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John breaks down the best and worst fantasy football landing spots for 2025 NFL Draft rookies. Which teams are the best for rookies for Dynasty and redraft fantasy football leagues?
The 2024 NFL season is officially over after the conclusion of the Super Bowl. For dynasty fantasy football managers and those who want to get an advantage in redraft leagues, though, the work is never truly over. There's always more work to do if you want to continually gain an edge over your league members.
The landing spot is a crucial factor in determining a rookie's success, both in their first season and onwards. We saw Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving have a monster first season, and the offense he was in propelled his production massively. Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey also benefitted from his team, as quarterback Justin Herbert is a great player to catch passes from.
So which landing spots are the best for players this season?
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Great WR Landing Spot No. 1: Washington Commanders
Wide receiver Terry McLaurin had a fantastic season in his first year with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels joining the team. The sixth-year pro racked up 82 catches on 117 targets for 1,096 yards and 13 touchdowns in the regular season. Despite his success, it was painfully obvious what one of Washington's biggest needs was.
Caleb Williams has THE WORST catchable target rate on deep throws since 2021 per @ScottBarrettDFB and @FantasyPtsData
Words cannot describe how grateful I am that Terry McLaurin got paired with Jayden Daniels
pic.twitter.com/bwqUqVdo6l— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) December 22, 2024
The Philadelphia Eagles gave us more evidence that a team with two great receivers has a much higher ceiling on offense than those who don't. The Commanders need a WR2 or WR1-A desperately. A 34-year-old Zach Ertz is not sufficient as the second-best pass-catching option if the offense wants to take another step next season.
Daniels was elite in his first season. He played mostly mistake-free football, standing tall in the pocket and dropping dimes to all spots on the field. WRs Olamide Zaccheaus and Dyami Brown wouldn't see playing time on most NFL rosters, though. Daniels didn't have much to work with outside of McLaurin.
3. Jayden Daniels 66 Yard completion to Terry McLaurin vs. Browns pic.twitter.com/C0UFYyFXe7
— Chris Cooper (@Call_Me_Coop1) February 2, 2025
No. 5 hasn't hit his ceiling yet. Any receiver drafted in the first few rounds will be set up for major success soon and will be an intriguing player to draft both in redraft and dynasty leagues.
Great WR Landing Spot No. 2: Los Angeles Chargers
Most of the same that was said about Daniels and the Commanders' situation could be repeated about the Chargers. Quarterback Justin Herbert is one of the NFL's best, but his lack of a true "X" receiver, someone who has the size and skill to play outside, was glaring.
Quentin Johnston in-game PFF grade:
🟧 51.2
pic.twitter.com/DtJNLjudgO— All-22 (@All22_PFF) November 26, 2024
Los Angeles' plan seems to have been drafting wide receiver Quentin Johnston to fill this role in the 2023 Draft. That plan failed. While rookie WR Ladd McConkey had a fantastic season, the saying goes that an offense is only as good as its second-string wideout. And there were no options other than the freshman.
Johnston and fellow WR Josh Palmer simply didn't play well or consistently, and trying to make tight end Will Dissly a viable second-best pass-catcher wasn't a great idea either. You can only get so far in the playoffs against a team with a good secondary if you only have one WR that can separate well.
JUSTIN HERBERT WITH A STRIKE TO LADD MCCONKEY FOR THE 40 YARD TD ⚡
(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/MgRhzRBoXm— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 28, 2024
LA is a fantastic spot for one of the draft's top receivers.
Great RB Landing Spot No. 1 - Denver Broncos
The absolute lack of a ground game outside of quarterback Bo Nix's scrambles left the Broncos offense crippled, and it collapsed completely in the blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs. It's extremely difficult to win in the NFL with such a poor RB room.
Kind of incredible how bad the Javonte Williams play has been despite Estime fumbling then going on IR twice, McLaughlin never seeing a large portion of the RB touch share, and Denver over performing vs expectation.
Got the nut runout but couldn't muster more than a singular…
— Tyler (@Emo__Cowboy) November 16, 2024
The team experimented with different combinations of backs, including Javonte Williams, Jaleel McLaughlin, and Audric Estime. Virtually none of them worked, and all three looked absolutely terrible on film. While many in the fantasy football community have summarized that it makes Denver a bad landing spot for a rookie back, the opposite is likely true.
There's no reason to give one RB a plurality of carries if he's not significantly better than the others in the room. That will likely change, as this year's running back class is absolutely stacked. Whichever runner the Broncos decide to draft will likely head into an ideal scenario for fantasy, mainly a workhorse role on a good offense behind a solid run-blocking offensive line.
It also seems that many have forgotten what Broncos head coach Sean Payton has been able to do for his team's run game. He engineered massive outputs from running backs Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. We know what he can do when he has a good tailback on his team, and now it's a matter of acquiring one.
Great RB Landing Spot No. 2 (Sort Of) - Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders suffered from a lack of running back talent just as the Broncos did last season. When the fantasy community got massively hyped about RB Sincere McCormick, you knew there was an issue. He had injury issues, but for most of the season, the backfield was some combination of Alexander Mattison (terrible runner) and Zamir White (even more terrible runner).
Zamir White this season:
• 4 Games played
• 152 Rushing Yards
• 3 Yards per carry
• 0 TouchdownsHORRIBLE 🙌😈🤩 pic.twitter.com/cNmS3JShWH
— NFL Hater Watch (@NFLhaterwatch) October 2, 2024
Watching the Raiders try to run the ball was one of the most miserable neutral-fan viewing experiences in professional sports this season. The failure to create explosive plays was apparent, and it's tough to get excited about watching something when you know that it's likely nothing will happen.
