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Craig's second-year wide receiver draft avoids and busts for 2025 fantasy football leagues. His top draft avoids and WRs fantasy busts for the 2025 season.
It isn’t easy being a wide receiver in today’s NFL.
The coverages have become more complex. Receivers must fight with other gifted receivers and talented tight ends for targets and touches. So much depends on the quarterback who is throwing to you and the offense you are a part of, too. Simply put, being a decent receiver does not always translate into decent stats and decent fantasy football value.
Receivers normally need a little extra time to get acclimated to the NFL, so fantasy footballers expect more from a receiver in their second season than they would during their rookie campaign. But there are a couple of second-year receivers I would avoid like a cranky old man. Here is my list:
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Second-Year WRs To Avoid In 2025
Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs
Red flag alert! RED FLAG ALERT! While Worthy might be Patrick Mahomes’ WR1 and only has an aging Travis Kelce and an injured Rashee Rice as his main competition for Mahomes’ pinpoint passes, there are a few things to worry about as he heads into his sophomore season.
Worthy led Chiefs wide receivers in 2024 with 59 catches for 638 yards and six scores. He also added 104 yards and three additional touchdowns on the ground as he would get handoffs one-to-two times per game. His nine total touchdowns are nothing to sneeze at. Neither is the fact that he is multi-dimensional in a super-creative offense. You would also think the fantasy needle should point upward and not downward in Year Two, right?
But Worthy pulled a Rice and ruined his offseason by getting arrested. While Rice’s issues stemmed from his reckless driving, Worthy was involved in a domestic dispute with his live-in girlfriend that caused the cops to come and haul him away in handcuffs. No charges were filed in the end, but this could hang over his helmet and distract him from improving as a football player.
Kansas City re-signed veteran deep threat Marquise Brown to another one-year contract in the hopes that he has more touchdowns than broken bones by season’s end. If Brown stays on the field for a dozen games or more and Rice returns at the same level he played at in 2023, Worthy will be fighting for targets, especially deep downfield. Are there enough to go around when you factor in Kelce and tight end teammate Noah Gray into the equation? This is why I would avoid Worthy.
Ja'Lynn Polk, New England Patriots
New England has not had a wide receiver worth rostering in fantasy football since Julian Edelman. In fact, over the past five years, they have not had a 1,000-yard receiver since Edelman topped the mark way back in 2019 when Tom Brady was still running the offense. Worse, the Pats have not had a receiver or tight end even post a 700-yard year since 2022. Sad.
Polk was drafted in the second round in 2024 to add youth and game-breaking ability to a moribund corps of veteran possession receivers and youngsters who did not pan out. Yet in 15 games, he only caught 12 passes for 87 yards. His only saving grace was that he scored two touchdowns.
You would think a new coaching staff and an improved Drake Maye at quarterback should give Polk a new lease on life. Instead, the Patriots acquired Stefon Diggs to be their WR1, brought in veteran Mack Hollins to add depth to the receiving corps, and drafted Kyle Williams out of Washington in the third round.
Drake Maye on expectations for Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker in year 2:
“Those guys came up and came in with me. They were drafted with me, and we took it upon ourselves at rookies to hopefully kind of set up a good standard. And I think I've seen from them - kind of learning a… pic.twitter.com/GsLSOtc2gq
— Tom Carroll (@yaboiTCfresh) May 1, 2025
Polk will still be in the mix, but now he has more competition than last season. Will he develop into a solid starter this year, now that he has a year of experience, or will he flame out like other draft failures such as Tyquan Thornton and N'Keal Harry? I am petrified it will be the latter, especially now that the receiver room has gotten more crowded.
Devontez Walker, Baltimore Ravens
Walker did not register a blip on fantasy football radars during his rookie season. The fourth-round pick from the 2024 draft suited up for nine games last year and grabbed a grand total of one pass. Granted, it was a 21-yard touchdown toss from Lamar Jackson, but let’s say Walker’s name was not on the lips of fantasy footballers at season’s end.
Normally, a young receiver takes a step to the next level in Year Two. Once he learns the playbook and how to be a professional pass catcher in the NFL, the targets and playing time come, and so do the receptions and touchdowns.
But if Baltimore was sure Walker could slide in and be a solid WR3 behind starters Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman, why did the Ravens ink veteran DeAndre Hopkins to a one-year deal? While Hopkins is past his prime and is more like having a third tight end to pair with Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, his signing signals that the organization is not fully committed to a plan to get Walker more targets and time on the field.
I would not give up on Walker yet as he is only in his second season and Ravens receivers are known to be injury-prone. But if you were thinking about taking a flyer on him during your fantasy draft because you thought he might be a 600-800-yard receiver this year, I would shelve the strategy and think him more as someone you could pick up during the season if injuries riddle the Ravens receiving corps.
Other Second-Year Receivers To Avoid
Adonai Mitchell, Indianapolis Colts
Mitchell was a big-play greyhound in college when he was Texas’s playmaking receiver, but how is he supposed to make plays with Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones as his quarterbacks? This is not a receiver-friendly offense, especially when the Colts spread the passes around. Alec Pierce, Michael Pittman Jr., and Josh Downs are all coming off 800-yard years, and now the organization drafted tight end Tyler Warren in the first round.
Malachi Corley, New York Jets
I know DJ Moore had a pretty successful season with Justin Fields as his QB a couple of years ago in Chicago, but usually, Fields is not a passer who elevates the fantasy values of those in his receiving corps. While Corley should play more with Davante Adams and Allen Lazard no longer on the team, he might be hard-pressed to be a fantasy factor when he has to catch Fields’ scattershot passes week in and week out.
Jacob Cowing, San Francisco 49ers
You would think the former fourth-round pick could move up the depth chart now that Deebo Samuel Sr. is gone and Brandon Aiyuk is recovering from a torn ACL. The problem is Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings appear to be on the verge of being solid starters, and Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle needs his targets, too. I am sure Cowing will have more than four receptions in his sophomore season, but he will not have any fantasy impact.
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