There must be other fun things to do besides talk about anything Super Bowl-related for the next two weeks. Oh, I got it! How about a 2025 fantasy football mock draft? That sounds fun! Now, we can answer questions about where tiers are, whether a quarterback or a tight end slips into the first two rounds and many more!
(This is a two-round, 12-team, 1QB, Points Per Reception (PPR) redraft fantasy football mock draft)
2025 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Two Rounds
Round No. 1
1.01: Ja’Marr Chase (WR, Cincinnati Bengals)
A triple-crown winner (leading the league in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns) and fantasy MVP like Ja’Marr Chase was last year deserves to be the first overall pick the following year.
Now, “1.01 Curse” aside, Chase was the only non-QB last year to average 23+ fantasy points per game. With his 403 PPR fantasy points, Chase was the only non-QB to score over 363 fantasy points last season. That’s a pretty big margin and why he deserves to be the first overall pick!
1.02: Justin Jefferson (WR, Minnesota Vikings)
You know the type of player you’re getting when drafting Justin Jefferson. In each of his five seasons in the NFL, he’s seen 100+ targets and produced 1,000+ yards and five-plus touchdowns. He’s a baller.
The only question left with him coming into next season is a pretty popular one. Will it be J.J. McCarthy or Sam Darnold throwing him the ball?
1.03: Saquon Barkley (RB, Philadelphia Eagles)
This should be the farthest Saquon Barkley should ever fall in a fantasy football mock draft like this. You could argue that he should be the 1.01 or 1.02, and I wouldn’t question it. He was the only running back last year to surpass 2,000 rushing yards, and he did that in just 16 games. “2KSA” was also the only RB to average 20+ fantasy points per game last year.
The only downside is that he was fifth in rushing touchdowns last year with 13, and if there weren’t a “tush push” happening, you’d likely see him score more touchdowns.
1.04: Bijan Robinson (RB, Atlanta Falcons
Bijan Robinson struggled the first five weeks of the 2024 season, not finishing higher than RB15. After that, he only had one game where he did not finish as a weekly top-10 RB. Last year, he averaged 111 scrimmage yards and 0.9 total touchdowns per game! He also was in the top four for running back receptions and targets last year, which solidifies him as the RB2 for me in this fantasy football mock draft.
1.05: Puka Nacua (WR, Los Angeles Rams)
We went from “Who’s this year’s Puka Nacua?” to “Who can stop Nacua?”. Despite only playing in 11 games last season due to injury, he still finished as the overall WR21. From Weeks 8-17, when Nacua played and did not miss a game, he and Chase were the only WRs with 100+ targets, 955+ receiving yards and 19.6+ fantasy points per game in that span.
With back-to-back seasons of 105+ targets, 990+ receiving yards and 205+ fantasy points, if you’re picking in the middle of the round, you might want to target Nacua just like Matthew Stafford does.
1.06: CeeDee Lamb (WR, Dallas Cowboys)
You want consistency? Look no further than CeeDee Lamb. In his last three seasons, he has played in 15+ games, finished no lower than WR8 in a season and has seen 100+ receptions, 150+ targets, 1,190+ yards and six-plus receiving touchdowns.
Although this is the first player in this fantasy football mock draft to feature a different head coach, Lamb was still producing pretty good numbers, whether his quarterback was Dak Prescott or Cooper Rush. A bonus is that you won’t have to deal with a possible holdout like earlier last season.
1.07: Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR, Detroit Lions)
The coaching carousel decided to ransack most Lions coaches for understandable reasons. While the “Sun God,” Amon-Ra St. Brown, might have lost his offensive coordinator and receivers coach to the Bears, I only worry slightly about him.
You cannot disrupt the connection that “ARSB” has with Jared Goff! In three straight seasons, he has finished no lower than WR7. Those seasons include 105+ receptions, 140+ targets, 1,150+ receiving yards and back-to-back seasons with double-digit receiving touchdowns!
1.08: Jahmyr Gibbs (RB, Detroit Lions)
Jahmyr Gibbs stops the receiver run, and now we’re going back-to-back with Detroit Lions players. The former Alabama Crimson Tide was only one of three running backs last season with 1,000+ rushing yards and 400+ receiving yards.
This offense may look a bit different now with Ben Johnson not calling the shots. Yet, as I mentioned with St. Brown, Gibbs is still a superstar and has not finished lower than RB10 in either of his first two seasons in the NFL.
1.09: Nico Collins (WR, Houston Texans)
It was a tale of two seasons for Nico Collins. From Weeks 1-5, the Michigan product was WR2 in fantasy football, averaging 113.4 receiving yards, 0.6 touchdowns and 21.3 fantasy points per game. Then, after suffering a hamstring injury, he returned and was not the same. From Weeks 11-17, Collins averaged 66.8 receiving yards, 0.5 touchdowns and 14.8 fantasy points per game.
