Navigating your fantasy football draft can be tricky, especially when certain players come with more risk than reward. To help you dodge potential pitfalls, we’ve gathered insights from our collection of Featured Pros to highlight the biggest 2025 draft landmines to avoid. These are the players our fantasy football experts believe are overvalued, injury risks or simply unlikely to live up to their average draft position (ADP) this season. Before you make a costly mistake on draft day, check out who the pros are steering clear of-and why.
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Fantasy Football Draft Landmines to Avoid
What one RB inside the top 50 in our consensus ADP do you plan on avoiding in all or most of your drafts relative to their price and why?
Saquon Barkley (RB – PHI)
“I cannot believe I am saying this, but for me, it is Saquon Barkley. Look, I love Barkley’s game. But history doesn’t lie. Every running back who’s rushed for 2,000 yards has dropped significantly the following year, and Barkley just had the most carries in his career. I’m not saying he won’t be productive, but I’m not drafting him as the first back off the board. The risk of regression is real, and taking him as a top-two pick worries me. Give me a younger runner like Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs instead.”
– Brady Auer (BA Sports Podcast)
“Only two backs finished as RB1s the following year after leading the NFL in touches since 2013. Of the last 12 running backs with 400+ touches the previous season, only one was a top-five fantasy back the next year. There have been five running backs aged 27 or older who led the NFL in touches; they had zero top-five finishes the following year. Trust the process of fading Saquon Barkley off the massive workload. It worked with fading Christian McCaffrey in 2024. I’d much rather bet on some of the younger backs entering their uber primes between Bijan Robinson/Jahmyr Gibbs or the plethora of high-end first-round receivers.”
– Andrew Erickson (FantasyPros)
Breece Hall (RB – NYJ)
“Breece Hall is still being valued pretty high for a guy who is no longer a bell-cow back. Jets head coach Aaron Glenn has hinted at a running back by committee (RBBC) situation, comprising Hall and Braelon Allen, where Allen gets the short-yardage and potential goal-line touches. Glenn said, “With Allen, a 240-pound man who’s always falling forward. Listen, that’s where he’s going to make his money.” In addition, it’s hard to imagine Hall’s reception total going up without Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. Justin Fields is younger and faster, and much more likely to take off and run when there is pressure rather than dumping off a pass to his back in the flat. Hall’s 2025 fantasy outlook seems risky given his expensive price tag (current ADP of RB13).”
– Mark Ringo (Sleepers and Busts)
Ashton Jeanty (RB – LV)
“Ashton Jeanty may have all the tools, but the price tag is way too rich for a rookie who is going from playing against San Jose State, to now the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos, two times a year each. I am not spending a first-round pick on a player with zero NFL reps on a last-place team, even in round two. I would rather draft proven superstars. There is no denying Jeanty’s upside, but he is stepping into a bad situation. Geno Smith is on his last contract and leading what looks like a last-place team. This situation does not sound like how I want to watch my football Sundays.”
– Muntradamus (Beast Dome)
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