The Best & Worst Performers of 2025 Fantasy Football

Fantasy sports news, analysis, and waiver wire advice.

By Fantasy Roundup · January 14, 2026

Written by: William Dempsey Firstly Happy New Year! Hopefully you started the year off strong and won your 2025 Fantasy Football League, so to all of those who did, cheers and congratulations it was well deserved. You fought tooth and nail to bring home the trophy; be sure to walk with pride and relish in the glory. Now demand that your leaguemates respect you as the official 2025 Fantasy Football Champion! Now that the 2025 fantasy football season is over let's look back at the best and worst performers based on what we expected from them, along with some of the good surprises that came our way this 2025 football season. BEST QB’S: JOSH ALLEN (BUFFALO BILLS - QUARTERBACK) | AVG. 21.45 PPG Surprise, surprise, the unrivaled and king of fantasy football quarterbacks is once again, Josh Allen. Okay sorry for the sarcasm but lets be honest, did anyone really not see this coming, because when Josh is on fire he is pretty much unstoppable. That can be seen in his brutal 42.68 points in fantasy football against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 11. There isn't much to say when it comes to Josh Allen; it’s painfully clear that the crown of quarterbacks belongs to him and him alone. DRAKE MAYE (NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - QUARTERBACK) | AVG. 20.70 PPG When it comes to 2nd year quarterbacks, Drake Maye showed that the New England Patriots believe in him to be their new leader and the backbone of this dynamic offense. He showed he can do it all, his shotgun of an arm and his ability to turn nothing into something with his rushing prowess is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to talking about the player that Drake Maye is. On top of that Drake only threw eight interceptions in the regular season, which is inline with the other high tier quarterbacks, so let's all welcome Drake Maye to the class of elite QB’s. PATRICK MAHOMES (KANSAS CITY CHIEFS - QUARTERBACK) | AVG. 20.41 PPG Pre-injury there was only one man that was putting up numbers to compete with Josh Allen in fantasy football this year. Clearly Patrick Mahomes came back with a fire lit under him, bringing back those #1 quarterback season performances we saw just a couple of seasons ago. He was averaging 20+ points in fantasy football this season, but let's put all that to the side and hope for healthy recovery for this game changing quarterback. WORST QB’S: LAMAR JACKSON (BALTIMORE RAVENS - QUARTERBACK) | AVG. 16.53 PPG Abysmal, there are no other words to describe Lamar Jackson’s performances this year in fantasy football. Lamar’s fall from glory was sad to watch; we all still believe in that game breaking quarterback that he was just a year ago. This year was clearly a down year because no one went into the year expecting Lamar Jackson to average 16.53 points in fantasy football, and for that to be your 3rd or 4th round pick that just isn't good enough. BAKER MAYFIELD (TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS - QUARTERBACK) | AVG. 16 PPG Don't get me wrong Baker Mayfield's first six games this year were phenomenal, but after Baker and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers played the Detroit Lions on week 7, things took a dark turn pretty fast. In 2024 fantasy football, Baker was one of the biggest and brightest surprises, finishing as a top five quarterback. However going from greatness to averaging a mere 16 points a game is tragic to say the least. Now if I'm being completely fair, Baker rarely had a fully healthy squad behind him. At the same time there are other quarterbacks like Dak Prescott and Patrick Mahomes performing despite not having their number one weapons. JAYDEN DANIELS (WASHINGTON COMMANDERS - QUARTERBACK) | AVG. 16.33 PPG Is it completely fair to put Jayden Daniels here? No, not completely but considering where he was most likely drafted in your fantasy football league, the 3rd or 4th round, this year was pretty disappointing. Injuries are the story for Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders, but even while he was playing, Jayden’s performances were up and down. I’m sure he is still the talent we saw last year is still there, so with some good rest I'm sure he will come back in full form. BEST RB’S: CHRISTIAN McCAFFERY (SAN FRANCISCO 49ers - RUNNING BACK) | 24.51 PPG I think Christian McCaffery might’ve found a time machine because we just saw the performance ceilings that he was producing in 2023. It’s great to see Christian McCaffery thrive again and show us that he can still be the #1 running back in fantasy football. Now to be transparent the version we saw of him this year is obviously not as good as we previously got, his rushing efficiency took a nose dive but through the passing game we literally saw a wide receiver lining up in the backfield. Even though I said his rushing game wasn't as good he still managed to record 1202 rushing yards on the season, coupled