3 Must-Have Fantasy Football Rookies to Target: Second-Half Risers, Potential League-Winners

Three must-have fantasy football breakouts, rookie risers to target in the second half of 2025. John's top rookies to trade for include Jaxson Dart, Kyle Monangai, RJ Harvey.

The second half of the season for rookie players is often one that's marked by big improvements in their games. It takes time to get accustomed to playing in the NFL, learn a new offense, and learn an NFL offense for the first time in a player's career.

For fantasy football, this means we can do a lot better if we target first-year players that have yet to consistently produce well, or that most fantasy managers don't yet have a high opinion of. Sometimes, players can even have multiple good games and still be underrated.

This makes pouncing on first-year players at this time of the season a great idea. There are some rookies that have already shown incredible upside and are extremely difficult to acquire, like Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka. But let's break down three that you can potentially get for good deals right now that could be league-winners down the stretch.

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Jaxson Dart, QB, New York Giants

Despite multiple big games in his first year playing quarterback in the NFL, many fantasy managers still don't seem to have a lot of faith in Dart. In the six games he's started so far, though, he's scored 19 or more PPR fantasy points each time. He's absolutely balling out despite missing his top wide receiver, Malik Nabers (knee), who tore his ACL.

With a running back room of Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary, and a pass-catching corps of Wan'Dale Robinson, Darius Slayton, and Theo Johnson, Dart is still elevating his team. He's been simply remarkable for a rookie that was viewed as needing a lot of time to develop. NFL teams absolutely whiffed on him. He should have been the No. 1 overall pick.

Every perfect Jaxson Dart pass dropped or penalized by his receivers so far (pre week 9) pic.twitter.com/JBf2sJLbqw

— 𝙹𝙱☄️ (@CookedBy11_) October 31, 2025

And Dart could have quite a bit more points if his team didn't struggle to catch passes. He could challenge for a top-3 finish in points per game the rest of the way if his pass-catchers could shore up their game. Both Johnson and Slayton have struggled with something akin to stone hands syndrome.

Still, Dart's rushing upside is massive. He's a willing and capable runner, and his size helps him be more effective at the goal line. He has five rushing touchdowns in his six starts, and averages 41.8 rushing yards per game. That's Exodia levels of cheat code rushing upside.

Six runs it in for six 👏

📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/wrsuGDxfJP

— New York Giants (@Giants) November 2, 2025

You can probably still get Dart for a reasonable price in a lot of leagues. There's a general sentiment that his play so far is a fluke, and the Giants are so bad that he'll eventually regress. You can capitalize on that.

Kyle Monangai, RB, Chicago Bears

Bears RB D'Andre Swift (groin), the starter, wasn't able to play in Week 9 due to a groin injury. He's bounced around the league a bit before landing with the Bears, and while he had a few excellent fantasy games this season, he struggles with vision and rushing between the tackles.

Even before he missed time, he was gradually starting to lose work to Monangai. And last week, when Swift couldn't play, Monangai had a monster game, rushing 26 times for 176 yards and catching three of his five targets for 22 yards. He averaged nearly 6.8 yards per carry on his huge day.

And then the bigger breakout - Kyle Monangai. Super hard runner. patient. Blew a couple maybe but overall just super impressive, not leaving meat on the bone.

I rly liked the kid coming out but I didnt know he had this much playmaker to him. And hes certainly strong as hell pic.twitter.com/OqQb2PSOQN

— mike faltas (@mfaltas_) November 4, 2025

Monangai has a chance to continue moving towards the lead in this backfield even with Swift expected back. Swift's athleticism has kept him relevant for many years now. He was let go by both the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, though, because of his unwillingness and incapability of being a consistent runner between the tackles.

Too often he bounces runs outside that he should take up the middle, which can kill offensive plays. So it makes sense not to use him a lot between the tackles. Monangai, on the other hand, is a powerful runner between the tackles, and shows enough shiftiness and strength to gain plenty of yards after contact.

RJ Harvey, RB, Denver Broncos

Harvey seems to be settling into his "Joker" role in Broncos head coach Sean Payton's offense. While it's RB J.K. Dobbins that's handling the vast majority of the rushing workload, Harvey's receiving volume has spiked in recent weeks. And he's mostly capitalized off of it.

Thursday's game against the Raiders was a low-offense game for just about all players involved on both sides, so I'm willing to mostly overlook it and his low output. Prior to the TNF game, he had four total touchdowns in his previous two games -- with two of them coming through the air, including six catches for 56 yards and two receiving scores.

Fantasy managers who drafted him might see this uptick in fantasy output as an opportunity to sell high and be rid of him.

🔟 to 1️⃣2️⃣

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/JtPme80XJ1

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 2, 2025

Given the low-end fantasy performance from the Raiders game, you can probably trade for him at an even better price now.

I expect him to be very clutch down the stretch in his receiving role. Payton loves throwing the ball to his running backs, and he was a second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Buy the dip and plan for the home stretch.

Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer Tool for Week 10

Want more fantasy football trade advice? Be sure to also bookmark our free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer tool to assist with your trade offers. The Trade Analyzer tool allows you to add up to three players on each side of a trade and calculate whether it is fair or not for fantasy football. You instantly get a recommendation on which side of the trade is a better deal.

The Trade Analyzer tool will display various information side by side for you to compare the players involved in any trade and help you make better decisions. Compare projections and stats, read the latest fantasy football news, and see upcoming schedules.

Fantasy Football Trade Rankings Values

The higher the Trade Value number, the higher the priority for targeting in trades. Find your players, add up the trade values of each side of the offer, and see which side of the trade wins.

Who Should I Trade For?

Week 10 Trade Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Jaxson Dart, Kyle Monangai, RJ Harvey. These are some key fantasy football names heading into the second half.

Using The Trade Values. This is a simple trade value tool, but very powerful. In our fantasy football trade value rankings above, you will see the Trade Value for each player. The higher the number, the higher the priority for targeting in trades. Players with a high trade value number are players that you should be targeting more in trades.

How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings, projections, and trade values based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this trade value rankings.

How To Calculate Trades. Fantasy football managers will make 1-for-1 trades, or 2-for-3 trades, or 3-for-2 trades, or many other combinations. For each side of the deal, add the trade values together. Whichever side has a higher total number wins the trade. For example, if someone is offering you three players, add the trade values of those three players together. Does the value of those three players exceed the values of the player(s) you are trading away? If so then it's a good deal for you.

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