Fantasy Football 2025 Rookie Rankings: Nos. 10-6

It’s time to get into the Top 10 rookies for this upcoming fantasy season, which is not the same as ranking dynasty rookies. The Top 10 – and today we’ll look at Nos. 10-6 – are how I believe they will impact fantasy teams in 2025 redraft formats. For the Honorable Mentions, click here. Otherwise, let’s get started.

10. Colston Loveland, TE, Bears (Round 1, No. 10 overall)

Loveland was the first TE selected in the draft, which was a mild surprise. Statistically, Loveland didn’t have the production of Penn State TE Tyler Warren, whom most predicted would be the first off the board at the position. Loveland is no slouch, however, and some of his lesser production can be chalked up to a Michigan offense that was intent on a ground and pound approach, and that lacked talent at QB. Despite some roadblocks in getting Loveland the rock, he had a fine junior season, amassing 56 receptions, 582 yards and five touchdowns. While he’s not a speed merchant, runs routes like a WR, except he does so with a 6’6, 248-lb. frame. He can be lined up as a slot WR, or he can play like a traditional TE and exploit defenses over the middle at all levels of the field, using his tremendous size to dominate contested catch scenarios.

A common NFL comparison for Loveland is Sam LaPorta, which is enticing when we consider that his head coach, Ben Johnson, was Detroit’s wildly successful offensive coordinator and the man who made LaPorta a star in Year 1. Loveland and LaPorta’s situations are not an apples to apples comparison; Loveland is coming into an offense with an established alpha WR (D.J. Moore), an extremely touted WR2 (Rome Odunze), and a second round WR this year (Luther Burden III). And all of these names need to be fed by a QB who threw for 208.6 yards per game as a rookie. Sure, he figures to get a lot better, but enough to feed a potential No. 4 option in his rookie season? There’s risk here, so while I see the blowup potential, I also would not just fire away with Loveland as a season-long option and not have a backup plan.

9. Kaleb Johnson, RB, Steelers (Round 3, No. 83 overall)

Johnson got his chance to head up the Iowa backfield as a junior in 2024 and he made the most of the opportunity. Johnson is a fast and powerful runner, who piled up over 1,500 rushing yards last season and more than 1,700 yards from scrimmage. He ended the campaign with 23 total touchdowns, showing that he was built for three-down work and had receiving chops. Johnson is part of a loaded RB class in 2025, and his film isn’t exactly the most dynamic. Johnson isn’t the type of runner to make defenders miss, nor is he going to dance in the backfield and turn losses into gains. What Johnson can do, though, is hit a hole with velocity, or make one cut and take off with tremendous speed. This makes him a home run hitter when a play is blocked well, and also a powerful ball carrier in short yardage situations.

Johnson’s arrival likely spells doom for Jaylen Warren being a bell cow, something I was lowkey hoping to see because I envisioned a very high ceiling for him. I believe we’ll see a similar split with Johnson and Warren that we did with Najee Harris and Warren, although now that Warren has seniority, he should have more than the 120 carries he got last season. It also remains to be seen how the Steelers handle their starting QB situation, but if they elect to not sign Aaron Rodgers or trade for Kirk Cousins, they’re staring down the barrel of a training camp battle between Mason Rudolph and rookie Will Howard. That will mean lots and lots of work for their RBs. Johnson is going to have a sizable standalone role on this team, and has the upside of bell cow work if Warren gets injured.

8. TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Patriots (Round 2, No. 38 overall)

Henderson, like Kaleb Johnson, has landed in an offense where he’s in a definite committee, but should have a very sizable role. Unlike Johnson, Henderson is probably set to have fewer opportunities than his veteran stablemate Rhamondre Stevenson. But Henderson is maybe the most explosive RB in this draft class and is the type of player who doesn’t need high volume to inflict major damage. His 1,016 yards were second on Ohio State to Quinshon Judkins, who logged 1,060 rushing yards on 50 more carries. Henderson averaged 7.1 yards per rush in 2024, and for his career was at 6.4 yards per attempt. Henderson was extremely efficient, adept at providing a change of pace from a bigger back (Judkins), and has shown real receiving ability that makes him especially attractive to the Patriots. Stevenson was once upon a time a fairly prolific receiver out of the backfield, but he’s fallen out of favor in that regard recently.

