Welcome to Week 1 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:
- The Players We Wish We Drafted
- The Players We Regret Drafting
- Listening to the Little Voice
- Bold Predictions
Let's roll.
Bold Predictions
Matt Waldman: Pick a player or an offense as the subject of your bold prediction for the 2025 season, and explain what bold call you're making. It should be something within the scope of possibility, but just outside the scope of probability.
For example, Caleb Williams throwing for 4,500 yards and 35 scores is an example of within the scope of probability. Caleb Williams supporting three 1,000-yard receivers and delivering close to 5,000 yards and 45 scores is just outside the scope of probability.
Gary Davenport: You and I have a slightly different definition of "probability," Matt. Can I use me winning $1.3 billion Wednesday?
Just did a whole column of these, although on the Waldman-meter I'm apparently more Sriracha than Da Bomb Beyond Insanity.
Waldman: That's why I label my bold predictions each year, Insanity Predictions.
Davenport: Fair enough, challenge accepted.
Waldman: Let's see what you've got.
Davenport: Christian McCaffrey will become the first running back to post two seasons with 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving on the way to an RB1 overall fantasy finish in PPR points by a wide margin.
Waldman: Let me chew on this for a minute. It has a sweet first bite and tricks you into thinking the flavors will be mild, but the finish has some serious heat as that bite ages.
Davenport: I’m not even sure how “bold” this really is after peeling off 10 of these earlier this week at Footballguys, but given that McCaffrey only played four games last year, I have decided to allow it.
Waldman: Look at you, Gary. Judge, jury, executioner, and future lottery winner. But are we looking at a McCaffrey story that has run it's course? Or, is he still starring in the return from injury with a vengeance flick?
Davenport: We have seen this movie before—back in 2019, McCaffrey carried the ball 287 yards for 1,387 yards and 15 scores, set an NFL record for receptions by a running back with 116 and became the third back in NFL history to top 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.
The 49ers wideout corps is in shambles. Brandon Aiyuk is still working his way back from a knee injury. Jauan Jennings aggravated his quad injury reading this. Ricky Pearsall is San Fran’s WR1 at the moment, and while veteran tight end George Kittle is healthy, he has missed multiple games in five of the last six seasons.
The time is absolutely coming where the 49ers are going to have lean hard on CMC—just as the Panthers did in 2019. That year, McCaffrey was the overall RB1 by over 150 PPR points.
Corey Spala: Rome Odunze will be a top-15 fantasy wide receiver.
Odunze has the necessary talent at the position, and he is a fluid route runner and contested-catch receiver in a 6'3" frame. I am optimistic the entire offense will take a step forward.
The quarterback and system will play a large role in achieving this. Early this summer, I was skeptical that Odunze’s target accuracy would improve given the routes he ran last season; Odunze had the second-worst catchable target rate of any receiver during the past three years.
Caleb Williams has struggled with accuracy, and that issue carried over into camp this year. New head coach Ben Johnson purposefully overwhelmed Williams to identify how to progress forward with the offense.
Johnson will be able to scheme to his quarterback's strengths. He had two top-24 wide receivers (WR3, WR22) in 2024 as Detroit's offensive coordinator and will be calling the plays for Chicago.
This will benefit Odunze. He is anticipated to build off his 2024 campaign, which resulted in 101 targets and ran 495 routes (14th most). He ran 144 routes on plays where there was no target on the play.
The new coaching staff and quarterback development pair well with Odunze’s talent. This should further assist with efficiency to increase production. Wide receivers with Odunze’s draft capital and talent have historically taken a second-year step forward in routes, expected points, and total production.
Meng Song: Patrick Mahomes II will throw for 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. Is this really all that bold?
We've seen Mahomes accomplish this twice already in his seven seasons as a starter. Last year was a disaster on offense with Marquise Brown lost for most of the season, Rashee Rice out for the year by Week 4, and constant shuffling of the offensive line.
That's all in the past. I wrote an entire spotlight article on why Mahomes will bounce back in a big way in 2025.
Waldman: Give us the notables.