The second 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. Let's dive in!
-
There isn't much to say about the first round right now—the ADPs make good sense. There's a small tier drop after pick 6 or 7 (depending on how you view the injury risk associated with Christian McCaffrey). Within that top tier, just get your guy. None of the top seven players is a reach at 1.02.
-
The back half of the first round has a similar dynamic. There's a clear tier from Malik Nabers at 1.08 through Chase Brown at 2.05. Within that range, take the players you feel most strongly about at the 1–2 turn. While drafting late in the first means you miss out on the very top guys, it also guarantees you the chance at a strong 1–2 punch.
-
When there's a big gap between where high-stakes drafters are selecting players and where they're going in home leagues, the high-stakes crowd isn't always right. In the cases of Drake London and Chase Brown, though, I think they are. It might feel like a "reach" to take London or Brown near the top of the second round, but it isn't. If you're drafting late in the second and one of them falls to you, you shouldn't hesitate to click the button.
-
A quick deeper dive on Chase Brown: Over the final eight games of 2025, he caught 38 passes (an 81-catch pace). Reports out of camp suggest he's been even more involved as a receiver. Bengals LB Logan Wilson put it this way: "Adding another monster to the fire. (Burrow)'s throwing it more to him this camp than he has in years past. And I think that's just a credit to how well he's worked on his receiving aspect of his game. He's a true receiving threat at all times, wherever he's at on the field."
-
As for where high-stakes drafters sometimes miss, we saw last year that Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry often went higher in home leagues than in best-ball or high-stakes leagues. In hindsight, home league drafters had the sharper take. This year, I think they're right again to be targeting Jonathan Taylor and Josh Jacobs in the middle of Round 2.
-
Personally, the third round of 2025 drafts has been the toughest to navigate. There doesn't seem to be much separation between this group of 12 players and the 12 going off the board in Round 5.
-
If there aren't any screaming values or obvious targets in this range (outside of Chase Brown falling in a home league), I lean toward playing it safe. Few options are safer than Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen. Yes, quarterback is deep, but locking in a weekly advantage at the position carries real value. Their dual-threat upside is more valuable in leagues that are only four points per passing touchdown and one point per 25 passing yards.
-
Beyond quarterback, Kyren Williams, Tee Higgins, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and James Cook look like relatively high-floor picks. I do have some concerns about their ultimate ceilings, but when there's no clear home-run swing in Round 3, sometimes the right call is just trying to hit a double.
_png)