs and one tight end (Travis Kelce). Only four inside the top eight, and an even split between receivers/backs inside the top six. In half-PPR, five running backs finished inside the top eight overall, with just three wideouts.
In 2023, half-PPR scoring was evenly split between the top 12 finishers. For three straight seasons, fewer receivers have finished inside the top 12. Four running backs finished inside the top seven compared to three receivers. In the last two seasons, only three wideouts have finished inside the top eight of overall scoring. Current fantasy football ADP has five wide receivers drafted inside the top eight, compared to three running backs.
In 2024, three wide receivers finished inside the top 12 in half-PPR (four in full PPR). The veteran running back renaissance smoked the wideouts. Now, for four straight seasons, fewer wideouts have finished inside the top 12. Last year, it was 8-4 overall. Inside the top seven, it was 5-2. In the last three seasons, only five wide receivers have finished inside the top eight of overall scoring.
Current best ball ADP has four wideouts drafted inside the top eight, with the other four being running backs.
Some wide receivers are being drafted early who will be outscored by running backs selected after them. Again, to be clear, it’s less likely in PPR than in half-PPR.
But given how strong the WR1 tier is in drafts in the first two rounds this year, you’ve got to come away with at least one. Wide receivers should be healthier than they were last season, whereas running backs are more likely to get hit by the injury bug after their “health luck” in 2024.
This sets the stage for Hero RB to be the strategy to follow in 2025: One stud running back early, a plethora of receivers in the middle rounds, an elite quarterback and/or tight, followed by shot after shot on this amazingly talented rookie running back class that could be the best we’ve seen since 2017.
Early-Round Players to Target
Mid-Round Players to Target
Late-Round Players to Target
Check out Erickson’s complete Perfect Fantasy Football Draft Strategy
DBro’s Late-Round Skill Players to Target
Last year, it was tough to watch Javonte Williams. The injuries have seemingly robbed him of his special tackle-breaking sauce, but I think with another year away from the injuries, Williams could regain some of his zip. Last season, Williams finished as the RB36 in fantasy points per game. He will be in the conversation, if not the favorite, to be the Cowboys’ starting back this season, with only Miles Sanders and Jaydon Blue realistically competing with him for the job.
Last year, Williams struggled after Week 8 as he didn’t force a single missed tackle for the rest of the season. His production in Weeks 1-8 offers some hope that we could see a better version of him in 2025. Yes, he hit a wall down the stretch last season, but in the first eight games, among 43 qualifying backs, Williams ranked 13th in missed tackle rate (20% per Fantasy Points Data).
If Williams can more closely resemble that player in 2025 or take another step back towards his former glory, he could be this year’s J.K. Dobbins. Williams is an RB3, who could easily be an RB2 this season.
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 with his hamstring injury in camp, but the path remains for this to happen. Skattebo could easily vault into an every-week top-15 running back down the back half of the season.
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.
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.
Keenan Allen returns to the Bolts after a one-year dalliance with Chicago. I’ll lead this off by saying that we can toss Allen’s yards per route run and first downs per route run in the trash as every Bears wide receiver’s efficiency metrics were tanked last year by Caleb Williams’ struggles. Allen finished as the WR31 in fantasy points per game.
Among 85 qualifying receivers, he didn’t have any issues still earning volume at a high rate, ranking 20th in target share (23.5%) and 26th in first-read share (28.8%, per Fantasy Points Data). His route running and separation skills remained solid. Among 112 qualifying receivers, he ranked 45th in separation and 40th in route win rate.
Last year, his slot rate dipped slightly to 54%. I expect that to creep back up toward the 60% mark in Los Angeles. The Chargers will also likely incorporate more 11 personnel this season after having the 11th-lowest rate of three wide receiver sets last year (56.2%). Greg Roman hasn’t utilized 11 personnel massively in his history, but the Bolts’ ranking 11th-best in EPA per pass last year from 11 personnel could twist his arm. Allen is a WR3/4 who could easily revert back into a solid volume-fueled WR2 with his long-standing rapport with Herbert helping in 2025.
Out of the cloudy receiving picture in Green Bay, Romeo Doubs is the wide receiver I want to draft this season. On the surface, there doesn’t appear to be much cause for being over the moon for Doubs, but hear me out. Last year, he finished as the WR47 in fantasy points per game, but he was the clear leader of the Green Bay Packers receiver room, and underneath the surface, he POPS in a number of metrics that matter.
