Two key offseason events shake up the fantasy football world. The first is free agency, and the second is the NFL Draft, which wrapped up Saturday. With new players threatening the playing time and productivity of established veterans across several teams, let’s examine the fantasy football winners and losers from the 2025 NFL Draft.
Fantasy Football Winners
Isiah Pacheco, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
It sure looked like 2024 was going to be a career year for Isiah Pacheco. He firmly established himself as the Chiefs’ RB1 and was averaging 16 fantasy points per game over the first two weeks of the season. Then, he broke his leg.
After returning from injured reserve in Week 13, Pacheco wasn’t the same. The Chiefs gave him a chance to reclaim the lead back role, but he wasn’t able to do it. Ultimately, they leaned more on Kareem Hunt and Samaje Perine in obvious passing situations.
Most likely, the injury is to blame. Pacheco wasn’t fully healthy. But that doesn’t erase the poor performance we saw. Plus, as much as Pacheco has proven himself, players can’t fully shake their Day 3/UDFA status. He’ll always be a former seventh-round pick.
The Chiefs brought back Hunt and signed Elijah Mitchell. But the real fear was they’d spend a Day 2 pick on a running back. That didn’t happen. The Chiefs didn’t draft one at all. That’s a huge vote of confidence in Pacheco. It’s still early, but there’s a real chance he ends up undervalued in 2025 fantasy drafts.
Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Perhaps the biggest winner from the draft is Chase Brown. In 2024, the plan was never for the Bengals to give Brown all the work he could handle. A midseason injury to Zack Moss, combined with a lack of viable alternatives, forced their hand.
Prevailing wisdom suggests that won’t be the plan for this season, either. But after the draft, the Bengals didn’t select a running back until taking Tahj Brooks in the sixth round.
Brown only has fifth-round draft capital, but he more than proved himself last season. And he still has higher draft capital than the newest member of the backfield.
From Week 9 through the end of the season, Brown played at least 80% of the snaps in every game. The Bengals’ lack of investment at running back has me believing Brown might be a three-down back once again. At the very least, he’s cemented himself as a top-12 option.
Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB, New York Giants
Before the draft, I flagged Tyrone Tracy Jr. as someone at serious risk of getting leapfrogged. Given the depth of this running back class, the Giants could’ve drafted someone in the third round who posed a serious threat to Tracy’s RB1 role. Instead, they took Cam Skattebo in the fourth round.
It’s worth noting that Skattebo does have higher draft capital than Tracy, who was a late fifth-rounder. But Skattebo doesn’t project as a lead back at the NFL level. He’s got great size at 219 pounds, but he’s pretty slow, with his 4.71-second 40-yard dash putting his speed score in the 24th percentile.
Skattebo could threaten to steal some goal-line work from Tracy. However, Tracy’s receiving role is completely safe, and that’s the most important part of his fantasy profile. In all likelihood, Skattebo will play more of a fullback-type role, handling 6-8 carries a game, mostly in short-yardage situations.
Given how badly the draft could have gone for Tracy, this is about as soft of a blow as he could’ve hoped for.
D’Andre Swift, RB, Chicago Bears
At several points during the pre-draft process, the Bears were the betting favorites to land Ashton Jeanty. That would have destroyed any dynasty value D’Andre Swift still had.
Even if Jeanty didn’t make it to Chicago, the Bears were rumored to be targeting TreVeyon Henderson. Either way, they were expected to draft a running back early.
They did draft one — but not until the seventh round, selecting Kyle Monangai. Swift’s dynasty managers couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.
Although the Bears added two more offensive weapons, crowding things a bit more, Swift stands tall in the backfield as the clear main guy. If the offense improves under Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams takes a step forward in his second season, Swift could be a huge beneficiary.
Fantasy Football Losers
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots
Last year, Rhamondre Stevenson signed a four-year, $36 million contract. The Patriots seemingly committed to him as their RB1 of the future. One year later, they spent a second-round pick on TreVeyon Henderson.
There’s no way to paint this as anything but a massive negative.
