Several rookies are set to make an immediate impact in 2025: Obviously, Ashton Jeanty leads the way, but two more standouts at running back and three wide receivers won’t disappoint.
Travis Hunter is primed to prove that he’s a generational prospect: While Hunter will split duties on offense and defense, he is set up to succeed and be utilized as a weapon in Liam Coen’s offense.
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Breakout rookie production is difficult to come by for fantasy football purposes, but every year, there are a few options who emerge and make a name for themselves. The combination of opportunity and talent is important for a lot of fantasy success and in this class, there are potentially seven clear choices to bet on in becoming Year 1 assets in fantasy football leagues.
RB Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way since Jeanty is comfortably the 1.01 in rookie drafts this year, and the expectation that he’ll dominate touches in the Raiders backfield immediately. Jeanty broke PFF records in college, earning a career 99.9 rushing grade thanks to three-straight seasons of at least a 90.0 rushing grade, culminating in a nation-leading 96.6 rushing grade in 2024.
Jeanty earned his top-10 NFL draft capital, and considering the other options in the Raiders backfield, where the primary backup is a 33-year-old Raheem Mostert. Jeanty should be on the field a lot, in all situations, every week. The Raiders offense could not be considered a high-powered unit, but plenty of high-end running backs make up for that through volume alone, including 2022 Raiders running back and PPR RB3, Josh Jacobs, who was fed a ton of touches in a below-average offense with an average offensive line. Jeanty should have no problem finding similar success as a rookie in a similar situation, and considering the talent, a top-three finish is well within reach.
WR Travis Hunter, Jacksonville Jaguars
Hunter is a truly unique prospect who has the opportunity to live up to the generational moniker if he can thrive on both sides of the ball, as is the expectation as the second overall pick. Hunter is expected to play primarily wide receiver first, which is great news for his fantasy potential, as he should be a focal point of Liam Coen’s offense whenever he’s on the field. Even if the team were to give him just a 75% route share, the designed touches that Hunter will command based on his talent should allow for around a 25% target rate, which could mean around six to seven targets per game on average. That would put him at over 100 targets as a rookie on the safe side with that limited route share.
After the Jaguars released Gabe Davis last week, Hunter's piece of the pie became slightly bigger in the passing game. Trevor Lawrence should also be expected to take a step forward this year with Coen running the offense. With two legitimate stars at wide receiver now with Hunter and Brian Thomas Jr., the hope will be that this offense as a whole operates at a higher level, which will hopefully create more scoring opportunities for Hunter and company as well.
WR Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers
The Panthers were in dire need of a WR1 who could be paired with Bryce Young for the foreseeable future, and grabbing McMillan eighth overall in the NFL draft helped seal that deal for 2025 and beyond. McMillan comes out of college with encouraging numbers, averaging over 100 receiving yards per game at Arizona in each of the past two seasons, leading to an 89.5 career receiving grade.
McMillan will join Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, and Jalen Coker as the other top wide receiver candidates. McMillan has an edge in age, draft capital, and current talent over all three, leaving little question about where he should be considered in this pecking order. Young’s resurgence in the latter half of last season resulted in him being a top-five-graded passer (85.7) coming out of the team’s Week 11 bye week and until the end of the season, a big upgrade from the first year-and-a-half when he managed just a 52.7 passing grade. Expect McMillan to be the prime beneficiary of a potential breakout season for Young in 2025.
RB Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers
Getting first-round draft capital is always going to be a big help in getting on the field early and often in a player’s NFL career, and for Hampton, landing on an offense that ranked top-10 in run rate last season (40.1%) should do just that. Greg Roman’s offensive philosophy has always stemmed from a run-heavy approach, and spending an early pick on a top-tier running back like Hampton is only going to help that cause. Hampton is coming off his second-straight 100-plus rushing yards per game season at North Carolina, delivering the second-most rushing yards after contact (1,222) in the entire FBS behind only Jeanty.
Hampton shares a backfield with Najee Harris right now, though considering the small one-year investment, there isn’t too much concern that Hampton will cede the feature back role to Harris, even as a rookie. Hampton’s path to touches isn’t as wide open, as was the case with Jeanty, but considering how often the Chargers are going to run the ball this season, he won’t be too far behind in how often he’ll get his opportunities. Hampton will push for RB1 potential in Year 1 and, at the very least, he should be a comfortable RB2 for fantasy purposes.
RB RJ Harvey, Denver Broncos
Harvey comes out of UCF with an impressive collection of both rushing and receiving metrics for his college career, including a 91st percentile career rushing grade (95.1) and 76th percentile career yards per route run (1.41). Harvey saw a lot of work as a receiving back at UCF, averaging 20 receptions per season and over 200 receiving yards per season on top of his near 3,000 rushing yards since 2023.
With the Broncos spending a second-round pick on Harvey, he is set up to be the best bet to lead Sean Payton’s backfield in touches, which includes a likely significant role as a receiver. Since Payton took over in 2023, the Broncos have accumulated the most receptions from the running back position (214), which is consistent with his time with the New Orleans Saints, as his backfield accounted for 1,074 receptions from 2013-2021 – the most in the league. Considering Harvey’s strong rushing numbers and experience as a receiver, he should get more than enough looks on early downs and passing downs to be a consistent fantasy option in 2025.
WR Tre Harris, Los Angeles Chargers
Harris played just eight games in 2024 and still posted 1,030 receiving yards on an unbelievable 5.12 yards per route run. Part of Harris’ production can be explained by Lane Kiffin’s vertical passing attack, as Harris tied for the most career 20-plus-yard receptions (35) in this class. Helping his case for Year 1 is that Harris can still be effective on those deep passes, as Justin Herbert ranked third in deep pass attempts (75) last season, tying for second in big-time-throws (24) and earning a 92.4 passing grade on those passes of which Harris can now be the prime beneficiary.
Credit where it’s due, Harris was not just a deep threat, as he consistently found ways to be productive for his entire career, earning 256 targets on passes with an ADoT (average depth of target) below 20 yards, which was the 13th-most out of 47 prospects in this year’s class. On those passes, Harris earned 8.82 yards per route run, a top-five mark, as was his 89.8 receiving grade. Harris offers the potential to be the perfect complement to Ladd McConkey in Herbert’s passing offense to have a great rookie season.