Adam Koffler's Must-Have Veteran Wide Receivers: Undervalued Fantasy Football Draft Targets

July 14, 2025

Adam Koffler highlights undervalued veteran wide receivers to target in 2025 fantasy football drafts. Draft these four aging vets, including Jauan Jennings and more.

Rookies and ascending young players are always fun to draft. They come with untapped potential and mysterious upside that's hard to pass up. It's fun to draft these guys and be a step ahead of your competition.

But what about those old, reliable guys? They've got a place in fantasy football, too. These veteran wide receivers move the chains, score touchdowns, and provide a safety valve for their quarterbacks. They've racked up lots of fantasy points in the past.

All four of the pass-catchers highlighted below are 28 or older, but they've still got it. Take some shots on a couple of young, ascending wide receivers this season, but don't forget to target these four undervalued veterans in your 2025 fantasy football drafts.

DJ Moore, Chicago Bears

Moore feels a bit undervalued heading into the 2025 season with a Yahoo average draft position (ADP) of 41.0 (WR21).

Yes, the Bears drafted Missouri wideout Luther Burden III with the 39th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. But he missed all of minicamp and OTAs, and his new head coach didn't sound too pleased. He's missed valuable reps.

Ben Johnson and company also drafted Michigan TE Colston Loveland with the 10th overall pick. He'll be a weapon in the passing game, but again, he's a tight end.

With Keenan Allen no longer in Chicago, Moore's primary competition for targets at the receiver position is second-year man Rome Odunze.

Odunze posted just 1.37 yards per route run as a rookie. Moore wasn't much better, but he still bested Odunze in target share (24.4% vs. 17.3%), targets per route run (0.22 vs. 0.18), first-read target share (31.8% vs. 18.9%), and fantasy points (14.1 vs. 8.6).

Moore, unlike Odunze, has a track record of production. He's got over 90 receptions in three of the last four seasons. His expected fantasy points remained high in 2024 despite the dip in efficiency. Here's a look at Moore's past four seasons (via Fantasy Points Data):

The biggest difference heading into the 2025 season is the hiring of new head coach Ben Johnson.

Under his guidance as offensive coordinator, the Lions were top-5 in points scored each of the last three seasons. Conversely, the Bears scored the fifth-fewest points last season.

Johnson is bringing an efficient, high-powered offensive scheme with him to Chicago, which is likely to benefit one of the most consistent producers at the position over the last half-decade in Moore.

Sure, there's some added competition for targets, and Odunze could become much better in Year 2, but Moore still profiles as the alpha in the room. And he's still just 28 years old. The age cliff isn't anywhere near Moore.

Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos

Once Bo Nix got comfortable in Sean Payton's offense last season, it was wheels up for his WR1.

Bo Nix and Courtland Sutton fantasy points in 2024

1st ‘half’ of season (Weeks 1-7):
◻️ Nix - 15.5
◻️ Sutton - 8.7

2nd ‘half’ of season (Weeks 8-17):
◻️ Nix - 22.1
◻️ Sutton - 18.0

Once Nix and the offense figured it out, Sutton became one of the best fantasy WRs in the league https://t.co/Kn6zSkrgbS

— Adam Koffler (@AdamKoffler) June 29, 2025

While it's always a dangerous game to project numbers over a full season, this was a pretty big sample size. Sutton's 18 fantasy points per game in Weeks 8 through 17 would have landed him as WR8 in 2024.

The Broncos did bring in some offensive weapons this season, however, starting with pass-catching tight end Evan Engram. They also added Pat Bryant from Illinois with the 74th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

But Engram kind of fell off last season. Despite earning 6.9 targets per game, he ranked 18th among tight ends in yards per route run (1.57), 40th in yards per reception (7.77), and 35th in yards after contact per reception (1.34).

He'll earn some targets, but Engram won't even be operating in the same area of the field as Sutton. He had an average depth of target (aDoT) of just 5.6 last season, while Sutton had an aDoT of 13.7.

