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The best NFL team fits for 2025 rookie wide receivers, and player outlooks. Ranking top fantasy football landing spots for immediate impact and WR sleeper value.
Free Agency has been going on for over a week now. The best free agents have already been signed, making the pickings a little slim if teams are looking for any immediate impact players. That doesn't mean there aren't some quality players left available who could be fantasy-relevant in the right situation.
In this article, we'll identify some of the best-remaining receivers. If, as a player, you're still available after a week of free agency, there are some questions regarding your availability, talent, or both. That's why, for these players to find fantasy relevancy this season, they'll need to land in the perfect position.
Let's get started and look at some of the best wide receivers still available. To take advantage of our great premium tools, please use promo code "BOOM" to receive a 10% discount.
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Amari Cooper
Cooper will turn 31 in June, so he's no spring chicken anymore. He's also coming off the worst year of his career. He finished with 90 targets, 50 receptions, and 588 yards between the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills.
Cooper played the first six games of the season with Deshaun Watson. Among 43 qualifying quarterbacks, Watson had the worst QBR and the fifth-worst quarterback rating. Here's where Watson ranked in several other stats among those 43 quarterbacks.
- 42nd in Yards Per Attempt
- 43rd in Success Rate
- 41st in Touchdown Rate
He was dealing with a wrist injury when he got traded to Buffalo. He missed two games and never logged a snap share higher than 55%. It was a season to forget for Cooper. When he was traded to Buffalo, many expected Cooper to have a strong second half of the season catching balls from Josh Allen, but that never materialized.
Before 2024, Cooper had six straight seasons with 900 or more yards. In five of those six years, Cooper had more than 1,100 yards. So, either he completely fell off a cliff, or Cooper's 2024 season was a mirage. In 2022-2023, Cooper had back-to-back seasons with a yard-per-route run average of over 2.00.
This past year, his yard per route run average fell to 1.41. Any team looking to sign him must decide if Cooper's 2024 season was his rendezvous with Father Time or if he was a victim of circumstance.
For most of his career, Cooper has been used almost exclusively as an X-receiver. However, given his Reception Perception profile, Cooper may benefit from transitioning into a flanker/slot role.
He doesn't have the speed to threaten defenses downfield, as evidenced by his success rate on nine routes above. You can find his Reception Perception profile here. Matt Harmon of Reception Perception had this to say about Cooper,
"The biggest area of concern for Cooper is his nine route success rate of 30%, which is ghastly. I thought Cooper would be exactly what the Bills needed out of their X-receiver spot. However, he primarily just ran go routes against press man coverage and it was clear all season he didn’t have the juice to get off the line and stack corners. Nor did he pose an intimidating threat when working back to the quarterback on the curl, a route they wanted him to win on vs. man coverage. Perhaps we can blame it on injury but if not, that’s a big problem. Cooper did have some solid to excellent success rates on other patterns like the slant, dig and post route. Maybe in the right offense, Cooper still has something to give as an in-breaking route specialist perimeter receiver. There are enough teams looking for a guy like that."
Best Fits:
- Green Bay Packers
- New York Jets
- Dallas Cowboys
- New Orleans Saints
- Denver Broncos
Outside of the Jets, all these teams will fancy themselves as competitors in 2025. Whether or not New Orleans should is a different question. All of these teams, except the Packers, have a well-established No. 1 target, allowing Cooper to work as the No. 2. The Packers may not have a true No. 1, but they have enough options where Cooper wouldn’t be heavily depended on.
That’s the kind of role Cooper needs to be productive at this stage of his career. Green Bay could use some veteran mentoring and would provide additional insurance. New Orleans, Dallas, and New York have a one-man-show at receiver. Denver did sign Evan Engram, but their No. 2 receiver is a significant question mark.
In New York, Dallas, New Orleans, and Denver, Cooper would have little target competition. He'd have competent to excellent quarterback play with the Packers, Cowboys, Saints, and Broncos.
Stefon Diggs
Heading into 2024, plenty of fantasy managers thought Diggs was washed. They looked at his final few games in Buffalo and came to that conclusion. Of course, they didn’t look at the fact that the entire Bills’ passing offense fell off significantly under the new offensive coordinator, Joe Brady. Diggs’ splits last year directly coincided with the offensive coordinator switch.
