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Discover the top four Fantasy Football risers for 2025 drafts. Player outlooks for next season: Jayden Daniels, Bucky Irving, Brian Thomas Jr. and Chase Brown.
Welcome to the NFL offseason, RotoBallers! NFL players and coaches are perhaps enjoying some well-deserved time off; however, for us RotoBallers, there is no such thing as time off! As NFL owners and coaches prepare for the combine and offseason acquisitions, we RotoBallers get in the lab and look to provide our readers with the content they need to know as we look forward to the fall.
If there's one thing consistent in the fantasy football world, it is that every season has sleepers who splash onto the scene to become league winners and busts that disappoint us and leave a sour taste in our mouths toward rostering that specific player in the future. When determining a player's trends, we must analyze opportunities, volume, and offseason moves and how they affect their situation and overall ceiling.
This article will discuss players trending up in 2025 who fantasy managers should be looking to target in their 2025 drafts. As they say, objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear.
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Jayden Daniels, QB, Washington Commanders
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2024 despite a handful of other rookies putting together a nice season. He completed 69 percent of his pass attempts for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Where Daniels paid off for fantasy managers was on the ground, where he added 891 rushing yards and six touchdowns. At season's end, Daniels finished as QB5 for the year.
What impressed fantasy managers and NFL fans the most about Daniels in 2024 was his composure when the lights were the brightest. Daniels led the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game, defeating the No. 1 seed, the Detroit Lions, in the Divisional Round and the NFC South winners, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in the Wild Card round.
The Commanders' magical run eventually ended as they lost to the soon-to-be Super Bowl winners, the Philadelphia Eagles, in the NFC Championship Game.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? JAYDEN DANIELS WITH THE MOMENT OF HIS ROOKIE YEAR pic.twitter.com/pCReyxaAjq
— trey wingo (@wingoz) December 22, 2024
Daniels has the talent and work ethic to continue leading the Commanders to be competitive in 2025 and beyond and could get MVP votes at some point in his career, likely sooner rather than later.
Hopefully, the Commanders will look to acquire additional playmakers to surround their young superstar. The Commanders certainly have other areas of their team to address, specifically on the defensive side of the ball, but they could use another receiver to pair up with Terry McLaurin.
Most way-too-early fantasy football rankings have Daniels ranked right behind players like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Jalen Hurts. RotoBaller rankings currently have him as QB4 in our latest 2025 quarterback rankings. Fantasy managers should look to target Daniels in 2025 drafts.
Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
What a season Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving had in 2024. The rookie out of Oregon splashed onto the scene throughout the year and even produced flex production early on when he was splitting the work with backfield mate Rachaad White.
Irving eventually became the primary back as the season progressed, and once he got the opportunity, he never looked back. Irving finished the season rushing for 1,122 yards and had eight touchdowns. He also contributed through the air, adding 47 receptions and 392 receiving yards.
From Week 10 and beyond, in half-PPR leagues, Irving scored 10-plus fantasy points in every game he was healthy. And he scored 20-plus points in three of those games.
Irving turned out to be one of the top sleepers of the 2024 season. All while dealing with a few injuries along the way. Irving's ability to contribute through the ground and the air makes his ceiling much higher, and he should be on fantasy managers' radar for 2025.
Bucky Irving running angry 😡
📺: #TBvsNO on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/P4ONdSld9K— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024
Entering the 2025 season, it's safe to assume that the Buccaneers will continue to feature Irving as the primary back while giving some of the workload to White.
Even with White involved, Irving is so effective with his carries (5.1 YPA). As long as he continues to get his 15-20 touches, he will consistently be a top-15 running back every week in 2025. Currently, RotoBaller ranks Irving as RB8 heading into the 2025 season.
Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars rookie phenom Brian Thomas Jr. torched secondaries all season long. His unique skill set with speed, physicality, catch radius, and work ethic all came to fruition for him in the 2024 season.
Thomas set rookie franchise marks in catches (87), receiving yards (1,282), and touchdowns (10) to earn Pro Bowl and All-AFC honors. In addition, the Jaguars hired Liam Coen as their new head coach, which should only benefit BTJ's ceiling heading into the 2025 season.
Coen's work with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense was outstanding, helping players like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and even Jalen McMillan all produce great numbers.
The most impressive thing about the rookie out of LSU was that most of his production came with Mac Jones under center after Trevor Lawrence dealt with multiple injuries throughout the season. BTJ finished as the WR4 in half-PPR leagues and can confidently be started as a WR1 in all fantasy leagues this fall.
Brian Thomas Jr topped out at 22.15 MPH on this 85-Yard TD, the 2nd fastest ball-carrier of the 2024 #NFL season.
pic.twitter.com/UAEPMO6FKj— Daniel Griffis (@DanDGriffis) February 7, 2025
The Jaguars struck gold with this draft pick and look for Coen to make BTJ the focal point in the offense next year. In addition, there is not much competition for targets in this offense and it seems likely that the Jaguars will cut Christian Kirk this offseason. Currently, RotoBaller ranks BTJ as WR8 heading into the 2025 season.
Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown had a phenomenal 2024 season. Brown was a key contributor to helping turn the 2024 Bengals into one of the best offenses in the NFL last year.
Coming into the season, there was some hype around Brown; however, the Bengals signed Zack Moss in the offseason, raising questions about whether Brown would get a full workload.
Early in the season, Brown was the more efficient runner, and as the season progressed, he saw his snap percentage increase weekly. By the time Week 9 came around, Brown saw 80 percent or more of the snaps and helped many fantasy managers win big matchups down the stretch.
Brown finished the season averaging 14.3 fantasy PPG, rushed for 990 yards, and added 54 receptions and 360 yards through the air. In addition, Brown had 11 all-purpose touchdowns and finished the season as RB12 in 2024. His ability to contribute through the ground and the air raised his ceiling and made him a weekly top-15 running back.
Fantasy managers will want to keep an eye out to see if the Bengals add any other running backs in the offseason or through the draft, but Brown has proved he can be a workhorse back and is rising the ranks for the 2025 season.
Chase Brown bounces off tacklers for 27!
📺: #CINvsLAC on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/WX65ZsMKYI— NFL (@NFL) November 18, 2024
Brown is currently listed as RB6 in RotoBaller's recent 2025 rankings. Fantasy managers looking for a versatile running back should target Brown in 2025 drafts.
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