Best Fantasy Football Targets for Every Round: Potential League-Winners in Rounds 1-8

John's top targets for the first eight rounds of fantasy football drafts in 2025. His top league-winners and draft suggestions for the first half of fantasy drafts.

Every season, some players beat their ADPs. That's pretty obvious, of course. But breaking them down by rounds could help put yourself in a better position to maximize your draft value if you play in a league that allows pick trading.

Even if you don't, there are clear undervalued players -- some of them obvious, some of them not so obvious -- that deserve their article. The optimal draft strategy, of course, depends on your league. You need to be aware of some players being targeted earlier than their ADP.

It would also be a mistake to assume that these players are ranked by how good they are, since there will inevitably be some players that could have much better seasons than others, but have such low ADPs that they're chosen too late for how good they are. Before we dive in, I'll try my best to point out players who aren't drafted super early in their rounds, that way I'm not touting guys who have a solid chance of going a round earlier in most leagues. With that said, let's get to it!

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
• Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
• Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
• Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
• NFL rookie fantasy football rankings
• Best ball fantasy football rankings
• Superflex fantasy football rankings
• Dynasty fantasy football rankings

Early Rounds

Round 1 - Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers 

It doesn't make sense to pick McCaffrey with the first overall pick. But late in the first round of 2025 fantasy football drafts (redraft leagues), it makes a lot of sense to pick up McCaffrey. His injury-shortened season in 2024 shouldn't distract you from his talent and role in his current offense.

McCaffrey gets run into the ground by his head coach, Kyle Shanahan, when he's healthy. Even in games where San Francisco has the lead, and even in situations where it's reasonable to use a backup running back, Shanahan still gets CMC the ball as much as possible. It's ludicrous.

Christian McCaffrey to 'get ball as much as possible' per 49ers OC https://t.co/nX3yal9Fsd via @Koslow_ari #FTTB

— FantasyPros (@FantasyProsNFL) May 9, 2025

Were it not for his injuries, we'd likely be talking about McCaffrey as a future Hall of Famer. When he's healthy and on the field, he's responsible for four total league-winning fantasy seasons. He finished as the RB1 overall twice (2019 and 2023) and RB2 overall twice (2018 and 2022).

He has a rare ability to play at an elite level both as a receiver and rusher, is a supremely talented athlete, and has put up ridiculous highlight reels. He's the engine through which San Francisco wants to run its offense, and he'll be a guaranteed workhorse of the highest order.

If you pick late in Round 1 and he falls to you, take him.

Round 2 - A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

Brown was one of the best wide receivers in the NFL in 2024. The reason this didn't always translate to elite fantasy production was because he was on an offense that ran the absolute hell out of the ball for most of the season. The Eagles simply didn't have to pass the ball that much to win their games.

There are a few components to this. Having a great rushing quarterback, running back Saquon Barkley, and the league's best offensive line certainly played a large role. But I'm a lot more interested in Brown this season because the Eagles have a much tougher schedule than they did last year.

It’s (officially) here. Our 2025 Schedule‼️@Ticketmaster | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/w51YkEg4Xn

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 15, 2025

The Eagles will likely have much higher passing volume this season. They'll face the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys -- hopefully with QB Dak Prescott healthy -- twice, the Washington Commanders twice, the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Chargers, and Buffalo Bills.

All of those teams have high-scoring offenses when healthy. Each of them is capable of getting in shootouts with the Eagles. The slate will total 12 games against offenses readily capable of putting up 30 points or more. And shootout games are exactly what you want your receivers to be in. Ask Ja'Marr Chase fantasy managers in 2024.

The Eagles ran the ball 56.29% of the time in 2024. In 2025, they have games against the:

-Rams
-Chiefs
-Chargers
-Broncos
-Cowboys 2x
-Commanders 2x
-Packers
-Lions
-Vikings
-Bills

A.J. Brown is looking like a 2nd round steal. I think the Eagles pass a lot more in 2025

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) July 8, 2025

That's pretty much it. We already know Brown is elite. We just hope he gets more targets next year, and he should.

Round 3 - Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals 

The Bengals have one of the league's best quarterbacks. Joe Burrow has the case to be considered one of the best passing QBs in the league. He's consistently on a team with a terrible offensive line and bad defense, but plays amazingly well despite being in a poorly put-together offense.

Most Passing Yards Gained On Throws At or Behind the Line of Scrimmage [Since 2021]
+ @FantasyPtsData

1. Patrick Mahomes (3,343)
2. Jared Goff (2,428)
3. Baker Mayfield (2,207)
...
10. Joe Burrow (1,785) pic.twitter.com/kIiB46EmtW

— Scott Barrett (@ScottBarrettDFB) June 21, 2025

Higgins put up 19.8, 19.8, and 40.8 PPR fantasy points in Weeks 15-17 of 2024. That's league-winning stuff. Sure, Higgins gets hurt a lot, but when he plays, he's usually dynamite. He averaged 18.5 PPR fantasy points per game last season, good for sixth among all receivers.

