I am known for making outlandish claims that, most of the time, even I don’t believe. It’s kind of my gimmick. It irritates the hell out of my friends because they know I don’t actually think Justin Jefferson will finish catchless because the Vikings have had two drives and he wasn’t targeted yet.
Bold predictions are kind of my thing. Of course, none of these is likely to happen. But every single one of them is, at the very least, plausible. Plus, there’s no downside. No one expects any of these to hit, but if one does, I get to take an Indy 500-sized victory lap.
Here are my top bold, but plausible, predictions for the 2025 fantasy football season.
Jaylen Waddle Outscores Tyreek Hill
Remember the famous Dark Knight quote. “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” This is something like that.
Back in 2017 and 2018, the fantasy community wasn’t sure if Tyreek Hill was legit — he was a gadget player. His efficiency was unsustainable, but I was the No. 1 Tyreek guy.
Random thought: Will there be a more embarrassing position in FF this year than thinking Sammy Watkins is somehow a threat to Tyreek Hill? A lot of analysts I have great respect for are somehow blind to this. Tyreek is a guaranteed lock WR1. An absolute steal at his ADP…again.
— Katz (@jasonkatz13) August 20, 2018
As a reminder, Hill averaged 20.5 fantasy points per game that season, finishing as the overall WR4. He’s been one of the best receivers in fantasy for nearly a decade and is one of the greatest wide receivers of all time. He will surely go down as one of the fun players to roster in fantasy.
That’s why this hurts me so much. After eight years of being a Hill guy, I am out. Not just kind of out — all the way out, full fade. It’s over.
Now, of course, I acknowledge the possibility that one of the best ever to do it can rebound at age 31. After all, he is only two years removed from the best season of his career, 23.5 PPG and an overall WR2 finish. I just really hate the vibes this year.
Hill averaged 12.8 PPG last season, which was by far the worst season of his career since his 2017 breakout. After the season, he claimed he wanted out and was done with Miami. When asked about Hill, Tua Tagovailoa said the future Hall of Fame wide receiver needs to repair his relationship with the team.
Tua Tagovailoa says Tyreek Hill rebuilding relationship with him & team is a “work in progress” after Tyreek’s ‘I’m out’ comment. “When you say something like that you don’t just come back with ‘My bad.’ You gotta work that relationship up. He is working on himself.”
Watch Tua’s full answer here: https://twitter.com/CameronWolfe/status/1948034920934203543
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) July 23, 2025
Hill has been banged up throughout training camp, most recently dealing with an oblique issue.
Meanwhile, Jaylen Waddle has been getting glowing reports. He’s only 26 years old and, before last year, had posted three straight seasons to start his career with at least 14.2 PPG. He averaged 2.81 and 2.68 yards per route run in 2022 and 2023 before the entire Dolphins offense collapsed in 2024.
This feels like a “changing of the guard” year. Waddle was set to be the Dolphins’ WR1 of the future before they traded for Hill ahead of the 2022 season. Now, it comes to fruition.
Hill still carries a WR12 ADP. Waddle is way down at WR32. I won’t rank Waddle ahead of Hill, but the bold prediction is that Waddle is the better fantasy asset, not only at cost, but in totality.
Emeka Egbuka Is the Highest Scoring Buccaneers WR
If you look up the term “reliable” in the fantasy football glossary, you’ll see a picture of Mike Evans. He’s posted 11 consecutive seasons of 1,000 receiving yards, and he’s never finished lower than WR25 and has averaged at least 15.0 PPG every season since 2018.
He’s also 32 years old and showed some chinks in the armor last year, missing three games with a hamstring strain and looking noticeably slower on film.
The Buccaneers re-signed Chris Godwin, but he has no timetable for his return from offseason ankle surgery. They drafted Jalen McMillan last year, but if they were truly enamored with him, they would’ve let one of Evans or Godwin go or not spent a first-round pick on Emeka Egbuka.
The rookie is one of the most pro-ready wide receivers to enter the league in recent history. He comes with first-round draft capital and is already turning heads in training camp.
I don’t know that I’ve EVER heard veteran teammates gas up a ROOKIE WR like these guys do Emeka Egbuka down in Tampa.
Stock 🆙 . My goodness. pic.twitter.com/CNKKdTCutd
— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) August 7, 2025
The concern for Egbuka’s fantasy value is similar to what Jaxon Smith-Njigba experienced as a very talented prospect who was trapped behind two established veterans, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, during his rookie year.
Well, if Godwin misses September, Egbuka will have a chance to solidify his status as a top player on this offense. Godwin is no Spring chicken — at 29 years old, the end is closer to the beginning for him as well. Egbuka could take hold of a starting job and never give it back… and that is exactly what I think will happen.
Basically, I’m saying draft Egbuka in every league — unless you’re in one of my leagues.
Zach Charbonnet Outscores Kenneth Walker III
I will admit this one is a bit cheap. The only way Zach Charbonnet outscores Kenneth Walker III is the same way Isaac Guerendo or Jordan Mason outscored Christian McCaffrey last season. He has to get hurt.
