Fantasy Football Wide Receivers With Overall WR1 Upside for 2025

August 31, 2025

Kevin's upside fantasy football wide receivers, breakouts and elite WRs who can finish as the overall WR1 in 2025. His top picks include Puka Nacua, Brian Thomas Jr., Justin Jefferson, more.

Preseason games are over and it’s time to get our drafts completed and ready for the NFL season that starts in just a few short days. It sure feels like forever since the last shreds of confetti hit the field as the Philadelphia Eagles hoisted the Lombardi Trophy -- and before that, Ja’Marr Chase running away with fantasy football overall WR1 after a monster 2024 season.

It takes a special wide receiver to grab the WR1 mantle in a season -- like Chase last season, CeeDee Lamb in 2023, Justin Jefferson in 2022, and how could we get the best fantasy football wide receiver season of all time, Cooper Kupp in 2021? Curiously, there have been no repeat overall WR1 season since the mercurial Antonio Brown was overall WR1 four seasons in a row from 2014 to 2017.

So, which wide receivers in 2025 have overall WR1 upside? Spoiler alert: they’re all going to go in the first round in your fantasy drafts, though there may be one that sneaks into the second round. There won’t be many surprises here, but these are the cream of the crop when it comes to fantasy receivers. Let’s dive in and take a look at a quintet of fantasy wide receivers that have the upside to finish as the overall WR1 this season In fantasy football.

CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys

For the entire offseason, CeeDee Lamb has been the consensus WR3 until the last month or so -- when he started to consistently flip Justin Jefferson as the WR2 behind WR1 and last season’s overall WR1 in fantasy football, Ja’Marr Chase. More drafters are gaining confidence in Lamb this season and remember, Lamb has been overall WR1 before, earning that distinction in 2023 after a 403.2-point season that saw him average a robust 23.7 fantasy points per game. That 2023 season from Lamb was the second-best fantasy season put up in the last 19 seasons; behind Cooper Kupp’s mammoth 2021 season.

CeeDee Lamb feels excellent to draft this season, knowing you’ll be locking up a minimum 160 targets in what could be a very condensed Cowboys passing game in 2025. Lamb will be playing in the slot in three-receiver sets and then playing the Z-receiver spot in two-wide sets, so this offense is going to be productive with Lamb, George Pickens, and tight end Jake Ferguson condensing targets in this Dallas passing game.

So CeeDee Lamb has already kinda surpassed Justin Jefferson in drafts, with the Cowboys now likely in more shootouts or trailing scripts, Lamb should cement as WR2 for the rest of draft szn.

Pickens should be drafted at the bottom of the top-20 WR group, alongside Harrison, JSN, Evans, and Wilson.

— Kevin Tompkins (@ktompkinsii.bsky.social) August 28, 2025 at 4:40 PM

In Dallas, we could see the target concentration shake out similar to the Philadelphia Eagles’ trio of receivers A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and tight end Dallas Goedert. Even better, there will be much more potential passing volume than you could ever hope for in Philadelphia. For an efficient passing game, Dak Prescott is as good an option as any as long as he’s healthy. With the Eagles’ trio, the top two receivers combine for a large percentage of the targets while the tight end Jake Ferguson is the clear third target.

Nico Collins, Houston Texans

The clear and unquestioned alpha wide receiver in Houston, Collins missed several games in the middle of the 2024 campaign with a hamstring injury. Still, Collins was massively efficiency on a per-target basis, following up a huge 3.10 yards per route run in 2024 with a robust 2.87 mark last season and 10.2 yards per target.

Collins has been massively efficient since his breakout 2023 season and he's the closest thing we have in the NFL to Julio Jones. Despite missing five games, Collins still squeaked out a 1,000-yard season under the gun with 1,006 yards in 12 games.  That was still good for WR8 in fantasy points per game and as a locked-in first round pick at wide receiver alongside names like Puka Nacua and Malik Nabers, Collins is finally getting his flowers among those in the fantasy community.

5. New Texans OC Nick Caley was the Rams' pass game coordinator when their play-action dropback rate jumped from 21.2% (28th) to 33.3% (3rd).

Nico Collins averaged nearly 5.00 YPRR on play-action dropbacks in 2024.

— Ryan Heath (@RyanJ_Heath) August 30, 2025

Sure, the Texans went out and grabbed a couple of rookie wide receivers with solid draft capital in Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. With Tank Dell likely out for the entire 2025 season, the Texans also went out and plucked a veteran slot receiver in Christian Kirk to help bridge the production gap with some of these rookies until they get their feet wet. Higgins is slated to start alongside Collins on the outside in Week 1, but make no mistake: Collins is the lead dog here among the pass-catchers.

We're hoping for a bounceback season from C.J. Stroud, but even if we get some kind of splitting the difference between Stroud's rookie season where he put up over 4,100 yards and tossed 23 touchdowns to just five interceptions and last season where his efficiency fell off with a 20:13 TD/INT ratio, we'll be in good shape. Collins will continue to carry the water for this offense and he may be relied on now more than ever with the running game in dire straits thanks to the injury to Joe Mixon and installing former Cleveland Browns running back and current octogenarian Nick Chubb as the probable Week 1 starter.

Collins' 2025 hinges on health and staying healthy for all 17 games, as an overall WR1 will have to do to put up that kind of season. But the near-historic efficiency of Collins over the last two seasons and massive opportunity available in the Texans' offense gives Collins a unique opportunity to parlay both circumstances into a potentially legendary overall WR1 season in 2025.

Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

Talent-wise, if I had to pick one wide receiver for Planet Earth, it would be Justin Jefferson. Sure, we’re splitting hairs here because you could name any wide receiver in the top seven at the position and make a compelling case for them. In 2024, Jefferson put up a third-straight season above 10.0 yards per target, kept up yet another strong target-earning season with Sam Darnold at quarterback with a 30% target share, and put up a ‘career low’ 2.50 yards per route run last season.

