We are well into the summer. The weather has gotten hot and sticky. The kids have been out of school long enough that they are already bored. And while we’re still a ways out from the heart of fantasy draft season in redraft formats, best-ball drafters are already blasting away. Before you know it, drafts will be firing up in the annual extravaganza that is the Scott Fish Bowl.
This writer might have more to say in that latter regard a little later this week.
The point is this--it's time to start preparing in earnest for fantasy football drafts in 2025, whether it's coming in two months, two weeks or two days. And a big part of that preparation is valuing players--determining which players are going later in drafts than they should. Players to target. Potential values.
Of course, asking prices for fantasy players can, and will, fluctuate as we move through the summer. As we learn more from training camp and glean what we can from the preseason, guys who are being snatched up in Round 5 in early drafts will slide into Round 8 or Round 9. Conversely, players currently being drafted in Round 7 or Round 8 will surge several rounds up the board as fantasy managers realize (or talk themselves into) the fact that they are undervalued.
It's that second group we're going to focus on here. Using the early ADP data here at Footballguys, We're going to identify some players the fantasy community is sleeping on so far this summer--players that fantasy managers should target ASAP before those lazy blankety-blanks (Yep. It's only June and I'm already angry.) wake up and realize said players should be drafted significantly earlier.
QB Drake Maye, New England (ADP: QB16)
Drake Maye’s rookie season had its share of ups and downs, but fantasy managers appear to be paying more attention to the downs than the ups. Yes, Maye barely cleared 175 passing yards per game and threw just 15 touchdown passes. But he also quietly did more than a little damage with his legs, averaging 32.4 yards per game on the ground.
That rushing upside is just one of the reasons Maye is undervalued. The offense around Maye is markedly improved, whether it’s tackles Morgan Moses and Will Campbell up front or the addition of weapons like running back TreVeyon Henderson and veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Add in new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and it wouldn’t be at all shocking if Maye was one of this year’s surprise top-10 quarterbacks.
QB Bryce Young, Carolina (ADP: QB24)
Young’s ADP would appear to indicate that quite a few fantasy managers don’t realize that after he was benched by the Panthers and returned to the starting lineup in 2024, he was actually pretty good. As a matter of fact. From Week 12 on last year, Young was ninth in fantasy points among quarterbacks.
But nope, Young is still the same bum who was benched in favor of Andy Dalton last year. He certainly doesn’t have improved passing-game weapons after the team added first-round rookie Tetairoa McMillan. He also wasn’t tied for third among all quarterbacks with six rushing touchdowns in 2024. Is Young going to be a breakout star and top-five fantasy quarterback? Unlikely. But he could be a season-saver for fantasy teams that suffer an injury at quarterback and one of Superflex’s biggest bargains this year.
RB Chase Brown, Cincinnati (ADP: RB12)
Listen to me. Listen very closely—especially if you are a proponent of the Hero RB draft strategy. If Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown remains available in Round 3 of drafts as we move deeper into the summer, you should pounce on Brown like Elaine Benes on a muffin top.
What? That isn’t even that weird.
From Week 8 on last year, as Brown became a true three-down back for the Bengals, there wasn’t a single game where he failed to amass 10 PPR fantasy points. He was sixth in PPR points among running backs over that span. Cincy did jack squat in the offseason at running back, so Brown’s touches appear to be safe. And with Joe Cool slinging the ball around all game long, opponents can’t stack the box against the run.
RB Alvin Kamara, New Orleans (ADP: RB17)
There are things in life that confuse me. Roundabouts. Women. Basic math. But Alvin Kamara being drafted as a so-so RB2 ranks right up there with the giant heads on Easter Island among life’s great mysteries. Yes, the Saints are probably going to be terrible in 2025. But they were mostly terrible in 2024, too, and Kamara was ninth in PPR points and fifth in PPR points per game among running backs.
Kamara actually set a career high in rushing last year. He had his best season in terms of yards per carry since 2020. He caught 68 passes and had almost 1,500 total yards. But hey, why would you want that guy on your fantasy team? Especially with the plethora of offensive weapons in New Orleans who could siphon touches from Kamara.
Don't let the sucky Saints scare you. Embrace it. Hug the suck.
RB D'Andre Swift, Chicago (ADP: RB28)
This is one that I may live to regret—and I’m fully aware why. Despite a career-high in touches last year and top-20 PPR numbers among running backs, Swift averaged a career-low 3.8 yards per carry and broke seven tackles on 253 carries. By weight of comparison, Tyjae Spears of the Titans broke 13—on 83 carries. The quantity was there, but the quality was blah.
