Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Drafts: Second-Round Sleepers, Busts (2025)

April 7, 2025

John breaks down two steals and two busts in the second round of 2025 dynasty fantasy football rookie drafts. Who are the best and worst players to take in the second round of rookie drafts in dynasty fantasy football in 2025?

The 2025 NFL Draft hasn't quite gotten here yet, so we don't yet know what teams players will land on. And landing spot will have a big impact on what their projected volume will be, the situation they find themselves in, and thus how much their value will be boosted or pushed downward.

Still, we have an opportunity to evaluate players purely for what they are. Football is a team sport, but teams are made up of individuals. Breaking down the physical and mental capabilities of players we're considering drafting is important.

We always want to avoid busts and draft sleepers in the later rounds, so we should try our best to find out who is who. Hitting on a sleeper has massive potential to turn your team around, and a bust with that early of a pick wastes draft capital and carries a big opportunity cost. Let's dive in.

Sleeper: Jayden Higgins, WR, Iowa State

Luckily for me, I've already done my film analysis for Higgins. I'm pretty sure he'd be the top-ranked receiver in the class if Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan hadn't gone for 300 yards and four touchdowns against New Mexico in the first game of the season, cementing himself as the consensus WR1 for most people, and if he hadn't had to play on the same team as Noel, another great Iowa State receiver.

Speed matters for receivers sometimes because on routes that have less sharp angles to their breaks, there needs to be more velocity to maintain or increase separation after the break. Curvilinear acceleration comes into play sometimes too. Higgins speed is huge here. pic.twitter.com/S3vaMzke0p

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) March 19, 2025

Higgins, to me, is the receiver people want McMillan to be. He's a fantastic route-runner and is not only able to separate consistently well due to the suddenness he has in his breaks, but he also has the raw speed and acceleration to maintain separation on routes with shallow breaks, as you can see above.

Defenders who get beat on slant routes generally have the option to jump the route, but a WR that can keep separating after the break will make this very difficult.

Higgins is 6-foot-4, but he moves very well in general. We don't have to make excuses for his size or use the "for his size" qualifiers because he's just so sharp with his cuts. He's also excellent after the catch, and his quickness shows there too. He's extremely shifty with the ball in his hands.

Jayden Higgins is so damn good. So underrated.
-Backwards, off balance, juke move to shake DB 1
-Resets feet quickly for next move
-Shimmy shake is so quick and efficient
-Strong enough to fight through the contact for lots of extra yards
Probably wins leagues in 2025. pic.twitter.com/Fm7kMksc2S

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) March 19, 2025

He has very, very quick feet, and operates on an impressively fast clock when setting his body up to make defenders miss. He's also capable of quickly planting off one foot and covering impressive ground with a single dodge or juke move. This is very impressive. I don't like using the "for his size" qualifier, because it's just impressive on its own.

Jayden Higgins is a damn good WR. pic.twitter.com/l9VOFMh1Lu

— SCOUTD (@scoutdnfl) February 8, 2025

Higgins' size is a big addition to his game rather than being something we need to use to qualify. He's just a damn good wideout as the above post says. I firmly believe he could step in and immediately be the WR1 on a lot of teams, like the New England Patriots or Las Vegas Raiders. He's a beast.

Bust: Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado

Sanders is not a good quarterback. He's lucky he had star WR/CB Travis Hunter, who is the reason why Sanders is even considered to be a QB that's worth taking in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

His biggest issue is that, in addition to having very little rushing upside, he is not good in the pocket, routinely misidentifies what he should do when the pressure comes, and makes a litany of terrible plays when the pass rush comes.

And while Sanders is a fine athlete who can be an efficient scrambler, he doesn't have noteworthy speed or twitch and it can get him in trouble when he's trying to create or extend. Something that's only going to get much harder in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/cyWUimura3

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) March 19, 2025

Sanders is a good thrower of the football. You don't get in this conversation without being one. But he doesn't have the athleticism to extend plays in the NFL like he'll want to. His timing is usually very strange, and there's a lot of "take way too long to drop back and set" to his game, which was a big problem for former Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.

I’m sorry, Shedeur Sanders is not a 1st round prospect and this is why. This is an egregious example of his pattern of taking too many BAD sacks. Having not learned as a three year starter to go down and not cost your team three points is alarming pic.twitter.com/6BddNQtoW6

— Anthony Russo (@Anthony_Russo97) December 29, 2024

Then there are the horrific, incredibly ugly plays that you just can't make at the next level, like the one above. Sanders takes a lot of bad sacks. It usually seems appropriate to blame the offensive line when a quarterback gets sacked often, but even if receivers aren't open, it's the QBs job to be aware of where he is on the field when things get rough and put himself in a position to throw it away.

Sanders plays like he should if he were far more athletic, and he puts himself in bad positions for sacks because he's not fast enough to escape from defenders. That will be much, much harder in the NFL, where pass-rushers are far more instinctive and athletic.

