Getting ready to enjoy a long and relaxing fantasy offseason? Of course, you’re not. As soon as this year’s fantasy season ended, many of us — myself included — began thinking about 2025 Fantasy Football Rankings.
To help you prepare, here are my Way-Too-Early 2025 Fantasy Football Rankings: Top 25 Players.
Massive, landscape-altering events are on the horizon. January feels way too early to even consider producing an early ranking—we should at least be prudent enough to wait until after the Super Bowl.
Who am I kidding?
Here’s my early take on the Top 25 for 2025, with some shoutouts to Fantasy Points Data for the dank stats.
The Top 25 Fantasy Football Players for 2025
1. Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals, 24 Years Old
Chase hit the wide receiver trifecta. He is having one of the most dominant fantasy seasons ever at the position, leading the league in catches (127), touchdown receptions (17), and receiving yardage (1,708). Chase is in his prime and tied to one of the league’s best quarterbacks in Joe Burrow.
After a running back-dominant 2024 fantasy season, 2025 is officially the Revenge of the Wide Receiver, with Chase leading the charge.
2. Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles, 27 Years Old
Drafters were able to steal Barkley at the 1-2 turn this past season, but the price of a brick just went up. Barkley thrived in his first season in Philadelphia, surpassing even the wildest dreams of his biggest enthusiasts. He averaged a career-high 5.8 yards per carry on his way to a 22.2 PPG average.
Barkley became the ninth running back in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. Ageists look away — you’re drafting a soon-to-be 28-year-old as the first running back off the board.
3. Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Detroit Lions, 22 Years Old
Touchdowns scored over their first two seasons in the league: Barry Sanders, 30; Jahmyr Gibbs, 31. Gibbs (21.3 PPG) finished as the RB1 overall and trailed only Barkley and Chase among all players in PPG. He accomplished this despite his teammate David Montgomery scoring 12 rushing touchdowns.
Gibbs is a dynamic and explosive talent who has thrived in his first two seasons in the league. His four-TD performance in Week 18, propelling Detroit to the NFC North title, will be remembered for years to come. He is the type of player who can break fantasy.
4. Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons, 23 Years Old
Speaking of league-winner younger backs, Robinson took massive strides in his second season in the league in Zac Robinson’s first season as the Atlanta Falcons OC. He averaged 20.1 PPG and finished with 1,887 combined yards.
Atlanta could be even more running-back-centric with Michael Penix Jr. taking over as the starting quarterback in the ATL.
5. De’Von Achane, RB, Miami Dolphins, 23 Years Old
Achane led all running backs in receptions (78), receiving yardage (592), and touchdown catches (6). His yards per carry number dipped considerably from his insane rookie season (4.1 down from 7.8) as his role and the offense changed. One of the most lethal weapons in fantasy, Achane has scored 23 touchdowns in 28 regular season games. He has RB1 overall potential in 2025.
6. Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings, 25 Years Old
Jefferson has been so dominant throughout his first five seasons in the league, that fantasy managers were somewhat disappointed that he “only” averaged 18.7 PPG. There will be question marks for the Minnesota Vikings this offseason . namely who will be their starting quarterback in 2025: Sam Darnold or JJ McCarthy. But there will be zero questions when it comes to Jefferson. Just draft him.
7. Puka Nacua, WR, LA Rams, 23 Years Old
The WR1 overall has led the league in targets and catches every year for the past four seasons. Few players in football possess Nacua's target ceiling potential. He could be in store put up a season comparable to Cooper Kupp’s league winner run in 2021. Nacua could become the NFL’s next 200-target player at some point in his career. You are going to want exposure to Nacua in 2025.
8. CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys, 25 Years Old
Lamb has three straight seasons with at least 150 targets and 100 catches. This year, Lamb overcame a slow start and the season-ending loss to starting quarterback Dak Prescott and still managed to average 17.6 PPG. An AC joint injury ended Lamb’s season during one of his best fantasy stretches of the year. From Weeks 14-16, he averaged 21.8 PPG.
