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2025 Round 1 Review (Fantasy)

January 7, 2026

12 team, PPR

ADP from Fantasypros

1.01 Ja’Marr Chase, WR1, Bengals

While we knew that Chase more than likely wouldn’t reproduce his triple crown season from a year ago, we could at least count him to perform when he’s playing right? Sort of. From a per game standpoint, he was right up there with 19.6 which was good enough for third amongst all wideouts, but it just didn’t feel like he had that impact we’ve grown used to seeing from him. A majority of that per game bump came from his incredible playoff run, but many teams who took Chase may not have cared as they were already eliminated. Once Joe Burrow went down, Browning was incapable of getting it done, and we didn’t really feel good about things until Flacco landed in Cincy. Chase will be drafted high again next year because the ceiling is the best player of fantasy football and his defense is amongst the worst in the league which equates to more shoot outs.

1.02 Bijan Robinson, RB1, Falcons

Bijan feels like one of the safest players you can draft in fantasy. His year over year production continues to improve despite the team around him remaining in constant turmoil. He’s occasionally shut down, or at least contained on the ground, and is capable of getting his points through the air. With the passing game a mess, Penix checked it down quite a bit which is where Bijan was able to record additional damage. Robinson finished 4th in all of fantasy on a per game basis with 21.8 and if the Falcons can improve this offseason, he may be able to post another career high in year 4.

1.03 Saquon Barkley, RB2, Eagles

Perhaps our first miss, certainly at 1.03. You’re hoping for a player that doesn’t completely bomb, and I suppose Barkley didn’t do that, but it just didn’t feel like you got the high value player you were hoping for. He still managed 4.1 YPC by season’s end, but that’s down quite a bit from 5.8 in 2024. If you took Saquon but missed on another few picks over the next few rounds, it unfortunately made a lot of teams not very competitive by Halloween.

1.04 Jahmyr Gibbs, RB3, Lions

Detroit made the plan to hand the backfield to Gibbs and he performed mostly successfully. It’s strange because while he still had his blow up games, there were a handful of games where his production fell off a cliff. Most notably in the playoffs. His three playoff game YPC was 2.9, 0.3 and 2.4. Awful. Fortunately, during that 0.3 week, he went off through the air and still managed a big day. A few things were off this season. For one, David Montgomery was completely phased out and teams quickly realized that all the Lions wanted to do was force feed Gibbs. Many carries were just pounding up the middle for nothing until a huge one broke for a score. While that happened more times than not, there were some weeks you weren’t totally sure it would happen. He’ll still be well worth a high pick next year, but there will be a few other players I’m interested in before selecting Gibbs.

1.05 Justin Jefferson, WR2, Vikings

I doubted him last year but still drafted him going into the season with Darnold. He still balled out and we’d later discover that Sam Darnold was actually legit. However, we finally found a QB room that un-quarterback-proofed Jettas in 2025. A combination of JJ McCarthy, Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer never allowed for the offense to get going and the Vikings stayed in neutral for much of the season. To his credit, he still achieved another 1,000 yard season. Great, for real life football, pretty underwhelming for your first rounder pick.

1.06 CeeDee Lamb, WR3, Cowboys

Oh, CeeDee.. It seems like there is always something wrong in Dallas. It’s a Dak injury, or a Lamb injury, or BOTH! This season seemed to have a little bit of everything with the nice surprise of Dallas being completely out of the playoff race by the time the fantasy post-season rolled out. This resulted in a checked out Lamb. Despite 17 targets during the semis and championship week. Lamb couldn’t cross 100 yards and laid back to back duds. He, of course, he missed 4 weeks with an ankle sprain. By the time he came back, Pickens was clearly the WR1 of the team. He would finish with 14.3 ppg which is the second lowest of his six year career.

1.07 Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR4, Lions

ARSB is as steady as they get with some gigantic weeks sprinkled in and, in my opinion, he’s surpassed Lamb in the fantasy world. I don’t care what you think of Jared Goff. One way or another, he finds a way to get his receivers the ball. St. Brown sustained an ankle injury on Thanksgiving and bounced back the very next week with 6 grabs and 92 yards. He’s as safe as they come but I would be he still won’t move up in ADP next season, making him a fantastic value in the second half of the first round.

1.08 Malik Nabers, WR5, Giants

I’m curious what the injury discount on Nabers will be in 2026. He was so clearly the WR1 of his draft class (Don’t @ me, MHJ truthers), and just as he shed Russell Wilson as his QB and got a real shot with Dart.. he tears his ACL. As of early January, it’s unsure if he’ll be ready for week 1 of the season as he’s still reportedly relying on crutches. However, if the Summer hits, and we start seeing videos of Nabers and Dart together, he’s going to shoot up draft boards. His 2025 was obviously very disappointing, but we can’t rip on him for a season ending injury.

1.09 Ashton Jeanty, RB4, Raiders

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the first round excluding Nabers. Ashton Jeanty was anointed the Messiah and he was anything but that. He had a quarterback that led the league in interceptions most of the time and a line that wasn’t even out of their stance yet by the time the opposing defense got by them. Jeanty, as a talent, looked positively fantastic in moments. Everything we thought he’d be would shine through on trucks, long receptions and beautifully timed jukes. Unfortunately, his team could never let him find a rhythm or game scripts would quickly favor a passing game instead. The Raiders will undergo even more change with a new coaching staff in 2026.

1.10 Christian McCaffrey, RB5, 49ers

If you got him at the 1.10, congrats on winning your league! I understand if you passed on him considering the achilles information that popped up yet again in training camp. However, once he confirmed he was good to go, the 49ers rode him every single week. CMC would finish as the RB1 and the top position player in all of fantasy. He was positively unstoppable with a per game average of 24.5. If you played against him? He’d probably outscore a third to half of your lineup. 2026 drafters will want to be aware of the workload. The last time CMC reached 400 touches, the following year he only played in three games. 

1.11 Derrick Henry, RB6, Ravens

Another big year for Henry. No one is surprised but most people didn’t have the apples to take him higher than this. He seems inevitable at this point. We keep doubting the age and he just keeps producing as a top back. Henry finished with 5.2 ypc, 16 touchdowns and nearly 1,600 yards on the ground. That was either while missing the team’s starting QB or playing with an injured version of Lamar Jackson. Baltimore still did that thing where they’ll watch Henry run guys over, then inexplicably bench him for a quarter, but he still managed to find his numbers each and every week.

1.12 Nico Collins, WR6, Texans

I think this is the last time we push Collins up draft boards. The offense was a mess, whether it was CJ Stroud or Davis Mills. There were still a handful of great games mixed in there but your first round pick gave you much more stress than a feeling of security for most weeks while taking a step back in ppg. The last pick of the first round is fine for 2025, I suppose, but I’d imagine players like JSN, Puka and even a rookie will surpass him in ADP next season. Collins feels more like a mid to late second.

Keith, Author

Keith runs youth flag football leagues by day, and by night he hosts the podcast and writes articles with the confidence of a man who’s been rushing quarterbacks since dial-up. A longtime flag football DE and lifelong Falcons fan, he’s no stranger to heartbreak and enjoys watching the bears get slaughtered each week. Equal parts coach, critic, and chaos, Keith calls it like he sees it… even if it hurts.