It feels like it was just yesterday that we were all prepping for fantasy football draft season. Then BOOM, the season is over, just like that. Hopefully you are biding your time with some off-season/playoff leagues to keep the fantasy football blood pumping. I am in one league for charity and enjoying the off-line discussions I am sharing with my partners @RazzballNFL (Home – Razzball Fantasy Football). So, you are aware, our football group will be publishing articles throughout the off-season while also hosting podcasts to discuss the upcoming draft, the free agency periods (legal tampering and normal free agency), and, before you know it, BOOM, we will be talking 2025 fantasy football draft prep. What a time to be alive!
For my next group of articles, I will focus on the Wide Receiver position. I will discuss hits and misses, sleepers and busts, and the general outlook for the 2025 season. Our work may be done for 2024, but that only means we are looking forward to winning our leagues in 2025. Stay tuned for rankings, with updates to follow throughout the offseason.
Remember to check in with the @Razzball NFL team of writers as we host our You Tube podcasts where we chat all things off-season fantasy football and maybe weave in some music and pop culture chatter. Join Sky Guasco @SkyGuasco, The Lineup Builder @Derek_Favret, Jeff Kezar @Jefferson__21, Dave Crews @crewser128, and me, Matt Stiles @stiles08 on out various You Tube sows as we answer all your questions thus keeping you engaged for the 2025 season while looking back at what coulda, shoulda, woulda been in 2024. Come for the analysis and stay for the laughs!
First Round Bust
- Player: Tyreek Hill
- Team: Miami Dolphins
- Positional Finish (ADP): WR1 (WR18)
When a fantasy and real football season ends with the WR1 aggressively tweeting about leaving the team, you know it was not the best season for the player. Come to think of it, Hill started that tweeting well before the season was over. I fully expect Hill to be playing in a different uniform in 2025; possibly silver and black. What a fitting way to end his career, by heading to where WRs go to disappear from the fantasy landscape. Thank goodness Randy Moss and Davante Adams were able to escape what is that WR wasteland of a franchise. To sum up how bad Cheetah was in 2024 consider he put up nine double-digit performances but only five of those saw him hit the 14-point PPR mark. At the end, Hill only handed his managers five WR1 finishes (26, 19.1, 20.3, 28.1, 19.5) and he played every game this season. Tyreek’s draft capital is shot. I see his draft stock plummeting in 2025. Who knows? Maybe he will be a bargain. I doubt it.
Honorable Mention: A.J. Brown (97-67-1,079-7)
Mid Round Bust
- Player: Diontae Johnson
- Team: Carolina Panthers / Baltimore Ravens / Houston Texans
- Positional Finish (ADP): WR39 (WR86)
With three double digit fantasy performances in the first seven weeks, Johnson was bringing some value. Not a ton, but some. He is traded in front of Week 8 and does not play. He returns to play Weeks 9-18 (minus a Week 14 bye) and disappoints with a grand total of 3.3 PPR points. Is this the case of another WR diva gone south? Time will tell as he was acquired (again) by the Ravens at the end of the season. If I was a betting man (maybe I am), I place $1 on Johnson not being on the Ravens roster to begin the 2025 regular season.
Honorable Mention: Amari Cooper, Cleveland Browns / Buffalo Bills (85-44-547-4)
The Rookie Bust
- Player: Marvin Harrison Jr.
- Team: Arizona Cardinals
- Positional Finish (ADP): WR9 (WR30)
Not to toot my horn over here but beep beep. I faded Maserati Marv while other analysts could not wait to draft him in the early- to mid-second round. I was much higher on BTJ who could be drafted in the double-digit rounds. Well, folks, look who was right (this time). Just under half of Harrison’s game saw him put up more than 14 PPR points. He was too inconsistent to be placed in lineups each week as is evident by his Week 3-10 stretch of 17.4, 15.5, 5.6, 0.0, 5.1, 23.1, 3.4, 16.4 points before heading into the bye week. Though he finished the season relatively strong with two games over 15 PPR points, the three games leading up to that point were all under nine PPR points. That is not enough ROI for my liking. Harrison will be just fine moving into 2025 and will probably come at a discount on draft day. His name is still famous, so he will not drop too far. Keep an eye on mock drafts and early ADP to get a feel for where he is landing. We also want to see the Cardinals help protect the QB position better so the draft may give us an indication if they are ready to do so.
Honorable Mention: Adonai Mitchell (55-23-312-0)
What Could Have Been if Not for Injury
- Player: Ricky Pearsall
- Team: San Francisco 49ers
- Positional Finish (ADP): WR75 (WR82)
Dude got shot. TWICE! The former Florida Gators WR was drafted at #31 overall in 2024 to the surprise of many pundits. Being drafted to a team with firmly established WR1&2 in Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, not to mention Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle, did not bode well for the rookie. Enter the pre-season shooting incident (is this a Brian Robinson article?), and you have the makings of a lost season. ‘Nay’ said Pearsall as he was back with the team and playing in Week 7. After the Week 9 bye, Pearsall popped onto the scene with 17.3 PPR points, and we were here for it! Then, a three-week run of 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 brought into question his role. After three more single digit games, our guy Ricky finished the season with 28.7 and 18.9 PPR point games. He will need consistent targets to bring significant fantasy value in 2025, and I think he has enough game to translate to the NFL. It is a matter of the 49ers offense moving into 2025. Who will be in the huddle? Who will be healthy? Will there be any contract issues (Aiyuk)? Will there be any head cases (Deebo)? Can they afford to keep the band together? Watch the news to see how this all plays out.
Honorable Mention: Chris Olave (did not play after Week 9), Marquise ‘ Hollywood’ Brown (only played two games)
Follow me @stiles08 on Twitter/X and send questions comments at the bottom of this article. Make sure you jump around the Razzball site for all your fantasy football needs.
-Stiles-
