John Johnson's Top 5 Fantasy Football Bold Predictions: Player Outlooks and Analysis (2025)

John's bold predictions for the 2025 fantasy football season. His top calls, player outlooks, and analysis for fantasy football leagues, featuring Christian McCaffrey, J.J. McCarthy, Justin Fields, and more.

NFL seasons are always full of surprises. In fantasy football, there are shockers pretty much every season. Yet, many fantasy football managers enter the year not willing to act on any bold predictions, instead just sticking with consensus, and in fact swearing by it, no matter how often it's wrong.

Luckily for us, we thus have the opportunity to obtain great values in whatever rounds of the draft we target specific players. There are a few situations that are primed to change substantially soon, and while it's never easy to time the market, sometimes it's possible.

Luck is always involved in bold predictions coming true. If there were no luck involved, we'd already know before the season. However, we cannot predict the future with certainty, although we can at least attempt to do so. So let's do that right now with five bold predictions for the 2025 NFL season for fantasy football!

Jarquez Hunter Steals Kyren Williams' RB1 Job

This is one of my hottest takes for the 2025 season. But it's undeniable that Williams, and the situation in general, have been displaying red flags for the past year. While Williams finished as one of the top running backs in fantasy football, a closer examination of the context surrounding the situation raises concerns about his future prospects.

First of all, his rushing average took a massive hit. After averaging an excellent 5.0 yards per carry in 2023, Williams' efficiency tanked nearly 20 percent to just 4.1 YPC. Williams' 2023 efficiency was heavily propped up by one of the best run-blocking offensive lines in the league. The 2024 Rams' OL was a bit less insane.

Kyren Williams averaged 5.0 yards per carry and 3.5 yards before contact per attempt (most in the league for anyone with 120+ carries) in 2024. Just 2.1 YBCon/Att and 4.1 YPC in 2024. Without elite run blocking his efficiency nosedived pic.twitter.com/P9WgDAQKpT

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) March 14, 2025

The second, and potentially more damning, set of issues are with his struggles to force missed tackles, and crucially, his absolute inability to create explosive plays. Williams and the Rams offense as a whole were horrendous at picking up big gains.

Kyren Williams carried the ball 316 times in 2024. Despite having an utterly elite role and usage, he only logged two plays of more than 20 rushing yards. He's also extremely fumble-prone. The Rams are desperately in need of more explosive plays from the backfield. pic.twitter.com/uPVpDXOH9c

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) May 22, 2025

Williams had a 0.06 percent rate of rushes going for over 20 yards. That's not a typo. Volume-adjusted, he was the worst running back in the league at ripping off long runs. That's a major concern. Add in the fact that he has the most fumbles of any RB in the league in the past two years, and you have a screaming, flashing warning signal.

5. EAGLES RECOVER ANOTHER KYREN WILLIAMS FUMBLE! -> Jake Elliott IS GOOD AGAIN IN THE SNOW! pic.twitter.com/JBZEU8nvIS

— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) January 20, 2025

Williams fumbled away the NFC Divisional Round game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Had he held on to the ball here, Los Angeles would have likely gone to the NFC Championship.

Rams RBs in their 2024 seasons...

Kyren Williams❌
+ 0.13 MTF/Att (49th/70 RBs)
+ 1.9% explosive % (57th)
+ 4.65 40

Blake Corum❌
+ 0.14 MTF/Att (40th/70 RBs)
+ 0% explosive % (70th)
+ 4.53 40
---
JARQUEZ HUNTER✅
+ 0.32 MTF/Att (5th/32 RBs)
+ 12.4% explosive % (3rd)
+ 4.40 40

— Dataroma (@ffdataroma) May 2, 2025

It's not 100 percent fair to compare college stats to NFL stats, but Hunter played in the SEC and absolutely dominated. And he could excel at the things that both Williams and Blake Corum failed to do -- break tackles effectively and make big plays. Hunter is significantly faster than both Williams and Corum.

Perhaps it will only take one more Williams fumble, or another game in which he fails to make big plays and whiffs on potential game-winning scores for the offense, for Hunter to start getting more looks. And if he lives up to his potential, and I think he will, he could run away with the Rams' RB1 job.

