Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Draft Busts: Overvalued WR2s to Avoid in 2025

Andrew Ball's fantasy football No. 2 wide receivers to avoid in 2025 drafts. His overvalued WR2s and draft avoids, featuring Xavier Legette and more.

It's one of the most common talking points in sports media: Who do you go to when you need a big play?

On the football field, it's the top wide receiver, and those are the guys fantasy managers love to target early in drafts. But there's a handful of No. 2 receivers (Tee Higgins, Davante Adams, and Jameson Williams) who trump other teams' WR1.

This article is not about those guys. Below are WR2s on their respective teams who fantasy managers should avoid in drafts this year.

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Cooper Kupp, WR, Seattle Seahawks

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, a former first-round pick who broke out in his second year and enters the all-important third season, has question marks in the new Seattle offense.

JSN finished 12th among wide receivers in targets (137) and seventh in receptions (100). The WR9 finish was built on volume. In nearly every other scenario, Smith-Njigba would be a surefire pick in the top two rounds. And he may be selected there, but it's far from a guarantee.

Head coach Mike Macdonald fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb after one season of calling plays. The Seahawks threw at the fifth-highest rate in 2024. Macdonald wants more from the ground game in 2025, hiring Klint Kubiak. He's shied away from three-receiver sets, and WR target rates have been below average.

Opportunities may be limited for JSN with Sam Darnold and the offensive coordinator in town, but he'll still be the clear WR1 in the Pacific Northwest.

And here's where we finally get to talking about Cooper Kupp. All of the arguments against JSN apply to Kupp, but to an even greater degree as the second fiddle.

Plus, there are lingering concerns about his durability. Kupp missed 18 games in the three seasons since he won the receiving triple crown. And he was unplayable at the end of the 2024 season, logging four catches on nine targets in three games (including one goose egg).

#Rams WR Cooper Kupp, who left Sunday’s game early with an ankle injury, is expected miss an extended period of time and could land on Injured Reserve, coach Sean McVay said. Another star out for LA. pic.twitter.com/mxKRN8hBnF

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 16, 2024

Los Angeles brass decided it was done with the 32-year-old and replaced him with ... another 32-year-old. The switch from Kupp to Davante Adams wasn't a youth movement; it was based on talent.

So, Kupp joins a Seattle roster that should run the football more and rely less on wide receivers, and he has a lengthy injury history and age concerns. Pass.

Marvin Mims Jr., WR, Denver Broncos

A second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Marvin Mims Jr. has only been a part-time player through two professional seasons. Sure, he's a two-time Pro Bowler (as a returner), but the offensive productivity hasn't matched his draft capital.

Mims averaged 38% of the snaps in his rookie season. That number decreased in Year 2 (27%). It's hard to score fantasy points when you're on the sidelines.

In Mims' best game (8-103-2 against Cincinnati in Week 17), he still played fewer than 50% of the offensive snaps. The 46% was his season-high, matched in the prior week (3-62).

Mims can score anytime he's on the field. A 3.1 touchdown per route rate is how he managed to even be on the fantasy football radar and finish as the second-best fantasy-scoring wide receiver on Denver's roster.

And the roster is a big reason why it's hard to envision a more involved Mims in 2025. Courtland Sutton is locked in as the one and will be on the field for 85% of the snaps. Then, it's a mess. Devaughn Vele had his moments as a rookie and picked up some accolades in OTAs. Fellow second-year receiver Troy Franklin will get some run. Rookie third-round pick Pat Bryant has drawn comparisons to Michael Thomas from head coach Sean Payton. Add newly acquired tight end Evan Engram to the mix, and there's a lot of target competition.

ESPN listed WR Pat Bryant as Denver's "biggest surprise player" heading into the 2025 season

A lot of positive buzz and momentum for the rookie wide receiver heading into training camp 🔥#BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/uxj53hAJ09

— SleeperBroncos (@SleeperBroncos) June 30, 2025

Is Mims a great best ball selection? Absolutely. But the playing time will be too inconsistent to commit to in redraft.

