Only 60 minutes of football separate us from the 2025 offseason. And yet, us fantasy football degenerates couldn't wait for the clock to strike midnight on Super Bowl 59 to start drafting.

Presenting: A way-too-early 2025 fantasy football mock draft!

Way-Too-Early 2025 Fantasy Football Mock Draft

The rules:

  • 12 teams
  • 12 rounds
  • 1 QB
  • Full PPR scoring
  • No DST or K
  • No rookies (yet!)
  • No touching of the hair or face

AND THAT'S IT. You can check out the full draft board here, or preview it below.

 

Special thanks to the fine folks who participated in the mock: Damian Dabrowski, Lawrence Jackson, Davis Mattek, Adam Wise, Pete Damilatis, Kyle Dvorchak, Zachary Krueger, Denny Carter, Patrick Daugherty, and Rivers McCown.

Make sure you check out The Rotoworld Football Show for some future thoughts on this very mock draft, as well as NBC Sports' fantasy content as a whole for the ever-excellent work from the majority of these learned scholars.

The final two members of the mock were your boys Ian Hartitz and Chris Allen representing team Fantasy Life. We'll both break down our drafts before giving out some superlatives

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Recapping Ian Hartitz's 2025 Fantasy Football Mock Draft

Saquon Barkley was the 1.01 in my way-too-early first-round projection, so getting Mr. 2K with the third pick felt like easy money. A similar sentiment was true in snagging Kyren Williams at the end of Round 2—we're talking about a proven high-end fantasy RB1 inside an offense we continue to expect big things out of who should breeze past 300 touches with anything close to good health.

With two RBs already strapped, it was time to go WR. This is where free agency will really impact things. I consider Garrett Wilson to be in the same tier as guys like Terry McLaurin, Mike Evans, Tee Higgins, and Ladd McConkey—how the target competition and QBs involved in their respective offenses shake out will determine who winds up ranked higher. For now, I'm fine betting on Wilson's youthful upside—this is some GREAT company to be in.

I wasn't against using a premium pick on a QB or TE in the next few rounds, but the board fell the way the board fell. Accordingly:

  • DK Metcalf: Someone I've made a habit of drafting quite a bit over the years, and maybe too often! Still, this Seahawks passing game should mostly just be the JSN-Metcalf show in 2025; 130-plus targets from Geno Smith still has the potential to go a LONG way in fantasy land.
     
  • Alvin Kamara: The man has never finished worse than RB13 and is fresh off RB3 and RB5 campaigns in PPR points per game. So yeah, landing the 29-year-old veteran in Round 5 as the RB17 felt pretty, pretty, pretty good–albeit it'd certainly be a lot cooler if the Saints weren't projected to be one of the league's worst offenses (again).
     
  • Cooper Kupp: Probably was still available at the end of Round 6 due to the uncertainty surrounding if the Rams will keep the former triple-crown winner on the roster for 2025. But hey, perhaps Kupp's early-season high-ankle sprain had more to do with his down 2024 than the public is aware. There was still a ceiling here either way, Kupp worked as the overall WR4 in PPR points in Weeks 8-14 last season.

After that, landing Joe Burrow AKA the reigning QB3 in fantasy points per game in Round 7 felt like a steal, and Njoku as the TE8 felt great–even though getting sniped by one pick on T.J. Hockenson hurt, dog. Throw in later-round darts on Christian Kirk (what if Liam Coen makes this Jaguars offense great again?), Blake Corum (A+ handcuff), and Keenan Allen (PPR WR6 in Weeks 12-16 last season), and I'm pleased with my first draft of the 2025 season!

Recapping Chris Allen's 2025 Fantasy Football Mock Draft

I did a deep dive into drafting from the seven spot last year. I likened the position to waiting in line for a movie. The folks already in the theater get to enjoy the show while you’re stuck in line.

Anyway, my approach to the early rounds hasn’t changed. I’m trying to fill out my core (i.e., RBs and WRs) as early as possible. Depending on league format, we have to start a combination of at least five RBs and WRs. At the same time, our first few picks give us the best shot at high-scoring players. So, clicking on De'Von Achane and Tyreek Hill (the team stack wasn’t intentional) was an easy click.

To be clear, I’m not opposed to taking a QB or TE toward the back end of the early rounds. Before each pick, I did a quick check on opportunity cost before making my selection. I’ll give an example.

I could’ve gone in any direction at 4.06. Jayden Daniels was available. There were plenty of WRs still on the board, too. To simplify things, it was the RB16 vs. the QB3 vs. the WR23. The dropoff at rusher was too steep to pass up. I could wait for another high-end passer. WRs were drying up, but I had some names in the queue for later. In either case, I applied the same method in later rounds until I secured my guys at the onesie positions.

