The type of fantasy football league you’re in will shape your draft strategy, but the goal remains the same for every player listed below: you want them on your roster, and you should be ready to do whatever it takes to get them.
In an auction league, this means being aggressive with your bidding, and in a snake draft setting, it means being willing to jump ahead in the line. Price sensitivity is a significant aspect of this game that we love, making these players all the more important to feel good about.
These are the players I currently have highlighted on my cheat sheet at various tiers as I work to construct a dominant roster that will carry me through the entire season.
Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears
I want my fantasy decisions to be supported by the “real” NFL teams. No, they don’t care how any of our teams do, but the Bears are committed to Williams producing at a high level, and if we draft him, that means we have a common interest.
Chicago used the No. 1 pick in 2024 to draft quarterback Williams, then grabbed wide receiver Rome Odunze just eight picks later, aiming to raise their offensive floor for years to come. But they didn’t stop there — instead of settling with that dynamic duo, the Bears doubled down in 2025, using all three of their top picks on offensive weapons, including two top-40 selections: tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden, both expected to become key targets for Williams.
From Week 5 on last season, Williams’ 17-game pace was just over 3,600 passing yards and 536 yards on the ground. He has a real chance to hit both of those thresholds this season, and that would make him the fourth QB to post such a campaign within his first two years in the NFL since 2000, joining the likes of Kyler Murray, Cam Newton, and Deshaun Watson.
Caleb Williams DART to Keenan Allen for the 45-yard TD
📺: #DETvsCHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/PdKvpgQ5d4— NFL (@NFL) December 22, 2024
It’s tough to get a read on the Green Bay Packers’ defense after releasing Jaire Alexander, and the San Francisco 49ers look like they’ll continue to struggle defensively in 2025. Conveniently for Chicago, those two teams appear in three of their final four fantasy matchups — a favorable late-season stretch.
Factor in a schedule that includes divisional games against Jordan Love and Jared Goff, plus matchups with Jayden Daniels, Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow, and Jalen Hurts, and it’s easy to envision plenty of positive game scripts. That sets up Williams with a real shot at finishing as a top-10 fantasy quarterback.
Given the depth at quarterback this year, drafting Caleb Williams as your only QB is a perfectly viable strategy. You can easily stream someone for his Week 5 bye. There will be plenty of options available, with Michael Penix Jr., Jordan Love, and Aaron Rodgers being the only other notable quarterbacks off that week.
If Williams doesn’t pan out, you haven’t sunk much draft capital, so your season isn’t sunk either. But if he lives up to his potential, you’ll have struck gold late in the draft and likely built a stacked roster around him.
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Trevor Lawrence’s profile is an interesting one. He came into the NFL with the expectation, not the hope, that he’d be a savior for this franchise and a fantasy football ace.
That’s a tough bar to clear unless you’re LeBron James, and Lawrence has come up woefully short. In this era of young quarterbacks instantly changing the trajectory of their teams, Lawrence hasn’t lived up to the promise attached to his profile.
That said, did you know that from Week 3 of 2023 to Week 9 of 2024 (his last fully healthy game), Josh Allen (21), Jalen Hurts (20), and Lamar Jackson (19) were the only QBs that had more games with 14+ fantasy points than Lawrence (18)?
The ceiling hasn’t been nearly what we had hoped, but the best way to rectify that is to surround him with top-shelf talent, and that has undoubtedly been the focus this offseason. Not only did Jacksonville bring in Liam Coen after his masterful work in Tampa Bay, but they also traded the farm to get Travis Hunter in April and immediately confirmed that the offensive side of the ball would be his first area of focus.
The Jaguars also drafted Bhashul Tuten in the fourth round, a running back who adds to the versatility and upside of this offense as a whole. I’m still not confident that this defense will stop opponents consistently (27th in scoring a season ago), and that leads me to believe that there is a world in which Lawrence is discounting Joe Burrow from a season ago.
Is that lofty? It is, but there’s a reasonably clean path to get there, especially if you think Brian Thomas Jr.’s encore performance is just as breathtaking as his introduction to the league was. There’s next to no investment required, and that makes him a significant part of a draft two-for-one spot QB plan.