When he's hurt, you can just slot somebody else in. Players who get hurt a lot suck to have, but they're better than players that consistently underachieve and lose you games because they can't score enough. Like Tyreek Hill last year. In Round 3, 18.5 fantasy points per game is an incredible value.

Keep in mind, Rashee Rice is rising to a second-round pick in many leagues. Otherwise, he'd be a fantastic value here too. With Rice recently accepting his plea deal, a looming suspension could cause his ADP to drop, which could make him an even more intriguing value pick. In addition, his hearing with the league has been scheduled for September 30, which will allow him to now play in the first four games of the season.

However, he could then be hit with a suspension later in the season during the critical weeks of fantasy football.

Round 4 - Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles 

We can reference the best Round 2 pick here. Hurts should be forced to pass a lot more. This will likely take production away from Barkley and give a lot more fantasy points to Hurts. Add in Hurts' rushing ability and the tush push not being banned, and it's easy to see why fantasy managers should be high on him.

Hurts has a non-zero chance of finishing as the QB1 overall in fantasy scoring. Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson will be stiff competition, but I'm willing to take that chance. It wouldn't be a surprise if Hurts outscores QB Jayden Daniels as well, but Daniels is being drafted a few spots ahead of him.

Middle Rounds

Round 5 - Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Jacksonville Jaguars

New Jaguars head coach Liam Coen doesn't get enough credit for the masterpiece of an offense he directed in Tampa Bay last season. He helped quarterback Baker Mayfield throw 13 more touchdowns than he ever had in his career to that point, and wide receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and even Jalen McMillan flourished.

The Jaguars traded up for Hunter under Coen's new regime in the 2025 NFL Draft. He could reasonably play all the passing downs, and he's a fabulous talent. As a raw receiver, he won the Biletnikoff Award, for college football's best receiver, while also playing cornerback. Hunter is unbelievably talented.

Travis Hunter in 1 clip.
-Improvises
-Elite body adjustment to ball trajectory
-Attacks the ball, big vertical
-Elite awareness
-Sells to the outside after the catch
-Hard jab fake to the outside, cuts back in
-Makes 3 guys miss
WR1 pic.twitter.com/XxlN0fMgR8

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) March 17, 2025

Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence has been inconsistent in his career, but it's hard to blame him. Having Darrell Bevell and Press Taylor as your offensive coordinators with a very bad offensive line makes it tough to succeed. Coen will work his magic, though.

Both Hunter and Brian Thomas Jr. can be league-winners in this Coen-led offense with minimal competition for targets after the two on the depth chart.

Round 6 - RJ Harvey, RB, Denver Broncos

It depends on what kind of league you're in, but Harvey should be available in the sixth round in quite a few leagues. He's a steal at that price. I've written several articles on him, but I strongly believe he's a league-winner in the Sean Payton "Joker" role, even with RB J.K. Dobbins in the same backfield.

Unlike Quinshon Judkins, who often had very poor games at Ohio State against good competition, even with great run blocking, RJ Harvey just smashed every P4 team he played against in 2024. Not a bad game in his game log here, and he didn't have TreVeyon Henderson to spell him. pic.twitter.com/W5coQxT70V

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) June 3, 2025

Harvey's college production crushed that of RB Quinshon Judkins last season, even from a pure efficiency standpoint, especially against quality (Power-4) competition. Harvey is an elite athlete, a legitimately good pass-catcher, and a highly elusive, explosive play machine. And he has Payton as his head coach.

Round 7 - Deebo Samuel Sr., WR, Washington Commanders

After catching pneumonia last season, his production fell off hard. Extrapolating his pre-illness production across a full season gives you a fantastic value for a Round 7 pick. Samuel should benefit from a screen-heavy Commanders offense. He's also 29 years old, so he should have at least one good year left.

His training camp videos might suggest he isn't in the best shape, but he's shown up to training camp looking like this before and gone on to have a good season. He's also injury-prone, which sucks, but when he's out, you can always just sub someone else in. Seventh-round picks usually don't have this level of upside. Swing for the fences.

Round 8 - T.J. Hockenson, TE, Minnesota Vikings

A reminder that he's one of the best tight ends in the league when healthy should help. New Vikings starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy is better than both Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold, both of whom sucked on any team not named the Vikings throughout their careers.

Either way, Hockenson doesn't need an elite quarterback to thrive. He's a remarkably talented TE, well within his prime at 28 years old, and should demand a worthy target share for a tight end even with the target competition he faces in WRs Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson.

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