The 2025 NFL preseason is wrapping up and meaning fantasy soccer draft season is underway. We lastly made it individuals!
The 2024 NFL Draft class produced a number of offensive playmakers who ended up making an instantaneous influence upon their entry into the league. We noticed the likes of Jayden Daniels, Bucky Irving, Malik Nabers, and Brock Bowers have standout performances as rookies they usually’ll remember to be mainstay fantasy soccer names for years to come back.
However we’re not right here to speak about them. We’re right here to speak about a few of their friends within the tier under them. Whether or not it’s a transfer up the depth chart, a brand new teaching employees, or just having a season of professional soccer below their belts, there are a handful of second-year gamers which have the possibility to step it up in 12 months 2 and grow to be breakout stars on your fantasy rosters. We’ll go over a few of these names under and we’ll use PPR rankings for additional readability.
Drake Maye, New England Patriots
2024 Fantasy End: QB23 (14.4 FPPG)
Present ADP: QB16, 123 General
Maye put collectively a strong rookie marketing campaign final season and was one of many lone shiny spots on a dismal 4-13 Pats squad. The No. 3 total decide of final yr’s draft accomplished 66.6% of his passes for two,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 12 begins for New England. He additionally notably had 421 dashing yards on 7.8 yards per carry, the very best ypc amongst beginning QB’s with at the very least 20 dashing makes an attempt. A few of that may be attributed to him being pressured to run for his life at occasions because of the workforce’s go safety struggles, however his mobility is what helped make him a extremely touted prospect popping out of North Carolina.
He’s primed to take a leap in 12 months 2 contemplating that he’ll have a seemingly extra steady state of affairs round him with Mike Vrabel now working the present as head coach. He’s now below the tutelage of veteran offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who in his third stint in Foxborough, and has a big-play receiving goal in Stefon Diggs. The workforce additionally received him some much-needed safety within the type of left deal with Will Campbell, who they took with the No. 4 decide of the NFL Draft in April.
If these offseason personnel upgrades pan out and Maye reveals enchancment over his rookie season, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him creeping round as a top-10 fantasy QB by the tip of the season.
Braelon Allen, New York Jets
2024 Fantasy End: RB51 (5.0 FPPG)
Present ADP: RB50, 147 General
At 6’1”, 235 kilos, Allen was drafted within the fourth spherical out of Wisconsin final yr and served as Breece Corridor’s backup on a Jets squad that struggled with a 5-12 file. His 334 dashing yards, 148 receiving yards, and three complete touchdowns on the yr weren’t eye-popping numbers by any stretch, however he did handle to get loads of reps even because the workforce meandered via a mediocre marketing campaign.
Coming into 12 months 2, Allen stands to profit from a model new teaching employees with former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn taking up as Jets head coach and Lions passing-game coordinator Tanner Engstrand coming over as OC. The Lions’ offense was one of many deadliest assaults in all the league final season thanks largely to the “Sonic and Knuckles” tandem of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. It was a basic two-back setup the place the 230-pound Montgomery would deal with enterprise between the tackles as a bruiser whereas the faster Gibbs could possibly be used as a weapon within the passing sport. Each completed as top-20 fantasy working backs in PPR leagues and the imaginative and prescient in New York is for Allen, Corridor, and even third-stringer Isaiah Davis to duplicate that dynamic.
Allen has turned heads throughout the preseason and his play even sparked transient commerce rumors surrounding Corridor. Glenn has said that every one three of his working backs might be utilized within the offense this season, however it could not be a shock to see the second-year playmaker rapidly emerge as their lead rusher.
Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
2024 Fantasy End: WR80 (2.2 FPPG)
Present ADP: RB65, 242 General
Much like the aforementioned Allen, Corum spent his rookie season in a backup position and posted modest numbers with 58 carries for 207 dashing yards on the yr. The third-round pick of Michigan did get an opportunity to begin within the workforce’s regular-season finale in opposition to the Seattle Seahawks, however sadly suffered a damaged forearm that sidelined him for the postseason.