In the second half of the draft, you could pair Lawrence with Tua Tagovailoa (both could have a pair of top-30 receivers at their disposal) and hope to catch lightning in a bottle. You could pair him with Drake Maye or J.J. McCarthy, capitalizing on the Year 2 growth that is often seen at the position.
There are numerous ways to execute this plan, and a Jaguar stack is undoubtedly one practical approach. Jacksonville gets an indoor game against the Colts during the fantasy Super Bowl, so if he’s producing at a level that has you in such a spot, there’s a real chance for him to finish the deal with a big performance (lone game vs IND last season: 28/34 for 371 yards and two touchdowns).
Isiah Pacheco, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
It’s widely believed that the Kansas City Chiefs will continue to play it slow in the regular season. It’s also widely believed that they will continue to win games at a high rate.
Yes, Patrick Mahomes is the straw that stirs this drink. Still, if we are giving him reasonably modest numbers, the way for them to grind out wins is via the running games, something that a healthy version of Pacheco, entering his age-26 season, has proven capable of leading.
Just 12 months ago, Pacheco was being considered a fringe RB1 by most, and even lower by others (hand raised). In 2023, he became just the seventh running back drafted in the seventh round or later to have a season with nine touchdowns, 200 carries, and 40 catches (others: Arian Foster, Austin Ekeler, James Robinson, Fred Jackson, Peyton Hillis, and Earnest Graham).
Sure, it’s a cherry-picked example — but the underlying point stands: we’re talking about a uniquely talented player who comes at a surprisingly low draft cost. And if there’s one coach in the league I trust to unlock that kind of upside, it’s Andy Reid.
Pacheco averages 4.5 yards per carry for his career. With an 87.3% catch rate, there’s a level of versatility here that I believe still has the potential to elevate Pacheco to a top-15 producer in this league. Kareem Hunt’s modest contract doesn’t scare me in the least. We saw Pacheco be trusted with 41 touches in his two healthy games to open last season, a usage pattern that has the potential to return this year.
Injury risk comes with the territory at the running back position — that’s a given. What sets Pacheco apart is his access to a high-powered offense and frequent positive game scripts, a luxury most backs don’t enjoy.
Yes, he disappointed last season, but just as breakout performances don’t always repeat, down years shouldn’t lead to automatic dismissal. Don’t let last season’s letdown stop you from giving Pacheco another shot this summer.
Brian Robinson Jr., RB, Washington Commanders
How many offenses do you give a higher scorer ceiling to in 2025 than the Washington Commanders?
In a year that featured Jayden Daniels learning on the fly and dealing with a mid-season rib injury, this team ranked fifth in points scored on their way to a 12-5 season. They were one of eight teams to score 26+ points per game in 2024, and the other seven combined for five RB1 seasons and eight inside the top-20 producers at the position.
Robinson is entering his age-26 season and doesn’t have a ton in the way of touch competition. Sure, Austin Ekeler averaged 6.5 yards per touch last season. Still, he was ushered out of Los Angeles because of role limitations, and after celebrating his 30th birthday this spring, asking him to handle more than 6-8 touches a week feels overly optimistic.
Robinson has improved his yards per carry every season and found the end zone 17 times over his last 29 games, a significant jump from the three touchdowns he scored as a rookie. While he may not have Ekeler’s polish as a route-runner, his 81.3% career catch rate and 9.0 yards per reception show he’s more than capable of making an impact through the air. Yet despite that versatility, his current ADP suggests fantasy managers aren’t viewing him as a weekly starter — a mistake that could turn into serious value.
Nico Collins, WR, Houston Texans
If you enter your draft this summer and are unsure of how I feel about Nico Collins, you’re not paying attention. It’s going to get to the point where my editor can recite his metrics from memory, and I’m not the least bit sorry.
I won’t spoil future content just yet, but here’s a snapshot of where I sit for Houston’s alpha.
I think he’s a Triple Crown threat.
I think he’s this year’s version of Ja’Marr Chase.
I think he’s the top-scoring (PPR) Flex player in the league this season, and a few odd looks in my draft room aren’t going to stop me from acquiring that asset, the one time I will have the opportunity to do so.
So yeah, technically, I’m willing to take him as high as the second overall pick.