with his 924 receiving yards culminating him over 2000+ yards from scrimmage. BIJAN ROBINSON (ATLANTA FALCONS - RUNNING BACK) | 21.81 PPG Possibly the most agile and elusive running back in the league, Bijan Robinson has continued to show why he is worth that early 1st round pick. No matter how atrocious of an experience it was watching the Atlanta Falcons play as a whole, there were two bright stars and one of them being Bijan Robinson. When you look up a big play threat, Bijan should be the first thing you see. Defenses can’t afford to let him have even the tiniest of breathing room, proof of that is his 93 rushing yard touchdown vs. the Los Angeles Rams on week 17. Bijan Robinson is one of, if not the most dynamic players in fantasy football. JONATHAN TAYLOR (INDIANAPOLIS COLTS - RUNNING BACK) | 21.31 PPG Without a doubt for the first half of this season the most feared player in all of fantasy football was Jonathan Taylor. In seven of the first 10 games of the year, he had at least 23.7 points in fantasy football. But that doesn't show why he was the most feared, what will show you is the fact that in three of those he had 30+ points and then almost had a 50 point bomb against the Atlanta Falcons. In the first ten games of the season he averaged 27.39 points in fantasy football. At the time he was even a favorite for MVP, without a doubt Jonathan Taylor was a spectacle to see. WORST RB’S: SAQUON BARKLEY (PHILADELPHIA EAGLES - RUNNING BACK) | 14.52 PPG Oh how the great have fallen, last year Saquon Barkley was likely to have been one of the biggest reasons you won the 2024 fantasy football season. However that couldn't be further from the truth this year. Now in all honesty there wasn't a single person on this Philadelphia Eagles offense that felt reliable the whole year. Saquon is part of the reason that the 2025 fantasy football season felt like the season of 1st round bust. He averaged a bleak 14.52 points, when you compare that to the best running back for fantasy this year, Christian McCaffery, that is a 10 point difference for their averages. ALVIN KAMARA (NEW ORLEANS SAINT- RUNNING BACK) | 9.15 PPG Wait, you mean to tell me that the aging running back, Alvin Kamara, on a bad team didn't produce and was a major bust in fantasy football? Okay seriously that's my last time being sarcastic but this really shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone. It wasn’t all Alvin's fault though, the way they decided to run this offense clearly didn't suit him for fantasy football at all. Usually what he lacked on the ground points wise would be swept under the rug because of his previous importance to the New Orleans Saints passing game. This year was different, and Alvin Kamara suffered dearly, averaging under 10 points in fantasy football is even worse than I expected. BREECE HALL (NEW JERSEY JETS - RUNNING BACK) | 12.98 PPG Breece Hall is the textbook definition of the highs and lows of being a running back on a dreadful offense. One week Breece could go out there and give you 7.2 points in fantasy football and then 32.86 points the following. There's no question about his talent, but it's high time we start accepting that the offense controls the production of the running backs more than the talent of said players themselves. For ours and Breece’s sake, let’s hope he can find a new team he can call home. BEST WR’S: PUKA NACUA (LOS ANGELES RAMS - WIDE RECEIVER) | 23.44 PPG Gritty, fearless, and tenacious is how we should start describing Puka Nacua, because nobody goes out there and puts his body on the line quite like he does. He lives and breathes football and that is exactly what us fantasy football owners need. His connection with Matthew Stafford is undeniable, and the proof is in the pudding, I mean the man averaged just over 13 targets a game. Puka Nacua is without one of the best wide receivers in the league currently and it's electrifying watching him tear apart these poor defensive secondaries. JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA (SEATTLE SEAHAWKS- WIDE RECEIVER) | 21.17 PPG 105.5 yards a game, with 15.1 yards a reception… that is one of the craziest averages in all of football and it belongs to the man, the myth, the legend, Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He is officially the #2 wide receiver in the 2025 fantasy football season. Coming out of college he all thought he would come out the gate firing a full cylinders, of course we all know that wasn't the case. However in the tail end of last year we saw him start to shine and show why he was one of the best prospects the Ohio State University Buckeyes has ever produced, and he started this year off exactly where he left off last year, putting even the best defenses to shame. GEORGE PICKENS (DALLAS COWBOYS - WIDE RECEIVER) | 17.17 PPG I sat here for some time and debated who I should put here between George Pickens and Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions. It was a hard decision but I can't ignore what George did this year. He came to a team that already had a