Updated WR Fantasy Football Projections for Drafts - Matthew Golden, Emeka Egbuka, Rashee Rice, Stefon Diggs, Ricky Pearsall, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze

August 20, 2025

Updated fantasy football WR projections for drafts and the 2025 season. Nick Mariano's fantasy football projections for wide receivers will help you win more.

It's an exciting time of year -- many are ramping up for their fantasy football drafts, or are about to dive in if they haven't yet. Nailing the right wide receivers is a potential league-winner, so be sure to follow our updated fantasy football wide receiver (WR) projections for 2025 including fantasy points projections for key WRs like Matthew Golden, Emeka Egbuka, Rashee Rice, Stefon Diggs, Ricky Pearsall, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze and more.

These freshly-updated WR fantasy football projections have been put together by our team's lead NFL forecaster Nick Mariano. As news continues to unfold in the preseason, these wide receiver projections will be updated up until kickoff in Week 1. You can use these WR projections for both season-long drafts and also DFS lineups. Along with these wide receiver projections for 2025, check out the most recent fantasy football injury news and updates for the preseason.

Make sure you also bookmark our fantasy football rankings portal to make winning lineup decisions. Our free mobile app is a must-have for player news - download it and configure your push notifications. We deliver all the top NFL news, injuries, and fantasy analysis 24x7 with our free push notification alerts... all for free!

Wide Receiver Fantasy Football News

• Rashee Rice Could be Facing 4-6 Game Suspension?
• A.J. Brown on Track to Play in Week 1
• Jalen McMillan Could be Out Through Week 9 Bye
• Justin Jefferson Returning to Practice
• Bucs Chris Godwin Likely to Start Season on PUP List
• Malik Nabers Dealing With Back Injury
• Texans Trade John Metchie III to Eagles
• Quentin Johnston Suffers Concussion in Preseason Loss
• Commanders Optimistic Terry McLaurin Deal Can Get Done Soon

Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Projections

Be sure to bookmark our PPR rankings, Half-PPR rankings, Standard rankings.

Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Outlooks

Rome Odunze - WR, Chicago Bears

After being drafted ninth overall by the Chicago Bears in 2024, expectations were quite high for wide receiver Rome Odunze. With fellow rookie Caleb Williams throwing him the ball, Odunze was able to post decent numbers in his first season. He hauled in 54 catches for 734 yards and three scores over 17 games. Inconsistent play by Williams, exacerbated by a horrendous offensive line, was not the ideal position for a rookie receiver, as Odunze ranked 2nd in unrealized air yards (917) with an atrocious catchable target rate of 64%. Consistent volume was also hard to come by, with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, and sometimes even Cole Kmet above Odunze in the pecking order.

Things are looking up for the second-year wideout with the Bears' moves this offseason. Allen became a free agent, and Chicago brought in offensive-minded Ben Johnson as the Bears' head coach. Johnson has already been very vocal about how impressed he is with the sophomore wideout. It's worth noting that the Bears just used their first two picks in the 2025 NFL draft to grab pass catchers. The Bears selected tight end Colston Loveland 10th overall and wide receiver Luther Burden III in the second round. However, that shouldn't detract too much from Odunze's opportunities this coming season. Burden III is primarily a slot receiver while Odunze aligns outside, and Loveland will share reps with Cole Kmet.

There are a lot of mouths to feed in this Chicago offense, but with what should be a drastically improved offensive line and another year to grow with Williams, Odunze is expected to take a big leap in his second season into the WR2 range as the clear No. 2 target in this offense. RotoBaller is on board with Odunze making the second-year leap and has the 23-year-old ranked as WR33 heading into upcoming fantasy drafts.

Ladd McConkey - WR, Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey just blew away expectations with 82 catches for 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie. His 73.2% catch rate ranked 16th among qualified wideouts, and his 14 yards per reception ranked 21st, so he wasn't simply leaning on easy, short routes.

