If Your Fantasy Football League Drafted Today (2025)

A lot has changed since your fantasy football draft, as we are now 13 weeks through the season. If only you knew at the time that George Pickens would have more receiving yards than the entire Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver room, or that Saquon Barkley and Rico Dowdle would be scoring the same amount of points per game (PPG).

Unfortunately, you did not know that information at the time, but you do now. How would that, and the many other things you now know, change the way you draft? Let’s take a look at how a few things would go if you drafted today.

2025 Fantasy Football Retrospective

George Pickens Would be Drafted as a WR1

After getting a star on his helmet, George Pickens wasted little time becoming a breakout star himself. One week, to be exact. After a modest Week 1 performance, Pickens posted 30+ fantasy points in two of the next five games, a stretch that included six trips to the end zone. A piece of this stretch came without CeeDee Lamb, but Pickens hasn’t slowed down since Lamb returned to the field. He’s currently the WR2 in total points, while his 19.8 PPG places him at WR4.

Pickens is averaging 17.6 PPG in the eight games the wide receiver duo has shared the field, but coming out of the team’s Week 10 bye, he’s notched point totals of 29.4, 29.6 and 16.8, including two games of 140+ yards. Despite sharing the targets with Lamb, Pickens is seventh in the NFL in first-read targets with 77. He’s also seventh in yards after the catch with 322, second in fantasy points per target and fourth in first downs per route run with .145.

The biggest boon to Pickens’ game has come in the form of his varied usage, along with improved quarterback play. With the Steelers, he was practically magnetic to the sideline, running a heavy dose of go routes along the chalk while being tasked with snagging jump balls in a run-first offense. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer has made the most of Pickens’ talent, much of which lay dormant in Arthur Smith’s offense in Pittsburgh.

With Dak Prescott balling out and the Cowboys scoring at the second-highest clip in the league, Pickens is going to be on many playoff rosters.

The Cowboys and Rams Offenses Would be High Priorities

George Pickens is not the only Cowboy you want on your roster. Running mate CeeDee Lamb has suffered some crucial dropped passes in the last few weeks, but is still a top-10 wide receiver in PPG since returning from his injury in week 7. There’s enough volume and scoring opportunities for both receivers to eat in this offense, thanks in large part to Dak Prescott‘s performance thus far.

After being drafted as the QB11, Prescott is currently sitting at fourth in quarterback PPG. He has been held to fewer than 20 points just four times this season, finishing as a QB1 in each of his other eight contests. His eight top-10 finishes are tied for the most among all quarterbacks, while his four top-five finishes are tied for second-most. Prescott is second in the NFL in passing yards and touchdown passes, while the Cowboys are airing it out at the third-highest clip per game.

Although Jake Ferguson has cooled off a bit, he’s the TE5 in PPG and has caught the second-most touchdowns at the position. A reliable tight end in a high-scoring offense will always have the potential for spike weeks. Javonte Williams, who was a forgotten man amongst the fantasy football community, has dominated the backfield and sits at RB9 in PPG, despite the heavy passing volume.

Williams looks closer to his pre-injury self than he ever has, leading to a career best 4.8 yards per carry and has already found the end zone eight times on the ground, and 10 times overall, which is also a career high. The Cowboys face a couple of tough matchups during the fantasy playoffs, but this group is matchup-proof.

Remember when the panic surrounding Matthew Stafford‘s back led to a dip in average draft position (ADP), not only for himself, but for Puka Nacua and Davante Adams? That feels like a distant memory now as Stafford leads the MVP race and sits as the QB6 in PPG after being drafted as the QB23. He’s landed in the top 10 in quarterback scoring six times this season, four of which resulted in a top-five finish, while many of the others have come at the expense of a blowout win.

Last season, Stafford threw for his lowest touchdown total since 2012 with just 20, while 16 of those came in the red zone. After adding the best red-zone receiver of our time, and perhaps ever, he’s already thrown 32 touchdowns, with 26 coming from inside the red zone.