Sutton, meanwhile, had a massive opportunity in 2024. Per Fantasy Points Data, he ranked first among wide receivers in end-zone targets (18), third in air yards share (44.9%), 16th in first-read target share (30.9%), and 15th in first downs per route run (0.112).

That equated to the 12th-most expected fantasy points per game at the position last season (15.6). More than Mike Evans, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and, believe it or not, Amon-Ra St. Brown.

After a lackluster start to his career, it feels like Sutton is finally starting to hit his stride. At 29 years old, he appears to be aging like a fine wine in Payton's offense with Nix under center.

Calvin Ridley, Tennessee Titans

You might not believe in Ridley, but his new quarterback, Cam Ward, sure does.

Calvin Ridley’s going for 1,400 and 12 this season. #Titans pic.twitter.com/LsfOg7Rj3M

— Jake Robertson (@GloryDaySports) July 7, 2025

When healthy and on the field, Ridley has been one of the best in the business at what he does. But last season, not even a receiver of his caliber could overcome the horrific quarterback play in Tennessee.

Per Fantasy Points Data, just 67.5% of Ridley's targets were deemed catchable. No other receiver with that low of a catchable target rate (on at least 250 routes) had a yards per route run over 1.56, except Ridley. He somehow managed to produce 2.02 yards per route run despite the poor offensive environment.

Ridley, like Sutton, was top five in air yards share last season. However, unlike Sutton, he only saw four end-zone targets in 17 games. Allen Lazard, Elijah Moore, and Troy Franklin were all targeted more in the end zone than Ridley in 2024.

The Titans added another veteran in Tyler Lockett to the receiver room this season, but the competition for targets remains minimal.

If Ward proves to be even serviceable, a 30-year-old Ridley looks like a steal at his current Yahoo ADP of 61.0 (WR32).

Jauan Jennings, San Francisco 49ers

Jennings came out of nowhere in his fourth NFL season and put up some remarkable numbers. His 2.47 yards per route run ranked higher than, you guessed it, Ja'Marr Chase and CeeDee Lamb.

He was also ninth among wide receivers in first downs per route run (0.119), a highly predictive stat for future success.

Finally got around to re-running correlations to next year's FPG on almost every @FantasyPtsData stat for WRs.

+ First downs are still great, and I've loved seeing the increased usage of 1D/RR around the industry this year

+ Broadly, production > volume > efficiency pic.twitter.com/9wtVbhNEqn

— Ryan Heath (@RyanJ_Heath) April 22, 2025

"But Adam, all of his production came with Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey out of the lineup." Yes, that's mostly true; however, a lot of teams don't realize what they have in a player until the opportunity presents itself for more playing time.

Jennings did exactly what he was supposed to do with that playing time, and some. He balled out and turned into one of the most reliable and efficient wide receivers in the second half of last season.

Bad receivers, on the other hand, might have only a game or two of relevance (remember Travis Fulgham) when called upon due to other players being out of the lineup.

And now, because of how good he was as the 49ers' WR1 last season, Jennings has requested a new contract or a trade out of San Francisco. Rightfully so, he has some leverage here.

Jennings was Brock Purdy's go-to guy for a large chunk of the 2024 season. George Kittle and CMC will still get theirs, but it was clear Purdy favored Jennings over rookie Ricky Pearsall.

In 6 games with Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, George Kittle, and Brock Purdy on the field together:

Pearsall: 9.6 FPG / 17.6% first-read target share

Kittle: 14.2 FPG / 19.8% first-read target share

Jennings: 13.5 FPG / 31.3% first-read target share

Seems pretty simple!

— Ryan Heath (@RyanJ_Heath) March 26, 2025

With Aiyuk potentially out for multiple weeks (or even months) to start the season, and with a ramp-up period likely after that, Jennings could pick up in 2025 right where he left off in 2024.

We're about to find out quickly how much the 49ers value Jennings and how Aiyuk is progressing in his injury rehab. However, with an ADP of 62.0 (WR32), the potential reward certainly outweighs the risk, for now.

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