Welcome to the Fantasy Points Brain Trust — your weekly destination for expert takes from some of the sharpest minds in fantasy football. Each week, our team of writers and content creators will tackle some of the biggest questions in the game — giving you actionable insights to dominate your 2025 drafts and win your fantasy leagues.
First up: Who is your must-draft rookie at ADP this season?
ADP Data from FFPC Big Gorilla $350 entry redraft leagues. All ADP Data courtesy of FantasyMojo.com, supporting every FFPC Format including Dynasty, Redraft, and Best Ball.
Fantasy Points Brain Trust: Must-Draft Rookies
TreVeyon Henderson, RB, New England Patriots
ADP: RB19, Round 5
Other than the best skill player in the draft in Ashton Jeanty, I don’t see any must-haves among the rookie crop, but I’ll vote for TreVeyon Henderson, who will likely come off the board 3-4 rounds after Jeanty. I can make the case for a lot of rookies before training camp kicks off, and I’m higher on his college teammate Quinshon Judkins than most, but the explosive Henderson has a chance to fully usurp the sluggish Rhamondre Stevenson by season’s end.
Henderson’s on the small side, so he may max out with only 150-175 carries a season in the NFL, but he has a three-down skillset and runs angrily and with toughness. He’s also arguably the best receiving back in the class with 50+ catch potential right out of the gate in 2025. Henderson had just one fumble in 600+ touches at Ohio State, which is important to note, since Stevenson lost three fumbles last year and was essentially benched for putting the ball on the ground.
The Patriots' offense is ascending, and the rookie should give their lame backfield an injection of juice, lateral agility, and receiving upside, so I think he could be a major, major factor.
- John Hansen
Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Carolina Panthers
ADP: WR21, Round 4
At least one rookie WR has finished as a top-6 PPR scorer in four of the past five seasons (Jefferson, Chase, Nacua, Thomas Jr., Nabers). This year, the best bet to reach that level of fantasy production is Tetairoa McMillan. Unlike last year, when players like Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers were steamed up in ADP, McMillan comes at a much more reasonable price (WR24 on FFPC, WR22 on Underdog). He’s one of the more affordable WR1 candidates in fantasy and steps into a massive role on a Panthers team that didn’t have a single receiver eclipse 50 catches or 650 receiving yards last season.
The Panthers turned down multiple trade offers to select McMillan with the No. 8 overall pick—the highest WR selection in franchise history. From a target volume standpoint, he’s in an ideal situation and is a near lock for 120+ targets. With a clear path to opportunity and minimal target competition, don’t be surprised if McMillan finishes the season with low-end WR1 numbers.
- Theo Gremminger
Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
ADP: RB37, Round 9
Under new Jaguars HC Liam Coen in 2024, the Buccaneers had a top-3 backfield by total fantasy opportunity. Bucky Irving’s rookie season doesn’t guarantee anything for Tuten, but it’s great to know that Coen (unlike many other coaches) will hand the keys to a Day 3 rookie if he’s worthy of them.
I don’t expect Travis Etienne to be traded, but Jeremy Fowler’s report that the regime isn’t particularly high on him rings as plausible to me; we don’t often see veteran RBs who’ve surrendered nearly half of the team’s rushing workload be embraced by a new coaching regime.
Tuten brings game-breaking speed — the 4th-best SPORQ athleticism score for an RB since 2000 behind only Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Stewart, and AJ Dillon — and makes for a logical recipient of the designed looks Coen was known for in Tampa Bay, with three of his players ranking top-12 in screen targets per game. So long as he corrects his fumbling issues by August, Tuten offers big-play and spike-week upside on the cheap at his RB38 Underdog ADP, and is an intriguing bet in an ambiguous backfield on a likely much-improved offense for managed leagues.
- Ryan Heath
Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears
ADP: TE14, Round 9
Ben Johnson’s TE1 has averaged a 19.7% target share in his three seasons as the Lions' offensive coordinator. Only Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, George Kittle, T.J. Hockenson, and Dallas Goedert have averaged a higher target share than that over the past four seasons in the NFL.
