Instant Reaction: NFL Draft Round 1 Winners/Losers For Fantasy Football

April 25, 2025

Justin Carter's fantasy football winners and losers after the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Whose stock is up and whose is down for fantasy football?

On Thursday night, the NFL Draft kicked off as the Tennessee Titans used the No. 1 overall pick on Miami quarterback Cam Ward. Immediately after, things got wild as the Jaguars traded up to take Colorado's Travis Hunter.

All in all, Day 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft had a lot of chalk, but also several surprises. But what do those picks mean for fantasy football heading into the 2025 NFL season?

Here are the biggest fantasy football winners and losers after the first round of the NFL Draft.

Winner: Calvin Ridley

Calvin Ridley was given a chance to be Tennessee's No. 1 option last season once the team moved on from DeAndre Hopkins. The result: Ridley caught 64 passes for 1,017 yards and four touchdowns. It was a strong season for Ridley, who now has back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons after missing 2022 while suspended for gambling.

He posted those numbers in 2024 while playing with Will Levis and Mason Rudolph. Ridley thrived despite a horrible quarterback situation on an offense that finished with the seventh-fewest passing yards.

Now, Ridley's going to be catching passes from No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. Yes, Ward has to address some turnover concerns, but he's still leaps and bounds better as a passer than what Tennessee had last season. That should provide a major boost to Ridley's fantasy value. He's a low-end WR2 for 2025.

Winner: Travis Hunter

Travis Hunter could have ended up in Cleveland catching passes from either Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett in an outdoor stadium in Ohio.

We have drafted WR/DB Travis Hunter with the No. 2 overall pick!@FieldsCadillac | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/dGIowuIuST

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) April 25, 2025

Instead, Jacksonville gave up a huge haul to go up and get Hunter, taking the two-way star at No. 2 overall. Instead of playing in the cold, Hunter heads down to Florida, where he'll catch passes from Trevor Lawrence.

I'm working on a theory here about Hunter's NFL career. He's a great player, someone capable of doing things that no one has done since Deion Sanders, but because he's planning to play both sides of the ball, he's going to be on the field less than most star wideouts.

Because of that, it's very important that he has a good quarterback. Fewer snaps mean fewer opportunities and thus more volatility in his range of outcomes. You want the quarterback part of the equation to be as good as possible to raise the floor.

With that said, he'll be a risky fantasy option as a rookie, though he's more likely to make an impact on a Jaguars team where the ascendant Brian Thomas Jr. will take much of the defense's attention.

Loser: Jalen Coker

The Panthers went with wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan at No. 8 overall, which immediately ends all of the hype for a 2025 breakout from Jalen Coker.

(First, a digression: I don't love this landing spot for McMillan. There were places better equipped for providing him a smooth transition to the NFL, but if Bryce Young continues to get better, McMillan should be fine.)

Coker went undrafted out of Holy Cross last year, but signed with the Panthers and came on strong near the end of the year. He was never going to be a No. 1 receiver, but he can be a solid ancillary piece for a team.

The problem is that Xavier Legette isn't a true No. 1 either, so Carolina felt compelled to go after McMillan, pushing Legette to the No. 2 role and, for now at least, pushing Coker to the bench and mostly ending the chance that he's a fantasy sleeper in 2025.

Winner: Colston Loveland

Huh, that was weird. The Bears picking a tight end made perfect sense, but I think everyone assumed that tight end would be Tyler Warren. Instead, it was Michigan's Colston Loveland.

Chicago spending a top 10 pick on Loveland strongly suggests that the team views him as a major piece of their offense going forward.

With Caleb Williams under center, the Bears' offense should be on the rise, and Loveland has a chance to be the No. 3 receiving option behind D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze. Sure, he'll have a steep learning curve because that's what happens with NFL tight ends, but his athleticism should help quicken the transition.

Last year, the Lions ran 32.2% of snaps out of 12 personnel, the 3rd-highest among all NFL teams.

They did that with Brock Wright as their TE2.

Expect the Bears (with Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet) to live in 12 personnel this year.

— Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) April 25, 2025

(This also assumes he beats out Cole Kmet for the starting tight end role in Chicago. He should be able to do that, especially with Kmet coming off his worst season since he was a rookie in 2020, but it's not guaranteed.)

There's obviously a risk to drafting a rookie tight end in fantasy. He's a low-end TE2 at the moment, but should be viewed as a top 10 tight end in dynasty formats.

