Fantasy football analyst Matt Harmon breaks down his top targets this draft season. For more draft strategy, check out his Blueprint for 2025 drafts.
I’m not going to waste your time in this section. You don’t need me to tell you why a consensus first- or second-round fantasy pick is “my guy.” If you've consumed all my content during this offseason, you know which early-round players I like.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
So, I will go out on a limb a bit more for you. As such, some of these picks are going to miss. I don’t care; I’m not doing this to victory lap all over social media this season. I’m just offering up some options for you to target that may exceed expectations in the mid-to-late rounds.
I’ll give you some options at other positions before cracking open the Reception Perception notebook.
Non-WR Division
At quarterback, I mentioned the mystery man that I have ranked as a top-12 option who goes deep in the 100s and that’s Drake Maye.
The Patriots made additions on the offensive line that should get both of their rushing and pass-catching group to at least “acceptable,” if not just "not the worst in the league," as their 2024 counterparts can claim. I’m high on the possible ceiling of the receiver room because I believe Stefon Diggs has more left than most. However, most important to Maye’s fantasy appeal is that he’s a credible rusher. He was second in the NFL with 407 scramble yards last season, per TruMedia, and he didn’t even start the full season. Expect Maye to take more designed carries, as he had almost none as a rookie, with Josh McDaniels in town. Remember, McDaniels had that one wildly successful QB-based run game with Cam Newton in a strange 2020 fever dream campaign. Maye is my favorite later-round quarterback who has a high ceiling as a vertical passer and presents a rushing floor.
I worry how much longer I can credibly keep Omarion Hampton as a favorite mid-round target. For now, he’s still going slightly outside the top three rounds and I have him as my RB13. With Najee Harris missing so much time in practice after his eye injury, this should be Hampton’s job to lose, and we won’t have to worry about veteran deference early in the season. Hampton’s a home-run hitter with passing-game chops on an offense that was top 12 in points per game last year and got better in the offseason.
Jordan Mason has been labeled the 1B back to Aaron Jones Sr. this offseason. Mason averaged a whopping 5.65 yards per carry on gap runs in 2024, per Fantasy Points Data, and it’s clear that the Vikings want to add more of those runs based on the hefty offensive line additions. Mason could be a goal-line option with massive contingency upside if Jones missed games.
At tight end, the two guys I often grab when waiting are NFC North mavens, Colston Loveland and Tucker Kraft. Loveland is an elite talent at tight end who can operate in line and in the slot. He will be a red-zone threat and is already starting for this team. Kraft is just a baller — excuse the basic analysis. He averaged over 10 yards after catch per reception last year and led the team in touchdowns. I want to bet on that upward trajectory as a sleeper top-12 tight end in an offense I expect to score plenty of points.
Wide receiver
I admittedly hit this position hard all offseason; what did you expect? But I’ll still give you four more names here.
Ricky Pearsall came back from offseason injuries and being shot in the chest to just get on the field. You could see when watching him, he was ticketed for a singular role in the 49ers offense.
In the final four games of last season, Pearsall was smoking man coverage from various alignments. He was a prospect I loved, put up good film late in his rookie year and plays for one of the best offensive minds in the sport. That’s a fantastic breakout bet in the late-30 wide receiver picks.
Rome Odunze was an elite wide receiver prospect who won at all three levels. You can throw out any per-route metric from the cursed 2024 Bears offense. In isolation, Odunze played solid football, particularly against man and press coverage. He will be deployed as the Bears' X-receiver in a role that makes much more sense than what we saw in 2024. His 2025 breakout case reminds me so much of last year’s for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Don’t overrate a slow rookie season with per-route metrics overly hurt by playing behind two established veterans.
Jayden Reed is a good football player. Even if he’s pigeon-holed in two-wide receiver sets, he has game-breaking ability and is a much better full-field wideout than credited. He’s cleared 70% success rate vs. man coverage in three straight years (prospect profile included in Reception Perception) so don’t tell me he’s a gadget or slot-only player. Reed ranks 14th in yards per route run the last two seasons combined. Any changes in his usage, and he will explode in fantasy; the talent is there. We just have to hope his current foot injury isn't serious.
The industry has over-indexed on how run-heavy and volatile the Packers were in the receiver room last year. For that same reason, I also love taking Matthew Golden as the lid-lifting Packers receiver ahead of his ADP. He was a top-three player in success rate vs. zone coverage among the prospects I charted this year, alongside Travis Hunter and the guy in the next paragraph. Golden's appeal has only become clearer with time, as Reed has spent the latter part of summer in a boot with a foot injury. I entered training camp with both in the same tier and ahead of ADP but Reed ranked higher than Golden. I've since flipped that. That said, you can take both and, frankly, with the inclusion of Reed, Golden and Kraft in this section, you should be able to tell I’m quite high on this Packers offense. Take your shots.
Last but not least, Emeka Egbuka is in line for a fantastic rookie season. On the night of the NFL Draft, it looked like Egbuka would go the way of Odunze, as a rookie stuck behind two veteran receivers. Now that it appears Chris Godwin is looking at a slow ramp-up, Egbuka should begin the season as a starter. Egbuka can win from the slot or flanker position and was the best zone-beating receiver in the class. He has drawn consistent praise from Bucs camp, especially from Baker Mayfield. He runs the out-breaking routes that Mayfield loves to throw so well.
He’s a pro-ready player who fits an offense that was top-five in every relevant metric last year. I’ll happily take him anytime the room lets him fall past WR35.
One player I won’t leave a draft without
George Pickens took a big step forward last year as an individual player with a career-best 72.8% success rate vs. man coverage and 77.6% success rate vs. press (83rd percentile) in Reception Perception.
He wasn’t consistently locked-in throughout the full season but there’s every reason to think that will change in Dallas in the most healthy offensive environment he’s played in as a pro, and as he fights for a new contract. There’s yet another level for him to reach as a player and he already ranks 17th among wide receivers in yards per route run over the last two years combined. Now, he should see both his routes, targets and catchable looks increase playing with Dak Prescott in a pass-happy offense.
As long as Pickens is locked in, he could have a 2024 Tee Higgins-like season; one of the most productive No. 2 receivers in the league across from a versatile alpha wideout. That’s the sort of touchdown ceiling that can launch a guy into the top 10 at the position even if he doesn’t become a target hog.
I’ve been mixed on Pickens in fantasy and real life in the past. Last season’s improvement was what I needed to see on an individual player basis and this situation is perfect as he steps into the vacant X-receiver role in Dallas. I’m dangerously high on Pickens and this entire Cowboys passing game in fantasy.
Comments