The last time Josh McDaniels coached Rhamondre Stevenson, he played just a 34% overall snap share
Ran fewer routes than both Damien Harris and Brandon Bolden
And received just six carries inside the 5-yard line all season.@FantasyPtsData pic.twitter.com/twCIS70LeD
— Ryan Heath (@RyanJ_Heath) April 26, 2025
While I don’t expect Stevenson to lose goal-line work to the 202-pound rookie, he can kiss his receiving volume goodbye. As a reminder, Stevenson’s career-best 14.7 fantasy points per game in 2022 were primarily a result of an outlier in receiving volume. Stevenson saw a 17.3% target share and caught 69 passes. Last year, his target share dropped under 10%, and he’s caught just two more balls total over the last two years combined.
Stevenson isn’t suddenly irrelevant. He’ll still have a role and be worth drafting in fantasy. But he won’t be the first running back drafted from his team, and the bulk of his value now hinges on the upside he carries if Henderson gets hurt.
Najee Harris, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Honestly, I’m not sure Najee Harris even qualifies as a “loser.” He signed a one-year deal with the Chargers after the Steelers let him walk. That didn’t exactly scream, “This is our guy.”
Still, there was a chance the Chargers wouldn’t draft a running back until the third or fourth round. They could have also gone after a prototypical satellite back. Instead, they took Omarion Hampton, the consensus RB2 in this class, and a guy built to handle all three downs.
Hampton is the perfect size at 6’0″, 221 pounds. He ran an impressive 4.46-second 40-yard dash, giving him a 94th percentile speed score. Harris may very well open the season as the starter, but it’s only a matter of time before he’s backing up the talented rookie.
Jerome Ford, RB, Cleveland Browns
For the better part of the past decade, the Browns had Nick Chubb as their RB1. They loved their downhill power runner. But with injuries catching up to him and his age becoming a factor, Chubb’s time in Cleveland is over. It always would’ve been a surprise if they rolled with Jerome Ford as their running back of the future.
Ford falling behind a rookie was expected. It’s not like he was a highly valued asset. At 6’0″, 220 pounds, Quinshon Judkins has the size to be a feature back, and his 4.48-second 40-yard dash puts his speed score in the 92nd percentile. Judkins is clearly the guy.
What makes Ford a massive loser from this draft is that the Browns weren’t done. In addition to spending a second-round pick on Judkins, they used a fourth-rounder on Dylan Sampson.
While Sampson isn’t necessarily an exciting player, neither is Ford. Sampson could easily overtake Ford as the RB2, stripping away Ford’s handcuff value and rendering him irrelevant for fantasy purposes.
Christian Kirk, WR, Houston Texans
When the Texans traded for Christian Kirk, I was pretty bullish on his fantasy outlook. That’s not to say I expected him to be anything spectacular. Certainly not a league-winner. But a viable WR3 for a WR4 price? That was absolutely in the cards and something I was planning to push ahead with this season. Well, that’s all out the window now.
Kirk still should be viewed as the favorite to be the Texans’ WR2 behind Nico Collins, but the competition ramped up significantly.
The Texans not only spent an early second-rounder on Jayden Higgins — they traded up to get him. Then they drafted Jaylin Noel in the fourth round. Part of the reason was that wide receiver became a major issue last year after the team lost Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell for the season. It was basically just Nico Collins left as a reliable option. Understandably, they want depth, especially with Dell not playing football this year.
But it’s not just about depth. Higgins and Noel both have legitimate WR2 upside. Meanwhile, Kirk cost the Texans a seventh-round pick to acquire. They’ve invested more in both rookies than they have in Kirk, who is now entering the final year of his four-year, $72 million deal that birthed the phrase, “Christian Kirk money.”
I still view Kirk as a talented player who has been undervalued for most of his career. But he no longer has a clear path to being C.J. Stroud’s second option in the passing game. Even if Kirk holds onto the WR2 role, both Higgins and Noel are going to be involved, and their targets aren’t coming from Collins. The outlook on Kirk has dropped considerably.