9. Amon-Ra St.Brown, WR, Detroit Lions, 25 Years Old
The Sun God has three straight seasons with at least 106 receptions and 1,161 receiving yards. There were many mouths to feed in Ben Johnson's offense, and teammate Jameson Williams emerged this season, but it didn’t matter — St. Brown is a target vacuum. He also has 22 touchdown catches over the past two seasons, trailing only Mike Evans and Chase.
10. Nico Collins, WR, Houston Texans, 25 Years Old
Collins has emerged over the last two seasons as a model of consistency and the focal point of the Houston offense. He averaged 17.4 PPG in 2023, and 17.3 this season. It feels like we still have not seen what a true ceiling outcome is for Collins. 2025 could be the year for him to reach it and have a peak Julio Jones-like performance finally.
11. Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars, 22 Years Old
This ranking may be too aggressive for some right now, but this is where you’ll have to draft BTJ if you want him in August. Simply put, his rookie year was phenomenal. The Jaguars were a bottom-8 offense, averaging only 18.8 PPG as a team. Trevor Lawrence missed multiple games. Many things went wrong for Jacksonville, but BTJ was not one of them.
Thomas Jr. had one of the best seasons ever for a rookie WR—finishing tied for fifth with 10 touchdown catches, fifth in receiving yardage with 1,282 yards, and setting a Jacksonville rookie record with 87 receptions.
We could be looking at the next Josh Gordon.
12. Malik Nabers, WR, New York Giants, 21 Years Old
Nabers could easily be higher on this list, but there are question marks surrounding the quarterback position in New York. If the Giants can make a splash at quarterback, Nabers will rise accordingly.
Usage-wise, Nabers had no peers this season. He led all players in target share (32.4%), ranked top three in air yards share (45.9%), and led the NFL in first-read rate at 42.8%—all at the age of 21.
Despite missing two games, Nabers broke Nacua’s all-time record for receptions by a rookie wide receiver with 109. He also broke the Giants record for catches in a season held previously by Steve Smith.
13. Brock Bowers, TE, Las Vegas Raiders, 22 Years Old
Bowers will be the consensus TE1 overall heading into 2025, and seemingly for the rest of this career. The torch has officially been passed from Travis Kelce to Bowers. Drafters looking for a positional edge can look no further. Bowers obliterated the rookie record for catches at the tight end position with 112, obliterating the previous record held by Sam LaPorta (86). He also broke Mike Ditka’s record for receiving yardage with 1,144. The sky is the limit in 2025.
14. AJ Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles, 27 Years Old
This ranking could look laughably low a year from now, but I prefer to push a few younger wide receivers ahead of Brown as he falls to the early second round. The Kellen Moore offense could explode in year two, but Saquon Barkley isn’t going anywhere, and neither is Jalen Hurts’ tush.
Brown (16.7 PPG this season) is still a weapon of mass destruction in fantasy, capable of delivering immense spike weeks that can win just about any matchup.
15. Josh Jacobs, RB, Green Bay Packers, 26 Years Old
Jacobs could have easily been included inside of the Top 10 overall picks. His first year in Green Bay was a dominant one, especially over the second half of the season. Jacobs finished fourth in the NFL with 15 rushing TDs — a career-high. Twelve of them occurred during his last eight games. The Green Bay offense could be even better in 2025, and Jacobs will be the focal point of it.
16. Ashton Jeanty, RB, TBD, 21 Years Old
I will by no means apologize to anyone for ranking Jeanty this highly. In fact, I should rank him even higher. Jeanty is the chosen one at the running back position. He joins Barkley, Robinson, and Zeke Elliott as one of the most highly anticipated rookie running backs to enter the league in recent memory. All of these players surged into the first round in redraft.
Expect Jeanty to be selected within the top 15 picks in the NFL Draft and immediately gain ADP value.
17. Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati, 24 Years Old
Our usage king returns. Brown’s second-half run was fantastic — especially for fantasy managers rostering him. From Weeks 9–17, Brown averaged 20.6 PPG, the fifth most among all running backs.
Brown had a true breakout season, going from 58 touches as a rookie to 283 in year two. The Bengals lost longtime standout running back Joe Mixon — and improved as an offense, a true testament to Brown’s impact.
