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Who should I draft for fantasy football in 2025? Fantasy football outlooks for Bryce Young, Michael Penix, JJ McCarthy and our draft advice.
Bryce Young Fantasy Football Outlook
- NFFC ADP: 153
- RotoBaller Ranking: 161
Young has the most experience of the three quarterbacks in this post and is coming off an impressive finish to last season. He was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft and started 16 games for Carolina as a rookie. He threw for 2,877 yards and 11 touchdowns but only completed 59.8% of his passes and threw 10 interceptions for an extremely disappointing 34.1 QBR.
Year 2 didn't start much better for Young, who was benched after just a pair of ugly outings, in which he threw three picks and no touchdowns. He was replaced by veteran Andy Dalton, and most people thought that was the end of the Bryce Young era in Carolina.
(Cue Lee Corso) Not so fast, my friends!
Young got another chance to start after Dalton was in a car accident, and he looked very strong after his return. In the final 10 games of the season, he threw 15 touchdowns and just six interceptions while completing 61.8% of his passes. He also added five touchdowns on the ground, for a nice round average of 2.0 touchdowns per game to go with 210.4 passing yards per contest. He was especially sharp in his last few games with seven touchdowns, no picks, and this epic touchdown celebration.
Bryce Young 🤝 Steph Curry
The no-look celly on the TD pass to Tommy Tremble 🥶https://t.co/8JDWvXsQwepic.twitter.com/0Bgug6XOHr
— parked (@5_parked) January 5, 2025
This year, the Panthers upgraded the offense around him by drafting top receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who has the potential to make a huge splash as the focus of the team's passing game. Jalen Coker worked ahead of Xavier Legette this preseason and is another young receiver who has a ton of upside for the Panthers.
If Young can build on his strong finish from last year, he could be a strong second QB, and in the right matchup, he could even be a bye-week starter. He is being drafted after 20 other quarterbacks are off the board, but he seems safer and brings more upside than several of the players ahead of him. While I wouldn't go crazy and draft him as a starter in any single-quarterback format, I do think there's more potential than he's getting credit for.
Michael Penix Fantasy Football Outlook
- NFFC ADP: 141
- RotoBaller Ranking: 150
Penix is going just ahead of Young in most drafts, but that's based less on what he has proven and much more on his potential.
Penix was drafted in the top 10 of the 2024 NFL Draft, when the Falcons surprised the world by drafting the star from Washington, even though they had just added Kirk Cousins on a big free-agent deal. Not shockingly, the situation didn't play out that well for Cousins and Penix, and Penix ultimately took over as the starter for the final three games of last season.
In his three starts, he beat the Giants and then lost to the Commanders and Young's Panthers in back-to-back overtime defeats. He threw for an average of 245.7 passing yards per game and threw a total of three touchdowns and three interceptions in those contests.
Here's a look at his highlights:
All the best from Penix Jr.’s 2024 season 😤@themikepenix | @BudLight pic.twitter.com/WsTCu9kZSR
— NFL (@NFL) August 26, 2025
While the Panthers' pass-catchers got an upgrade, the Falcons stayed mostly the same this offseason. With Bijan Robinson and Drake London in the mix, though, the Falcons have a great group of playmakers for Penix to work with. Darnell Mooney (shoulder) was lost to injury, which is a significant loss for the receiver corps, and could open up more chances for KhaDarel Hodge and Ray-Ray McCloud.
The Falcons were almost a playoff team last year, and they are going to give the keys to the offense to Penix right out of the gate this year. The youngster will get a chance to grow and has the raw tools to be a strong downfield passer, with good playmakers to work with.
His physical tools are slightly better than Young's, but his track record is much shorter.
JJ McCarthy Fantasy Football Outlook
- NFFC ADP: 124
- RotoBaller Ranking: 121
We started with a QB with almost two seasons of experience, then we looked at one who played just three games, and now, let's turn our attention to a quarterback with exactly zero pass attempts in the NFL. Interestingly, despite his inexperience, McCarthy is actually going higher in most drafts than both Young and Penix.
McCarthy went two picks after Penix in the 2024 NFL Draft and landed with the Vikings. Sam Darnold was in town to be the bridge to McCarthy, but ultimately, that plan fell apart since McCarthy missed the entire 2024 season after a torn meniscus in his knee.
This preseason, McCarthy played just one drive in the Vikings' first preseason game. He completed 4-of-7 passes for 30 yards and led the team to a field goal before departing. He was with most of the starters, except Justin Jefferson.
JJ McCarthy was solid in his 2025 debut…
4-for-7, 30 passing yards
One rush, eight yardsMoved the sticks on a third down through the air and a fourth down with his legs
Missed one pass over the middle on third down, but overall, solid outing.
— Nicho Roessler (@NichoRoessler) August 9, 2025
McCarthy takes over in a great system with head coach Kevin O'Connell's quarterback-friendly scheme and top-tier targets in Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson. The team is trying to add depth at receiver, but the playmakers in place are exceptional.
We've seen O'Connell turn Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold into strong fantasy quarterbacks, and McCarthy has the ceiling to be a top-10 option if he can quickly grasp the system and add rushing potential that Cousins and Darnold did not bring.
He's by far the most unproven of the trio, but he also brings the highest ceiling based on pure potential, which is why his draft ADP is slightly higher.
Who Should I Draft in Fantasy Football?
Each of these three quarterbacks is a risk. Young has the least risk but the lowest ceiling, while McCarthy has the highest risk and also the highest ceiling. If you're swinging for the fences, McCarthy is the way to go, but if someone else grabs him first, Penix and Young are very solid fallback options.
I am slightly higher than the market average on McCarthy and have paired him with a low-end QB1 in several drafts. If you wait until the end of the draft, though, Young did show enough at the end of last year to be a very viable QB2 with upside still. He's safer than McCarthy and Penix and should progress with improved receiver play this season.
At some point this season, all three of these quarterbacks are likely to have high points and low points, so get ready for an exciting ride if you select them to be part of your squad.
Who Should I Draft Tool
You can also see the Who Should I Draft tool here.
Who Should I Draft? Some common 2025 fantasy football draft decisions are regarding players like Bryce Young, Michael Penix, and JJ McCarthy. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning teams in 2025. Draft your optimal fantasy football teams for 2025. Our free Who Should I Draft? tool will help make your fantasy football draft decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to draft... all free! Make the right decisions.
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2025 Player Decisions. Today's focus in on specific players - Bryce Young, Michael Penix, and JJ McCarthy. These are some common searches for 2025 fantasy football drafts.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Draft? button to see who the recommended draft picks are based on fantasy football rankings, projections and more.
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Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Draft Searches. Curious to see some tough draft decisions for 2025? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Draft? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Draft
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Draft tool for 2025 drafts for Bryce Young, Michael Penix, JJ McCarthy:
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