5 Fantasy Football Rookies to Avoid in Redraft Leagues: First-Year Draft Busts (2025)

August 17, 2025

Justin's fantasy football rookies to avoid in redraft leagues in 2025. His top first-year players to avoid in fantasy football, including Luther Burden and more.

Some players enter the NFL and make an immediate impact. For example, Las Vegas Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty is being drafted at the end of the first round in fantasy drafts right now because everyone knows he's going to be a star right off the bat.

Not every player is so lucky. Whether due to a slow adjustment to the league or simply because there are better, more experienced players ahead of them on the depth chart, some rookies just don't wind up in spots where they can make their mark in Year 1.

Let's look at five rookies who you don't need to draft in 2025 redraft leagues.

Luther Burden III - WR - Chicago Bears

Honestly, I'm torn on whether I want to draft Luther Burden III. See, I saw this post about the success of slot receivers under Ben Johnson, which really piqued my interest:

Did Ben Johnson's slot WR get 1,000 yards or finish top-15 among all WRs in receptions?

2012: Brian Hartline -✅
2013: Brian Hartline - ✅
2014: Jarvis Landry - ✅
2015: Jarvis Landry - ✅
2016: Jarvis Landry - ✅
2017: Jarvis Landry - ✅
2018: Danny Amendola -❌
2019: Danny… https://t.co/jDY6oyy80g

— Scott Barrett (@ScottBarrettDFB) July 30, 2025

Burden found success in the slot in college, and that looks to be his best position in the pro game, so there's a strong argument for using Johnson's past usage of slot receivers as evidence that Burden is in for a strong rookie campaign.

But this Bears offense is crowded. You've got D.J. Moore, who has a history of producing out of the slot, and Rome Odunze is a great candidate to be a second-year breakout. The team drafted tight end Colston Loveland while still having Cole Kmet, so we could see a lot of plays with both of those tight ends on the field, with one playing in the slot.

It's just not as easy as saying "buy Burden because he's Johnson's slot receiver." The Bears have a number of versatile players who can line up all over the field, and Burden won't be high enough in the pecking order for me to pull the trigger on him at his current ADP.

Bhayshul Tuten - RB - Jacksonville Jaguars

Bhayshul Tuten might end up being Jacksonville's top running back, but it won't happen in 2025 unless the team moves on from Travis Etienne.

There were trade rumors about Etienne throughout the offseason, but nothing ever materialized. That's not to say a trade couldn't happen between now and the start of the season, but it looks more and more unlikely by the day that the Jags will actually move Etienne.

As long as the former first-round pick is on the Jaguars roster, you have to consider him the No. 1 guy there. Sure, he saw a pretty big drop in production in 2024, but he's only one year removed from a 2023 season that saw him rush for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns while also adding 58 catches for 476 yards and another score.

Etienne is a talented back, and it makes perfect sense for the Jaguars to hang on to him and see what new head coach Liam Coen can do with him. If it was just Etienne blocking Tuten's path, maybe we could still justify drafting him in redraft, but Tuten also starts the season behind Tank Bigsby in the rotation as well.

Bigsby is a tough player to get a read on. He was mostly a non-entity as a rookie, but last year he rushed for 766 yards and seven touchdowns, with his yards per carry jumping from 2.6 to 4.6.

He's not a factor in the passing game, but Bigsby can grind out yardage between the tackles. I'd expect to see a lot of him down in the red zone this season.

Where does that leave Tuten? He's already been dealing with a hamstring issue in camp, and reports out of camp have pretty much suggested that Etienne and Bigsby are going to split most of the work this season.

More from @_John_Shipley:

“Tank Bigsby has been the team's most impressive downhill rusher, while Travis Etienne has been far and away the Jaguars' best and most-used running back in the passing game” https://t.co/ZYDnLO9T6U

— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) July 31, 2025

Assuming Etienne is on the move after the 2025 season, opportunities will open up for Tuten in the future, but those opportunities aren't here yet. Fade him in 2025 and hope that he can have a Bigsby-esque leap in production in his second NFL season.

Kyle Williams - WR - New England Patriots

Right now, the Patriots have been running Stefon Diggs, DeMario Douglas, and Mack Hollins as the team's three starting receivers in camp, leaving rookie Kyle Williams to fight for scraps.

Not only that, but before Hollins returned healthy, third-year receiver Kayshon Boutte was the other player out there with the starting unit, so we can work under the assumption here that Williams is, at best, the No. 5 receiver at the moment.

That could obviously change, but I'm not betting on that change in redraft leagues. While the New England passing attack is widely expected to improve this year, it won't improve to the point where I'd consistently trust even the No. 3 receiver. So, Williams getting all the way up the depth chart to the point of fantasy relevance is going to be very difficult.

He still has long-term upside, though. Diggs and Hollins aren't part of the future core in New England, so if Williams can beat Boutte out over the course of the 2025 season, he could wind up as the top outside guy a year from now with Douglas in the slot. But that's the future, and redraft is the present, so leave him off your roster this season.

Jaylin Noel - WR - Houston Texans

While Jaylin Noel's former Iowa State teammate Jayden Higgins looks to have a good shot to start for the Texans, Noel will likely be brought along more slowly. That mainly stems from the fact that Noel will be most effective in the slot, a spot that is blocked initially by Christian Kirk.

Reports out of training camp seem promising for Noel, as he's been able to really showcase his speed, which has given Houston fans a lot of hope that he can be a key contributor going forward.

Jaylin Noel training camp hype 📈
pic.twitter.com/EgurMRnAHE

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) July 28, 2025

If we were talking dynasty leagues here, I'd be all over Noel. The Texans got a gem in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and he's going to be a great weapon for C.J. Stroud down the line, but it's going to take time for him to get consistent snaps.

Fading Noel is really more about how perfect Kirk is for this offense. As long as the former Jaguar stays healthy, his ability to operate in the short and medium passing game will be crucial for Stroud because this Houston offensive line is unlikely to give Stroud unlimited time. He'll need to get the ball off fast.

Any Quarterback Not Named Cam Ward

Let's just throw all the quarterbacks together here and talk about the only rookie worth rostering in redraft leagues, Titans quarterback Cam Ward.

A big part of that is that Ward's the only guaranteed starter among all rookie quarterbacks. Last season, seven rookies started games, including five of the six quarterbacks taken in Round 1. It could have been all six if J.J. McCarthy had been healthy.

That's not the case this year. Only two quarterbacks went in Round 1, and the other one outside of Ward, Jaxson Dart, is set to open the year behind Russell Wilson. Maybe he'll start at some point, but I wouldn't be super hopeful about his production when he does.

The only other player who might be a Week 1 starter is Tyler Shough in New Orleans, but it's really tough to trust Shough. The Saints offense outside of Alvin Kamara isn't particularly good, and while Shough is coming off a strong final college season, it's worth remembering he started college in 2018 and didn't look like an NFL prospect until last year. Do you trust a player who broke out that late?

Ward is worth a late pick in redraft if you want an upside QB2 play, but the other rookie quarterbacks should all be faded.

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