5 Dynasty Wide Receivers to Buy or Sell: Fantasy Football WR Risers and Fallers (2025)

Dave Ventresca highlights five second-year wide receivers to buy or sell in 2025 dynasty fantasy football leagues. Should you trade for Xavier Legette, Jalen McMillan, and more?

In recent years, we have seen more rookie wide receivers provide immediate high-end production than ever before. This has been a fun development and has helped many rebuilding managers quickly turn around their teams.

While this has been a positive trend, it’s also important to recognize that we have been incredibly spoiled by the number of receivers entering the league and immediately making an impact. Just because a player doesn’t return immediate results, it doesn’t automatically mean they’re a bust. By that same token, there are also times when gamers should cut bait from a receiver after a bad first year. Today, we will examine several second-year receivers from the 2024 NFL Draft whom dynasty gamers should buy or sell.

Make sure you’re following RotoBaller on X and check out RotoBaller.com for all your fantasy football needs. Here are several second-year wide receivers to buy or sell in your 2025 dynasty football leagues.

Second-Year Dynasty Fantasy Football Wide Receivers to Buy

Rome Odunze - Chicago Bears

Many analysts are ready to write Odunze off as a bust due to poor advanced metrics and per-route data as a rookie last year. However, Chicago’s offense was so bad in 2024 that it’s not fair to judge anyone based on what we saw.

Odunze’s rookie year is a case where we must disregard all that data, as it’s not a fair representation of his play. This is still a highly talented receiver who knows how to get open against NFL defenders.

Caleb Williams' AND Rome Odunze's first career TD!

📺: #CHIvsIND on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/u0ICGLXCz7

— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024

While Odunze got a massive upgrade in the form of new Bears' head coach Ben Johnson, his target competition also increased. The team selected tight end Colston Loveland with the 10th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. While the Loveland selection doesn't necessarily hurt Odunze, the team also selected wide receiver Luther Burden III in the second round of the NFL Draft.

The selection of Burden has thrown a monkey wrench into the team's receiver room. Burden profiles as a slot-heavy player who is excellent with the ball in his hands. Johnson utilized Amon-Ra St. Brown in such a role during his time with the Detroit Lions. This has led many to speculate that Johnson is lower on Odunze and may wish to utilize Burden in a similar way to how he used St. Brown.

That's certainly within the range of outcomes, but it's also worth noting that Burden fell to the second round of the NFL Draft for a reason. His college tape was littered with poor effort plays where he routinely quit on routes when he was not the play's primary target. Johnson will look to correct this issue, but it's no guarantee.

Look. It is impossible to predict how this situation will play out. However, many people have been panicking about Odunze since the NFL Draft. It's understandable, but it all feels a bit reactionary. Odunze is a good player, and last season was just an awful situation for the entire Bears' offense.

If anyone in your league is panicking on Odunze, now is the time to act. There's definitely a lot of risk in acquiring him since we won't know Johnson's plans for these receivers until Week 1, but for all we know, Odunze could emerge as their top option. He's cheaper to acquire via trade now than he was a few months ago, so it's not a bad idea to kick the tires on an Odunze trade.

Ricky Pearsall - San Francisco 49ers

Pearsall’s rookie season got off to a poor start when he was forced to miss the first six games of 2024, recovering from a gunshot wound. Although he only posted a 31-400-3 line in 11 games as a rookie, dynasty gamers shouldn’t be so quick to write him off.

His rookie season was highlighted by an 8-141-1 performance against the Detroit Lions in Week 17.

Ricky Pearsall against the Lions:

• 8 catches
• 147 total yards
• 7 first downs
• 1 touchdown

Here’s a look at his breakout game pic.twitter.com/waH1YQZK1g

— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) December 31, 2024

With San Francisco trading away Deebo Samuel Sr., and Brandon Aiyuk expected to miss the beginning of the 2025 season, Pearsall has a big opportunity in front of him. He’ll still be competing for targets with George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, and Christian McCaffrey. However, Pearsall is in a much better position entering 2025 than he was in 2024.

The 49ers' decision to move on from Samuel this offseason suggests they still have plenty of faith in their 2024 first-round pick. Pearsall was always a player for 2025 and beyond, so it would be surprising if managers are willing to move him.

