Sophomore Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Busts: Draft Avoids (2025)

Justin's fantasy football second-year WR busts for fantasy leagues in 2025. 2nd-year wide receiver busts to avoid in deep leagues and fantasy football drafts including Xavier Legette, Ja'Lynn Polk, Adonai Mitchell, and more.

There are some second-year NFL receivers who are set to have massive 2025 seasons. I want Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, and Brian Thomas Jr. on as many of my rosters as possible. I want guys like Rome Odunze, Xavier Worthy, and Ricky Pearsall on some of my rosters, though their floor is lower.

There are some second-year wideouts, though, who I don't want anywhere near my fantasy team. Whether it's because they looked unprepared for the NFL as rookies or there are just too many guys blocking them from playing time, these guys have "bust" written all over them.

Here are the second-year NFL receivers to fade for 2025. Included are all potential busts at wide receivers drafted on Day 1 or Day 2 of last year's NFL Draft, as well as a few selections from later in that draft who had some initial hype.

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Xavier Legette - Carolina Panthers

Legette's path to NFL relevancy always felt weird. His final season at South Carolina was incredibly good as he caught 71 passes for 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns. The problem? That was the only time in his five seasons with the Gamecocks that he finished with over 200 receiving yards.

He looked like an NFL player that season, but the fact that he hadn't been for the four previous seasons made it difficult to really trust that 2023 wasn't a flash in the pan.

The Panthers took the bet that it was real, and the results were...inconclusive. 49 catches for 497 yards and four touchdowns as a first-round rookie is a bit disappointing, but considering the Panthers as a whole ranked 30th in passing yards, you couldn't write Legette off entirely.

But Carolina added a true No. 1 receiver this year in Tetairoa McMillan, and despite trade rumors, Adam Thielen is still on the roster at the moment. Second-year receiver Jalen Coker also looked better than Legette at times last season.

jalen coker having about as many receiving yards as xavier legette last year despite nearly half the targets isn’t discussed enough (same age as rookies too) pic.twitter.com/yy8qaW0RjL

— kev mahserejian (@RotoSurgeon) August 12, 2025

With all of this in mind, it's hard to get to a point where I can justify drafting and playing Legette in redraft leagues this season.

Update - Coker has been placed on the injured reserve due to a quadriceps injury. In addition, Thielen has been traded to the Vikings. While this may open early-season opportunities for Legette, he is still facing an uphill battle to provide fantasy value.

Ja'Lynn Polk - New England Patriots

We don't have to spend long on this one. There had been conflicting reports about Polk's shoulder injury and whether he'd miss the entire 2025 season or not, but on Tuesday, he was placed on the IR without a return designation, which means his 2025 season is over.

Adonai Mitchell - Indianapolis Colts

Mitchell was largely quiet as a rookie, catching 23 passes for 312 yards. He finished fourth on the team in targets behind Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, and Alec Pierce.

All three of those guys are back in 2025 to block Mitchell. Meanwhile, the Colts spent a first-round pick on tight end Tyler Warren, signalling that the team might actually use that position this season. In 2024, the Colts' tight end with the most targets was Kylen Granson with just 31 of them.

Then there's the fact that Daniel Jones is the starting quarterback in Indianapolis, and if he struggles, then his replacement, Anthony Richardson Sr., is even worse for Mitchell's game. Per Stathead, Mitchell caught just 27.6 percent of his targets from Richardson in 2024.

Maybe Mitchell's talent will shine this year, and he'll be able to get past Pierce or Downs on the depth chart at some point, but at the moment, there's simply no reason to spend a fantasy draft pick on the former Texas Longhorn.

Malachi Corley - Cleveland Browns

If you spend a third-round pick on a wide receiver, you usually expect that wide receiver to contribute in some way. You don't expect him to be a star, but you do expect him to go out on the field and do something.

Corley caught just three passes for 16 yards as a rookie for the Jets. His offseason progression was then so bad that the team ended up cutting him.

The #Jets are expected to release wide receiver Malachi Corley, sources tell @CBSSports.

Was a third-round pick of the Jets last year. pic.twitter.com/XvrcDWxycx

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) August 26, 2025

The Browns are giving Corley a chance, but that doesn't mean you should.

Jermaine Burton - Cincinnati Bengals

Burton played in 14 games as a rookie and was targeted 14 times, catching just four passes for 107 yards. It's hard to make an impact when playing in an offense that also features Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, but surely you expect a little more from your third-round pick, right?

