Matthew Freedman …

About a month before the 2025 NFL Draft, I published a post-free agency fantasy football rankings article in which I highlighted my general strategy for this upcoming season and noted some of my "Freedman's favorites"—the players to whom I'll likely want enhanced exposure.

Now that the draft is over and I've had time to update my 2025 fantasy football rankings, this is a good time to release another rankings article. 

To check out my full rankings set (which you can leverage for best ball, redraft, and Guillotine Leagues), go to our Fantasy Life Rankings Hub, where I will provide updates as we progress throughout the offseason and into the preseason.

A few notes on my favorites.

  1. These are preliminary and could change based on how the markets for these players develop as we approach the season.
  2. Some of these players I like for value-based reasons.
  3. Others I like for strategy-based reasons. (Example: Maybe this QB is fairly priced as the QB15, but I still like him because I want to wait until the late rounds to address the position.)

For all my NFL content this offseason, check out my Fantasy Life author page.

2025 Fantasy Football Strategy

As I noted in my previous rankings piece, I have a very position-focused approach to strategy.

At QB, I almost always want to wait. Sometimes, I push the envelope too far and accidentally wait too long. (See this pre-draft superflex mock for an example.) Even so, I'd usually rather be too late than too early in addressing the QB position.

At RB, I often see value in the middle rounds, so that's where I like to make the bulk of my investment. So many of the RBs outside of the positional top 12 I'd be fine with rostering.

At WR, I want to attack the early rounds. That's not to say that I don't like mid- and late-round receivers, but I want to invest a sizable portion of my premium draft capital in WR.

And then at TE I would like to get one of the top two … but if I miss out on them, then I'm usually content to wait at the position until I believe I can acquire a player at a discount to his average draft position.

Here's what the positional allocation tends to look like in practice.

  • Rounds 1-3: 2 WRs | 1 RB or 1 TE
  • Rounds 4-7: 2-3 RBs | 1-2 WRs
  • Rounds 8-10: 1-2 RBs | 1-2 WRs
  • After Round 10: 1 QB | 1 TE | Upside RBs & WRs

I want solid investments with my early picks, and that means top-tier WRs, elite TEs, and some Hero RBs.

In the middle rounds, that's my RB power alley. In general, RB tends to be impacted heavily by injury, surrounding talent, and playcalling. As a result, I want to avoid investing premium draft capital in the position when possible, so I usually defer to the middle rounds.

In the late rounds, it's time to get a QB, because I believe I can usually find guys there who will produce on par with those taken far earlier.

And as for TE, I see a big difference between Brock Bowers and Trey McBride and everyone else. (If you look at our 2025 season-long projections, that difference is apparent.) So I'm prioritizing Bowers and McBride and taking them at cost when available. If I don't get them, then I'm waiting and value hunting.

Freedman’s Favorite QBs for 2025 Fantasy Football

Jayden Daniels (Commanders)

Last year, Jayden Daniels had an OPOY campaign with 3,568 passing yards and 25 TDs passing and 148-891-6 rushing—and this offseason the Commanders fortified the offensive line by trading for Pro Bowl LT Laremy Tunsil and drafting first-round OT Josh Conerly, and they also strengthened the pass-catching unit by trading for WR Deebo Samuel while retaining TE Zach Ertz. He already has a high floor, but if Daniels progresses in his second season he could finish as the No. 1 QB in fantasy.

Drake Maye (Patriots)

If we remove the injury-impacted Week 8 and meaningless Week 18 games that Drake Maye exited early, he averaged 36.3 yards rushing across 10 starts. He has a reasonable chance to build upon a promising rookie year, and the Patriots have drastically improved this offseason with the return of Josh McDaniels and the addition of LT Will Campbell, RT Morgan Moses, C Jared Wilson, WRs Stefon Diggs, and rookies Kyle Williams and RB TreVeyon Henderson.  

J.J. McCarthy (Vikings)

HC Kevin O'Connell, WRs Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, TE T.J. Hockenson, and RB Aaron Jones made Sam Darnold look like one of the league's best QBs after a career of subpar performance. Just imagine what they can do for J.J. McCarthy? Given his draft pedigree (No. 10 pick), athleticism (6.82-second three-cone drill), college production (72.3% completion rate, 9.8 AY/A in final season), and winning makeup (CFB and HS national champion), McCarthy could be better in 2025 than Darnold was in 2024.

