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John breaks down all the worst fantasy football rookie landing spots for Day 2 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Which rookies should be avoided in fantasy football drafts?
The NFL Draft is a happy time for over 200 NFL prospects as they finish their college careers and head to the pros. They have their dreams come true as their names are called, and they're whisked off to their new teams where they can begin their journey through one of the most exciting sports leagues on the planet. For fantasy managers, there can be plenty of whiplash, though.
While some players get great landing spots and have immediate, clearly visible paths to sustained fantasy football success ahead of them, others aren't so lucky (by our terms, at least) and land on teams with poor offenses. Yet others get selected and inserted into crowded rooms full of other skilled players at their positions, or in a spot where they're clearly not going to be the main guy any time soon.
That can be brutal for their eventual fantasy production. It's not always greener on the other side, for us fantasy managers at least.
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Jaylin Noel, WR, Houston Texans
Unfortunately for us, Noel slid really far in the draft. It was pretty shocking to those of us who have scoured his tape. He has massive upside as a receiver. The problem is that now he'll be competing for targets, snaps, and routes with Nico Collins (the clear WR1) and Jayden Higgins (also a rookie, who was drafted early in the second round by the Texans).
Jaylin Noel vertical targets pic.twitter.com/F72rZXKW5v
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) April 5, 2025
I'm not saying Noel isn't worth picking anymore, or that he'll have a bad season. It's just hard to see him being truly unleashed any time soon. He already profiles as more of a slot receiver, but the team signed WR Christian Kirk in the offseason.
It's likely they were also high on Noel, and simply couldn't let him fall any further, considering the talent he had, even though he wasn't a big position of need after the drafting of Higgins. Noel will be the best vertical threat on the team from Day 1, at least, owing to his ridiculous 4.39-second 40-yard dash level of speed.
The Texans have WEAPONS around CJ Stroud 🚀 pic.twitter.com/yA64GLWdgR
— PFF Fantasy & Betting (@PFF_Fantasy) April 25, 2025
Kirk's role is pretty unclear at this point, as is Noel's. I imagine Higgins plays a Z/flanker role, with Collins remaining as the X, but if the Texans prefer to run a lot of 12-personnel, it might get ugly in terms of route and snap shares for some of the receivers.
Of course, that's a part of the reason why former Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik got fired. A team with this much receiver talent choosing to keep at least two of their legit weapons off the field most of the time is a terrible idea, considering how dreadful Dalton Schultz has been with the team.
There's no world in which a sane OC wouldn't want to keep Noel, Higgins, or Collins on the field as much as possible.
Minnesota LT Aireontae Ersery's 1-on-1s from today ... finishing by putting Landon Jackson on the ground pic.twitter.com/A54NMuflYH
— Brian Hines (@iambrianhines) January 28, 2025
Of course, the offensive line will need to hold up, as we saw Stroud struggle mightily with a questionable offensive front last season. And the loss of OT Laremy Tunsil won't help. Noel will need some combination of that unit playing better, him clearly taking over what was supposed to be Kirk's role, a decent amount of designed looks, and a lot of 12 personnel to have a chance at being a fantasy star.
There were a lot of better landing spots than this, unfortunately. I'm not saying you should completely avoid drafting him, but he's not someone I would reach for anymore. Even if he is very good in the NFL, it will be a nightmare predicting which WR will go off on a week-to-week basis.
Elijah Arroyo, TE, Seattle Seahawks
The biggest thing that could make me eat my words quickly here would be new Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak being an utterly elite playcaller, so Seattle does well in 2025, against all odds. The problem with that is that it's an extremely high bar he'd have to clear to make that happen, because Seattle doesn't have a great offensive roster right now.
