Fantasy Football Rookies to Avoid in Redraft Leagues: 6 First-Year Busts (2025)

Justin's fantasy football rookie draft avoids for 2025 redraft leagues. His top rookie and first-year draft busts, including Travis Hunter and Matthew Golden.

Sometimes, drafting the right rookie can be a major help for your fantasy football team. Rookies are usually the biggest unknowns in the league, so sometimes you can grab a guy at a nice value right before he blows up.

However, it doesn't always work out that way. Often, fans and analysts get too excited about a young player, driving their fantasy value up to a place it shouldn't be. In this scenario, drafting that rookie might cause irreparable damage to your fantasy roster.

Below are six rookies to avoid in redraft leagues this year. Each is currently being drafted in the top 100, per FantasyPros' current half-PPR Average Draft Position (ADP).

Tetairoa McMillan - WR - Carolina Panthers

Current ADP: WR22

McMillan was the best wide receiver in this draft class by a fairly wide margin. His addition to the Carolina Panthers has a chance to shift the long-term outlook not just for the team, but for former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young.

In the short term, though, McMillan is still a rookie wideout who'll be playing with a quarterback who might be getting better but was still benched for poor play early last season. Yes, he ended the year in a much better spot, but if we're drafting McMillan like a WR2, we should be aware of all the potential ways that could go wrong.

Adam Thielen is still going to command several underneath targets, and Young already has experience with second-year receiver Xavier Legette, so it wouldn't be a shock to see McMillan slow to get up to speed at the start of the 2025 season.

McMillan is currently being drafted just in front of DJ Moore, Jameson Williams, DK Metcalf, and DeVonta Smith. I understand the appeal of McMillan -- the potential alpha dude in Carolina -- but those other plays feel far safer at this point.

Travis Hunter - WR - Jacksonville Jaguars

Current ADP: WR27

This just feels silly. I completely understand the appeal of Hunter in dynasty leagues because his unique skill set is going to lead to a long and interesting NFL career.

But people are currently drafting a rookie Hunter in front of Courtland Sutton and George Pickens. That's something that just baffles me, because we don't even know how many snaps Hunter will get at wide receiver.

Jaguars GM James Gladstone on Travis Hunter’s usage:

"It'll be in terms of one game to the next. Where does it fit? Where does it make the most sense? Certain game plans might dictate usage differently. Time will truly tell." pic.twitter.com/KJlr5oGpOB

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) June 17, 2025

How can you see the above quote and feel good about drafting Hunter in redraft, considering the names that are still on the board? What happens when there's a game where the Jaguars need to lean heavily on Hunter on the defensive end?

Maybe this is all overreaction. Maybe we'll have a sense after a handful of games of how the team will use Hunter, and maybe it'll be in a role that's great for fantasy. But until we see that, don't we kind of have to assume that Hunter has the same issue in fantasy as Taysom Hill? That there will be boom weeks, but there will also be weeks where the game plan leads to limited touches and thus limited production as well.

RJ Harvey - RB - Denver Broncos

Current ADP: RB20

I have a feeling that between now and the time most of us draft our redraft teams, Harvey's ADP will drop a bit more, and he'll no longer be on an August version of this list. For now, though, his ADP is too high for comfort.

Harvey looked like he had landed in the perfect situation when the Broncos drafted him in the second round. Denver let Javonte Williams walk in free agency, and the team hadn't brought anyone in to replace him. Harvey would easily win out in a running back battle between him, Audric Estime, and Jaleel McLaughlin, right?

Everything got more complicated in June, as the Broncos added J.K. Dobbins, who finished last season with over 1,000 scrimmage yards for the Chargers.

Dobbins has a long injury history and can't be counted on long term, but he will almost certainly get the first dibs at early down work in 2025. Harvey will still see the field, but Dobbins' presence on this roster lowers Harvey's floor and ceiling. Drafting him like an RB2 no longer feels right.

Quinshon Judkins - RB - Cleveland Browns

Current ADP: RB25

The biggest concern with Quinshon Judkins is that the Browns drafted multiple running backs. If Judkins had landed with the team as its Nick Chubb replacement, he'd be in line for a very good rookie campaign.

Instead, the team also drafted Dylan Sampson, another talented back whose ability as a pass-blocker should get him more snaps than Judkins on passing downs.

Judkins should be expected to get early down work, but his upside is limited, especially in PPR leagues, if Sampson is the one on the field in passing situations.

And this isn't just a short-term issue. Judkins could improve as a pass-blocker, but the Browns see upside in both players. Otherwise, why draft them both? Sampson will be a perpetual thorn in Judkins' side -- and vice versa, unless one of the two winds up being a bust.

Matthew Golden - WR - Green Bay Packers

Current ADP: WR43

After Christian Watson tore his ACL late last season, Green Bay needed a receiver in the 2025 NFL Draft. The team ended up coming away with two of them, drafting Golden in the first round and Savion Williams in the third round.

Williams shouldn't be on your redraft radar. He's a project for the Packers, someone whose value comes not in 2025 or even 2026, but potentially beyond that, after some of the other receivers on this Packers team have been filtered out.

Speaking of "other receivers," it's those other bodies on this team that have me wary of drafting Golden at his current ADP. The first-round pick doesn't have a clear path to leading the team in targets. Green Bay still has Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed. Dontayvion Wicks has flashed a ton of potential. Watson could even be back in the second half of the season to complicate things more.

3+ minutes of Texas WR Matthew Golden absolutely cooking:

• A natural separating route-runner with elite twitch, burst, and speed. Top-tier ability at the catch point. WR1.

Enjoy the show… https://t.co/YOGJaPCS3D pic.twitter.com/l4FwId2q10

— SCOUTD (@scoutdnfl) April 22, 2025

Golden is the most talented receiver on this team, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything when we're talking about fantasy. He'll be battling for targets with three other good receivers plus one of the league's best young tight ends, Tucker Kraft. His production is likely to be all over the place in 2025.

Emeka Egbuka - WR - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Current ADP: WR51

In a vacuum, Egbuka is a good player, and down the line, the 2025 first-round pick is going to showcase that. However, he's likely to see his NFL career get off to a relatively slow start.

That's because the Buccaneers still have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Drafting Egbuka where they did suggests that the Bucs know Evans and Godwin don't have a ton of time left as top NFL receivers, but there's little reason to think one or both fall off a cliff in 2025.

Evans caught 11 touchdowns last year and finished with over 1,000 yards for the 11th year in a row. Godwin suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 7, but at the time of the injury, he was on track for one of his best seasons. His 82.3 receiving yards per game were the second most of his eight seasons in the league.

Emeka Egbuka Was The Talk Of Bucs Mini-Camp

Egbuka has looked the part of a first-round pick this offseason. The rookie #Bucs WR has made the most of his chances by catching on quickly and finding his fit in the receiver room. Adam Slivon has the story.https://t.co/CeA3JyJVOL

— PewterReport 🏴‍☠️ (@PewterReport) June 16, 2025

All the chatter about Egbuka from OTAs was positive, and fantasy managers in dynasty leagues should feel good about him right now. I'm also feeling better about him in redraft than I did at this same time last month. However, the situation is still a tough one, and it still feels like we won't see the best of Egbuka emerge until 2026.

More Fantasy Football Analysis