Loveland has not been practicing due to a shoulder injury that required surgery in January, but the Bears were aware of this when they drafted him 10th overall in April. Sam LaPorta finished as the overall TE1 in his rookie season under Ben Johnson and was drafted in the second round. Fellow rookie Luther Burden has been missing time as well in minicamp, and Johnson pointed out how disappointing it was he was not out on the field.
Loveland going as TE10 on Underdog is not a problem and feels about right for where he can go among the TEs. A highly drafted rookie tight end with top-4 tight end upside should not be drafted around wide receivers like Christian Kirk, Marvin Mims, and Hollywood Brown. He is far more valuable to your roster than Rhamondre Stevenson, Tyjae Spears, and Ray Davis. Barring an injury, none of those players will be significant fantasy contributors in 2025.
Colston Loveland could be the every-week TE4.
- Chris Wecht
Jayden Higgins, WR, Houston Texans
ADP: WR52, Round 10
Higgins is my second-most drafted rookie in early best-ball drafts, behind Bhaysul Tuten. I’ve gravitated toward Higgins, Christian Kirk, C.J. Stroud, and Jaylin Noel in the ninth round or later because I’m expecting Houston’s offense to rebound after a disappointing final season under Bobby Slowik.
The Texans hired play-caller Nick Caley — the next disciple of Sean McVay — who comes from a Rams offense that ranked second in 11 personnel (82.2%). Higgins will be on the field early in his career in Houston’s 3-WR sets, and he’ll battle Kirk to be the #2 WR. Nico Collins is locked in as the clear top receiver, but Higgins should see favorable coverage working opposite one of the NFL’s best receivers. He checked in at 6’4”, 214 pounds and posted an 89.3 SPORQ score at the combine.
Higgins projects best as an X receiver, but he can be used as a mismatch piece out of the slot. His upside will be limited playing next to Collins, but he could have a similar ceiling to Tank Dell as a rookie in 2023 when Dell finished as the WR18 (15.0 FPG) next to Collins.
- Tom Brolley
R.J. Harvey, RB, Denver Broncos
ADP: RB19, Round 5
“When others are fearful… be greedy.” Harvey is becoming increasingly affordable to draft after the Broncos signed veteran RB J.K. Dobbins. Denver bringing in another RB hurts Harvey’s floor – but it doesn’t harm his ceiling. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the Broncos just took Harvey at #60 overall, and GM George Paton was enamored with how his explosive playmaking ability will fit into their passing offense. "You can see it, his ability to get in and out [of route breaks], his ability to catch, you can see his instincts in the pass game," Paton said. "He had a lot of big plays in the pass game… we think he can keep going like this."
The Broncos RB group had 95 receptions last season (fourth-most) and a league-high 134 receptions in 2023. Dobbins averages 8.9 receiving yards per game in his career. The veteran may play early in the season on third downs until Harvey is ready to shoulder the load in pass protection, but we should not expect Dobbins to be a significant part of the Broncos' passing game. That’s never been his calling card. Dobbins’ two best games came in Weeks 1-2 last season against the two worst run defenses in the league (Carolina, Las Vegas). On his 195 carries, Dobbins was 28th-of-46 RBs in yards after contact per carry (2.37) and 27th by missed tackles forced/carry (0.15). Meh. Dobbins got a $2M guaranteed on one-year deal (per Spotrac) – which is right in line with the recent free agent contracts of Rico Dowdle, Elijah Mitchell, and Nick Chubb.
We know Harvey is a very talented runner. With 5.67 Yards Created per carry last season, Harvey was #2 in this RB class, behind only Ashton Jeanty (6.19). Harvey clearly has underrated receiving upside after Javonte Williams had the fifth-most RB targets last season (70). Harvey’s average draft position has already slid a half of a round, and I expect him to settle in the 65-70 overall ADP range on Underdog. I’ll draft as much Harvey as I possibly can at that price.