#Huskers Sack Shedeur Sanders.

Ty Robinson, Princewell Umanmielen, James Williams, Jimari Butler all involved. Colorado goes 3 and Out to Start in Lincoln.

Ft. Huskers Radio Network🌽🚨 pic.twitter.com/RkPrC1WxI2

— @HuskerEastNE (@HuskerEastNE) September 8, 2024

On many plays, Sanders doesn't seem to know that he has a lane to escape with, and doesn't take advantage of it. These are very concerning bad habits.

Shedeur Sanders has a bad tendency to drift backwards in the pocket when he doesn't see things cleanly downfield or when he feels pressure. This puts a lot of strain on his offensive tackles and limits his ability to attack downfield. pic.twitter.com/60ZaMT6u6X

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) March 19, 2025

Sleeper: Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa State

Last year we saw Brian Thomas Jr. share the field with Malik Nabers at Louisiana State University. It turns out that when you have two great prospects who both happen to be receivers sharing the field, both of them deserve plenty of passing-game work. I think we'd be singing a far different tune if Noel didn't have to share the field with someone of Higgins' caliber.

This is so filthy from Jaylin Noel.
-Upright body and slow foot pace to trick defender
-Stays jogging before the catch to keep his options open after the catch
-Stops on a dime, twists fast, plants foot and rotates, puts defender in the dirt
-Re-acceleration
Elite film. pic.twitter.com/gBZ7SS3LGH

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) March 20, 2025

I think Noel attended the Amon-Ra St. Brown school to be able to slam on the brakes with such suddenness, twist and contort his body, and explode out of a standstill. He's actually more explosive than St. Brown by a pretty solid margin.

Jaylin Noel with a slot role is a league-winner in year 1. He's too strong, too quick, too elusive, and too fast for slot corners to cover. Good luck throwing him off his routes. Slot fade monster. pic.twitter.com/ANZjADKbXO

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) March 20, 2025

Strength is another area in which he closely profiles to ARSB. He's very difficult to throw off his routes despite being 5'11. He plays strong, and not just for his size. Funny that I'm saying similar things about both Noel and Higgins.

Noel is the Brian Thomas Jr. of this class. An elite prospect who's highly underrated because he played on a team with another elite prospect. And they're both lower in draft capital because neither had Jayden Daniels throwing to them. Steal city. I'll do a full breakdown of Noel later. He is a massive steal.

Bust: Isaiah Bond, WR, Texas

I'm using FantasyPros dynasty rookie rankings, so anyone in the top-25 is fair game. Right now, Bond sits at 24. It could change by the time this article is published, but I want to highlight Bond because I think he's a terrible prospect, and I don't see him ever finding consistent success on a football field.

Bond is the version of Adonai Mitchell that doesn't manage to get open often. He's a pretty solid athlete, but there's nothing else impressive to his game.

Isaiah Bond: “I’m gonna run a 4.1 or 4.2 and break the 40 record”

Isaiah Bond ran a 4.41u

pic.twitter.com/cbwR2ZvOdj

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 1, 2025

There was intrigue to him as a spot starter if he was as fast as he claimed, but it really wasn't close. Without that elite speed, his inconsistency will absolutely kill his game at the next level. Even highly talented receivers who can't play consistently can't earn the trust of their quarterbacks.

A QB who doesn't know when he can trust his WR to show up on any given play won't be that interested in targeting that WR heavily.

Isaiah Bond’s Draft stock has fallen off a truck this year.

1st Round preseason talks….the health, drops, and route precision has been a concern enough he’s 📉.

P.S. : Don’t jump for a ball that doesn’t require it. pic.twitter.com/J1JzgIW3eW

— Clint Goss (@NFLDraftDome) January 11, 2025

His routes aren't generally consistent. They're typically sloppy, so he struggles to separate. His game is very raw and rough around the edges. And his struggles with drops are killer. He's not very good at positioning his body properly when going up for catches, as you can see in the above clip.

Ewers is not a good quarterback, but Bond just has to catch this. pic.twitter.com/qpK3oOpJqi

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) March 20, 2025

It's frustrating, because there definitely is some good tape. And his explosiveness on the field made me think he'd run faster than he did at the combine. The issue is mostly his top speed, though. His acceleration is impressive, and he clocked tied with many other players for the third-fastest ten-yard split among WRs at the combine.

Isaiah Bond, screen merchant. pic.twitter.com/CwH5EMmcZt

— Boorish (@Boorish_Sports) March 5, 2025

But inconsistency with catching the ball and route-running seemed to leave his team with no other option than to mainly use him on screens at Texas. I hope he turns out to be a good player, and his Alabama film was better than it was at Texas, but I don't want to take a chance on him in the second round of rookie drafts when there are so many sleepers and steals still available there.

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