The 2025 wide receiver class is destined to underwhelm. There’s just no way it can live up to the expectations of rookie wide receivers created by the stellar 2024 class.
Marvin Harrison Jr. set an unbreakable record for highest ADP by a rookie WR in fantasy football history, Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. were both league winners, and plenty of others contributed.
Sophomore wide receivers are some of the best values in fantasy. To give you an idea of who you should target, we’ve ranked every relevant sophomore WR.
2025 Sophomore Wide Receiver Rankings
1) Malik Nabers, New York Giants
It’s very close at the top, and you can reasonably make an argument for three wide receivers as the top sophomore. Incredibly, there are four sophomore WRs ranked inside the top 12 this season, and Malik Nabers gets the edge ever so slightly.
Nabers averaged 18.2 fantasy points per game as a rookie while catching passes from Daniel Jones, Tommy DeVito, and Drew Lock. He led the league with a 34.9% target share and was second with his 31.2% targets per route run rate.
Nabers is an elite first-round pick in 2025 fantasy drafts, and rightfully so. Whether it’s Russell Wilson, Jaxson Dart, or Jameis Winston, he’ll see better quality targets this season. If he maintains his elite volume, Nabers could certainly finish as the overall WR1.
2) Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars
Brian Thomas Jr. averaged 16.7 last year, hauling in 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns. The most exciting part is that there’s so much room for more.
Thomas left a ton of fantasy points on the field. He dealt with awful quarterback play from Trevor Lawrence and Mac Jones, and even worse coaching. He also saw a 25.5% target share, which can certainly tick up a few percentage points.
It’s pretty incredible that Brian Thomas Jr. had this much production left on the field last year and still finished 3rd in the NFL in receiving yards. pic.twitter.com/6P0XQn7bje
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) May 29, 2025
Thomas is now a borderline first-round pick and very much deserving of the honor. He’s as elite as they come.
3) Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers
Ladd McConkey wasn’t viewed as being on Nabers’ level or Marvin Harrison Jr.’s, but he was superb. McConkey’s 15.1 fantasy ppg doesn’t tell the full story. He wasn’t a full-time player until Week 9 and didn’t hit his stride until Week 11.
From Week 11 through the end of the season, McConkey averaged 18.7 points per game. Not only that, he never scored below 14.3. The worst fantasy managers got from McConkey in the second half of his rookie season was a mid-WR2 performance.
He averaged 2.56 yards per route run, but only had a 24.5% target share. There’s plenty of room for McConkey to improve, making him a dark horse to lead the league in receiving.
4) Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals
It’s not without a sense of irony that of the three candidates in consideration for top sophomore wide receiver, the consensus best WR prospect since Calvin Johnson is not among them. Harrison was the highest drafted rookie WR in the history of fantasy football, and it’s a virtual certainty no one will ever break his record.
He wasn’t actually bad, though. Harrison caught 62 passes for 885 yards and eight touchdowns. Unfortunately, his 11.6 points per game were pretty terrible relative to his ADP. Harrison’s performance, though, was not objectively bad at all. The problem for fantasy football this year is what is going to change.
The problem with a Marvin Harrison breakout in Year 2 is that nothing has changed…
– Same play caller
– Same system
– Same (mid) QBImprovement? Probably. Breakout?… pic.twitter.com/yhEtbIQFQ0
— Drew Davenport (@DrewDavenportFF) May 28, 2025
It would be a major upset if Harrison wasn’t better than the overall WR39 this year. But the same quarterback who struggles with downfield accuracy and the same offensive coordinator who refused to call a single screen or any layup targets for his first-round wide receiver are there.
That makes it difficult to envision Harrison matching the likes of the big three sophomore wide receivers ahead of him.
5) Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs
Much like Rashee Rice before him, Xavier Worthy got off to a slow start. However, over the latter portion of his rookie season, he really started to surge.
Worthy posted 19.6, 20.5, and 22.9 fantasy points in Weeks 15-17, respectively. He was a league winner, saving his best for the most important weeks of the season. But he also benefited from the collapse of the entire Kansas City Chiefs receiving corps.
Rice went down in Week 4, Hollywood Brown didn’t make it out of the first preseason game, and Travis Kelce showed obvious signs of decline.
There’s definitely worry over how Worthy will perform this season, as many of his manufactured targets should revert to Rice. However, Worthy really showcased his downfield ability in the NFL playoffs, and Rice’s healthy return should enable the former to get downfield more and improve upon his 9.2 average depth of target.
6) Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears
The top five are all clearly going to impact fantasy football in some way. But beginning with Rome Odunze, the rest of these names are much more speculative.
Odunze was an early first-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, he walked into a Chicago Bears offense that was pretty crowded with DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Cole Kmet, and D’Andre Swift.
Odunze never really got going as a result. He only earned a 19.2% target share and commanded a target on a paltry 18.3% of his routes run (75th in the NFL). His 1.33 yards per route run also ranked 75th. The Bears’ rookie WR averaged just 8.5 fantasy points per game and was not startable on a weekly basis.
This year, Odunze has the benefit of a full year of experience. He also should get better QB play from Caleb Williams, who is now coached by Ben Johnson. Additionally, Allen is gone, solidifying Odunze as the WR2 opposite Moore.
On the flip side, Luther Burden III is a threat, and Chicago also drafted TE Colston Loveland in the first round. That’s two more talented offensive pass catchers in the mix.
Ultimately, this will come down to talent. If Odunze is as good as advertised, he should find his way at least into the WR3 ranks.
7) Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers
What to do with Ricky Pearsall? On the one hand, his rookie year was incredibly disappointing, having averaged 8.5 fantasy points per game, catching just 31 passes for 400 yards. On the other hand, it got off to an unconventional start with him getting shot and missing the first six weeks of the season.
Pearsall did have a couple of solid games with 11.7 and 17.3 points in Weeks 8 and 10, respectively. Then, he closed the season with two WR1-caliber outings, posting 28.7 and 18.9 points in Weeks 17 and 18.
Heading into the 2025 season, Pearsall projects to open as the San Francisco 49ers’ WR2 opposite Jauan Jennings, as Brandon Aiyuk recovers from a torn ACL. With Deebo Samuel Sr. gone, the door is open for the 2024 first-rounder to prove why the 49ers spent such high draft capital on him.
8) Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills
One of the weaker prospects of the 2024 class, Keon Coleman was described as a contested catch specialist, an archetype of wide receiver that is rarely successful at the NFL level.
As a rookie, Coleman saw a relatively prominent role early on, playing 75% of the snaps. However, he earned just a 15.5% target share and was targeted on 18.5% of his routes run (both numbers ranked outside the top 60).
Coleman averaged 8.6 fantasy points per game as a rookie and was rarely startable. He also dealt with a wrist injury that cost him four games. Before then, Coleman had started to come on a bit, with games of 16.5 and 18.0 fantasy points in his two games prior to sustaining the injury.
Now, Coleman has an opportunity to step up. Khalil Shakir operates primarily out of the slot, and Joshua Palmer is a journeyman who has always played behind more talented players. Is Coleman a more talented player? We’ll find out.
9) Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers spent a first-round pick on Xavier Legette in 2024. Yet, it was undrafted free agent Jalen Coker who wound up being their second-best receiver behind Adam Thielen.
Coker averaged 8.4 fantasy points per game. That, in itself, isn’t indicative of anything, but with him being a UDFA, he didn’t even see the field until Week 4.
Coker wound up giving fantasy managers four games of double-digit fantasy points, including two WR1-caliber performances.
With the Panthers spending an early first-rounder on Tetairoa McMillan, Coker legitimately has no shot at being the team’s WR1. However, with an improving Bryce Young and a wide-open depth chart behind McMillan, Coker has as good a chance as anyone to emerge as Carolina’s second option in this passing game.
10) Jalen McMillan, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Deciding on the No. 10 spot was very tricky. Based on talent and 2024 performance, Jalen McMillan wins going away. He averaged 10.4 ppg for the year, but what was most important was his close to his rookie season.
From Weeks 14-18, McMillan scored at least 16.7 fantasy points in every contest. He filled in admirably as the WR2 with Chris Godwin out and looked to be trending upward. Following his performance, there was some thought that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would let Godwin go and elevate McMillan to full-time WR2.
Instead, not only did the Buccaneers bring Godwin back, they also used a first-round selection on Emeka Egbuka. Suddenly, McMillan finds himself as buried on the depth chart as he was entering last season. At best, he projects to be the WR4.
McMillan will probably have his moments because he definitely has talent, but asking Baker Mayfield to support three wide receivers is a lot; four is improbable.
11) Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers
12) Adonai Mitchell, Indianapolis Colts
13) Jordan Whittington, Los Angeles Rams
14) Troy Franklin, Denver Broncos
15) Devaughn Vele, Denver Broncos