Two key offseason events shake up the fantasy football world. The first is free agency, and the second is the NFL Draft, which wrapped up Saturday. With new players threatening the playing time and productivity of established veterans on several teams, let’s examine the fantasy football winners from the 2025 NFL Draft.
Fantasy Football Winners
Isiah Pacheco, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
It sure looked like 2024 was going to be a career year for Isiah Pacheco. He firmly established himself as the Chiefs’ RB1 and was averaging 16 fantasy points per game over the first two weeks of the season. Then, he broke his leg.
After returning from injured reserve in Week 13, Pacheco clearly wasn’t the same. The Chiefs gave him a chance to reclaim the lead back role, but he couldn’t do it. Ultimately, they leaned more on Kareem Hunt, plus Samaje Perine in obvious passing situations.
Most likely, the injury is to blame. Pacheco wasn’t fully healthy. But that doesn’t erase how rough he looked when he came back. Plus, as much as Pacheco has proven himself, players can’t fully shake their Day 3/UDFA status. Pacheco will always be a former seventh-round pick.
The Chiefs did bring back Hunt and signed Elijah Mitchell. But the real fear was that they’d spend a Day 2 pick on a running back. That didn’t happen. In fact, the Chiefs didn’t draft a running back at all. That’s a huge vote of confidence in Pacheco. It’s still early, but there’s a very real chance he ends up undervalued in 2025 fantasy drafts.
Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Perhaps the biggest winner from the draft is Chase Brown. In 2024, the plan was never for the Bengals to give Brown all the work he could handle. A midseason injury to Zack Moss, plus a lack of viable alternatives, forced their hand.
Prevailing wisdom suggests that won’t be the plan this season, either. But the Bengals just went through the NFL Draft and didn’t select a running back until taking Tahj Brooks in the sixth round.
Brown only has fifth-round draft capital, but he more than proved himself last season. And he still has higher draft capital than the newest back in the room.
From Week 9 through the end of the season, Brown played at least 80% of the snaps in every game. The Bengals’ lack of investment at running back has me believing Brown might be a three-down back again. At the very least, he’s locked in as a top-12 option.
Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB, New York Giants
Before the draft, I flagged Tyrone Tracy Jr. as someone at serious risk of getting leapfrogged. Given how deep this running back class was, the Giants could’ve easily taken someone in the third round who posed a serious threat to Tracy’s RB1 role. Instead, they waited and selected Cam Skattebo in the fourth round.
It’s worth noting that Skattebo has slightly higher draft capital than Tracy, who was a late fifth-rounder. But Skattebo doesn’t project as a lead back at the NFL level. He’s got solid size at 219 pounds, but he’s slow — his 4.71-second 40-yard dash puts his speed score in just the 24th percentile.
Skattebo could potentially steal some goal-line work from Tracy. However, Tracy’s receiving role is in no danger, which is the most important part of his fantasy profile. Most likely, Skattebo will be more of a fullback type, handling 6-8 carries a game, mostly in short-yardage spots.
Given how much worse it could have gone for Tracy during the draft, this is about as soft of a landing as he could’ve asked for.
D’Andre Swift, RB, Chicago Bears
At several points during the pre-draft process, the Bears were the betting favorites to land Ashton Jeanty. That would’ve destroyed any chance of dynasty value for D’Andre Swift.
Even if Jeanty didn’t end up in Chicago, the Bears were rumored to be targeting TreVeyon Henderson. Bottom line, it was expected they’d take a running back early.
They did draft one, but not until the seventh round, when they selected Kyle Monangai. Swift’s dynasty managers couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.
Although the Bears added two more offensive weapons, making things a little more crowded overall, Swift stands tall in the backfield as the clear lead guy. If the offense improves under Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams takes a step forward in his second year, Swift could be one of the biggest beneficiaries.