Here's the thing, though. Who else is really going to run the ball in Chicago? Even with Ben Johnson’s lone year as OC in Detroit resulting in just 147 total touches for Swift, I can’t get to a full-blown committee with Roschon Johnson. What happened in Detroit isn’t fated to happen in Chicago, and the Bears didn’t add any backs of note. This is Swift’s backfield—and that makes him undervalued.
WR Calvin Ridley, Tennessee (ADP: WR32)
In 2025, taking wide receivers early has become the "it" way to draft—all the cool kids are doing it. By the middle rounds, many teams have already assembled their starters at the position. After years and years of running backs ruling fantasy football, now the opposite has happened.
OK, that was forced. My apologies.
However, for old-school fantasy geezers who want to grab running backs early, there remain some potential values. Take Ridley, who is the clear No. 1 receiver in Tennessee and topped 1,000 yards last season despite positively abysmal quarterback play. Ridley beat this asking price by a fair margin last year with Captain Hellman's as his quarterback. If Cam Ward is even halfway decent, he could smash this ADP.
Hold the mayo.
WR Jerry Jeudy, Cleveland (ADP: WR34)
OK, I get it. Cleveland is the fourth circle of football hell. The place where careers go to die. It is a cold, black vortex of misery and despair from which neither hope nor joy can escape. And the Browns have somehow created a situation wherein the team has five quarterbacks without actually having any.
Side note--lifelong Browns fan. Yay.
But all this was true a year ago—and Jeudy still managed to parlay 145 targets into career-highs in both receptions (90) and receiving yards (1,229—sixth in the NFL) on the way to a WR16 finish in PPR points. If one of Cleveland’s young quarterbacks actually isn’t horrible this summer, fantasy managers are going to realize that Jeudy is grossly undervalued.
WR Jakobi Meyers, Las Vegas (ADP: WR42)
Meyers’ 2024 season is his career in a nutshell—the 28-year-old caught 87 passes, topped 1,000 receiving yards, and finished as a top-20 wide receiver in PPR leagues. His reward for those efforts? Meyers was chucked onto the fantasy scrap heap because Brock Bowers and some rookie Vegas overdrafted.
Thanks for all the help. Now get bent.
Change-up! (For the record, Friends is...fine. Seinfeld is maybe the best sitcom ever.)
No one (sober) is going to argue that Bowers is the Raiders’ best pass-catcher. But Meyers gets a sizable upgrade in quarterback in Geno Smith. A competent coaching staff in head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. No one knows that Jack Bech will be anything in the NFL, much less supplant Meyers as the Raiders' No. 1 receiver. Also, Meyers is playing mainly in the slot now—go ahead and look up where Seattle’s slot receiver finished in fantasy last year. I can wait.
TE Evan Engram, Denver (ADP: TE9)
Engram’s 2024 was a nightmare. But the Jaguars’ entire 2024 campaign was pretty much a nightmare, so whatever. As recently as two years ago, though, Engram caught 114 passes and had more PPR points than any tight end in the AFC. That’s right—Engram even had more points than that rando who is dating Taylor Swift.
She is so too good for that guy. Never trust athletes. Or guys named Trevor or Tracy or Travis or whatever.
The Broncos are paying Engram a nice chunk of change to be Sean Payton’s "Joker." It’s a role that (in theory) means that Engram will be moving around the formation a lot as the team attempts to scheme him touches. And that’s all fantasy managers really want—lots of touching at tight end.
What? It’s tough to keep from screaming at that position in 2025.
TE Jake Ferguson, Dallas (ADP: TE15)
Two years ago, Ferguson appeared an ascending talent at the position—he posted 71 catches for 761 yards and five touchdowns on 102 targets, averaged 10.4 PPR points per game, and finished ninth in fantasy points among tight ends. 2024 was a different story—Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott got hurt, Ferguson missed time himself, and stinky poo ensued.
It's a technical term.
Now, Prescott is healthy, Ferguson is too, and while the team traded for wide receiver George Pickens in the offseason, there’s still room for a nice target share for Ferguson this season. The Dallas backfield is a massive question mark, and it wouldn’t be all that surprising if the Cowboys are among the league leaders in pass attempts this season.
Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow Gary on X at @IDPGodfather.
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