Fantasy Football: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, George Pickens among best draft picks from Rounds 1-10 in 2025

Whether you’re coming fresh off a win (or a loss) in the fantasy championship, or had been out of the running for weeks, this is an underrated time of year for learning fantasy lessons. What went right? What went wrong? And, to some degree, why?

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To that end, I’ve put together an analytical look at the best and worst picks from fantasy drafts back in the summer, round-by-round, based on their Yahoo average draft position and 2025 points per game through Week 17.

Here are the biggest hits of the year in Rounds 1-10, plus five bonus picks in the late rounds!

Round 1: Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers

ADP: 8.5, RB4

PPG finish: RB1

Plenty of fantasy managers passed on Christian McCaffrey early in the first round of drafts for one simple reason: injury concerns. However, those who read my All-Renaissance Team article in early August got a different perspective. The one focusing on McCaffrey’s proven resiliency, rather than his flukey injury history, and his one-of-one upside when healthy.

Spoiler alert, McCaffrey stayed healthy all season and was as good as ever, leading all running backs with 22.31 points per game and racking up 17 touchdowns and 2,069 total yards with 96 receptions through the fantasy season. He was unfathomably consistent, scoring 15+ points in 14 games — an RB mark that’s only ever been topped by Emmitt Smith in 1995 (15 games) — and slipping down to single digits just once. CMC would have been a great pick at No. 1 overall — at an ADP of 8.5, he’s easily the best pick in the round.

Round 2: Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts

ADP: 18.7, RB8

PPG finish: RB2

This was an incredibly close duel between Jonathan Taylor and Puka Nacua, as both were drafted in the middle of the second round and finished in the top two at their position. And yes, Nacua did finish at the top of his position in points per game (19.30), while Taylor trailed McCaffrey to finish as the RB2 in PPG. But Taylor also slightly outscored Nacua head-to-head in PPG, and he played every game (while Nacua missed one), so I gave the edge to the Colts running back at the slightly shallower position.

Ultimately, Taylor finished the fantasy season with 1,559 rushing yards and a league-high 18 rushing TDs, along with 365 yards and two scores receiving. He only dipped into single-digits twice all year and logged a whopping five games with 30+ points (and one with 48.1), the most by any player at any position in 2025. And while it doesn’t necessarily matter for these purposes, Taylor also did all this on a team that lost its quarterback and its mooring midseason. Nevertheless, he soldiered through to earn this title as best pick in Round 2.

Round 3: Trey McBride, TE, Arizona Cardinals

ADP: 26.9, TE2

PPG finish: TE1

Trey McBride wasn’t just the No. 1 tight end in fantasy this season. He was the TE1 by roughly 2.50 points per game — with 15.18 on the year — and would have slotted in as the WR7 or the RB8 as well. He broke the single-season tight end receptions record on Sunday, in 16 games, passing Zach Ertz’s 116 and climbing to 119 by the end of Week 17. Most importantly, after struggling to find the end zone through his first few seasons — with just six TDs over three years — McBride scored 11 times in the 2025 fantasy season, tied (with Dallas Goedert, who made the bonus picks below) for most at the position.

An elite tight end is a game-changer in fantasy, and McBride epitomized that advantage all year long. So much so that he narrowly beat out Josh Allen for the top pick of Round 3, despite Allen’s own position-topping season. For context, McBride outscored the TE12 (Tyler Warren) by more than six points per game, while Allen outscored the QB12 (Jared Goff) by 5.18.

Round 4: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seattle Seahawks

ADP: 34.1, WR13

PPG finish: WR2

This was a tough one, as James Cook III made a great case for this honor with 17.76 fantasy points per game and an RB6 finish. You could honestly go either way here, but I’m giving it to Jaxon Smith-Njigba primarily on the merits of his WR2 finish (and Cook having more single-digit days and a worse outing in championship week). Only Nacua averaged more than JSN among wide receivers, and Nacua missed two games, while JSN played the entire fantasy season.

Smith-Njigba scored double-digit fantasy points in all but one contest and 14+ points in 13 of 16 games. There were questions in the offseason about whether JSN could thrive as the WR1, with DK Metcalf gone to Pittsburgh … and he proceeded to lead the league with an absurd 37% of his team’s receptions and 44.2% of his team’s receiving yards. He’ll be a locked-and-loaded WR1 in 2026 drafts … maybe even No. 1 overall.

Round 5: Davante Adams, WR, Los Angeles Rams

ADP: 43.8, WR19

PPG finish: WR8

Despite an unfortunate, injury-marred end to the fantasy season, Davante Adams was the best pick in the fifth round. He was a red-zone menace, racking up 14 touchdowns through the first 13 weeks of the year, including four games with multiple scores (and one with three). From Weeks 7-13, in the heart of the fantasy season, Adams caught a monstrous 11 touchdowns … no one else in the league had more than five over that span.

Ultimately, Adams ended up as the WR8 in points per game despite being drafted as the WR19, at least partially out of August concerns over Matthew Stafford’s back injury (see below). It was quite a renaissance year after Adams had scored just eight touchdowns in each of the prior two seasons and was excellent evidence of the volatile nature of TDs in fantasy football.

Round 6: George Pickens, WR, Dallas Cowboys

ADP: 56.1, WR22

PPG finish: WR6

One game into the 2025 season, it looked like George Pickens might be a bust in his new home of Dallas (logging just three catches for 30 yards). He then went on to post double-digit fantasy points in 11 straight games and finish as the WR6 in points per game on the year. The end of the season was a little spottier — Pickens scored single digits in three of his last four outings — but he was the WR3 in points per game through Week 13, helping position fantasy managers for the playoff run.