I hate predicting injury and do not believe we can do it. That said, I don’t love the news coming out of Seahawks camp. Walker has already missed practice time with a foot injury. This is a player who missed a game with a foot issue in 2022 and two more in 2024. He seems to always miss a few games every season.
RELATED: Zach Charbonnet Fantasy Profile — Can He Push Kenneth Walker III For More Touches?
This year, my prediction is that the wheels fall off for Walker. He’s still a tremendously talented player, but that means nothing if he can’t stay on the field. Charbonnet is the clear handcuff and can produce at Walker’s level when in the lead-back role. If Walker misses half the season or more, Charbonnet will be the back to roster in Seattle — and a potential league winner.
Joe Mixon Is Never Fantasy Relevant Again
The cliff comes quickly for running backs. In 2022, Dalvin Cook averaged 14.0 PPG. The next year, he played 15 games and averaged 2.7 PPG. He was done. In 2014, Arian Foster averaged 21.0 PPG. He got hurt in 2015, and it was over. Todd Gurley averaged 26.2 PPG in 2018. He fell to 14.5 PPG in 2019. He was out of the NFL after the 2020 season.
It happens fast and is very often injury-related.
Mixon had one of the best seasons of his career last year, averaging 17.2 PPG. However, he faded toward the end of the season (although he did rebound in the postseason).
The former Bengal is now 29 years old. He has over 2,100 career touches. He’s never been efficient, relying mostly on volume. Now, he’s entering the season having missed all of training camp and the preseason with a mysterious foot injury that merely has the team “hopeful” he will be ready for Week 1.
The latest on Joe Mixon from @AaronWilson_NFL‘s YouTube Channel. No setbacks. Still hope to have him for Week 1. He initially said it was an ankle injury. I know national reporters have said foot, but he was in a lace up brace. Usually ankle related to my knowledge. pic.twitter.com/a5TEX3p0Y6
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) August 7, 2025
This has all the makings of a timetable that constantly gets pushed back. Alternatively, they know Mixon’s foot/ankle won’t be 100%. He comes back and gives it a shot, maybe makes it through a couple of games, and then gets shut down for the season.
2026 Mixon will be 30 years old and almost certainly on a new team. He will get propped a bit on name value alone, but it will likely be over.
CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens Both Finish as WR1s, While Dak Prescott is a Top 5 QB
Basically, I’m all in on the Dallas Cowboys this year — well… the offense.
Remember the 2020 season? The Cowboys had a historically bad defense. Dak Prescott had no choice but to air it out and try to put the team on his back every week, with their only hope being to outscore the opposing offense. He threw for 1,856 yards in just five games, the fifth of which he didn’t even finish.
Prescott was pacing toward shattering Peyton Manning’s single-season passing yards record. Through four weeks, he was on pace for 6,760 yards. Not a typo. Obviously, I am not predicting anyone to throw for 6,000 yards. But this Cowboys defense could be really bad this year.
Their secondary is a mess. Jerry Jones is going out of his way to drive Micah Parsons out of town. They check in at No. 25 in PFSN’s 2025 defense rankings.
I believe the 2025 Cowboys will be the NFC’s Cincinnati Bengals. They will have a bottom-five defense that forces the offense to have to score in bunches. Add in the fact that the Cowboys have one of the least talented backfields ever constructed in the history of the NFL, and all the pieces are in place for Prescott to push 700 pass attempts in an all-out aerial assault.
Everyone is coming with him in a world where Prescott throws as much as I think he will. CeeDee Lamb already has an overall WR1 finish and is firmly in play for that once again. Meanwhile, George Pickens has been the best WR2 for Prescott since Lamb was the WR2 to a prime Amari Cooper.
It won’t be fun for Cowboys fans — must like how it wasn’t fun for Bengals fans last year. But it will be a whole lot of fun for fantasy managers.
Drake Maye Is This Year’s Jayden Daniels
It’s not a one-to-one parallel, as Drake Maye is not a rookie, but there are plenty of similarities between the two quarterbacks. Jayden Daniels thrived because of his mobility and bad defense, which forced the Commanders to score. The Patriots are ranked No. 30 in PFSN’s defense rankings, so Maye is going to have to score to keep his team in games.
Maye averaged 32.4 rushing yards per game last season despite his coaches openly stating they were not calling designed runs for him amidst a lost season to protect him.
MORE READING: Drake Maye Fantasy Profile — Can the Patriots QB Take a Significant Step Forward As a Sophomore?
Mike Vrabel was brought in to win games. He way overperformed in Tennessee with Ryan Tannehill as his quarterback, who, by the way, averaged about 16 rushing yards per game from 2019 to 2021 as the Titans’ starting quarterback.
Maye is a far better runner than Tannehill. We could easily get 40-plus yards on the ground for Maye, which is only about 10 yards per game, less than Daniels averaged last season.
The Patriots added Stefon Diggs and a very talented and explosive receiving back in the draft, TreVeyon Henderson. This should be a much-improved offense. Entering his second season, Maye should take a large step forward. I believe he has it in him to post elite QB1 numbers, averaging over 20 PPG and finishing in the top five.