star wide receiver in CeeDee Lamb, and yet he still became a safety blanket for Dak Prescott. It was truly easy pickings for Mr. Pickens when it came to stealing the hope of anyone that lined up against him. George Pickens made some of the craziest catches, plays and even some hilarious moments. All of that earned him the position of the 5th best wide receiver in 2025 fantasy football. WORST WR’S: JUSTIN JEFFERSON (MINNESOTA VIKINGS - WIDE RECEIVER) | 11.85 PPG Justin “Jettas” Jefferson is widely considered to be one of the best receivers in the league and I still think he is. Unfortunately he had to deal with an underdeveloped quarterback throwing him the ball. On the bright side he still breached 1000 total receiving yards but when it comes to fantasy football a lot of us fantasy managers are not happy with their 1st round pick being as bad as he was. Ultimately unless the Minnesota Vikings decide to trade or draft another quarterback, next year could be the same story for Jetta. BRIAN THOMAS JR. (JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS - WIDE RECEIVER) | 9.91 PPG Brian Thomas Jr. is another example of those 1st or 2nd round picks that set you up for failure this fantasy football season. To say the sophomore wide receiver has had a rough go at it this season would be an understatement. At the beginning of the year we tried to blame it on him not being completely healthy and that we should just give him some time because if we would've gotten the Brian from last year a lot of things could have gone differently for some of our fantasy football teams. That excuse came and went, turning Brian into someone you never wanted to jam into your lineup and even at times contemplating dropping him completely. LADD McCONKEY (LOS ANGELES CHARGERS - WIDE RECEIVER) | 11.31 PPG Unlike Brian Thomas Jr., there were still moments in which we saw the genius that Ladd McConkey showed in the latter half of last year's fantasy football season. This season was a complicated one for the Los Angeles Chargers, typically we would expect them to be more run heavy but this year they changed the script. Allow Justin Herbert to really bloom and show why he is such a threat while throwing the ball, the weird thing is the increased passing volume didn’t lead to better performances for Ladd but the opposite. It felt like a fever dream seeing Ladd do so poorly but see the enigma that is Quentin Johnson have multiple amazing games. BEST TE’S: TREY McBRIDE (ARIZONA CARDINALS - TIGHT END) | 18.51 PPG If the MVP of the 2025 fantasy football season isn’t Christian McCaffery then it has to be Trey McBride, and the crazy thing is if someone wanted to outright say it was him, they have a leg to stand on. When it comes to game changing players Trey McBride is just that, and honestly in fantasy football he is the ultimate cheat code. Just to put it into perspective how good he is, if he was listed as a wide receiver, Trey McBride would be the #4 receiver on the year. That’s ahead of Ja’Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb and Nico Collins, all players that have wide receiver one upside. He is cut from a different cloth and is without a doubt the best tight end in the NFL. GEORGE KITTLE (SAN FRANCISCO 49ers - TIGHT END) | 14.68 PPG Once you separate the God of tight ends, Trey McBride, the next best would be the man with the best shoe game in the league, George Kittle. His numbers were also better than a lot of wide receivers and running backs, with his average of 14.68 points a game he leap frogs over Saquon Barkley in terms of averages. Having an elite tight end on your roster is paramount to reach victory. TYLER WARREN (INDIANAPOLIS COLTS - TIGHT END) | 11.09 PPG I have a serious theory that every year there will be one tight end that is an automatic jam into your lineup. In the last three years we have had, Sam LaPorta of the Detroit Lions, Brock Bowers of the Las Vegas Raiders and this year that man is Tyler Warren of the Indianapolis Colts. Credit must also be given to the absolute legend, Daniel Jones. This young buck is set to make waves, he is dynamic enough to catch, block and he even took some goal line work from Jonathan Taylor. If the team trusts him enough to do that, then I'll believe in him too. WORST TE’S: MARK ANDREWS (BALTIMORE RAVENS - TIGHT END) | 7.71 PPG Bad tight ends for fantasy football is an over saturated category, so it's hard to really knock someone you didn't have high expectations for. If I have to choose someone i’ll go with Mark Andrews, because he will have moments where you believe he might be that guy again but time and time again he proves that to not be the case. TJ HOCKENSON (MINNESOTA VIKINGS - TIGHT END) | 7.52 PPG What was said for Mark Andrews, could be copy and pasted but TJ Hockenson does have a valid excuse in the same way Justin Jefferson does. These players can't produce if they don't have someone that can give them that opportunity, so I can only blame TJ Hockenson so much.

Read the full article on Fantasy Roundup · Fantasy hockey dashboard · All articles