Instead, Burton was 10th on the Bengals roster in targets, and his 28.6 percent catch rate stands out as being particularly bad, especially when all those targets came off the arm of Joe Burrow, who was arguably the NFL's best pure passer in 2024.

Burton didn't suffer the same fate as Corley did, but he still feels fairly far away from making an impact in this Bengals offense. In addition to the two-star receivers, Andrei Iosivas has proven to be a reliable chain-mover, and tight end Mike Gesicki is coming off his best year since 2021. There aren't many targets left for Burton.

Roman Wilson - Pittsburgh Steelers

Wilson was on the field for just five snaps as a rookie after an ankle injury delayed his debut until Week 6, and then a hamstring injury ended his season.

The lack of viable receiving options in Pittsburgh means that Wilson should see the field this year, but it's hard to really have high hopes for him. Pittsburgh was near the bottom of the league in passing attempts last season. While the move to Aaron Rodgers at quarterback signals a willingness to throw more, Rodgers is also a 41-year-old QB who has fallen off and isn't too far removed from a 2023 Achilles tear.

As for Wilson, he's likely the fourth option in this passing game behind DK Metcalf, Calvin Austin III, and Jonnu Smith.

The Steelers haven’t signed more veteran receivers up to this point in part because they are high on Roman Wilson, who impressed both in the joint practice with the #Bucs and the game. Last night was a good sign for Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/YwltIo40GH

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 17, 2025

The team does seem high on him, though, so maybe this prediction will be wrong! I just don't have any level of confidence in Wilson heading into 2025, but maybe he could wind up a prime candidate for a 2026 third-year breakout.

Jalen McMillan - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

McMillan was supposed to be a solid sleeper this year. Mike Evans was a free agent. Chris Godwin was coming off an injury. McMillan caught 37 passes for 461 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie.

Then the Buccaneers re-signed Evans. That obviously cut into McMillan's value, but it didn't kill it.

Then the Buccaneers drafted Emeka Egbuka. That cut into McMillan's value even more, effectively making his path to fantasy relevance this year dependent on the Godwin situation.

Sources: Buccaneers plan to activate WR Chris Godwin off the Physically Unable to Perform list and have him on their 53-man roster to start the season, but only to begin his ramp-up process for games, not to immediately play in them. Godwin still is unlikely to play until October… pic.twitter.com/zGaaVeTRYc

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 21, 2025

Godwin won't play until October, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, so there's a path for McMillan to have some early value, but his snaps should mostly dry up the moment Godwin is back out there.

Luke McCaffrey - Washington Commanders

McCaffrey had a quiet rookie campaign, catching 18 passes for 168 yards for the Commanders, and any realistic hopes toward a major role in 2025 were effectively ended when the team traded for Deebo Samuel.

McCaffrey is buried as the fourth receiver on this Washington roster. He could theoretically beat out Noah Brown for the No. 3 role over the course of the season, but McCaffrey hasn't really shown enough to think that's a foregone conclusion.

Troy Franklin - Denver Broncos

Alright, now on to a couple of guys taken after the third round last year who had a little hype before the draft. We start with Broncos receiver Franklin.

Franklin was drafted by the same team that took his Oregon quarterback, Bo Nix, earlier in the same draft, and the lack of viable weapons in Denver had people high on Franklin at first.

The former Duck caught 28 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie. In theory, he'll have a larger role this year after the Devaughn Vele trade, but Denver also spent a third-round pick this year on Pat Bryant, plus added tight end Evan Engram, who was a real target hog in Jacksonville.

Devontez Walker - Baltimore Ravens

Coming out of college, Walker had game-breaking speed, but he needed to clean up a lot of stuff to be a viable NFL wide receiver. That was obvious last year, when he played in nine games but was only targeted three times, catching just one pass. Sure, that one catch was a 21-yard touchdown, but that doesn't mean a lot in the grand scheme of things.

The Ravens added DeAndre Hopkins in free agency, giving the team a solid top three of Hopkins, Zay Flowers, and Rashod Bateman. Walker should see more snaps this year as the No. 4 guy, but those three are going to be the ones on the field the vast majority of the time that the Ravens are in 11 personnel.

Plus, Baltimore has two good tight ends in Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely. Likely is hurt right now, but the fact that he isn't starting the season on the IR suggests that he'll be back out there relatively soon.

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