2025 Fantasy Football Rookies: Overvalued and Undervalued Prospects for Dynasty Leagues

February 28, 2025

Overvalued and undervalued 2025 fantasy football rookies for dynasty leagues: RJ Harvey, Brashard Smith, Bhayshul Tuten, Kaleb Johnson, and Tetairoa McMillan.

This year's rookies include a ton of underrated players, which I have covered in depth so far this season. In dynasty fantasy football, that's important -- if many first-round ADP players are overrated and a lot of the later-round guys are slept on, you can leverage this to make decisions like trading back for picks.

And that's exactly how it is. Despite this being a weak WR class, there are a ton of them ranked as first-round picks. Lean into the stacked position groups -- this year, the RB group is loaded with talent, especially at the "lower" end of the rankings.

So, let's dive into a few overrated and underrated players in 2025 dynasty fantasy football rookie drafts.

Tetairoa McMillan, WR - Overvalued

Somehow, even when the wideout class is weak and there are serious issues with his game that will not fly at the next level, Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is consistently being chosen as the second overall player in dynasty fantasy football rookie drafts.

Most people are practically married to consensus and couldn't imagine taking someone else with that pick, but there are holes in McMillan's skill set that will be heavily exploited by defenses at the next level. One of the biggest is a lack of consistency, but his route-running skills are also lacking in burst and explosiveness. And yes, he's 6-foot-5, but you can't just win by being tall.

A very good rep from Tetairoa McMillan and a pretty poor rep. Attacks the ball really well when he wants to but gets lazy at times. pic.twitter.com/0GX4F1CiIO

— Struck (@StruckNFL) February 18, 2025

It's too easy to watch the tape and give a player credit for beating poor defenses, but his routes are not sudden enough. Even on some of his "good" reps, he succeeds largely because of extremely poor play by the defense. Look at the defensive back to the top right of him on the screen on the above play. NFL DBs are far more explosive and quick.

📼TAPE TIME📼
WR Tetairoa McMillan
Arizona

❌THE BAD❌#scouting #NFLDraft #Arizona #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/RsOK2SC6vY

— Mike Poland (@kenfigkowboy) January 27, 2025

And some of his routes are just incredibly lazy. It's part that he lacks the burst out of his breaks and also partly an effort problem. A lack of effort is a massive red flag for the next level. There simply aren't many players who have become stars in the NFL who displayed poor effort on tape in college. Maybe there aren't any at all.

McMillan is often compared to Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London and Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans. These pro comparisons are massively disrespectful, as both London and Evans are far better than T-Mac and were also both significantly superior in college. They're very misleading as well.

Kaleb Johnson, RB - Overvalued

He's going very high because his production in college was excellent. But that's because his offensive line and the team's run-blocking schemes constantly opened up massive holes for him to run through. He's been praised heavily for his vision, but when the red sea parts and you get to run through green grass, it's not exactly that impressive.

This year's RB class is stacked, and the list of backs who are better athletes is as follows: Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, Dylan Sampson, Brashard Smith, RJ Harvey, Bhayshul Tuten, TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins, Devin Neal, and Ollie Gordon II. There's nothing about Johnson's game that makes him a special talent.

#Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson

Straight line speed/acceleration. pic.twitter.com/58araivVcX

— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) February 16, 2025

In nearly all of his highlights, you can see gaping holes in the defense that he gets to run through. The tackle-breaking is decent, though what's more notable is how awful the tackle attempts are to get him. He doesn't have good top speed, so he won't be hitting many home runs at the next level. And his ability to cut back simply isn't very good.

He has very little lateral agility compared to decent running backs in the NFL, which will be a serious problem. Only Derrick Henry runs guys over consistently, and Johnson isn't anywhere near his level. So, being able to make defenders miss when the blocking isn't elite (it probably won't be) and the tacklers aren't trash (they won't be) will be a problem.

There is a mountain of better RBs in this year's draft cycle than the overrated Johnson, who was extremely fortunate to be in the perfect situation in college. There are no perfect situations in the NFL and the competition is much stiffer. Don't waste a pick on him.

Bhayshul Tuten, RB - Undervalued

I've written so much about how Tuten is a potential league winner and a massively underrated prospect at this point. In many of my articles, I've pointed out that leaning into stacked classes at certain positions and selecting a lot of the players who are "lower tier" can pay off massively. In 2024, if you had selected Ladd McConkey and Brian Thomas Jr., you'd have been very well off.

The top three prospects in a position group are generally grouped into a tier naturally, even if the perceived skill differences between the third-ranked guy and those below him aren't very big. This is a recurring theme we see every season (roughly), and you should exploit it as much as possible. McConkey and Thomas weren't seen as elite picks to make. Too bad if you listened to the consensus.

BHAYSHUL TUTEN TAKES IT 83 YARDS 💨

The Hokies have broke it open early 😳 pic.twitter.com/WtEbrn7dGX

— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) October 18, 2024

It's extremely easy to see how he can at least be a spot starter with explosive upside in fantasy. He will be much more than that, but the above clip shows elite curvilinear acceleration and top speed. He's a legitimate home-run hitter with great tackle-breaking ability and lateral agility.

The depth of this class is hard to overstate. There are simply a slew of great prospects buried in the depths of unhelpful ranking systems. Tuten is one of them.

EDIT: Tuten lit up the NFL Combine. His stock will rise. He is now my RB1. 

RJ Harvey, RB and Brashard Smith, RB - Undervalued

UCF Knights running back RJ Harvey is another player I've written about a lot because he's a fantastic prospect and a very underrated player overall. And again, he's out of the top three, so he'll fall in drafts.

Without a doubt, if Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, and Kaleb Johnson (seriously, please do not draft Johnson) weren't in this class, Harvey would be getting much more attention and probably be thought of more highly.

It doesn't make much sense that great players are getting pushed down in ADP by the depth of the class. The existence of them doesn't make Harvey a worse player. What it does do is allow you to get an excellent and highly explosive RB for a lot cheaper.

I expect UCF’s RJ Harvey to be RB riser post Senior Bowl

✅ patient runner with anticipation
✅ great changes direction
✅ slippery + elusive
✅ reliable hands + YAC upside

Could be a steal in rounds 3/4 of rookie drafts

pic.twitter.com/xTiD9yvZxF

— Matt Hicks (@TheFF_Educator) January 2, 2025

Harvey is a complete back with an elite receiving upside. Speaking of that, SMU Broncos RB Brashard Smith converted from a WR to an RB and also has excellent pass-catching ability. He's smaller than Harvey but also has fantastic change-of-direction ability, acceleration, and long speed.

Other than the size difference, they're very similar prospects. They're also both hugely underrated. Smith more so because of his size, but neither went to big schools. That's always part of it. The fantasy community regularly underrates players because of the logos on their helmets, though they're selective about it since Jeanty is the consensus RB1. It doesn't make much sense.

Brashard Smith Folks 📈🔥 #NFLDraft2025 #TheDraftStartsInMOBILE pic.twitter.com/BlZ3O5gDme

— NFL Draft (@NFLDraftOG) January 29, 2025

You need to draft them both in all of your redraft leagues for sure, but in dynasty, it's worth trading away your Round 1 pick and stacking up on second- and third-round selections. There are simply so many underrated backs.

EDIT: Harvey had an excellent combine performance. He should rise up draft boards. 

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