Stafford’s red-zone completion rate has skyrocketed from 46% last season to 65% this year. Adams has certainly reaped the benefits, having caught 14 touchdown passes, five more than the next closest wide receiver. He’s the WR8 in PPR PPG, while the other end of the offense, Nacua, features the WR3 in PPG.

Nacua has had a stellar beginning to his career, posting the third-most receiving yards per game through his first two seasons in the modern era with 88.4. He’s currently averaging 93 yards per game this season and is pacing towards 1,482 yards, while he’s tied for the league lead with 86 receptions. The Rams feature a heavy rotation at tight end, limiting their value, but Kyren Williams is currently the RB11, right in line with his preseason ADP of RB12.

Trey McBride Would be a First-Round Pick… and There Would be no Consensus TE2

Although Brock Bowers was the consensus TE1 coming into the season, Trey McBride was not far behind as the second tight end, going eight picks after Bowers at 27th overall.

It’s not a shock to see McBride atop the tight end scoring leaderboard, but, surprisingly, he’s tallied 60.9 more PPR points than the next closest tight end. He’s averaging 18.7 PPG, 3.3 more than the TE2, which would make him the WR7 behind Ja’Marr Chase, and ahead of Amon-Ra St. Brown (who took a zero in Week 13).

It wasn’t long ago that we questioned McBride’s ability to cross the goal line, but he’s done so seven times in his last seven games. His eight receiving touchdowns lead all tight ends, and tie Pickens for third-most in the NFL, while his 22 red-zone targets are second to Davante Adams. Despite the monster season McBride is putting together, he still leads all tight ends in unrealized air yards, meaning there’s some meat left on the bone.

We’re getting a glimpse of what the former John Mackey Award winner can do with a quarterback who wins from the pocket and throws the ball over the middle of the field, and it’s taken his fantasy value to the moon.

Rashee Rice Would be a Top-Five Drafted Receiver

A murky legal situation led to a difficult draft evaluation for Rashee Rice. As a result, his final ADP landed at WR32. However, if fantasy managers knew that he would miss six games and stand as the WR1 in PPG between Week 7 and Week 13, I suspect he would have gone much higher. If we were drafting today for the rest of the season, Rice would be a consensus top-five wide receiver.

Since returning from suspension, Rice has cleared 20 fantasy points in four of his six games and has finished as a WR1 in five of those games, with the exception coming against the vaunted Broncos defense. Rice has a difficult schedule through the end of the season, including matchups with the Texans, Chargers and a rematch against the Broncos, but the Chiefs will be chasing a playoff spot and feeding Rice all the way.

Rice’s 9.8 targets per game are the third-most in the NFL, and the Chiefs lead the league in pass rate over expectation (PROE). Most impressively, however, is Rice’s 17 red-zone targets, which are good for fourth-most among wide receivers, an impressive mark after missing the first six weeks.

Saquon Barkley Would be Drafted as an RB2

Perhaps someone would take a shot on the upside as an RB1, but Saquon Barkley is currently tied for RB16 in PPG with Rico Dowdle and Travis Etienne Jr. After 378 touches last season, many fantasy managers were anticipating a letdown season from Barkley, but he continued to be an early first-round pick through the end of the offseason.

With just one game of 100+ rushing yards, Barkley has salvaged multiple weeks with a healthy receiving line. His 3.5 true yards per carry are good for 54th among running backs, while his 4.3 yards per touch are the 44th-best mark. Barkley has the second-most stuffed runs at 48, and whether that’s a product of the Eagles’ offensive line or Barkley breaking down, there’s very little hope that it will turn around this season.

The Eagles’ offensive line owns the 12th-best Pro Football Focus (PFF) run blocking grade (68.2), yet their overall rushing grade is all the way down at 25th (72.3), which is telling and matches the eye test that Barkley is simply not getting it done.