Doubs was the only receiver for Green Bay that eclipsed a 75% route share (team-leading 76.7%) while leading the team in target share (18.7%) and first-read share (23.6%). He posted a solid 1.90 yards per route run while ranking 25th among 85 qualifying receivers in first downs per route run (0.104, per Fantasy Points Data). Here’s where things get really interesting: Doubs, last year among 112 qualifying receivers, ranked 11th in separation and second in route win rate.
Doubs could be quietly headed for a massive breakout season, and with the addition of Matthew Golden and the Packers’ run-heavy approach last year, it’s not priced into his ADP at all. He’s one of my favorite late-round dart throws this season.
Joshua Palmer (WR – BUF)
Joshua Palmer is a solid and cheap bet to make on the Buffalo offense. His surface stats don’t jump off the page. In the games in which he played at least 50% of the snaps last year, he had a 13.7% target share, 1.57 yards per route run, a 17.2% first-read share and 0.075 first downs per route run, per Fantasy Points Data. It’s when we pop open the hood and peek at his per-route metrics that things get interesting.
Last year, among 112 qualifying wide receivers, Palmer was one of the best separators in the NFL, ranking 16th in separation and 12th in route win rate. Now, those numbers are eye-popping, especially when you discuss one of the best offenses in the NFL, yet only one receiving option was able to draw more than a 20% target share last year (Khalil Shakir). Palmer’s route running and separation ability could lead to consistently heavier usage in Buffalo, where they don’t have a receiver commanding a high target share. Palmer is worth a late-round flier pick to find out.
Mason Taylor (TE – NYJ)
Someone has to step up opposite Garrett Wilson as Justin Fields‘ trusted second weapon in the passing attack. Mason Taylor is a wonderful candidate to do so in 2025. New head coach Aaron Glenn witnessed how well tossing a talented rookie tight end into the fire as a trusted cog in the passing attack can go (hello, Sam LaPorta). Is Taylor the same caliber of prospect as LaPorta? No, but his athleticism is solid, with a 4.68 40-yard dash and an 83rd percentile three-cone.
Even if we project the Jets to be run-heavy, the passing volume should still be there in this offense. Even if the Jets finish with 500 passing attempts in 2025 (this would have been the fifth-fewest passing attempts in 2024) and Taylor can secure a 17% target share in an uninspiring depth chart, he would finish with 85 targets (this would have been the 11th-most last year). Taylor could easily take advantage of a weaker receiving depth chart around him and finish as a low-end TE1 in his rookie season.
Jarquez Hunter (RB – LAR)
Jarquez Hunter is arbitrage Bhayshul Tuten in fantasy football drafts. Hunter, much like Tuten, is headed to the NFL (Rams) via the fourth round of the draft. Also, like Tuten, Hunter finds himself possibly buried for 2025 behind two veterans, but he also possesses the talent and pathway to surpass one or maybe both in the running back pecking order.
The Rams thought so much of Blake Corum‘s rookie season that they addressed running back again this year. Hunter is incredibly talented. Hunter has ranked inside the top 24 in yards after contact per attempt in each of the last three seasons while also sitting in the top 22 in breakaway percentage in two of three years, per PFF.
Hunter offers the Rams an explosive element that neither Williams nor Corum has. Last year, among 46 qualifying backs, Williams ranked 44th in explosive run rate, 37th in missed tackles forced per attempt, and 40th in yards after contact per attempt, per Fantasy Points Data. Hunter could be one of the best values of the fantasy football draft season.
Brashard Smith (RB – KC)
Brashard Smith was another talented victim of this deep running back class. He dropped to the seventh round of the draft, which was surprising. The Chiefs added him to their already overstocked backfield. The Chiefs are no strangers to allowing a seventh-round running back a legit shot at starting (hi, Isiah Pacheco), so we can’t say that Smith has zero shot.
I was enamored with Smith’s receiving ability as a converted wide receiver, his lightning quickness, and his possible upside as a rusher for a player who is still getting acclimated to the position. Last year, Smith ranked 34th in breakaway percentage, second in receiving grade, and 22nd in yards per route run, per PFF.
Smith’s skill set is different from every other back in this depth chart. He could easily carve out a standalone role as Kansas City’s new Jerick McKinnon.
Check out DBro’s complete Perfect Fantasy Football Draft Strategy