That doesn’t mean Diggs is the same player he used to be. No, he’s definitely lost a step, and he may have lost 1-2 more with the ACL injury, but he was still a very productive player before his injury last year. In eight games last year with Houston, he had 62 targets, 47 receptions, 496 yards, and three touchdowns. That put him on pace for 132 targets, 100 receptions, 1,054 yards, and 6.5 touchdowns.
He had a 1.84-yard-per-route run average and generated a first down on 11.5% of his routes. He was still a very productive player. His Reception Perception route success chart evidences that.
You can find his whole profile here. Consider that he did that all with C.J. Stroud taking a significant step back, Nico Collins missing time, and Bobby Slowik, the team’s offensive coordinator, fired after the season due to the offensive’s performance.
The question now becomes who Diggs will be in 2025. He’ll turn 32 in November. He’s coming off a torn ACL that happened in late October. We don’t know when his surgery was, but typically, it’s a 9-10 month recovery from the date of surgery.
Nine months and two weeks from November 15th, 2024, is August 29th, 2025. That estimates a median recovery time and surgery two weeks post-injury. Opening day for the NFL is September 4th.
Any team signing him should anticipate him ramping up the first 3-4 weeks of the season. So, it may not be until Week 5 that Diggs is 100% healthy, and even that is somewhat of a question. Given his age and injury concerns, it doesn’t make sense for a non-competing team to look at Diggs. The best fit will be with a competing team desperate for pass-catchers.
Best Fits
- Chicago Bears
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Dallas Cowboys
- Houston Texans
- Denver Broncos
The Bears and Bengals are not desperate for pass-catchers. However, after losing Keenan Allen, Chicago has a hole at slot receiver. For Cincy, it’s bleak behind Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, both players who can play on the outside, leaving the slot for Diggs.
That’s Diggs’s best position at this stage of his career. He’d likely have to take a lesser salary, but given his age and injury status, he’s unlikely to be looking at a sizable contract.
Dallas and Denver have glaring holes at their No. 2 receiver spot. Diggs could reunite with his brother in Dallas. In Denver, he could be Sean Payton’s slot receiver, a role that has been productive in the past. Diggs recently had a visit with the New England Patriots. Reports indicated the visit went well, but no deal was struck.
This was Diggs's first free-agent visit of the year. New England will not give him a chance to be on a competitive team, but he would have an excellent shot at being the alpha, No. 1 receiver. Drake Maye has plenty of potential as a quarterback, and giving him a savvy, veteran receiver makes a lot of sense.
Keenan Allen
Allen will be 33 in April. He's not the same player he used to be, but he's still one of the most savvy route-running technicians in the league. He's not going to beat you downfield. He's not going to run away from defenders.
He won't break multiple tackles and rip off a significant gain. What he can do, however, is find the soft spot on defense, be a dependable pass-catcher, and help move the chains. Last year, he had 117 targets, 70 receptions, 744 yards, and seven touchdowns with the Bears.
That may not sound like much, but they fired their head coach and offensive coordinator. Caleb Williams struggled mightily as a rookie. There was no consistency or chemistry on offense. They never looked in sync, and how could they?
By the time the season ended, their passing game coordinator was the head coach, the offensive coordinator, and the passing game coordinator. That needs to be taken into consideration. Yes, Allen didn't have the best year statistically, but he was a victim of circumstance.
He said before he'd either return to Chicago or go back to the Chargers. Both spots make a lot of sense. The Bears could still use a dependable slot receiver.
The Chargers could use the same. Many think that's Ladd McConkey, and he certainly can and did play that role, but he was effective on the outside to be the team's flanker. Allen would fit best with a team with downfield options already on the team receivers, providing him with more space to work underneath.
At his age, it shouldn't be surprising if he prioritizes being close to home or playing on a competitive team. His family is still in California, and he's been adamant that he only intends to play back home or for the Bears. That's something to keep in mind when looking at his best fits.
