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John's wide receiver candidates to finish as the overall fantasy football WR1 in 2025. Target these fantasy football WR value picks with league-winning upside.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase finished the season as the dominant, clear WR1 overall last season. Powered by a horrible Bengals defense, elite quarterback play from QB Joe Burrow, and his own transcendent talent, Chase won the receiving Triple Crown.
He caught 127 passes for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns, easily beating all other pass-catchers in every category. And he was signed to a massive extension as a result. It's tough to say any WR will surpass him this season. Burrow and Chase are the best QB/WR duo in the league by a wide margin right now.
That doesn't mean there isn't a chance. And even if none of the players on this list beat out Chase, there's reason to believe they could smash their ADPs and rise even further in ADP next season, which makes them great value picks and potential league-winners right now. So let's dive in to five WRs that could steal the title of overall WR1 in PPR fantasy football leagues in 2025!
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 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
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles
Brown (hamstring) has had three issues with his game ever since bursting onto the scene in a breakout campaign in his sophomore season. The first problem has been that he was simply wasn't targeted enough. The second was that he was on an extremely run-heavy offense last season. Injuries have been an issue at times as well.
He's an elite wideout. The dominant All-Pro is one of the best wideouts in the NFL. He's a nearly impossible coverage assignment. At 6-foot-1, 226 pounds, he plays with elite strength, effectively boxing out defensive backs and beating them with power. He's also a fantastic route-runner, a great ball-tracker, and awesome after the catch.
AJ Brown’s first game was a spiritual experience I haven’t felt since Terrell Owens was an Eagle pic.twitter.com/ICXuqLpz8g
— Aidan Powers (@aidan_34_powers) August 19, 2025
You can see how good he is for yourself in the video above, though I'm sure you've seen plenty of Brown's play. Last season, he missed a few games due to injury, but the biggest problem with him in fantasy football was his poor usage. It's hard to blame the Eagles, though, as they won the Super Bowl. Their offensive strategy worked.
The 2025 season could look a little different, as the Eagles are only double-digit point favorites in two games and a 7+ point favorite in just another three games
Their schedule is tougher
Shoutout @kyle_borg for the graphic below with all 271 games’ spreads via @DKSportsbook pic.twitter.com/LqybRSZjEJ
— Adam Koffler (@AdamKoffler) May 31, 2025
This season, there's reason to believe things will be different. The Eagles have one of the toughest schedules in the NFL. They have to face the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders twice because they're divisional opponents. They'll take on the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers early in the season as well.
They also have to face the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, and Los Angeles Chargers. That's a whopping 12 games against offenses that were highly productive last season. The second Commanders game is in Week 18, so that won't matter for most fantasy leagues, but 11 out of 17 games is still a ton.
Philadelphia lost a lot of talent on defense as well. Defensive ends Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat are no longer with the team, and defensive tackle Milton Williams was poached by the New England Patriots with a contract of over $25 million per year.
WR open score and yards per route run. pic.twitter.com/YhPB02zy3e
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) January 16, 2025
Brown was the graded as the best receiver in football at getting open by ESPN's advanced receiver analytics, and had the third-highest yards per route run rate. Such an ability to get open and be efficient indicates that he should earn even more targets and would produce very well with them.
We already know how good Brown is. It's not absolutely certain just how much the Eagles will pass next season, but I expect a much higher rate, which is why I think Brown will be the biggest steal in the second round of fantasy football redraft leagues this season.
Drake London, Atlanta Falcons
We already know London is a great wide receiver. His combination of size, tempo in his routes, movement fluidity, and strength make him a nightmare matchup for opposing defensive backs. He had an excellent season in 2025, finishing as the WR5 overall, though he was the WR14 in points per game.
Still, it would have been nice if quarterback Kirk Cousins had played a little better. Perhaps London would have had a better finish in PPG. This season, it doesn't look like Cousins will reclaim the job, though. Second-year pro Michael Penix Jr. is set to be the team's starting signal-caller moving forward.
