Fantasy Football WR Draft Guide: The Elites
Following a marvelous season where he scored 403 PPR fantasy points, second among all players, Ja’Marr Chase is the consensus No. 1 pick in fantasy football in 2025. He scored over 85 points more than the No. 2 player at his position last year.
While such an amazing fantasy campaign will be hard to match, Chase has such a high statistical floor that he can still finish as a top 3 player at the position even if his numbers fall off a bit. He’s a major standout WR in one of the league’s most prolific passing games, and that profile is not going to change much at all this year.
CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson are the next two highest-ranked WRs for 2025. Both players should be off boards in the first half of the first round in many drafts. I would not be surprised to see Lamb finish as the overall WR1 in fantasy football this season. The Dallas passing game might be the busiest outside of Cincinnati.
J.J. McCarthy is taking over as the starting quarterback for Minnesota, yet Jefferson has maintained his excellent levels of production throughout his career so far while working with multiple QBs. The Vikings’ front office obviously has enough confidence in McCarthy that Jefferson should have a high statistical floor again, too. If Minnesota’s decision-makers have apparent trust in their new starting QB, it’s good enough for me to label Jefferson as a solid pick in the first half of the first round again.
Amon-Ra St. Brown finished as a top 3 fantasy WR in each of the last two seasons. His Average Draft Position of eighth overall per FantasyPros.com marks him as a very favorable pick in the second half of the first round in 2025. Giants second-year man Malik Nabers is also a surefire first rounder. If he stays healthy and New York gets steady QB play, he might challenge Lamb and Chase to be the highest-scoring fantasy football WR of the 2025 season.
Brian Thomas Jr. delivered a breakout campaign in 2024, finishing as a top 4 fantasy WR, and he is another preferred draft target in the second half of the first round. Nico Collins has an ADP of 13th overall, although he often is drafted before the end of the first round. I am expecting a bounce-back campaign from C.J. Stroud, and the WR crew around Collins is improved, which could help him in terms of drawing a bit less of overall defensive attention.
In each of his first two NFL seasons, Puka Nacua finished as a top 4 fantasy WR. The availability of Matthew Stafford will allow him to post a top 5 showing again if the Rams’ QB can play most of the season. The Eagles might pass more often this year, so A.J. Brown joins Nacua as one of the better early WR picks in the second round.