5 Must-Have Fantasy Football Rookies to Target: Second-Half Risers, Potential League-Winners (2025)

Patrick McGrath's five fantasy football rookies risers to target in the second half of 2025. His must-have breakouts and sleepers to pick up off waivers, or trade for, including Colston Loveland, Jaylin Noel, more.

Every rookie enters the NFL clouded in hype and possibility. By midseason, most of that cloud has burned off, and we have a decent picture of what these guys actually look like. Some are exactly who we thought they were, some have us feeling duped, and for others, the image is just foggy enough to keep us guessing.

As we enter the second half of the season and NFL offenses start rewarding those who have earned more trust, now is the time for fantasy contenders to separate themselves from the pack.

In the NFL, as in fantasy, leaning on the right rookie at the right time can be the difference between limping into the playoffs and steamrolling through them. So, who are the rookies you can trust for your second-half run?

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) rankings
• Quarterback (QB) rankings
• Tight end (TE) rankings
• Defense (D/ST) rankings
• Kicker (K) rankings
• FLEX rankings
• Dynasty rankings

Emeka Egbuka, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Since tweaking his hamstring in Week 6, Emeka Egbuka hasn't looked like the player who opened the year as the early Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite.

To his credit, he hasn't missed any time, but when Mike Evans went down in Week 7, Egbuka was unexpectedly thrust back into a crucial role before he looked fully right. The results have been somewhat sloppy, and the Buccaneers offense as a whole has looked disjointed over the past two weeks.

Through his first five healthy games, Egbuka averaged five catches for 89 yards and scored in all but one. Since the hamstring injury, he's down to 3.5 grabs for 46.5 yards and zero touchdowns.

Good. The kid stinks, right? Hopefully, someone believes that because the Buccaneers are on a Week 9 bye, making this the lowest his price will be the rest of the season.

A bye week reminder of how good Emeka Egbuka truly is 🎯‼️

🎥: @NFL

pic.twitter.com/wsN4odSKr4

— SleeperBucs (@SleeperTBBUCS) October 29, 2025

Tampa gets the break just as it needs it. It has started five unique offensive line combinations in eight games, and Baker Mayfield is now nursing knee and oblique injuries after weeks of punishment. But help is on the way. Right tackle Luke Goedeke is nearing a return, and the eventual reappearance of Bucky Irving, Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan should steady the offense.

Even if the cavalry never shows, Mayfield and Egbuka are the type of quarterback-wide receiver duo built to carry an offense on their backs. Egbuka is smart, tough, and drawn to coverage voids with Capistrano-like instincts.

His 43 targets against zone coverage are the most among rookies, and Mayfield's 134.6 passer rating on those throws ranks third league-wide. Following a week of rest and recovery, Egbuka's second half should look a lot like his first month, so buy the dip wherever you can.

Oronde Gadsden, TE, Los Angeles Chargers

Since Week 6, Oronde Gadsden has racked up 309 receiving yards, making him just the third rookie tight end since 1970 to top 300 yards across a three-game span (Kyle Pitts Sr. and Brock Bowers).

For some, the surge came out of nowhere for this fifth-rounder, but it wasn't exactly unpredictable. In a loaded tight-end class, Gadsden's 1,991 career receiving yards at the college level trailed only Harold Fannin Jr. among the 16 players drafted at the position, despite him missing nearly an entire season with a Lisfranc injury. Now, over a year since the removal of a metal screw from his foot, he's moving like the oversized slot receiver he came into college as.

The Chargers have recently made a point of weaponizing Gadsden's skill set, moving him all over the formation. He has overtaken the big slot role that made Quentin Johnston a brief early-season breakout before the third-year wideout was relegated to running cardio routes on the outside.

Chargers TEs Coach Andy Bischoff: "Oronde (Gadsden) should be wide open."

He was 😈

Bischoff compared Gadsden's profile to Darren Waller earlier this offseason. pic.twitter.com/gs03wNBkhv

— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) October 29, 2025

Gadsden has big-play ability in his DNA and is a mismatch at every level, playing in one of only two offenses to surpass 300 pass attempts through the first half of the season.

With his snap share and usage rightfully on the rise, the buy window is closing fast. He's likely rostered everywhere now, but if his manager thinks this is a fleeting hot streak, pounce. Streaming tight ends is a viable strategy, but hitting or missing becomes vital as the games start to matter more. Gadsden has already proved he's a weekly starter with legitimate week-winning upside.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders

For a seventh-rounder, Jacory Croskey-Merritt entered the fantasy season with near-unprecedented hype. And for a while, he lived up to it. Through five weeks, he averaged nearly 12.5 half-PPR points per game, flashing the kind of hard-charging juice that had fantasy managers victory lapping before the leaves started changing colors.