Ya I’ve seen enough man… Michael Penix Jr. throws this ball to Drake London pic.twitter.com/51uVGud1h0
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) September 17, 2024
The tape from all three seasons of London's career has shown how underutilized and underappreciated he is. That's likely to change this season, at least if you believe Penix. In the games that Penix started in 2024, London was hyper-targeted by Penix. The stats were pretty awesome.
Drake London in 3 Michael Penix, Jr. starts last season:
5-59 on 8 targets
7-106 on 13 targets
10-187-2 TD on 18 targetsBreakout duo in 2025?pic.twitter.com/hj66KlFbOd
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) July 31, 2025
Keep in mind that WR Darnell Mooney was injured in Week 18, but Penix is willing to sling it downfield, and Cousins was still recovering from an Achilles tendon injury last year. So it wasn't a huge surprise when he failed to make a good impression.
London should have a higher target rate this season, a higher target share, and thus more fantasy points. He could become a big play machine as well if Penix's tendency to launch rockets downfield remains from his college days. Receivers need to be dominant target-earners to finish as the WR1 overall, and it looks like London will have it.
Davante Adams, Los Angeles Rams
A lot would have to go right for Adams to finish as the overall WR1. He's 32 years old now, but he doesn't have appeared to have lost a step just yet. He could have one more great season ahead of him. There's also the question of quarterback Matthew Stafford (back) and his health situation.
It goes without saying that Stafford would have to get healthy, and stay healthy for the season, for Adams to have a big year. Adams is technically the team's WR2, but he could be a roughly equal target-earner as his counterpart, wide receiver Puka Nacua. Both are fantastic talents.
Nacua has had major injury issues throughout his career. Despite a mostly healthy rookie season, he missed five games due to a knee sprain in 2024, and his injury problems are extensive and date back to his college days. He hardly played in 2019 and 2020 due to injuries, and missed time in 2022 as well.
Thing people don't understand about Puka Nacua's draft status is that it wasn't based on ability. He could always play. However, his injury history limited his effectiveness in college.
'19 - broken foot
'20 - COVID season
'21 - missed season-opener
'22 - ankle, groin injuries— Brent Sobleski (@brentsobleski) January 15, 2024
Nacua fell in the 2023 NFL Draft due to injury problems, and those have persisted in the NFL. While it's hard to predict injuries, it's a fact that some players miss much more time than others due to injury issues. There are many anatomical factors driving this, and while I'm not a doctor, the data we have doesn't look great.
If Stafford remains healthy, games in which Nacua is injured and can't play could be absolutely massive for Adams. We could see him earn an absolutely obscene target share. Something north of 15 targets per game when Nacua isn't on the field is actually reasonable, considering how the Rams offense operates.
Rams head coach Sean McVay funnels as much of his offense as possible through his best playmakers. He's not known for spreading around the ball, as other offensive coaches sometimes foolishly do. Adams becomes a candidate for the weekly WR1 in games that Nacua doesn't play.
Davante Adams is still that guy, man.. pic.twitter.com/iJxqwT8dZb
— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) August 5, 2025
Adams is a fabulous red zone target, so even in games where Nacua is healthy, he is a prime candidate to score one or more touchdowns. The Rams could even adjust their offensive tendencies to pass more at the goal line due to Adams' presence. If things go right for Adams, he could have an absolutely insane 2025.
Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars
Thomas' rookie season was fantastic, with a few asterisks. The first was that his quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, got injured and ended up missing the rest of the season. He was actually more productive without Lawrence, with backup quarterback Mac Jones throwing the ball, but that wasn't because Lawrence sucked.
All the other team's starting pass-catchers picked up season-ending injuries. Wide receiver Gabe Davis hurt his shoulder, WR Christian Kirk broke his collarbone, and tight end Evan Engram tore his labrum. Thomas was the only starting pass-catcher left for the last few games of the season.
While this was a major driving factor behind him finishing as the WR1 overall in PPR points per game in the fantasy football playoffs, when he scored 32.5, 28.2, and 23.9 PPR points in consecutive games in Weeks 15-17, his absurd combination of size and athleticism is one of the best in the league.
𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗝𝗿. checks 𝗦𝗢 many 𝗯𝗼𝘅𝗲𝘀
➖𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗲: 𝟲’𝟯, 𝟮𝟬𝟵 𝗹𝗯𝘀
➖𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱: 𝟰.𝟯𝟯 (𝟵𝟴𝘁𝗵%)
➖𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝟭,𝟭𝟳𝟳 𝗬𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀, 𝟭𝟳 𝗧𝗗’𝘀 (𝟭𝘀𝘁 in 𝗖𝗙𝗕)
➖𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹: 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝗱 𝟭𝘀𝘁… pic.twitter.com/xmJAZSOikW— Austin Abbott (@AustinAbbottFF) March 28, 2024
He's 6-foot-3, weighs over 200 pounds, ran an absurdly fast 4.33-second 40-yard dash, and has freakishly long arms. These, along with his much-improved route-running and release package, make him a scary one-on-one coverage assignment for defensive backs.
Even on plays where he doesn't have big separation at the point of the catch, if the football is placed right, he can snag it out of the air out of reach of defenders, which makes him an ideal target on downfield throws, where defenders have more time to react to the receiver's routes.
Brian Thomas Jr. Should Be a Top 12 Pick.
2.50 fantasy points per catch on 87 catches- top three combo as a rookie.
Year 1 to Year 2 for WRs produces the biggest gains in routes, expected points, and scoring of any year-to-year leap.
Only getting better!pic.twitter.com/BG7bU71cqe
— Joe Orrico (@JoeOrricoFF) August 13, 2025
There's also no question about his abilities after the catch. He has the raw speed to run away from some of the fastest defenders in the league. He's one of the few players in the NFL that has run faster than 22 miles per hour as a ball-carrier. And he's a great separator.
It's never a bad idea to bet on the best athletes in the NFL. And it helps that the Jaguars drafted WR/CB Travis Hunter, who will help draw coverage away from him and ensure that Thomas has less defensive attention, which will allow him more space to work.
And the Jaguars now have an elite offensive coordinator as their head coach. Liam Coen made the Tampa Bay Buccaneers one of the best passing-attack offenses in the league last season, and it was clear that his handiwork was a major driving factor in that. The Jags will have a much better offense this season as a result. Wheels up for BTJr!
Rashee Rice*, Kansas City Chiefs
I don't think it's cheating to include players that I believe could finish either as the WR1 overall or the WR1 in points per game when they're actually on the field and playing. After all, injuries are difficult to predict, so there's a lot of luck involved in becoming the overall WR1. You basically need to play at least 16 games to have a shot.
The chances of Rice playing the first 17 weeks of the 2025 season seem vanishingly small. That's why the asterisk was there. He was convicted in connection with the car crash he caused in 2024, and while he won't have to serve jail time during the season, reports indicate that he, his agents, and the NFL Players' Association are negotiating the length of the suspension he will face. That suspension will likely be served this season.
BREAKING: Adam Schefter's podcast that dropped today has some MASSIVE data points on the Rashee Rice situation.
Here's a big #FFLegalUpdate...
— Drew Davenport (@DrewDavenportFF) August 20, 2025
It doesn't seem like Rice will get a double-digit week suspension. Rather, it's possible that he'll only miss six games, which will allow him plenty of time to get back into the rhythm of playing in the offense when he returns. It helps that he has two seasons of familiarity with the offense and chemistry built with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs also have WR Xavier Worthy, though he had a rocky rookie season, and only started to consistently put up good performances toward the end of the season. And he simply plays a different role than Rice does, working as a gadget player and field-stretcher.
Tight end Travis Kelce is now 35 years old, and his ability to be a dominant force in the receiving game is simply gone. He's athletically washed at this point, which tends to happen to pass-catchers well above 30 years old. Rice is the No. 1 pass-catcher in this offense, and will remain to be.
Rashee Rice is a bonafide #1 WR.
11 catches on 13 targets 113 yards 1 TD
pic.twitter.com/C5gKKc1JRb— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) September 23, 2024
Before the knee injury ended his 2024 season, Rice was a genuine top-3 wideout in PPR fantasy points per game. He has the trust of both Mahomes and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who both seem content with the offensive game plan being built around him. He should have a massive target share when healthy.