Best Fits
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Chicago Bears
- Los Angeles Rams
- Denver Broncos
- Arizona Cardinals
The Chargers and Bears are apparent. They're his last two teams. They're the only two teams he said he'd play for. However, if they're not open to a reunion, would he retire, and if not, where else could he land? If that happens, chances are he'd still want to stay close to home. The Broncos, Cardinals, and Rams are all near his hometown.
The Cardinals have Marvin Harrison Jr. at the X and Michael Wilson, another receiver with outside capabilities. Their slot receiver is Greg Dortch. Allen would provide an upgrade and another safe and dependable option for Kyler Murray. Denver is also reasonably close.
Like Arizona, Denver has a quality quarterback and a team that should be competitive in 2025. The Broncos only have Courtland Sutton at receiver. Allen would give Bo Nix another quality pass-catcher he can depend on to help move the chains.
The Rams, well, they're in Los Angeles. They resigned Tutu Atwell and brought in Davante Adams. Allen may not be a fit for the Rams because he needs to play in the slot, and Sean McVay might want to get Adams and Puka Nacua into that spot.
However, Nacua and Adams are good enough to play outside. Allen would give them a big three at receiver, similar to when he had Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, and Brandin Cooks.
Elijah Moore
Moore will turn 25 in March. He's still so incredibly young. He was a former second-round pick. There's no denying he's been a considerable disappointment through his four seasons in the NFL. However, how much is due to Moore, and how much has been his surrounding circumstances?
He was drafted in 2021. The Jets' head coach was Robert Saleh. Saleh was fired in 2024. He had a 0.357 winning percentage as a head coach when he was fired. As a rookie, he caught passes from Mike White, Joe Flacco, but the primary quarterback was Zach Wilson.
That trio finished with 20 touchdowns and 20 interceptions with a 76.0 quarterback rating. It was the same trio in 2022, but the Jets added Chris Streveler. That quartet finished with 15 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and a 75.0 quarterback rating.
He was traded to the Browns before the 2023 season. He caught passes from Joe Flacco, DeShaun Watson, P.J. Walker, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson. They combined for 24 touchdowns, 23 interceptions, and a 73.7 quarterback rating. In 2024, the Browns' quarterbacks had 19 touchdowns, 23 interceptions, and a 71.4 quarterback rating.
He's never played on a team whose quarterbacks combined for a quarterback rating above 76.0. Kenny Pickett, Brock Osweiler, Jake Locker, Drew Lock, EJ Manuel, Trevor Siemian, and Mike Glennon have better career quarterback ratings than 76.0.
There's no rattling off any good stats. He doesn't have any. The argument is simple - how can one post any good stats when you spent four years with quarterbacks who have played worse than Jake Locker, Brock Osweiler, and Kenny Pickett?
Maybe Moore isn't good. After four years of mediocre-to-bad stats, having that opinion is understandable. However, it's also possible he's been held back by lousy coaching and horrendous quarterback play.
Best Fits
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Cincinnati Bengals
- New Orleans Saints
- Denver Broncos
- Baltimore Ravens
The fit between the Jaguars and Moore is fantastic. They cut Evan Engram and Christian Kirk. They could use someone to play the slot in Liam Coen's offense. Moore also has the benefit of being a young player who could grow in Coen's offense with Trevor Lawrence. He can fill that Kirk role while having the potential to be a long-term fix.
It's not like Moore will be a stud, but could he be a quality role player? Considering his collegiate production, draft pedigree, and how unfortunate his NFL environments have been, it shouldn't be shocking if that happens.
The Bengals used to have Tyler Boyd to man their slot position with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The No. 3 receiver is Andrei Iosivas. Moore could be an upgrade on him, providing Joe Burrow with an easy target close to the line of scrimmage.
This same argument can be used with the Baltimore Ravens, who have Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman on the outside. They signed DeAndre Hopkins, but the potential for that signing to be a bust is high. He's also primarily an outside receiver, where they've generally used Flowers and Bateman.
The Saints and Broncos both could benefit from an added veteran presence in their receiver room. Both teams significantly depend on one player, either Courtland Sutton or Chris Olave. Moore could provide added depth and has a chance to become a regular target-earner in both locations.
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