Favorite Picks Of This Fantasy Football Mock Draft

Ian: Rivers McCown landing Eagles QB Jalen Hurts at 6.1.

Playoff football can lead to recency bias surrounding the remaining players due to the extra attention focused on them. Look no further than Hurts, who, admittedly, did struggle throwing the football in the first two rounds, but at the end of the day simply continues to rack up fantasy points. Blame the tush push all you want—it's legal, and accordingly, Hurts has worked as the QB6, QB1, QB2, and QB5 in fantasy points per game during his four seasons as a starter. Not too shabby of a price point for someone who was regularly going in Rounds 3-4 of 2024 drafts.

Chris: Mark Andrews in Round 8.

Maybe I’m missing something (my wife would say that’s true independent of the subject), but Mark Andrews in the eighth round seemed cheap. I doubt a room filled with sharp analysts would let Andrews’s costly drops be the reason to let this year’s TE6 slide into the middle rounds. I’ll make the case.

Yes, Andrews benefitted from TDs. He set a new career-high with 11 scores. I’ll say it another way. Of his 188.3 PPR points, 35.0% came from his ability to get into the end zone. He’d have to do it again to return value. And with Isaiah Likely taking on 14.0% of the looks and Rashod Bateman stepping into a consistent complementary role, Andrews doesn’t have the same grip on the pass-game volume. But his ’24 season ended better than most might remember.

  • Target Share: 13.0% (Weeks 1-9), 20.0% (from Week 10 on)
  • TPRR: 16.0%, 22.0%
  • End-Zone Target Share: 14.0%, 30.0%

Despite the slow start, Andrews was a top-10 TE in six of seven games to close out the year. To get a piece of an offense piloted by Lamar Jackson, I’ll take an eighth-round price tag all day.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft Trends Compared To Last Season

Ian: The EARLY round TE is BACK

Raiders TE Brock Bowers went 12th overall, and Cardinals TE Trey McBride wasn't too far behind at 16th overall. Sure, Travis Kelce was a first-round option a few years ago, but last year's consensus TE1 Sam LaPorta was a third-round pick in more drafts than not. The allure for Bowers and McBride is clear—they are young ballers in passing games willing to feature them as legit No. 1 options. Still, that is a hefty price to pay for a pair of pass-catchers not exactly dealing with the best QB situations in the world (particularly Bowers).

Chris: RB ADP

I think this is where industry mock drafts part ways with the rest of the community. After seeing Saquon Barkley hit 2,000 yards, Derrick Henry run roughshod over the AFC North, and a host of other RBs have strong performances, I expected to see RBs go off the board early and often. 11 through the first 24 isn’t a surprise. Half of them going toward the end of the second round was a shock. Once the lobbies open for ’25 drafts, I’m anticipating the ADPs of those RBs sliding up closer to the 1-2 turn as the rush to secure rushers takes hold of gamers.

How would adding rookies change things?

Ian: The RB landscape will change mightily

Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty has a legit chance to work into the first-round conversation depending on the landing spot, while guys like Kaleb Johnson, TreVeyon Henderson, and Quinshon Judkins among others could also feasibly carry a middle-round ADP if placed in the right environment.

Throw in the potential for current potential workhorses like Tyrone Tracy, D'Andre Swift, and Chase Brown to face newfound competition, and this (allegedly DEEP) RB class figures to throw more than a few wrenches into early 2025 projections.

Chris: Not much!

Honestly, they wouldn’t change a lot. Well, I’ll clarify a bit. There wouldn’t be a significant impact now. Ashton Jeanty and Tetairoa McMillan are current prospects likely to earn Day 1 or early Day 2 draft capital. That’s just two players. More smoke to the “Shedeur Sanders to the Giants”  fire might change things. Athletic testing results from The Combine will boost up a few others. But until then, the rookies are too nebulous to hold much weight in the early rounds.

Player you're most keeping an eye on ahead of free agency

Ian: Vikings QB Sam Darnold.

Horrific final two games aside: Darnold proved plenty capable of enabling multiple high-end fantasy pass-catchers while racking up plenty of production in his own right (QB9 in fantasy points per game!). Projecting the Vikings' big-three pass-catchers would be easy should Minnesota bring back their QB1, while moving on to somewhere like Las Vegas or New York could provide a more stable floor than options in the draft.

Chris: Bengals WR Tee Higgins.

I’m a (sad, but proud) Bengals fan. Higgins' future is one of my utmost concerns for the offseason. He shouldn’t experience a minute in free agency. However, Cincinnati’s front office prefers to wage war on my mental health. I took Higgins at the 3.07 under the assumption he’ll be back catching passes from Joe Burrow by summertime. But Washington and New England (to name a couple of squads) have the cap space and personnel needed to lure him away from the AFC North.

Regardless, the Higgins domino will be the one both real and fantasy fans will be watching to see when it falls over the next few months.

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