I’m hoping that we get the latter, especially if I pick him in the first round. He’ll have an offseason to get even healthier and rekindle that connection with C.J. Stroud!
1.10: Malik Nabers (WR, New York Giants)
Whether it was Daniel Jones, Drew Lock or even Tommy DeVito, they all had the same idea: Pass the damn ball to Malik Nabers. Finishing as WR6, with only missing two games due to concussion, he saw seven targets in every game last year. It was tough to finish first in a receiver stat with the season that Chase put down, but from Weeks 1-17, Nabers had the most targets for any receiver!
While you might question the quarterback play of the Giants, you can’t question that they all have the same bright idea of targeting Nabers.
1.11: De’Von Achane (RB, Miami Dolphins)
Ah, yes. De’Von Achane led all running backs in receiving yards last season. If that doesn’t float your boat, the more popular statistic for Achane was the difference with and without Tua Tagovailoa at QB last season. With Tagovailoa, he averaged 22.5 fantasy points compared to 8.6 fantasy points without him. From Weeks 8-16, when Tagovailoa returned, Achane finished as RB2, only behind Barkley.
As long as the Dolphins’ quarterback is healthy and playing, Achane seems to be on his A-game.
1.12: Brian Thomas Jr. (WR, Jacksonville Jaguars)
The rookie receivers balled out last season, and so much so that I have two of them going in the first round! Brian Thomas Jr. was one of six receivers last year with 1,000+ receiving yards and double-digit touchdowns. Things are looking even brighter with his new head coach being former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who led Baker Mayfield to 41 passing touchdowns and got a lot out of his receivers.
Christian Kirk and Gabriel Davis will be back, but that didn’t stop him before! In Weeks 1-8, with those receivers active, Thomas Jr. paced as the WR7, averaging 4.1 receptions, 71.6 yards, 0.6 touchdowns and 15.4 fantasy points per game!
Round Two:
2.01: Josh Jacobs (RB, Green Bay Packers
Josh Jacobs was a wonderful addition to the Packers’ offense. He has now gone for 300+ carries, 1,300+ rushing yards and double-digit touchdowns and finished as a top-six RB in two of his last three seasons. He even caught his first receiving touchdown in the NFL with the Packers!
As long as he’s healthy, he will get the football and provide fantasy points. There’s no need to complain!
2.02: Tee Higgins (WR, Cincinnati Bengals)
Or should I have listed Tee Higgins as a possible free agent receiver? The former Clemson Tiger is this fantasy football mock draft’s highest possible free agent. I know Cincinnati is trying hard to keep the trio of Higgins, Chase and Joe Burrow together for years to come. Still, they might not be able to.
Wherever he ends up, they are getting a receiver who is a beast when healthy, finishing as the WR5 in fantasy points per game this year. He has now averaged 3.5+ receptions and 54.7+ receiving yards per game in each of his first five seasons in the NFL.
2.03: Derrick Henry (RB, Baltimore Ravens)
Derrick Henry proved that age is just a number last season. He and Barkley were the only running backs with 1,500+ rushing yards and 15+ total touchdowns. Despite doing all that damage on the ground, you must do it through the air to pay off in PPR formats. That’s why he falls in this mock draft to the third pick in the second round.
He finished as the RB4 in PPR scoring. He didn’t finish in the top three because he was 37th in receiving yards for the position with 193. However, he’s still “The King” for a reason!
2.04: Tyreek Hill (WR, Miami Dolphins)
By selecting Tyreek Hill, this would be the first team in this mock draft not to take a running back in the first two rounds.
Hill finishing as WR18 and averaging the 33rd-most fantasy points for the position last season was extremely disappointing. This was by far his worst year as a Miami Dolphin and his worst season, other than his rookie season, in which he’s played 15+ games. To me, it seems like the wrist injury was really bothering him. Reportedly, he was advised to have surgery on it in the preseason, but it meant costing him the season.
He ended his season by borderline requesting a trade while speaking to the media after Week 18’s loss to the Jets and missing playoffs. I feel Hill won’t be as bad as he was in 2024, but he won’t be as great as he was in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
2.05: A.J. Brown (WR, Philadelphia Eagles)
Whether “Inner Excellence” or “Philly Excellence,” A.J. Brown has not finished worse than WR20 in any season as a Philadelphia Eagle. While 2024 was his worst as an Eagle statistically, he also missed four games (three with injury and one with resting for playoffs). However, he still managed to put up 16.7 fantasy points per game and was WR12 in that category, tying Thomas Jr.