Loser: Tyler Warren

The Colts desperately needed a tight end, but Tyler Warren's fantasy value didn't need Indianapolis.

Why the Colts needed a tight end should be exceptionally clear when you look at last year's stats. Their best tight end was Kylen Granson, who caught 14 passes for 182 yards. Their second-best one was Mo Alie-Cox, who had 12 catches for 147 yards and a touchdown.

Tight end is a huge weakness for this team. Now, it's much less of a weakness.

The flip side of this, though, is that Warren joins a team that showed a severe reluctance to involve the tight ends last season. Yes, part of that was a lack of talent at the position, but that can't explain it all, right?

What I mean is that Warren isn't going to suddenly completely shift the way Shane Steichen calls games. He'll create more opportunities for himself, but it's just hard to see the targets being there for Warren to be a huge fantasy value as a rookie.

Fantasy managers should view Warren with skepticism in 2025. He's worth a shot in a deep league as a late-round flyer, but it's hard to envision Warren being a startable weekly fantasy option.

Winner: Baker Mayfield

I'll keep this one short: Baker Mayfield was already set to throw to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Now, he adds Emeka Egbuka to that list.

Baker Mayfield and Emeka Egbuka should be very fun to watch wowowow

— Sir Yacht (@SirYacht_) April 25, 2025

Lock Mayfield in as a fantasy QB1 next season.

Loser: Emeka Egbuka

By landing in Tampa Bay, Egbuka is set to be the Odunze of 2025.

What that means is that Egbuka is set up well for the future, but will very likely struggle breaking out in a crowded receiving corps as a rookie. It's similar to what we saw in Seattle with Jaxon Smith-Njigba — he's the man now for the Seahawks, but it took a little time for things to shake out that way.

That's the situation Egbuka finds himself in. Evans and Godwin are established stars and already have a strong rapport with Mayfield, so Egbuka won't surpass either in the pecking order in 2025, barring injury.

He definitely can in the future, but if we're talking exclusively about 2025 fantasy football, this landing stock knocks Egbuka's stock way, way down.

Loser: Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris

It looked like Najee Harris had a path to a bellcow role in Los Angeles this season, but then the Chargers drafted Omarion Hampton in the first round. Now, both players are set to see their fantasy stocks drop in 2025.

Najee Harris and Omarion Hampton tanking each other's fantasy value: pic.twitter.com/jTGuXixxiS

— FantasyPros (@FantasyPros) April 25, 2025

Hampton is still set up well long-term as Harris is on a one-year deal, but the two will siphon each other's upside off this season. They're probably both going to wind up in the RB3 area once fantasy drafts start up.

Loser: Matthew Golden

The Packers need a bona fide No. 1 receiver, but it's not clear if Matthew Golden is that guy or if he's about to add to Green Bay's biggest problem: having too many good-but-not-great wideouts on the roster.

Golden has a knack for making highlight-reel plays, but still has some work to do as far as consistency goes. His speed will make for some big connections between him and Jordan Love, but can he make routine plays to keep the offense moving down the field?

Those concerns aside, Golden's fantasy value takes a hit because there are just so many other solid receiving options in Green Bay. Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and Tucker Kraft all need targets. How many will there be to go around?

Loser: Russell Wilson

I couldn't decide if Jaxson Dart was a winner or a loser — feels like a little of both — but I do know that Russell Wilson is a loser of the Giants trading up for Dart.

The decision to invest so heavily in making the move suggests that the Giants are very high on Dart, which raises significant doubts about Russell Wilson's ability to hold onto the starting job.

The veteran quarterback should have the edge when the season begins, but Dart's going to be hot on his tail. Wilson will have little margin for error, and fantasy managers probably shouldn't expect Wilson to be the starter by season's end.

Winner: Aaron Rodgers

Many expected the Steelers to use a first-round pick on Shedeur Sanders, but instead, the team went with defensive tackle Derrick Harmon at Pick 21.

Sanders fell completely out of Round 1, so it's possible that the Steelers draft the quarterback on Friday. Still, the fact that Round 1 is over and the Steelers haven't added a QB seems like a good sign for one particular free agent.

That's right: Aaron Rodgers looks one step closer to taking over as the next Steelers quarterback. Not a single person will be pleased about it, but you can draft him as a low-end QB2 with the occasional boom week if the Sanders freefall winds up being a sign that the Steelers are interested in signing Rodgers.

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