NFC West Fantasy Football Draft Targets and Avoids: 5 Sleepers or Busts for 2025

Dave's 2025 fantasy football draft sleepers and busts from the NFC West. His top players to target or fade from the Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks, and 49ers.

The Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers have dominated the NFC West in recent seasons. In fact, both teams have won seven of the last eight division titles. While that generally means it’s a good idea to target players on their rosters, it doesn’t mean there aren’t other fantasy-relevant players in this division.

As part of our in-depth fantasy football coverage here at RotoBaller, we are examining which players you should target and which ones you should fade across all eight divisions in the NFL. Today, we will break down several players from the NFC West as well as what you should be doing with these players.

Make sure you’re following RotoBaller on X and check out RotoBaller.com for all your fantasy football needs. Here are five NFC West players to target and fade in your 2025 fantasy football draft.

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
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Targets

Trey McBride - TE, Arizona Cardinals

McBride continued to improve as a player in 2024, building upon his solid 2023 season. He posted a 111-1146-2 line across 16 games and finished 2024 as the PPR TE2.

IT'S A BIRD. IT'S A PLANE. IT'S TREY MCBRIDE HURDLING FOR THE THIRD TIME THIS SEASON!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/bBevRNvSnu

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) November 10, 2024

He also fared well in several advanced metrics. Here are some of McBride’s metrics courtesy of Fantasy Points Data Suite:

27% targets per route run
2.24 yards per route run
26.7% target share
33.7% first read percentage

These excellent marks prove that McBride is a clear focal point of Arizona’s passing game. The addition of receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. did not slow down McBride in 2024. Harrison’s continued development could cut into McBride’s targets in 2025. Even if that comes to fruition, it seems clear that McBride will remain heavily involved in Arizona’s offense.

Despite scoring only two touchdowns last year, McBride scored more PPR points per game than this year's near-unanimous TE1, Brock Bowers. However, there is quite a gap between the two in drafts. McBride’s current NFFC ADP is 26.09 overall, while Bowers' NFFC ADP is 16.74 overall.

Outside of McBride’s ridiculously poor touchdown luck, there is no reason that there should be nearly a full round difference between these two players.

With Kyler Murray as his quarterback, McBride’s touchdown totals will likely remain low. However, two touchdowns on 111 receptions is a bit extreme. McBride is due for some positive touchdown regression. If that happens, McBride is in an excellent position to finish 2025 as the overall TE1.

Ricky Pearsall - RB, San Francisco 49ers

Although he only posted a 31-400-3 line in 11 games as a rookie, fantasy gamers shouldn’t be so quick to write Pearsall 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 is in line for a big leap in Year 2.

Kenneth Walker III - RB, Seattle Seahawks

While his raw stats disappointed last year, Walker still posted some strong advanced metrics. Among 46 backs with 100+ carries, Walker finished:

First in Missed Tackles Forced Per Attempt (MTF/ATT), per Fantasy Points Data Suite
Third in PFF Elusive Rating
Fifth in PFF Rushing Grade
Ninth in Missed Tackles Forced (MTF), per Fantasy Points Data Suite
10th in Yards After Contact Per Attempt (YACO/ATT), per Fantasy Points Data Suite

All aboard the K9 train 🚂 pic.twitter.com/dCv6sT9IWr

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 8, 2024

He remains a highly talented player. Some of Walker's efficiency metrics have not been great, but this can partially be attributed to Seattle’s poor offensive line play over the years. A terrible offensive line can skew running back efficiency metrics, and a great line can help.

Look no further than Saquon Barkley this past season for proof of that statement. Seattle has done their part to try and fix their offensive line by drafting guard Grey Zabel 18th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. Hopefully, he can bring some stability to this unit.

Walker received a significant amount of volume in 2024, despite having a new coaching staff in place. This indicates he is the preferred back over third-year pro Zach Charbonnet. The addition of new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak might be what unlocks the next level of Walker’s game in 2025. Kubiak has stated that he plans to put a lot on Walker's plate this upcoming season and that they are expecting big things from the fourth-year back.

Walker has posted strong advanced metrics in key areas and has top-5 upside if things break right for him. He's also playing for a new contract. Playing in an ideal rushing scheme, along with the extra motivation of playing for a huge bag of money, never hurts. Walker should be a priority running back target in the early rounds of fantasy football drafts this year.

Avoids

James Conner - RB, Arizona Cardinals

Conner is coming off arguably the best season of his career in 2024. He had a career-high 1,094 rushing yards, caught 47 passes for 414 receiving yards, and scored nine total touchdowns. It culminated with a half-PPR RB10 finish.

45-yard catch and run by James Conner for the score!

📺: #NYJvsAZ on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/lJzAiHSDjV

— NFL (@NFL) November 10, 2024

Conner is now another year older, and 2025 will be his age-30 season. He enters dangerous territory, as running backs over 30 years old can fall off a cliff at any moment. It's not the case for every back, as evidenced by Derrick Henry's massive 2024. But for every Henry, there is a Steven Jackson, Brian Westbrook, and Edgerrin James.

Arizona also has second second-year running back, Trey Benson, waiting in the wings. Benson had a very quiet rookie season in 2o24, but the team did not make any notable moves to its running back room even with a strong incoming rookie class. This speaks volumes about their thoughts on Benson.

Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon has also lauded Benson's growth at the end of 2024 and boldly proclaimed he thinks the team has two RB1s in Benson and Conner. General manager Monti Ossenfort echoed similar sentiments as well.

Benson will need to do his part with better play, but with Conner now on the other side of 3o, it sounds like the team is eyeing a bigger role for Benson. Conner also has a lengthy injury history, and that is something that doesn't usually improve as a player ages.

While Conner has played at a high level and been a fantastic value for gamers over the last two seasons, he carries some extra risk this year. He might not be a lock for a workhorse role, and there's a possibility of age-related decline. All of this means it might be better for gamers to avoid Conner in drafts this year.

Cooper Kupp - WR, Seattle Seahawks

Kupp is coming off another disappointing season in 2024. He tied a career-low by averaging just 10.6 yards per reception last year and had his lowest receiving yards per game since his rookie year in 2017. Injuries might be taking their toll, and he hasn’t resembled the same player we saw win the triple crown back in 2021.

The Seahawks don’t seem to agree and were comfortable giving Kupp a three-year, $45 million contract this offseason. It was a head-scratching move considering the downward trajectory of Kupp’s career the last few years. It’s now unclear how Kupp will fit schematically, playing alongside a similar player in Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Overall, there are just too many factors working against Kupp to expect a return to form. This situation is undoubtedly a downgrade compared to what he had playing in Sean McVay’s offense, and Kupp has struggled with injuries as well. Let someone else think they're getting a discount and avoid Kupp in your draft.

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