The one thing about Brown is that he can win you games just as much as he can lose you games. In seven of his 13 games last season, he finished WR17 or higher, including six in the top 10. In those other six games, you saw him finish WR35 or lower and score 13.5 fantasy points or fewer. Not every game will be huge, but he is still a top receiver and can win you games more times than not.
2.06: Josh Allen (QB, Buffalo Bills)
Usually, I think it’s insane to select a quarterback like Josh Allen in the second round when big-name running backs and receivers are still on the board. However, this is a decent slot for him to go, and if you’re not selecting the first quarterback, you are always looking at where the first quarterback domino falls.
The facts are simply this: Allen has finished either QB1 or QB2 in five straight seasons. I wouldn’t go too rich in the first round in a 1QB league, but depending on how the draft falls, I would not mind going with Allen in the middle-to-late second round. You know you’ll likely be on your way to a conference championship, but I hope you don’t have to face “the Chiefs” in your fantasy football league to win it all.
2.07: Drake London (WR, Atlanta Falcons)
Drake London surpassed the 100-reception mark for the first time last season. His 280.8 fantasy points made him WR5 last season, and his 16.5 points per game made him the WR14.
London averaged 15.1 fantasy points per game with Kirk Cousins and was WR9 from Weeks 1-15. It changed drastically with Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback, averaging 23.1 fantasy points per game. He was also the WR2 in Weeks 16-18. It might’ve only been a three-game sample size, but if that keeps up, you could steal a potential league-winning player in the second round.
2.08: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR, Seattle Seahawks)
Something clicked in Week 9 for Jaxon Smith-Njigba because there was no looking back after his seven-reception, 170-yard and two-touchdown performance! In Weeks 1-8, he was the WR24, averaging 11.2 fantasy points per game. From Week 9 onwards, he was in the top 10 in receptions (57), yards (742), fantasy points (WR7 with 163.8) and fantasy points per game (tied for WR8 with 18.2).
The only downside from the fantasy football perspective is that he shares the field with D.K. Metcalf. That’s stopping him from going even higher in this fantasy football mock draft.
2.09: Bucky Irving (RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
This would be the first team in this mock draft to select two running backs with their first two picks, stopping the six-straight picks with no running backs.
Easily, the most surprising rookie performance last season was Bucky Irving. He might’ve finished as the RB13, but he had the 10th-most scrimmage yards with 1,514. He only did that with 254 touches. Irving was also only scratching the surface, as he was the only running back with under 250 carries in that top 10 of scrimmage yards.
He also finished ninth in receiving yards for all running backs with 392. He and James Conner were the only running backs in the top nine to have under 50 receptions. The limited touches are the only issue, but as you can see, it still provided a lot of yards and fantasy points!
2.10: Christian McCaffrey (RB, San Francisco 49ers)
The only question you should ever have about Christian McCaffrey is: How healthy is he? He’s finished as a top-10 running back in every season he’s played in 16+ games, including not finishing lower than RB2 in the four previous seasons. The only concern is that in three of his last five seasons, he has played under 10 games, including last year. You know what you’re getting or passing up on when it comes to McCaffrey.
2.11: Breece Hall (RB, New York Jets)
Breece Hall has gone back-to-back seasons with 240+ fantasy points, 1,200+ scrimmage yards and eight-plus total touchdowns. This New York Jets’ offense did not meet expectations, and Hall didn’t either.
They moved on to a new head coach, Aaron Glenn, who was previously the Lions’ defensive coordinator. Maybe he can get Hall back to the RB2 he was in the 2023 season. Yeah, the one where he was just six rushing yards under 1,000 yards, five targets under 100 and nine receiving yards under 600. We started to see the signs of heat again when Hall returned in Week 15, averaging 12.9 fantasy points the rest of the way.
2.12: Jonathan Taylor (RB, Indianapolis Colts)
After having two down injury-shortened seasons in 2022 and 2023, Jonathan Taylor returned to finishing in the top 12 at the position for the third time in his five-year career. Also, if his last five games of 2024 were an indicator of anything, it’ll be a fun time. He ended the season with five straight games of 96+ rushing yards, and in four of those games, he had top-13 RB finishes!
The not-so-fun side of this is that Taylor averaged 16.5 fantasy points when Anthony Richardson played most of the snaps. That’s compared to his 19.1 this season without Richardson playing a majority of snaps. I’ll still take 16.5 fantasy points per game, but we could always ask for more!
Thanks for reading my “2025 Fantasy Football Mock Draft.” If you’re looking for more fantasy content like this or need help with the last-minute fantasy football start/sit decisions for your roster, you can find me on Facebook at “Fantasy Sports Start or Sit’Em Questions,” Twitter/X @FSSOSEQ or on BlueSky!
*Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez – USA TODAY Sports*