Xavier Legette, WR, Carolina Panthers

Carolina's front office realized, at the end of a disastrous rookie season for Bryce Young, that he needed some elite talent at wide receiver. So, it spent a first-round selection on Xavier Legette in 2024, and then double-tapped in 2025 with Tetairoa McMillan.

Bryce Young forming that connection with Tetairoa McMillan early 🔥

This duo is going to be scary

(via @Panthers)pic.twitter.com/VcuN7w6RL5

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) May 27, 2025

And the reason the second chance was needed is that Legette wasn't that good in Year 1. Legette's 49 receptions (51st among WRs) on 84 targets (46th) for 497 yards (71st) and four touchdowns (49th) added up to the WR60 in PPR formats.

Diontae Johnson played his game for Carolina in Week 7. Adam Thielen was sidelined with an injury. In that time frame, he was marginally more productive than the undrafted Jalen Coker. Then, when Coker was also out, he failed to take advantage of the absences and averaged 8.3 PPR points. Once Thielen returned, he was the best of the bunch.

Not once did Legette reach double-digit PPR points without a touchdown. The former Gamecock struggled to get open and won his route just 31.6% of the time.

There's a case to be made that Legette isn't even the second receiver on the Carolina offense. McMillan will start as the X receiver. Thielen may be the WR2 by production, although a chunk of his snaps is projected to come out of the slot.

The bigger point is that Legette is part of a crowded wide receiver room on a team that ran more than it passed in neutral situations, and is projected to be in the bottom third in plays this season.

The Carolina offense has two draft-worthy players: Chuba Hubbard and McMillan.

Josh Reynolds, WR, New York Jets

Josh Reynolds -- the man who caught 13 passes in nine games a year ago -- is reportedly the favorite to start opposite Garrett Wilson for the New York Jets this fall. That helps his previously nonexistent fantasy football stock, right?

Other rosters that lack a strong WR2 across the league have a second option elsewhere. The Cardinals field one of the best tight ends in football, Trey McBride. It's the same story for Las Vegas, where quarterbacks can pepper Brock Bowers. Pittsburgh has two above-average tight ends, Jonnu Smith and Pat Freiermuth.

The rosters that truly lack pass-catching talent and depth are New York, New England, and Tennessee. The Titans at least have veteran Tyler Lockett and a group of rookies with upside. DeMario Douglas and Hunter Henry each caught 66 balls for the Patriots last season, and the team added Stefon Diggs and third-round rookie Kyle Williams.

So, that brings us to the worst wide receiver depth chart in the league. Somebody has to play, and Reynolds had fantasy-relevant moments throughout his time in Los Angeles and Detroit. If he's on the field all the time, isn't that a better late-round pick than a part-time player?

Josh Reynolds career:

18 drops on 411 targets with a 6.7% drop rate

Allen Lazard career:

30 drops on 380 targets for an 11.1% drop rate

The battle for WR2 is a big one for the @nyjets. Given his more reliable hands and ability to block, I'd give Reynolds the edge. pic.twitter.com/tYtntjqFEF

— Glenn Naughton (@JNRadio_Glenn) June 12, 2025

In theory, sure, that could be a fruitful strategy. But not in New York.

The biggest concern with Wilson this season is whether or not quarterback Justin Fields can throw well enough to support a WR1. In his 3.5 seasons as a starter, we've witnessed the fall of the once-promising Darnell Mooney (who has since reinvigorated himself in Atlanta) and a WR42 start (through six weeks) for George Pickens in Pittsburgh.

The lone success story is DJ Moore in 2023. He was the WR6 with 1,364 receiving yards. The aforementioned Mooney was the WR2 with 414 yards, less than a third of Moore's total.

That's because 2,562 passing yards is Fields' career high. When there are only 197 yards per game to distribute among wide receivers, we're, at best, relying on one for fantasy football.

Don't let the starting title fool you: The Texas A&M alum doesn't need to be drafted in regular-sized redraft leagues. There are numerous WR3s, even some WR4s, worth selecting instead.

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