As a huge Dak Prescott-truther through the offseason, I wish I was further in on Pickens, but the lesson here is pretty clear. Exceptional quarterback, exceptional offense, exceptional talent and a terrible defense to boot — all together formed a recipe for an excellent WR2 in Dallas and WR1 in fantasy.

Round 7: D’Andre Swift, RB, Chicago Bears

ADP: 68.2, RB25

PPG finish: RB14

Another big hit from my offseason content, D’Andre Swift was my pick as the 2025 version of 2024 RB surprise Chuba Hubbard. Hubbard finished that season as the RB12 in points per game after winning a running back competition in a breakout offense … and Swift ended up as the RB14 as the head of Ben Johnson’s new committee for the breakout Bears offense. 

Swift put up a third straight season of 1,200+ scrimmage yards — the prior two should have been a clue to his potential this year — and he scored 10 touchdowns in 15 games during the fantasy season. He also hit 20+ fantasy points in three of the last five games of the year, including 22.10 in the quarterfinals and 20.90 in the championship. Tetairoa McMillan and Courtland Sutton were both in the running here, as both had strong WR2 seasons, but Swift outscored both in points per game at an arguably shallower position, so he takes home the hardware.

Round 8: Chris Olave, WR, New Orleans Saints

ADP: 81.1, WR34

PPG finish: WR9

Given his run through the fantasy playoffs, Chris Olave may be in the running for value pick of the entire draft, let alone Round 8. He was the WR9 in points per game on the season, but the WR4 from Week 6 on and the WR2 through the fantasy playoffs (behind only Nacua). Olave scored 17.5, 31.8 and 21.9 fantasy points in Weeks 15-17 and hit double digits in nine of his last 11 games in total.

This was comfortably Olave’s best season as a pro, and was especially impressive considering he was coming off a concussion-riddled 2024 and played with Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough at quarterback. Considering he single-handedly won managers their semifinals, and came through again in the championship, Olave is likely one of the most rostered players on 2025 title teams.

Round 9: Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys

ADP: 81.7, QB10

PPG finish: QB7

In tandem with his WR2 Pickens (see above) and his RB1 and kicker (see below), Dak Prescott was excellent all season, averaging the seventh-most PPG among quarterbacks and scoring the fifth-most in total while playing every single game. He led the NFL with 4,482 passing yards and threw 30 touchdowns through the fantasy season. And he scored 20+ points 10 times — no QB had more 20-point games on the year.

In a more lucrative round, Prescott might not have cracked this article, as he was technically a QB1 drafted as a QB1. But the next-best options were Tucker Kraft (who only played half the season) and Emeka Egbuka (who was only good for half the season). Prescott remained a strong starter the vast majority of the year, including 19.16 points in the semifinals and 22.68 in the ‘ship. He takes the edge in a middling round.

Round 10: Brandon Aubrey, K, Dallas Cowboys

ADP: 100.4, K1

PPG finish: K2

If it’s not obvious from Brandon Aubrey’s selection here in Round 10, this was not a great area in drafts. The only other legitimate contenders were Stefon Diggs and maybe Jakobi Meyers … who finished as the WR29 and WR43 in points per game. And while Aubrey didn’t quite finish as the No. 1 kicker — Jason Myers and Ka’imi Fairbairn narrowly outproduced him — he was extremely consistent and effective, and was particularly good down stretch, with 14.72 points per game over the last five weeks.

Bonus picks — the greatest values of all!

Some of the best values of this year's drafts didn't make the cut for this article because they were selected outside of the top-10 rounds. Among them:

Travis Etienne Jr., RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

ADP: 104.6, RB36

PPG finish: RB10

Travis Etienne Jr. is probably the frontrunner for Best Pick of 2025 after finishing as the RB10 in points per game on the season and RB8 after the Jaguars’ Week 8 bye. He scored 14+ fantasy points in seven of the last nine games (and three of the first four) and was an incredibly reliable fringe RB1 despite his ADP in the double-digit rounds.

Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots

ADP: 105.8, QB14

PPG finish: QB3

Along with his excellent case for NFL MVP, Drake Maye finished his second season with a strong case for fantasy MVP (at least at the quarterback position). He averaged 20.98 points per game, was extremely consistent week-to-week and finished the year with four straight games over 20 fantasy points and a league-winning 32.44 in the fantasy championship.

Dallas Goedert, TE, Philadelphia Eagles

ADP: 113.0, TE13

PPG finish: TE5

Dallas Goedert might be one of the more surprising names in this column, but he tied Trey McBride for most touchdowns among tight ends (11) and ultimately finished as the TE5 in points per game and the TE3 in total points (missing just one game). It may not have been all that flashy, but Goedert was one of just a few TEs worth playing the entire season, and he ended with an excellent four-TD playoff run as well.

Javonte Williams, RB, Dallas Cowboys

ADP: 123.6, RB45

PPG finish: RB13

Through the first half of the fantasy season, when Javonte Williams was a shocking RB8 in points per game, he was well on pace to be the pick of the year. A slight downturn in upside over the second half pulls him from that conversation, but he still finished with a mind-boggling 1,201 rushing yards and 13 total touchdowns from the same draft range as Nick Chubb and Bhayshul Tuten.

Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams

ADP: 123.8, QB24

PPG finish: QB5

The NFL MVP race between Maye and Matthew Stafford was a fascinating one, and the fantasy QB MVP race was also tight. Stafford was drafted nearly two rounds after Maye — largely out of fears over his health — and finished the fantasy season just 0.65 PPG behind him. He threw a league-high 42 touchdown passes, with just eight interceptions (even after throwing three in Week 17), and trailed only Prescott in yards (with 4,448).