The Raiders will probably be looking for an RB that fits their team identity (tough, durable, strong, and relentless) in the draft, and there are quite a few that fit their description. Hopefully, they'll ignore the losing part of their identity that seems to be in their DNA at this point.
Omarion Hampton (#UNC RB) reminds me a lot of Josh Jacobs.
Doesn’t have elite breakaway speed, but is a no nonsense runner who is tough as hell to tackle.
I like the fit with the Chargers. Don’t mind having to watch some Drake Maye college film again either 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/8ajHTass54
— SCOUTD (@scoutdnfl) December 13, 2024
Former University of North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton, basically a blend of Josh Jacobs and Joe Mixon with a little bit more acceleration and top speed, fits the bill very well, but he's not the only back they could get. And if they spend a second-round pick on an RB, which is a likely potential occurrence, he could immediately be thrust into a huge role.
This is probably the right choice for a team that's somewhat fine along the offensive line. Another WR and a quarterback wouldn't hurt either. It likely wouldn't lead to the most efficient run game in the league, but other fantasy managers being pessimistic about the team's overall offense could help drive the rookie's price down in redraft and dynasty leagues, which helps.
Trash WR Landing Spot - Pittsburgh Steelers
Ever since former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger left the team, the Steelers have been a horrendous landing spot for wideouts. Their new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's preference for running the ball as much as possible and playing to the strengths of the defense doesn't help.
The quarterback situation also isn't great. While QB Russell Wilson had a fine season, the team's best WR, George Pickens, mostly feasted on high target volume and only caught three touchdowns. He also failed to eclipse 1,000 yards receiving. Another WR added to dilute the targets even more wouldn't be a good thing.
The Steelers are currently ranked 32nd in passing attempts.
They are 2nd in rushing attempts.
Do you like Arthur Smith's offense so far? pic.twitter.com/ej1E3Bno5P
— Fields Betta (@Gaige_returns) October 22, 2024
So against teams that they're not forced to play catch-up against, which ends up being quite a few every season, the situation is dire. Wilson had just one game with more than 25 completions in 2024, and it wasn't any better when Justin Fields was starting (in fact, it was worse).
There's zero reason to be excited about a rookie wideout if he goes to the Steelers.
Trash RB (And WR) Landing Spot - Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns look like they'll be running it back with quarterback Deshaun Watson (Achilles) in 2025. The results are already predictable. They'll be terrible because he is absolutely terrible at football now. Whatever ability he had before he switched teams is mostly gone. The injury won't help, either.
Browns QB Deshaun Watson throws a bad interception😬 pic.twitter.com/CXnmEX3WXW
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) September 10, 2023
It wasn't immediately obvious what made him play so terribly, but he's not about to get any better. If the play of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins this season is any indicator, Watson is about to get a whole lot worse. Achilles tears are very difficult to recover from, and often players are never the same in their careers, and definitely way under 100 percent in their first season back.
The Deshaun Watson era in Cleveland will go down as one the biggest disasters in the franchise’s history. We all knew it was bad, but some of this stuff is eye opening.
Sounds like Stefanski tried to set him up for success in his scheme, but Watson didn’t adapt.#DawgPound pic.twitter.com/50vUCx4KAJ
— Big Mike (@big_mike9169) January 15, 2025
On the running back side of things, the Browns' offensive line played awfully in 2024, and the team still has RB Nick Chubb. Despite his poor play after returning from a devastating knee injury in 2023, it's likely the team will at least try and see how much he has left in the tank. An RB being drafted here at best will be in a committee.
Run block and pass block composite ratings pic.twitter.com/JKR8xH99Wr
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) January 7, 2025
Cleveland was also terrible at run-blocking. The once-excellent OL has collapsed completely in recent years. Maybe they shouldn't have paid Watson so much money.
Trash QB Landing Spot - Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, they're not anywhere near addressing all the deficiencies on their roster. Their best wide receiver, Calvin Ridley, recently turned 30 years old. WR2 Nick Westbrook-Ikhine hasn't played consistently for any stretch of his career, other than a flukey touchdown streak. And the Treylon Burks experiment has failed.
The offensive line is also in a horrendous state, and that takes time to fix. If the Titans don't draft former Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart, and it's likely they won't, either Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders will likely get blasted behind this line all season.
Pass protection composite ratings.
Congrats to Bo Nix. Better luck next time Drake Maye. pic.twitter.com/xydOOHGFXI
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) January 7, 2025
Dart is the best QB at sensing blitzes and gaining yards in spite of them. The others aren't quite so good. It might be another ugly season for Tennessee if they can't fix their OL issues, and they won't have the luxury of spending a first-round pick on a good rookie lineman.
They do have quite a bit of cap space, though. If they're able to sign one or two good OL pieces, the situation could become not quite as dire. But they still may be two seasons away from fielding a good offensive roster.
Trash WR Landing Spot - Indianapolis Colts
Unless quarterback Anthony Richardson massively overhauls his game as a QB, we probably won't see this be a good landing spot for wideouts. They also have a backlog of WRs, as Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, Alec Pierce, and Adonai Mitchell will likely rotate with each other and take a ton of targets.
The Colts aren't seen as likely to draft a WR, but if they do, he could be buried on the depth chart, and his ceiling will likely be artificially capped by Richardson's lack of ability to complete even 50 percent of his passes. His downfield throws will also be sent Pierce's and Mitchell's ways more often than not.
Please, please don't draft Tre Harris, Colts. I'm begging you.
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