Then came the chill. Over his last three games, Croskey-Merritt has averaged fewer than four fantasy points per contest. And now, as his current manager claims they were only hyping him up ironically while pondering if his roster spot could be better allocated, it's a perfect time to get him thrown in as part of a larger deal. Because, despite the slump, his usage has still been fantastic.

Croskey-Merritt has handled 83.8% of Washington's running back carries since Week 5. For context, Jonathan Taylor currently paces all backs with a season-long 82.7% running back rush share. On the season, only Ashton Jeanty and Quinshon Judkins have topped JCM among rookie backs.

The biggest factor in Croskey-Merritt's recent lull has been a lack of splash plays. Over the first five weeks, he ripped off five runs of 15-plus yards, accounting for 40% of his total yardage. Since then, he hasn't broken a single one.

His compact build, sharp vision, and quick-cut acceleration are what got him drafted after essentially forfeiting a year of eligibility, and he consistently fights through contact to reach the second level. Those traits didn't just disappear, but they've been harder to find in a recent string of game scripts in which he's ceded looks to the team's dedicated pass-catching back, Jeremy McNichols.

With Jayden Daniels nearing a return, the Commanders' offense should stabilize, keeping Croskey-Merritt in positive scripts and off the sideline while the team plays catch-up.

JCM's workload will keep him in the RB2 conversation to close the year, and when the long runs return, with them will come a legitimate ceiling. With a season-ending tour of the NFC East, his fantasy playoff schedule makes for the easiest in the league on paper. And that paper reads like a wish list, because the Commanders open fantasy championship week with a Christmas Day home game against the gift that is the Dallas Cowboys defense.

Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears

Outside of Cam Ward, Colston Loveland might be the only 2025 first-round pick still floating around on your league's waiver wire, which tells you how quietly his rookie season has started. Through the first half of the year, Loveland's stat line has been barely underwhelming, especially compared to fellow rookies Tyler Warren (picked four spots later) or Oronde Gadsden II (picked four rounds later). But the breakout window is starting to crack open.

With Cole Kmet sidelined by a back issue in Week 8, Loveland logged career highs in snaps, targets, and yards. After the game, head coach Ben Johnson praised Loveland's preparation and literally said he wished they'd gotten him more involved. When the guy designing the offense says the quiet part out loud, it's worth paying attention.

Kmet will return soon, but there's a reason Chicago spent the 10th overall pick on Loveland. He can line up wherever he’s asked, bringing the tools to beat whoever’s across from him. He's a fluid athlete with the size to win one-on-one against almost any defensive back in the league and the speed to blow past linebackers while working the seam. His production has yet to show up, but the traits, opportunity, and intent seem to be aligning.

“I’m very impressed by Colston…reminds me a lot of myself when I first came into the league.”

Cole Kmet has high praises for fellow TE Colston Loveland: pic.twitter.com/JJXvQ54sdr

— CHGO Bears (@CHGO_Bears) October 29, 2025

Loveland's 9.7-yard average depth of target ranks fourth among qualified tight ends, with Kmet being one of the three players ahead of him and demonstrating how aggressive Johnson wants to be with the position. If you've been cycling through tight ends, stash Loveland now. He may not be an every-week starter yet, but the signs are there that he could become just that, as well as an eventual playoff winner.

Jaylin Noel, WR, Houston Texans

Third-round rookie Jaylin Noel is arguably the biggest call-your-shot play on this list because so far, the usage hasn't matched the flashes. He's yet to clear a 50% route share in any game, but every time he's on the field, he looks like a player who belongs in fantasy lineups.

First down factory!

📺 : @nflonfox pic.twitter.com/ySfTXfaF4S

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 26, 2025

Since the Texans' Week 6 bye, a traditional takeoff point for rookie breakouts, Noel has averaged 4.5 catches and 70 yards per game, while drawing targets on 29% of his routes and posting a sterling 3.1 yards per route run. Those are legitimate starter numbers, and they've eclipsed what Christian Kirk was able to do from the same slot role before missing time due to a hamstring injury.

Noel is a natural separator with the kind of wiry play strength that lets him win through contact. He's been one of PFF's five highest-graded rookie receivers against both man and zone coverage, sharing that honor with only Tetairoa McMillan and Luther Burden III.

With C.J. Stroud turning the clock back to 2023 in three of the last four games and an upcoming stretch against four of the league's most pass-friendly defenses, the Texans offense could be primed for a late-season surge.

If Noel continues to hold off a returning Kirk, simply proving too efficient to take off the field, he's the kind of under-the-radar add who ends up winning people fantasy titles. With a Week 9 matchup against the elite defense of the Denver Broncos likely keeping many a manager at bay, this is the week to stash him before everyone else catches up.

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