Corum’s low utilization as a rookie in 2024 will be squarely pinned on the sheer quantity of touches obtained by starter Kyren Williams. He led all working backs within the NFL with 888 complete snaps and was in a position to produce 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns off 316 carries for the season. Whereas fantasy managers had been happy with that stage of manufacturing, it wasn’t essentially environment friendly as he averaged simply 4.1 yards per carry with a dashing EPA of -0.07 and an explosive run charge of simply 6.96%.
Sean McVay has preferred utilizing working again committees previously and given how spectacular Corum and third-stringer Jarquez Hunter have seemed in coaching camp, the second-year tailback could get a heavier workload this season. He’s a first-rate handcuff candidate in fantasy leagues and will see his numbers take a major spike.
Ricky Pearsall, San Franciso 49ers
2024 Fantasy End: WR82 (8.5 FPPG)
Present ADP: WR41, 92 General
Pearsall is being hyped as one of many prime second-year breakout candidates for the 2025 season and he might very properly make a reputation for himself this yr. The previous Arizona State/Florida pass-catcher was receiving buzz forward of his rookie yr earlier than being shot within the chest throughout an tried armed theft simply days earlier than the beginning of the season.
Miraculously, he was in a position to step onto the sector for his debut in Week 7 and ended up making strong contributions to the workforce, catching 31 targets for 400 yards and three touchdowns. It was the ultimate two weeks of the season the place he actually flashed his potential for the group and fantasy managers alike, notably going off for 141 yards and a landing in Week 17 in opposition to the Detroit Lions.
San Francisco’s receiver room will look loads completely different this season with Deebo Samuel now in Washington, Brandon Aiyuk nonetheless recovering from a torn ACL/MCL, and Jauan Jennings coping with a calf harm whereas pushing for a brand new contract. These circumstances are the proper storm for Pearsall to instantly emerge because the workforce’s prime receiving menace subsequent to George Kittle and fantasy managers ought to take word.
Xavier Worthy, Kansas Metropolis Chiefs
2024 Fantasy End: WR33 (11.0 FPPG)
Present ADP: WR23, 53 General
Chosen in the direction of the tip of the primary spherical in 2024, Worthy instantly emerged as Patrick Mahomes’ second-favorite choice behind Travis Kelce. The previous Texas Longhorn delivered a strong rookie marketing campaign for the perennial powerhouse franchise, catching 59 targets for 638 yards and 6 touchdowns throughout the common season. And even because the Chiefs had been being completely annihilated by the Philadelphia Eagles in Tremendous Bowl LIX, he nonetheless managed to carve out some historical past by setting a SB rookie receiving file with eight receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns.
Coming into 2025, Worthy having a breakout 12 months 2 might be an absolute necessity for Kansas Metropolis’s offense. The franchise hasn’t had a 1,000-yard broad receiver since Tyreek Hill in 2021 and it’s a dangerous proposition to proceed to ask Mahomes to do extra with much less. The aforementioned Kelce lastly confirmed his age with the least productive season of his profession final yr and Rashee Rice’s suspension saga nonetheless looms over the offense. The door is broad open for Worthy to grow to be a top-20 wideout in fantasy this season and he might grow to be Mahomes’ favourite goal by the tip of the yr.
Ja’Tavion Sanders, Carolina Panthers
2024 Fantasy End: TE36 (4.6 FPPG)
Present ADP: TE29, 239 General
Sanders is an under-the-radar weapon that might find yourself enjoying an enormous position for the Carolina offense because the workforce tries to take a step ahead in 2025. As a rookie final yr, the previous Texas tight finish did properly for himself rather than an injured Tommy Tremble, posting 33 receptions for 342 yards and a landing. These numbers might’ve been increased had a neck harm he suffered in opposition to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs in November not restricted him in motion for the following a number of weeks.
One thing to notice as Reid of Panthers Stats identified is that Sanders really led the workforce in common yards after catch at 5.6. That capability to take full benefit of his targets and assist the workforce transfer the ball down the sector makes him a possible X-factor for the offense, particularly with Tremble rehabbing from offseason again surgical procedure. Whether or not you scoop him up in the direction of the tip of your draft or off waivers, there’s an opportunity you could possibly be getting an absolute steal in one of many rising tight ends within the league.