Who knows, maybe I'm a year early on this, though. But watch out.

Travis Hunter And Brian Thomas Jr. Both Finish As WR1s

There's no reason to break down Thomas in this section. He was the WR8 in PPR PPG last season and the WR4 overall. But I think there's a solid chance Hunter could also finish as a WR1. The Jaguars, led by offensive-minded head coach Liam Coen, traded up to the No. 2 spot in the 2025 NFL Draft to select Hunter.

Hunter won the Fred Biletnikoff Award in his final season at Colorado, despite focusing on his cornerback duties in his game preparations. Hunter has elite twitchiness, is an excellent route-runner and separator, and is absolutely insane at the catch point as a WR.

Travis Hunter is legitimately UNFAIR at the catch point

➖ 68.8% contested-catch success
➖ Only 4 career drops

He’s so good at separating that we rarely even get to see this skill from him… pic.twitter.com/LxxWJF3fq2

— SCOUTD (@scoutdnfl) December 18, 2024

I'm aware that Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence has disappointed thus far in his career. But let's look at how quarterback Baker Mayfield was before he finally got an improved situation. In 2024, he threw 13 more touchdown passes than he ever had in his career to that point. That was thanks to Coen's elite offensive system.

Mayfield had WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to throw to, and now Lawrence has Thomas and Hunter. To the point earlier about contested catches, I often say that they're "useless" stats in terms of translating from college to the pros, but this is with a caveat.

You have to dive into the film here. Hunter is able to contort his body at ridiculous angles, even with defenders draped all over him and actively and meaningfully trying to swat the ball away. Many players are credited with contested catches on plays where the defender doesn't significantly affect the ball.

TRAVIS HUNTER ONE CATCH = ONE TOUCHDOWN.

FIRST OF MANY THIS SEASON.

SUPERSTAR.

pic.twitter.com/WMrThkPFX6

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) August 30, 2024

Hunter is still raw as a WR prospect. Yet just from his offensive tape, we can see that he is a special talent and a generational football prospect. On no planet is Coen going to take away such a great prospect from his offense to put him on defense more. That's an absurd idea in my mind.

Justin Fields Is A Bust

There is still plenty of hype around New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields. On his new team, the New York Jets, the general consensus is that he's in an upgraded situation and that he'll make strides as a passer. Proponents of Fields point to his 2022 season, where he was the overall QB7.

However, I just don't see that happening. The 2022 Chicago Bears actually had a solid offensive line, but Fields was so willing to run into sacks, miss windows in his reads, and take the most time of any QB in the league to slowly and lazily drop back that he was essentially the source of his own woes.

Justin Fields went from being horrible for the Chicago Bears to being horrible for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sacked once again. #DALvsPIT pic.twitter.com/rlkomouGB9

— iitsTemper (@iitsTemper) October 7, 2024

Fields has never, and will never, escape from his tendency to run himself into sacks. Even when there are open receivers down the field, or clear lanes for him to run through and make the decision to throw a pass or throw the ball out of bounds, Fields runs himself into defenses time and time again.

He has great rushing upside for a quarterback. But what I fear will nullify that, partially, is the Jets' poor offensive line. Last season, they made numerous free agent signings, only for the team's performance to remain subpar. Fields might not have much to work with here.

Top/worst NFL pressure to sack rates since 2021 (300+ DBs)

Patrick Mahomes: 11.0%
Josh Allen: 12.0%
Justin Herbert: 14.7%
Brock Purdy: 14.9%
Tom Brady: 15.5%

Joe Burrow: 23.3%
Baker Mayfield: 24.2%
Justin Fields: 24.9%
Zach Wilson: 25.1%
Ryan Tannehill: 25.7%@FantasyPtsData

— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) February 18, 2024

I'm sure the Jets' offensive line will be maligned all season, but Fields is solely responsible for his pressure-to-sack rate. Once the pressure arrives, he's one of the worst QBs in the league at avoiding a sack. And he's responsible for quite a significant portion of his sacks.

The 2023 Bears were a perfect example of this.