Expect even more in year three.
18. Drake London, WR, Atlanta Falcons, 23 Years Old
London steamed up in ADP this summer, and backed it up with a WR5 overall finish. He set a career-high with 16.5 PPG and finished with 100 catches, 1271 yards, and 9 TD grabs. The sample size is small, but there is a lot of promise with Michael Penix Jr. behind center. In Penix Jr.’s three starts, London was targeted 39% of the time and had a 1st read rate of 45.1%. He will enter 2025 as a darkhorse candidate to finish as the WR1 overall.
19. Derrick Henry, RB, Baltimore Ravens, 30 Years Old
OK, fine. Call me ageist. If Henry were 25 years old, I would have him ranked right up there with Gibbs. But he will be 31. Henry has shown zero signs of slowing down, and in fact, was rejuvenated in his first season in Baltimore. Henry rushed for 16 TDs and averaged 19.8 PPG — fourth overall at the running back position. I could get burned for ranking him this low. But he has to slow down at some point, right? Right?
20. Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets, 23 Years Old
To some, this ranking will feel punitive. Coaching changes, coordinator changes, a big midseason trade for Davante Adams, and a whole lot of losses — this Jets season was a circus, and Hall was caught in the wreckage.
Criticizing Hall is sacrilege to many in fantasy, but the facts are the facts. He only averaged 15.1 PPG, and his receiving numbers regressed from 76 receptions in 2023 to just 57 this season. Despite his immense talent, Hall has never rushed for 1,000 yards or scored more than five rushing touchdowns in any season of his career.
21. Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 22 Years Old
Irving was one of the true breakout stars of the 2024 rookie class, and its top running back. He overtook the top spot in the Tampa Bay backfield from Rachaad White, 2023’s RB4 overall. Irving combines electric rushing ability (1122 rushing yards on 5.4 yards per carry) and immense potential as a receiver (47 catches for 392 yards).
Let your league mates worry about Irving’s lack of NFL draft capital. Draft him everywhere you can in early redraft and best ball drafts, and trade for him in dynasty. Not to get too technical, but Irving is like that.
22. Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco, 28 Years Old
This will be CMC's lowest preseason ranking since his rookie season. 2024 proved to be a completely lost season for a player we have grown so accustomed to seeing dominate. San Francisco will be looking for a big turnaround, and if healthy, expect CMC to bounce back in a major way.
23. Trey McBride, TE, Arizona Cardinals, 25 Years Old
McBride finished neck and neck with Bowers in PPG, outsourcing him (15.6 to 15.5) and finishing in a dead heat in receptions with Bowers slightly edging him (112-111). He led all tight ends with a 26.5% target share and finished with the fourth most receptions by a tight end in a single season - ever.
The only reason more people aren’t salivating over McBride’s potential heading into 2025 is his lack of receiving touchdowns—he finished with only two.
If you hate the term “positive touchdown regression,” you’ve come to the wrong place, because McBride will be the poster child for it all offseason.
24. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts, 25 Years Old
I was fully prepared to leave Taylor completely out of this early Top 25 ranking, but then the fantasy playoffs happened. Taylor made up for a disappointing season—he was drafted side by side with Barkley and ahead of Achane and Henry — with two massive performances in Weeks 16 and 17.
He finished as the RB1 overall in both weeks, rushing for 354 yards and 5 TDs combined. If that was not enough, Taylor had a Week 18 encore, rushing for 177 yards and another TD with most fantasy managers done for the season.
25. Kyren Williams, RB, LA Rams, 24 Years Old
Tales of Williams’ demise were greatly exaggerated this preseason. There were bumps along the way and a rough patch of games late in the season, but Williams still managed to finish as an RB1 for the second consecutive season. He averaged 17.1 PPG and finished third among all running backs with 316 carries.
The Blake Corum threat was largely nonexistent. There could be more challenges next season, and the Rams' offense could become even more Nacua-centric, but Williams still holds immense fantasy value as the leader in the backfield — and Corum will be coming off a broken forearm.