From a macro standpoint, the stage is set. He’s a 6’4” receiver in his age-26 season who leads the position (minimum 175 targets) in PPR points above expectation over the past two seasons (+28.8%). He plays in an offense with a QB whose best football is ahead of him, an RB whose best football is behind him, and enough support in the pass-catching room to demand some attention but not subtract from his bottom line in a meaningful way.
The point scoring diet looks awfully like some past fantasy Gods:
Khalil Shakir, WR, Buffalo Bills
Sex sells.
That’s been the case for years and continues to be the case. In our fantasy football world, that means highlight plays and eye-popping athleticism.
Khalil Shakir isn’t that, and maybe that’s why he’s not being drafted as a starter.
He’s unlikely to put your roster on his back for any given week, but he’s also unlikely to be the reason you lose a week, and that holds value.
Bills Since 2000: Longest Streaks With 6+ Receptions
- 14 – Stefon Diggs (2020-21)
- 10 – Diggs (2023)
- 6 – Eric Moulds (2001-02)
- 5 – Shakir (2024)
Over the past two seasons, Shakir has reached double digits in terms of PPR points in 13 of 17 games when earning at least five targets, a reasonable usage floor to pencil in this season, given the lack of established options playing alongside him.
He gets a nice little schedule bump that most will overlook — the Bills’ second game against the stingy Jets comes in Week 18, a week we don’t worry about. In life, you won’t go broke making a profit, and that’s the exact philosophy you’re embracing in selecting Shakir in the middle rounds.
Evan Engram, TE, Denver Broncos
After spending five seasons with the New York Giants, Engram took his talents to Jacksonville for three seasons, where he was a player fantasy managers could rely on.
Tight End Ranks, 2022-24 (min. 20 games played)
- 2nd in receptions per game
- 3rd in routes per game
- 7th in points per game
- 8th in target share
That sort of role is how you build a solid floor, and that’s the name of the game after the top tier at the position is off the board. He enters a Sean Payton offense that should trend in the right direction in the second year under Bo Nix and with additional firepower on the roster. Heck, sustaining the league’s 10th-best scoring offense would be enough to get me on board with an investment in Engram.
There’s scoring equity to consider, and the Payton brand is strong when it comes to players like this. Engram is a plus-athlete, but tight ends are typically pigeonhole into more of a chain-moving role, and that’s just fine. Over Payton’s career, his offenses have had an average depth of throw of 7.3 yards, 11% lower than the league average over that stretch.
Engram posted a career high in target share last season, and while this is a different situation, I’m comfortable in saying he owns the ability to generate throwing windows. Part of what makes him special is his route versatility — he lined up in the slot for 42.6% of his routes over the past four seasons, a valuable skill set given the pieces on this offense.
Engram will cost you a pick in the middle third of your draft, which is not a bad price for a player I genuinely believe could be a Tier 2 option at the position by the end of the year.
Chig Okonkwo, TE, Tennessee Titans
Chig Okonkwo has been a toolsy prospect who tempts us with highlight plays just often enough to keep him on our radar. That said, he’s managed just 1,457 yards and six scores through three seasons, making him of little genuine interest in standard-sized fantasy leagues.
Could that change this year? I typically avoid the unknown (Alvin Kamara, for example, is on my 2025 busts list in part because we don’t know the shape of that offense under new leadership). Still, in a situation like Tennessee, I’m only interested in uncertainty.
Yeah, it’s been that bad.
Over the past five seasons, TEs who played at least eight games and ran 17+ routes per game with a rookie under center were targeted, on average, on 18.3% of their routes. That’s a fine rate and essentially in line with Okonkwo’s career norm, but the hope is that the quality of look is unlike what he’s seen in the past.
If the pass game takes a step forward (a low bar to clear), it’s not hard to see the route count trending closer to 25-30 (he’s been just over 22 per game over the past two seasons). If that occurs and we have that 18.3% number in our back pocket, we are talking about 5-6 targets per game. In 2024, only nine tight ends cleared 5.5 targets per game, five of them finishing among the top six scorers at the position.
Am I expecting that break-out? No, but we don’t need anything close to that to return a nice profit at his current price tag. Sportsbooks project the Titans to win six games this season, so it’s worth noting that teams dropped back to throw on 65.8% of dropbacks last season when trailing, compared to 51.7% of the time when leading.
This is essentially a no-risk bet on a situation with volume upside in an offense that lacks target earners.
Yes please.