Blame the Bears offensive line all you want for Justin Fields inability to avoid sacks back in 2023. But it's his fault. Fields managed to take 44 sacks in 12.5 games. Behind the same OL, undrafted QB Tyson Bagent took 5 sacks in 4.5 games. Fields behind the Jets OL scares me. pic.twitter.com/lvmr6LbL3p

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) May 25, 2025

There is an impressively big chance that the Jets' offense is just absolutely awful in 2025. Maybe Fields will be able to scrap up some points in garbage time, but his inability to read defenses and willingness to create pressure and sack situations for himself are alarming.

J.J. McCarthy Finishes As A Top-6 Quarterback

It really wouldn't be that hard for McCarthy to do this. All he has to do is be measurably better than former Vikings QB Sam Darnold, who was garbage his entire career until he lucked into Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell's offensive system and one of the best offensive rosters in the NFL.

McCarthy doesn't have a ton of believers, which is fine. But the carry job the Vikings performed on Darnold's fantasy value was extremely impressive. It wasn't until the final two games of the season, when teams got consistent pressure on Darnold, that everyone remembered that he was terrible.

“HE’S HOLDING IT TOO LONG! THROW IT MAN!” -Paul Allen

Sam Darnold is sacked for the 5th time in 2 quarters

Called by Paul Allen and Pete Bercich for KFXN in Minneapolis: pic.twitter.com/YxtjXFcQ7e

— will: Riley Greene Truther (@wrhiv_72) January 14, 2025

McCarthy has major rushing upside that shouldn't be impacted by the meniscus injury that ended his 2024 season before it started. Reports have stated that he'll be fully healthy and good to go by Week 1, and McCarthy was a fantastic college QB. There might be some rust to start things off, but that's expected.

Blake Corum: really fast

JJ McCarthy: also really fast pic.twitter.com/MktKyfGilF

— Sidelines - Michigan 〽️ (@SSN_Michigan) January 19, 2022

It's simply a fact that McCarthy's very, very fast for a quarterback, and if O'Connell lets him truly unleash as a rusher, he could put up huge numbers. He absolutely dusts his former running back teammate, Corum, on a run play in the post above. Keep in mind, Corum ran a 4.53-second 40-yard dash.

But even when Corum reaches his top speed, McCarthy continues blowing past him to set up blocks. While the former phenom wasn't used much as a rusher in college, potential is all that matters.

JJ McCarthy SHINED when it mattered most.

This clutch run in the national championship helped solidify a win 🐐 pic.twitter.com/mKCnURklog

— Cam (@42Cyc) April 10, 2025

I'm expecting a Jayden Daniels-esque "rookie" season for McCarthy in 2025.

Christian McCaffrey Finishes As The RB1 Overall

We currently live in a world where people are unironically drafting Las Vegas Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty over San Francisco 49ers RB McCaffrey in redraft leagues. That's got to stop as soon as possible. CMC had injury issues last year, sure, and in his career, he's been very injury-prone.

But the player who has an elite role in an elite offense, gets fed a monster amount of touches per game when healthy, and easily obliterated every other fantasy football running back to finish the year with 391.3 PPR points, should absolutely be taken over a rookie. Jesus.

Prayer circle for a a healthy Christian McCaffrey in 2025 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4JPcTDRS1B

— Chase Senior (@Chase_Senior) May 16, 2025

McCaffrey is still 29 years old. He's not hit the age cliff by any means, and the age cliff comes later for elite players at any position, anyway. He's used heavily as a receiver, to top things off. That's how he finished, averaging 24.5 PPR fantasy points per game in 2023.

I don't understand how people can say no to that level of upside. McCaffrey has previously missed large stretches of seasons, only to return and pop off in subsequent years. Of course, it can happen again, because we have indisputable proof that it has already happened.

Fuck it, 19 minutes of Christian McCaffrey highlights from the 2023 season for the timeline pic.twitter.com/fYj2ZecRiO

— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) November 8, 2024

McCaffrey is a special, special player, in a special, special role. He'll get basically all of the running back work when healthy. Don't pass up on that.

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