J.J. McCarthy installed as the starting quarterback is realty the only reason we’re taking Jefferson down a smidge in rankings, but can he finish as the overall WR1? Absolutely. He’s done it before in 2022! McCarthy’s stock affects the other non-Jefferson pass-catchers as well, but it’s still an offense we want to target. Despite some high-end targets in tight end T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison, Jefferson’s status as the go-to receiver is unchallenged.

We’re splitting hairs here with Jefferson, who will no doubt be McCarthy’s go-to receiver and turn in yet another season as one of the best fantasy wide receivers available. The reason we haven’t had a repeat overall WR1 in fantasy football is because we have such a strong group of receivers that all have the capability to pace the position. Jefferson is no different, and in a strong passing offense that will be given every opportunity to put up big numbers in 2025, Jefferson will deliver as he always does when healthy.

Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams

Puka Nacua is an easy pick here after the elite first rounders go. The first five picks (Bijan Robinson, Ja’Marr Chase, Jahmyr Gibbs, and CeeDee Lamb in some order) are the consensus top-five picks in whatever order, but Nacua and fellow wide receivers Malik Nabers and Nico Collins are typically drafted after him in the next tier of wide receivers in the first round and sometimes the second round. Nacua has a massive ceiling and has overall WR1 potential in a full 17-game season.

It wouldn’t even take a ceiling projection to get Nacua to overall WR1 as he can easily clear everybody else at the position when you look at the fact that he’s front and center in one of the best passing offenses led by Sean McVay. We know McVay can scheme anybody open, and with the addition of Davante Adams replacing long-time Ram Cooper Kupp, Nacua should continue to feast. He’s a target monster in this condensed Rams offense engineered by McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford.

We know the Rams are going to throw the ball quite a bit and that Sean McVay is an elite schemer and play caller, so we know that easy “lay-up targets” will be available for Nacua in this offense. With Adams bring added to pair alongside Nacua, Nacua won’t have to see any press coverage or play on the line of scrimmage; that’s not his game.

Highest first down per route run rate dating back to 2006 (minimum 250 routes run)

17.8% - Tyreek Hill (2023)
17.0% - Puka Nacua (2024)
16.5% - Wes Welker (2009)
15.7% - Davante Adams (2020)
15.6% - Steve Smith (2008) pic.twitter.com/mHTds7jrRl

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) July 26, 2025

The Rams have typically been an offense that condenses personnel so that their key players have run all but a handful of snaps and routes per game. There is very little room for WR4s, WR5s, TE2s, RB3s, etc. in this offense, so that’s why we love it for fantasy football. Through the years, Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and Tutu Atwell all have been on the field a ton and reaped the benefits of McVay’s scheming and condensed offense.

Nacua has been amazingly efficient with a 35-percent target share in games he finished, plus a league-leading 45-percent first-read target rate and mind-boggling 3.88 yards per route run. Honestly, saying he’s been amazingly efficient doesn’t feel like a strong enough statement. If Nacua can play a full season and the Rams can keep Stafford upright, this could be the season we get Nacua at the top of the position as overall WR1 in fantasy football.

Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars

An undervalued asset last season in fantasy drafts, Brian Thomas Jr. parlayed a sixth-round consensus ADP into 129 targets, 87 receptions, 1,282 yards, and finishing WR4. To say Thomas was a stud is an understatement, as he not only did it with Trevor Lawrence at quarterback, but Lawrence started 10 of 17 games and Mac Jones started the other seven.

While Thomas’ damage was clearly awesome, it was a tale of two seasons. Thomas didn’t get a starter’s share of snaps and routes until Week 9, Trevor Lawrence’s second-to-last start of the season. Despite the lack of consistent routes, Thomas was still WR11 with 14.4 fantasy points per game. Outside of 10 total pass attempts with Lawrence in Week 13, the rest of his dominance was with Jones. Jones kept up Thomas’ strong up as Thomas was WR7 in Week 10 through the end of the season, averaging 19.3 fantasy points per game and ending his 2024 campaign with six straight double-digit target games.

Brian Thomas Jr. accounted for 41% of receiving yards and 59% of receiving TDs when on the field as a 22 year old rookie.

Those rates both topped the best single-seasons for:

Randy Moss
Calvin Johnson
AB
Justin Jefferson
Davante Adams

Special player. Round 1 pick imo https://t.co/7XxehsnPFR

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) August 30, 2025

Thomas’ peripheral stats were incredibly strong across his entire season, with a 2.45 yards per route run (sixth-best in the NFL), an almost 25-percent targets per route run (18^th), 29 percent first-read target rate (11^th), and 9.9 yards per target. All of these are numbers right there with the most efficient and best target-earning wide receivers in the league today.

For 2025, expect Thomas to do more of the same with new head coach Liam Coen running the show as the Jaguars’ head coach. Coen traded multiple picks to move up to draft Travis Hunter second overall, and he’ll be an awesome pairing with Thomas that will stress defenses on the offensive side. In fact, with not a lot of target-earning or proven depth behind either Thomas or Hunter, it’s fair to say that the Jaguars’ target distribution could be incredibly condensed in the way that the Miami Dolphins have operated in recent seasons with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

If Thomas improves on his numbers in his second season as a pro, and the Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence take a huge leap on the offensive side of the ball under Coen’s direction, the sky is the limit for Thomas this season. Overall WR1 is in the cards for Thomas this season and he seems to get a bit lost in the shuffle amongst the second tier of wide receivers in the first and early-second round. Don’t make that mistake.

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