Tyler Shough (Saints)

The second-round Tyler Shough has a chance to start in Week 1 (and for the rest of the season) because of uncertainty surrounding QB Derek Carr (shoulder), and he should benefit from working with wunderkind offensive HC Kellen Moore. Shough has the athleticism (4.63-second 40-yard dash) to be a better-than-expected scrambler, and he has an above-average collection of pass catchers with WRs Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Brandin Cooks, TE Juwan Johnson, and RB Alvin Kamara.

Freedman’s Favorite RBs for 2025 Fantasy Football

De'Von Achane (Dolphins)

Despite having a "down" season last year with "only" 5.3 yards per touch, De'Von Achane had 1,151 yards and 11 TDs on 143 carries and 73 targets in his 11 games with QB Tua Tagovailoa. He has No. 1 RB upside. 

Derrick Henry (Ravens)

The Ravens failed to add to the backfield this offseason, which means Derrick Henry is once again poised to dominate touches. For each of the past seven years, he has had 1,000 scrimmage yards and 10 TDs—and last year he popped off for 2,114 and 18.

James Cook (Bills)

As I noted in our recent Fantasy Life rankings roundtable, I want to be high on James Cook, but I also know he wants a new contract and might skip some team activities, which makes him inherently dangerous. Still, he has 2,834 yards and 24 TDs from scrimmage over the past two seasons. As long as he's playing alongside MVP QB Josh Allen, why should he be any less prolific in 2025?

Joe Mixon (Texans)

The Texans opted not to invest any of their four top-100 picks into the RB position in the draft, so I believe that Joe Mixon's 2024 workhorse role (245 carries, 52 targets in 14 games) is likely to carry forward into 2025. Mixon has averaged 1,280.4 scrimmage yards and 10 TDs per season since 2018 (including 2020, when he played just six games), and he'll still be only 29 years old this season. 

Alvin Kamara (Saints)

Alvin Kamara will be 30 years old for the entirety of the 2025 campaign. Even so, the Saints didn't bring in an RB in free agency to back him up, and in the draft they waited until Round 6 to add backfield depth. That gives him a great chance to replicate the 1,493 yards and 8 TDs he put up last season in just 14 games. Only once in his career has he had fewer than 1,300 scrimmage yards. Excepting injury, Kamara has an elite floor.

David Montgomery (Lions)

Saquon Barkley, Jahmyr Gibbs, Kyren Williams, the aforementioned Henry and Mixon, and then the always underappreciated David Montgomery: They're the only RBs with 1,000 scrimmage yards and 10-plus TDs in back-to-back seasons over the past two years. Even though Gibbs established himself as a true lightning dominator last year, I expect Montgomery's thunder role to remain intact this year.

Aaron Jones (Vikings)

It's suboptimal for Aaron Jones that the team added backup Jordan Mason via trade this offseason, but he's still primed to be the clear No. 1 RB in an offense that has a top-tier playcaller in HC Kevin O'Connell and an offensive line that has been retooled with the addition of LG Donovan Jackson, C Ryan Kelly, and RG Will Fries. In his six years as a lead back, Jones has averaged 1,359.7 yards and 9.5 TDs from scrimmage.

Quinshon Judkins (Browns)

Quinshon Judkins was dominant in college (three straight seasons of 1,200-plus scrimmage yards), he has a near-elite physical profile (4.48-second 40-yard dash at 6-foot-0, 221 pounds), he has strong draft capital (No. 36 overall), and the Browns have no veteran RBs with the true potential to challenge Judkins for playing time (Jerome Ford, Pierre Strong). On top of that, the Browns still have a top-quartile offensive line, QB Joe Flacco already knows the offense from his five-game Comeback Player of the Year stint with the team in 2023, and offensive HC Kevin Stefanski (2020 & 2023 HCOY) is one of the league's best playcallers. There's almost nothing to dislike about the rookie Judkins this year.

Kaleb Johnson (Steelers)

In his four years with the Steelers, the departed Najee Harris never had fewer than 255 carries and 1,205 scrimmage yards. Kaleb Johnson is a Harris-like player, he's likely to inherit Harris' vacated role, and in college last year he had 1,725 yards and 23 TDs from scrimmage in a 12-game All-American campaign.