Welcome to the West Coast. With the 50th pick, we've selected TE Elijah Arroyo!#GoHawks x @lumentechco pic.twitter.com/b5TrGYEtUH
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) April 26, 2025
For starters, the quarterback who regularly bailed out their offense from being far worse than it could have been, Geno Smith, isn't there anymore. Smith's athleticism, mobility, and awareness helped him avoid a ton of sacks last season, despite playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league. Seahawks general manager John Schneider shouldn't be employed for how he has managed the OL group.
Now, one of the worst quarterbacks in the league under consistent pressure, Sam Darnold, is the signal-caller for Seattle in 2025, and he'll be behind a much worse offensive line than he was in 2024. In the last two games of the season, he was utterly dreadful because the opposing defenses figured out that they just needed to blitz him as much as possible, and he would crumble.
“HE’S HOLDING IT TOO LONG! THROW IT MAN!” -Paul Allen
Sam Darnold is sacked for the 5th time in 2 quarters
Called by Paul Allen and Pete Bercich for KFXN in Minneapolis: pic.twitter.com/YxtjXFcQ7e
— will: Riley Greene Truther (@wrhiv_72) January 14, 2025
Darnold is a terrible quarterback, but the league has a severe lack of QB talent because it's such a difficult position to play. Seattle is stuck with him for a while now. And Arroyo will be competing with fellow TE Noah Fant for targets. Fant isn't great, but he's still on the team.
It should come as no surprise that, in a draft where Schneider was desperately needed to finally pick multiple offensive linemen, he instead opts to pick just one offensive guard in the team's first seven picks. They are lacking in both depth and talent on the OL, and with a QB so prone to pressure, Schneider once again proved that he has no idea what he's doing and should be fired.
Guess that won't happen, though.
“Place the white flag at the 33 yard line, now we’re starting to get killed” -Paul Allen
Al Quadin Mohammed and a host of other Lions sack Sam Darnold,
Called by Paul Allen and Pete Bercich for KFXN in Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/C2RKgKCpyX
— will: Riley Greene Truther (@wrhiv_72) January 6, 2025
Unless Kubiak has some serious magic up his sleeve, it's likely that Arroyo won't be fantasy relevant any time soon.
Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Cleveland Browns
Fannin burst onto the college football scene, and onto the radars of NFL scouts and dynasty fantasy football managers, when he caught 117 passes for 1,555 yards and 10 touchdowns in his senior season with the Bowling Green Falcons.
He had somewhat of a disappointing combine performance, though, and concerns about his size, awkward running style, and quality of the defenses he faced caused him to slide to the third round.
We already know he looks GREAT in 🟠🟤‼️
Harold Fannin Jr. is selected by the @Browns in the third round (67 overall) of the @NFL Draft 😤#AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/Ua3bvSeUy3
— BGSU Football (@BG_Football) April 26, 2025
There, Fannin will join a team with a clown show of a quarterback room. They drafted QB Shedeur Sanders in the fourth round, so they have him, Deshaun Watson (Achilles), Joe Flacco, and Kenny Pickett currently in their QB room. With Watson unlikely to play in 2025, some combination of Flacco and Sanders will likely start for the majority of the season.
As if that weren't bad enough, the team already has an established and highly talented tight end, David Njoku, who has plenty of experience being held back by playing on a terrible team with subpar quarterbacks throwing the ball to him. Njoku, at this time, is the obviously better player at TE among the two, which isn't fun for Fannin in the slightest.
Bowling Green TE Harold Fannin Jr to the #Browns is a sensational pick.
From a scout: "He's the closest thing to Antonio Gates I've seen," the scout said. "He's not as big, but just his deceptiveness as a route-runner, how slippery he is once he gets the ball. I love him." pic.twitter.com/73XJeXE3Iy
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) April 26, 2025
Opinions of him are relatively divided across the board, but there are a few that think Cleveland is a good place for him to land. Maybe Sanders will surprise and be a good quarterback in the NFL. I certainly don't think so, nor do I think a 40-year-old Joe Flacco, a non-start-worthy QB in Kenny Pickett, or the 2026 version of Watson will lead to great fantasy seasons for Fannin.
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