McConkey was a clear favorite of Justin Herbert as the team needed someone to step up in the first year of Jim Harbaugh's LAC era. Moving forward, Quentin Johnston's inconsistency is a concern, and Mike Williams has injury concerns, with second-round pick Tre Harris ideally helping to draw attention away from McConkey.

The team still lacks a clear receiving threat at tight end, which helps McConkey's primary slot usage (72% last year) feast in the middle of the field. If his 22.9% target share creeps up and he sees more than six targets in the end zone (Johnston had seven), then there's room to grow past his top-24 ADP and RotoBaller rank.

Matthew Golden - WR, Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden was the first WR selected by the Green Bay Packers in over 20 years. He'll join an offense with a great head coach, Matt LaFleur, and a smattering of underwhelming pass-catchers. Still, it's hard to project what will happen with this offense. For one, the team adopted a massively run-heavy approach in 2024, especially toward the end of the season.

Green Bay ran the ball over 50% of the time, good for third-heaviest run scheme in the league, and the most for any team without a hypermobile quarterback. The Packers spread the ball around way too evenly for the likings of fantasy managers that had any of their pass-catchers on their rosters as well. From Weeks 12 through 17, Packers QB Jordan Love only completed an average of 16 passes per game.

And with running back Josh Jacobs, tight ends Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave, and WRs Dontayvion Wicks, Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, and Mecole Hardman on the roster, with Christian Watson likely to return from injury at some point, we could see another miserable committee. Golden's release package off the line of scrimmage also leaves a lot to be desired. You should probably avoid drafting him in fantasy football.

Jakobi Meyers - WR, Los Vegas Raiders

Jakobi Meyers' second season with the Raiders was an improvement from his first, even though he missed two games early on with an ankle injury. The former New England Patriot set career-highs in receptions (87), yards (1,027), and targets (129), all while playing second fiddle to superstar rookie tight end Brock Bowers. That he could perform so well on an offense led by Gardner Minshew, Aidan O'Connell, and Desmond Ridder is further testament to his underappreciated value on an NFL field.

With that said, the situation has improved drastically heading into 2025. Not only did the Raiders upgrade at quarterback with an accurate passer in Geno Smith, but they also drafted one of the most electric running back prospects in recent history with the No. 6 overall pick, Ashton Jeanty. Furthermore, the team added TCU wide receiver Jack Bech in the second round, and teammate Tre Tucker should continue improving in his third season.

Things are looking up for Meyers heading into this stint with Las Vegas, and he should continue to be a top-two option in the passing game alongside Bowers. He'll rank as RotoBaller's PPR WR41 and No. 86 overall player ahead of 2025.

Ricky Pearsall - WR, San Francisco 49ers

Ricky Pearsall's rookie season didn't start how anyone envisioned. After a hamstring issue popped up in training camp, delaying his development, the 24-year-old was the victim of a shooting, taking a bullet to the chest in an altercation in August. He'd recover and eventually make his way to the field, but it took him a bit to get going. Even with former teammate Deebo Samuel Sr.'s down season and Brandon Aiyuk (knee) missing the remainder of the year with an ACL injury after Week 7, the Florida product took some time to find his footing at the NFL level.

However, he ended the campaign with a bang, compiling 14 receptions, 210 yards, and two touchdowns across the final two weeks (18 targets). It's a different story in 2025, as Samuel Sr. is gone – shipped to Washington – and Aiyuk is still recovering from his knee injury. That firmly places Pearsall in the conversation of one of San Fran's top three pass-catchers alongside fellow wideout Jauan Jennings and tight end George Kittle. A healthy Christian McCaffrey will get his fair share of opportunities as a receiver.

Still, the second-year pro should get work in two-wide sets as long as Aiyuk is sidelined, and potentially even after if he shows out early. Pearsall will have a chance to succeed this season and could exceed expectations in an efficient 49ers offense, which can only stand to be a boon for him. He ranks as RotoBaller's PPR WR4, and sits just inside the top 100 overall at No. 92.

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