D'Andre Swift (Bears)

The Bears this offseason are yet to bring in an RB with the potential to challenge Swift for meaningful opportunities, and just last year he had a career-best 1,345 yards from scrimmage in his first season with the team. Maybe offensive HC Ben Johnson doesn't like Swift, but that's just conjectural. What's known, though, is that Johnson gifted Swift a career-high 6.3 yards per touch in 2022, his one previous season as Swift's playcaller.

Freedman’s Favorite WRs for 2025 Fantasy Football

Tyreek Hill (Dolphins)

Tyreek Hill is available near the end of Round 2, but last year he was a top-3 fantasy pick. His numbers were down in 2024 (1,012 yards, 6 TDs from scrimmage), but QB Tua Tagovailoa was out for six games, and Hill is likely to be more efficient this year (9.5 yards per target for career) than he was last (7.8).

Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seahawks)

QB Sam Darnold is an acceptable replacement now that Geno Smith is gone, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba should approach double-digit targets on a per-game basis while lining up all across the formation without departed WRs DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. As strong as he was last year (100-1,130-6 receiving, 8.2 yards per target), JSN could be even more dominant in 2025, even with the addition of Cooper Kupp.

Marvin Harrison (Cardinals)

The Cardinals added no pass catchers in the draft, so Harrison's WR competition for 2025 will be the uninspiring trio of Michael Wilson, Greg Dortch, and Zay Jones. What we saw out of JSN in 2024 should remind us that underperforming first-round receivers can enjoy second-season breakouts—and I don't think Harrison's rookie campaign was all that bad: With even just a slight boost in targets per game (6.8) and yards per target (7.6), he would've had 1,000-10 receiving last year.

Jameson Williams (Lions)

Jameson Williams has 9.8 yards per target and 8.7 yards per carry for his career: The dude is living, breathing, running upside. Coming off his first 1,000-yard campaign, Williams still is yet to hit even 100 targets in any NFL season, but if his usage increases this year he could go off.

Jerry Jeudy (Browns)

With the Browns opting to trade down from No. 2 instead of selecting WR/CB Travis Hunter, Jeudy escaped the 2025 draft with his No. 1 role intact. In the final 10 games of 2024—after QB Deshaun Watson (Achilles) was lost for the year—Jeudy put up 69-963-3 receiving on 103 targets, and his QB situation might be better this year with the offseason additions of Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders. Jeudy has a chance to exceed last year's career-best yardage total of 1,229.

Jauan Jennings (49ers) & Ricky Pearsall (49ers)

The case for both Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall is basically the same: No. 1 WR Brandon Aiyuk is recovering from a torn ACL, No. 2 WR Deebo Samuel is gone, TE George Kittle turns 32 years old this year, and RB Christian McCaffrey spent all of last season plagued by injury. In 10 games last year without either Aiyuk or Samuel, Jennings had 63-746-6 receiving on 89 targets. And Pearsall last year as a first-round rookie had 22-321-3 receiving on 28 targets with 3-45-0 rushing in his four starts. Either one could be the No. 1 pass catcher for the 49ers.

Freedman’s Favorite TEs for 2025 Fantasy Football

Brock Bowers (Raiders)

As a rookie last year, Brock Bowers was a first-team All-Pro with 112-1,194-5 receiving, and he could be better in 2025 with some traditional second-season development. On top of that, OC Chip Kelly and QB Geno Smith are likely upgrades on 2024 OCs Luke Getsy and Scott Turner and QBs Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell. Bowers might be the new Travis Kelce.

Trey McBride (Cardinals)

Trey McBride started 2024 with modest production, but he dominated from Week 5 on with 97-1,024-2 receiving on 126 targets (plus a two-yard rushing TD) in 13 games after missing Week 4 with a concussion. Even if Harrison improves in 2025, McBride still might lead the team in targets. 

Jonnu Smith (Dolphins)

The Dolphins didn't add any pass catchers in the draft, so Jonnu Smith's 2024 role could carry forward into 2025. Last year after the Week 6 bye he put up 74-744-8 receiving across 12 games with 7.5 targets per game. If he can play like that for all of 2025, he'll probably be a top-3 producer.

Jake Ferguson (Cowboys)

The Cowboys didn't draft a WR or TE, and they can't give No. 1 WR CeeDee Lamb 250 targets. Jake Ferguson is looking at a career-best campaign on the horizon.