Everything You Need to Know if Drafting this Weekend

The first of three big draft weekends ahead of the 2025 NFL season is here. If you are drafting this weekend, this article will give you the latest camp and injury news, recent ADP trends, and the high-level insights you need to dominate your drafts. The goal is simple: provide a clear, round-by-round roadmap of the best values and biggest traps so you can leave every draft with a roster you love. Whether it’s jumping a round early on a breakout candidate, fading a name brand with red flags, or scooping up rookies before your league mates even scroll down far enough to see them, this article will help you make the right calls when you are on the clock.

Before getting into the round-by-round ADP analysis, I want to explain what each column in the tables below means and how to use the information to your advantage. This season, Footballguys has partnered with the NFFC, which hosts several high-stakes contests, including a $350 entry contest that pays $250,000 to the first-place winner. As part of that partnership, I have real-time access to the results of their drafts, which has been tremendously valuable. The “Pick” column shows where each player is being drafted in these high-stakes drafts over the past seven days. This is not ADP from mock drafts, from months-old drafts, or from free leagues that people may have barely prepared for. This is real ADP from drafts where managers invested significant resources and preparation time.

This NFFC ADP serves as a great baseline for where players should be selected in your drafts this weekend. I have added columns showing the ADP on Yahoo! and ESPN, with color coding for easy comparison. Red means the player is going earlier on Yahoo! and ESPN than in high-stakes leagues. Green means the player’s ADP is lower on Yahoo! and ESPN, highlighting potential values if you are drafting on those platforms. For example, Emeka Egbuka is going 61st overall in high-stakes drafts over the past week, but has an ADP of 137 on Yahoo! and 120 on ESPN. While he may not fall that far in your drafts, you could still land him at a discount if your league mates are not up to date on the latest trends and news.

I have included player notes and highlighted my favorite targets in each round. While I generally avoid self-promotion, I would like to highlight the effort that goes into these recommendations. I spend a great deal of time researching the latest news and training camp reports, and I constantly update my rankings and draft strategy at this time of year. Last season, I finished second out of 2,000 teams in the Footballguys Bowl, third out of more than 10,000 teams in the Footballguys Subscribers Contest, and first out of more than 160,000 teams in the Drafters Best Ball Championship while drafting from the same rankings I share at Footballguys. My goal is to help you achieve similar success in your drafts this weekend. Let's dive in!

• The ADPs for players going 1.02 through 1.06 are close, and the order seems to vary in every draft. You can make a strong case for any of this group as the 1.02 pick, so get your guy.

• Christian McCaffrey belongs in that top tier as long as you are not too concerned about his past health issues. He is now fully healthy, which makes me very comfortable taking him at 1.07.

• From 1.08 to about 2.08, we should value all of these players very similarly. Ignore ADP to some extent and just get your guy in the late 1st. One reason it may make sense to “reach” slightly for a player projected to go at the top of the 2nd round with your late first-round pick is that there are legitimate questions about each of the players going off the board from 1.08 to 1.12. Malik Nabers has been missing a lot of practices. Concern levels seem low, but most were saying the same thing about Christian McCaffrey and Puka Nacua at this time last offseason. De'Von Achane and Ashton Jeanty both face major offensive line questions. Brian Thomas Jr. and Amon-Ra St. Brown feel like high-floor picks, but if the training camp hype on teammates Travis Hunter and Jameson Williams is accurate, they may not dominate targets as much as expected a few months ago. I am comfortable with Drake London as my top target late in the first round.

• Drake London leads the list of players going in the second round (and even late 2nd round on Yahoo! and ESPN) who you should strongly consider in the late 1st round. He is an easy pick in the second round if you believe in Michael Penix Jr. While Penix may throw some interceptions, I feel confident he will aggressively target London and has the talent and gunslinger mentality to help London reach the next level.

• Chase Brown may be my favorite player in drafts this year, and his third-round ADP on Yahoo! and ESPN makes him my favorite target in the second round. High-stakes drafters have been aggressively targeting Brown over the past week, and it would not be a surprise to see him enter the Top 15 of high-stakes ADP soon. Eighty-plus catches should be the expectation if he stays healthy this season, which gives him a tremendously high floor in PPR leagues. The ceiling is matched by few other options given his touchdown potential in one of the league's highest-scoring offenses.

• With the possible exception of Garrett Wilson, who may struggle if Justin Fields does not perform well, the second round looks loaded. Every player currently going off the board in the second round has a relatively high floor and plenty of upside. Draft any of these Top 23 with confidence this weekend.

• The third round of drafts is tough this year. In my tiered rankings, there is a noticeable drop-off after the top 23 players, with no significant difference between those selected in the late 20s and those taken off the board in the 5th round. The bad news is that it may feel like you aren't getting a sure-fire difference maker in the 3rd round. The good news is that you can largely disregard ADP in this case. If you are worried about Tyreek Hill and the Miami offense in general, don't feel like you have to take him just because of ADP. There are plenty of other strong WRs and RBs available in this range.

• While I typically like to wait a bit at tight end and quarterback, targeting one of those positions in Round 3 might be the best move this year, given the legitimate questions surrounding many of the Round 3 WRs and RBs. George Kittle and Joe Burrow are Round 3 guys on ESPN and Yahoo!, and I don't see any problem with that. Trey McBride stands out as my favorite target in this round.

• Note how much later Omarion Hampton and Tetairoa McMillan are going on ESPN and Yahoo!. The high-stakes drafters know how much upside the top rookies have and are willing to roll the dice on them early. You should be, too. While I’m personally not as high on McMillan as the high-stakes drafters, his 7th-round ADP on the two most popular draft sites is egregiously low. Hampton is a medium-risk, potentially high-reward option in Round 3. He is a virtual lock to lead the Chargers' backfield, and the only real question is how much he will have to share touches with Najee Harris or another backup. We also do not yet know if Hampton is an exceptional talent. If he's not, you still should end up with a solid, high-volume RB2. If he is special, the sky is the limit. The risk versus reward proposition makes sense somewhere in Round 3 or early Round 4. 

• Every year, there are a few rookies who immediately pass the eye test with flying colors. Last year, Malik Nabers was an obvious star from Day 1 of preseason camp. TreVeyon Henderson passes the eye test in a similar way this year — he looks like he is moving at a different speed out there. He belongs in the 4th round of all formats. You may be able to steal him even later if you are drafting on Yahoo! or ESPN and your league mates are hesitant to deviate too far from ADP.

• In my drafts, I’ve been willing to reach slightly in the 4th round for any of the four players who are going off the board at the top of the 5th round in recent high-stakes drafts. I love all four this season. Alvin Kamara may not have the flashy upside of Henderson at this stage of his career, but if he can stay healthy and doesn't lose a step, he has always been an elite talent and should see a ton of volume as both a runner and receiver.

• Both high-stakes and best ball drafters have been much more aggressive in targeting Calvin Ridley, George Pickens, and Jameson Williams than ESPN and Yahoo! drafters. If you're drafting this weekend, follow the high-stakes crowd and make these players priority targets in Round 5.

• Calvin Ridley has been having a monster training camp and should dominate targets in Tennessee. With Cam Ward at quarterback instead of Will Levis, that could lead to a major fantasy impact. 

• Jameson Williams has been similarly dominant in Lions camp. While he has more competition for targets than Ridley, he should still be a top option in one of the league's best offenses. The gap between Amon-Ra St. Brown and Williams seems to have closed substantially in terms of who the alpha is in this offense.