Welcome to the final week of the 2025 Footballguys Roundtable. Our intrepid panel of fantasy pundits discusses and debates four topics every week. We split the conversation into separate features.
This week's roundtable features these four topics:
- Week 18 Replacements
- Re-Ranking the 2025 Rookies
- Biggest NFL Draft Season Red Herrings
- Underrated 2026 NFL Draft Prospects
Let's roll...
Matt Waldman: What about the NFL Draft process gets the public, analysts, and teams off track about a rookie's true value?
Mike Kashuba: I feel like the old man yelling at a cloud in The Simpsons. The Combine is about thresholds, not just the stats. If a player runs a 4.3, that's fantastic! It's more important that they just run under whatever the threshold is for their position, so that it doesn't negatively impact their draft position.
Running backs need to run faster than a 4.6 to garner early draft capital, but that isn't the only deciding factor in whether they'll be useful for fantasy, just a good indicator. It's a blast to watch the best athletes in the world break records, jump high, and see how they move, but too many folks emphasize the positive outliers (a la Matthew Golden's 40 time).
Don't miss the forest for the trees during testing season; the tape doesn't lie, but Lucas Oil times sometimes do.
Waldman: Love it.
Jeff Bell: Quarterbacks are the lead actors for the draft television production. Over the past couple of seasons, we have seen the draft media whiff badly on Shedeur Sanders, Will Levis, and Malik Willis. Each had significant concerns, but the fever pitch around their stardom drowned out any negatives, ultimately silencing opposition.
There certainly was a time the desperation for quarterbacks forced every reasonable facsimile of a franchise model into the top half of the first round. The Jake Locker and Blaine Gabbert year comes to mind.
The general draft conversation gets so locked in on opinions that it seems incredulous. Remember, the refrain "Wrong Josh," when the idea that Josh Allen would be selected before Josh Rosen?
We usually hear after the fact that teams had players nowhere near where mock drafts had them placed. Teams have become more pragmatic about nailing blue-chip positional players early in the draft before taking a chance on a quarterback that does not check every box. Yet the public still ignores the concerns.
Matt Montgomery: Just because a player isn't a first or second day player, doesn't mean he cannot produce in fantasy football in year one. The NFL is loaded with players drafted on day three or even undrafted.
Whether it is Chimere Dike for the Tennessee Titans or Oronde Gadsden for the Los Angeles Chargers, some players enter the season with little to no hype that can make a difference in your season.
Don't chase only the season-long guys; there are players available in spots midseason who can contribute. Whether it is a circumstance change or an injury to a starter, these guys have opportunities to emerge quickly, and you never know who will take theirs and make the most of it.
Will Grant: I think a lot of people put too much emphasis on players who have significant NFL Combine numbers. While having great speed or vertical leap is essential, it often doesn't translate into NFL success.
Guys like Jalen Reagor and Trey Lance came out of the NFL Combine with top-shelf numbers that turned them into first-round draft picks. Yet you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who has targeted them in their fantasy draft for several years now.
Xavier Worthy has blazing speed, but out of 31 NFL appearances, he's never had a 100-yard receiving game. Isaac Guerendo was the fourth-ranked running back in the 2024 combine, and he hasn't seen the field at all this season. Having a great Combine can undoubtedly help your NFL draft status, but it doesn't mean much if you can't produce on the field.
Tipp Major: For me, it's the obsession with prototypes. If you aren't a "prototypical" 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterback and you're challenged in size, you're often pushed down the board.
We've seen this before. Just look at Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson. I believe evaluators place too much emphasis on measurements and strength/speed testing, and not nearly enough on a player's heart, competitiveness, and resilience. Those traits don't show up at the combine, but they often matter most when the lights are brightest.