However, there are plenty of impatient dynasty owners who obsess over immediate production and are quick to write certain players off. If the Pearsall manager in your league falls into this category, see if you can work a deal to get Pearsall on your roster. He’s in line for a big leap in Year 2.

Second-Year Dynasty Fantasy Football Wide Receivers to Sell

Keon Coleman - Buffalo Bills

Coleman’s rookie season was not exactly what Bills fans were expecting. He averaged a robust 19.2 yards per reception but struggled mightily to consistently separate against defenders.

Out of 169 receivers with 50+ targets, Coleman finished 142nd in Fantasy Points Data Suite’s Average Separation Score. He also finished dead last in Next Gen Stats' Average Separation (SEP) score. However you slice it, Coleman couldn’t get open.

Part of this can be attributed to his role in Buffalo’s offense. Per Fantasy Points Data Suite, Buffalo had Coleman run 88.6 percent of his routes from the outside. This doesn’t align with his current skill set.

Coleman may have had more success as a rookie working in a power slot role in the Bills offense. We will see if Buffalo makes this adjustment for 2025, but with Khalil Shakir locking down the slot receiver role, this seems unlikely.

Bills general manager Brandon Beane also noted the team’s need for a true WR1 in his season-ending news conference last year. Based on some of the team's offseason moves (signing Joshua Palmer and Elijah Moore, and signing Shakir to an extension), it seems like Buffalo might be losing faith in Coleman to occupy such a role.

Managers should strongly consider selling Coleman. Receivers of this archetype rarely work out (think DeVante Parker for a best-case scenario), and Coleman playing out of position also doesn’t help matters. Time to cut your losses and move on without him.

Jalen McMillan - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

McMillan closed the 2024 season on a high note and posted five straight top-19 finishes to finish the year. With veteran Chris Godwin set to hit free agency, it looked like McMillan was a rising dynasty star.

Mayfield to McMillan for the 32-yard TD!

📺: #WASvsTB on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/d8ESrlMXNF

— NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2024

As things turned out, this may have been McMillan’s peak dynasty value. In an unexpected move, Godwin reportedly left $30 million on the table by turning down an offer from the New England Patriots and signing a team-friendly deal to return to Tampa Bay.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the team then used its first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to select Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka.

Another year, another first round WR picked from @OhioStateFB 😮‍💨

Best of luck in Tampa Bay, Emeka Egbuka 🔥#B1GFootball x @Buccaneers pic.twitter.com/LL6jH885xq

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) April 25, 2025

Gross. This is a tough blow for McMillan’s backers. He went from being a potential breakout candidate to the Buccaneers' WR4. Following the selection of Egbuka, it’s now unknown what kind of role he will have in Tampa Bay's offense.

Does the team still believe in him? Is he still in the long-term plans? It’s tough to look at the selection of Egbuka and the re-signing of Godwin without questioning McMillan's standing with the team.

Xavier Legette - Carolina Panthers

Legette was drafted 32nd overall by the Carolina Panthers in the 2024 NFL Draft. His rookie season was disappointing as he only posted a 49-497-4 line across 14 games. Much like Coleman, Legette struggled to consistently separate as a rookie and had similar issues in college.

Carolina was also slightly alarmed by Legette's rookie year as the team selected former Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

.@TMAC96795 has been doing his thing all season long for @ArizonaFBall 🫡

📺: 2025 #NFLDraft – April 24-26 on NFLN/ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/ctRNYMbBPa

— NFL (@NFL) April 11, 2025

McMillan will now take over as Carolina's undisputed WR1. That will leave Legette to battle veteran Adam Thielen and fellow sophomore receiver Jalen Coker for targets behind McMillan. While Legette still has first-round draft capital attached to his name, he really struggled at times last year and is not a lock to be the team's WR2.

Legette was a popular player in some dynasty circles last year. However, he was an older prospect and showed some major flaws as a rookie. These flaws are serious enough to prevent him from ever becoming a high-end dynasty asset. The team's selection of McMillan should also tell dynasty managers all they need to know.

Managers would be wise to recognize their mistake and cut their losses.

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