Henderson is not the biggest back you’ll find, but he’s not small either and he can handle a big workload. That’s important in New England, because Stevenson has been on thin ice for a while now due to fumbling issues. With Henderson in the wings, more fumbling issues will likely cost him his job. Lastly, as noted in his NFL.com draft profile, Henderson is considered the top pass-blocking back in this class, all but assuring him a passing downs role. Henderson is a stud of a prospect and he’d undoubtedly be in the Top 5 if not for a successful veteran RB ahead of him on the depth chart. Even still I expect him to make an impact immediately, and perhaps wrest the lead role at some point in 2025.

7. Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Panthers (Round 1, No. 8 overall)

McMillan’s draft position wasn’t a surprise, as he was the consensus top receiver in the class, but the Panthers being the team to select him turned heads. Carolina was viewed as a team with big needs on defense, and also had spent draft capital last year on Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker, the later of whom was a pleasant surprise as a rookie. Drafting McMillan signals a vote of confidence for QB Bryce Young, and this particular WR room afford T-Mac the opportunity to be the top target immediately.

There isn’t much to dislike about him. He’s a hulking outside receiver with major production in college. He caught 90 passes for 1,402 yards as a sophomore and followed it up with an 84-catch, 1,319 yard season as a junior with 18 touchdowns combined. He’s never had a collegiate campaign with fewer than eight touchdowns, and he has surpassed 15 yards per catch in all three of his seasons with Arizona. He can succeed at a high level vs. both man and zone coverage, he demolished press to the tune of a 73.1% win rate on nearly 20% of his routes, and he showed a varied route tree with above average success on everything except the nine route. The one knock on McMillan is a lack of elite speed, but that isn’t his game anyway. He won’t be punished too much for not burning defenders down the field when he can get open on the majority of his routes and vs. any type of coverage. Folks will look at him and assume he’s a contested catch monster who struggles to separate. Per Reception Perception T-Mac is a contested catch monster (80%), but he also is open quite often. The Panthers have some question marks. The WR room is a little crowded now, and Young hasn’t proven he’s capable of feeding everyone just yet. McMillan figures to be the focal point of their passing game, but that does not guarantee elite fantasy numbers. I’d view McMillan as having a WR3 floor with WR2 upside.

6. Travis Hunter, WR, Jaguars (Round 1, No. 2 overall)

Hunter can move way up or way down this list as training camp progresses, because at the time of this writing no one knows if he will even be a wide receiver for the Jags full time. The reason I have him this high despite that level of uncertainty is because his potential as a pass-catcher is undeniable. As the focal point of Colorado’s offense, Hunter caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns while adding an additional score as a rusher. Those numbers are superior on their face, but he accumulated them while also serving as Colorado’s top CB, and playing full time on defense. Hunter doesn’t have elite NFL size for a WR, and we aren’t sure of his timed speed – although on tape he looks plenty fast enough – but Reception Perception paints a picture of a player who has a chance to be special.

Hunter’s route tree was completely green, and he ranked in the 92nd percentile vs. man coverage, and the 97th percentile vs. zone and press. It’s fair to note that Colorado’s offense was not complicated, and he wasn’t tasked with a particularly complicated route tree owing to the fact his primary position was as a DB. But his most frequent routes were the slant and the curl and he posted 85.9% and 86.6% success rates on them, respectively. His next most run route was the nine, which he ran 14.1% of the time, and he succeeded at a 63.4% rate which is bonkers. He was at 100% success on screens, which is certainly going to be in the repertoire in Jacksonville even if he’s deployed in packages only so as not to overload him as he attempts to play two positions.

Were Hunter just a WR with success rates like this, he’d likely be the No. 1 rookie on the list. As it stands, he could be a CB with a handful of snaps in each game, and even if that were the case you could argue for him as an upside FLEX because he’s such a talented player. I’ll ask that I not be held to this ranking in particular, because I reserve the right to be much higher on him closer to Draft Day when there is more information on how he’ll be used by a brand new coaching staff led by Liam Cohen, one of the most promising young offensive minds in the NFL.