With the 2025 NFL Draft in the books, the fantasy football community is now turning its attention to dynasty league rookie drafts and big-money best ball tournaments like Underdog’s Best Ball Mania IV. Exciting, right? But drafting rookies in dynasty or best ball is significantly different than drafting rookies in a redraft league, because you are looking for immediate impact and that has everything to do with landing spot.

 

 

When drafting in dynasty, you are looking for long-term value. Immediate help is nice, but when drafting a player, your focus should be on the player’s outlook for the next three years. In best ball, especially for large-field tournaments, you’re looking for potential impact this year, but with the understanding that the player’s floor could be a zero. Upside is your goal. But in redraft, you’re looking to make an impact this year and, sure, you can try swinging for the fences with a late-round upside pick, several rookies should be drafted earlier for this season’s scoring.

For example, I absolutely love that the Los Angeles Chargers drafted running back Omarion Hampton and he is my No. 2 rookie running back in dynasty formats. He will be playing in a run-first scheme with a fantastic offensive line. However, I do not love him for this season, simply because the Chargers signed Najee Harris to a $9.25M deal with $5.25M guaranteed and the rest in incentives. Maybe Hampton wins the job at some point down the road this year, but Harris isn’t going away and this is an immediate committee situation.

So, now that you understand the parameters of what I am looking for, here are my top-five rookie landing spots that should yield immediate results for the 2025 fantasy football season. You can watch the video and hear what I have to say about each player, but scroll down as well for further details. 

 

 

2025 Fantasy Football Rookies - Top 5 Landing Spots

RJ Harvey, RB Denver Broncos

Outside of Ashton Jeanty landing in Las Vegas to be their premier running back, Harvey landing in Denver is gong to vault him up draft boards this season. And rightfully so. Head coach Sean Payton and offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi have been looking for their guy since taking over in 2023. Javonte Williams was drafted by the previous regime and the one running back they did draft over the last two seasons, Audric Estime, has yet to blossom and there are questions surrounding if he ever will.

Harvey gives the Broncos an immediate playmaker. He showed at UCF he was capable of handling a full workload (at least 225 carries per season each of the last two years) and while he wasn’t deployed as a pass-catcher too heavily, he did manage to post an 11.8 yards per reception average over 61 catches (three seasons). At 5-foot-8, 205 pounds, he has a dense build to withstand the punishment of going between the tackles and his 4.4 speed at the combine shows what he can do once he’s got the ball out in space. He may share some time with either Estime or Jaleel McLaughlin to start, but it shouldn’t take long before Lombardi and Payton realize they have their new Alvin Kamara.

 

 

Kaleb Johnson, RB Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers lost Najee Harris from their backfield and while Jaylen Warren signed his restricted free agent tender, there is a glaring need for a bruising back to take it between the tackles. They got that and more in Johnson and he should make an immediate impact in Arthur Smith’s run-first offensive scheme. Especially with such little competition for touches. 

Johnson’s 6-foot-1, 225-pound frame can power through the line and while he is unlikely to be featured as a pass-catcher, he does have that ability, just like Najee did. I expect him to be an early-down difference-maker for the Steelers and we should also expect him to be a major focal point near the goal-line as well. 

Tetairoa McMillan, WR Carolina Panthers

While I certainly don’t mind Travis Hunter’s landing spot in Jacksonville, I like McMillan’s landing spot in Carolina significantly more. Hunter will be a featured asset, but he will always play second-fiddle to Brian Thomas McMillan should immediately slide in as the featured target for Bryce Young and the Panthers passing attack. 

The Panthers resigned Adam Thielen to remain Young’s security blanket and work out of the slot, but they were in serious need of a big split-end who can shoulder the load downfield and dominate in contested-catch situations. If they believed either Xavier Legette or Jalen Coker could develop into that guy, they may have drafted someone else, but to have an immediate playmaker like McMillan means they can pick right up where they left off last season when Young really started to show some development. Legette and Coker will fight for snaps and targets while McMillan becomes an immediate fantasy draft target.

 

 

Tre Harris, WR Los Angeles Chargers

Most people will follow the Hampton/Harris battle for touches out of the backfield, but the real player to watch for an immediate impact on the Chargers is Harris. We all know that Ladd McConkey is the No. 1 target for Justin Herbert and that won’t change. The team also brought in a strong pass-catching tight end in Tyler Conklin as Greg Roman’s offense likes to use the position as a featured target (see Mark Andrews in Baltimore). But that No. 2 receiver job is wide open and Harris should grab it right out of Training Camp.

The Chargers were hoping Quentin Johnston could serve in that capacity when they drafted him, but after a disappointing rookie campaign, he again failed to impress in Year-2 with his lack of separation. They brought in Mike Williams, but the coaches know he can’t stay healthy. Harris, both at Ole Miss and Louisiana Tech, was featured for his big-play ability and he has the size and build to compete with the physicality of the NFL’s defense backs. No need to reach for him early in drafts as he has yet to hit the mainstream’s radar, but watch his fantasy football ADP climb once the camp reports start to come out.

Colston Loveland, TE Chicago Bears

I’ve been pretty vocal about my feelings that the Bears did not need to draft a tight end at the No. 10 pick, but the point is moot. The pick happened and now everyone is wondering just how Loveland will fit in with this Bears passing attack. It’s actually pretty simple if you saw the reports where head coach Ben Johnson told the big tight end that he reminded him of Sam LaPorta. Words like that go a very long way in fantasy football, especially when you look at what LaPorta did as a rookie under Johnson back in Detroit.

There will certainly be competition for targets this year in Chicago. Wide receiver DJ Moore remains the alpha, we expect Rome Odunze to take another step forward with Keenan Allen gone and the Bears did use second-round draft capital on Luther Burden. Caleb Williams will have plenty of options. But LaPorta played the second-most snaps of any pass-catcher during his rookie campaign and finished second on the team in receiving targets. The Bears do have more options this year than the Lions did back in 2023, but an offensive coordinator’s words, tendencies and history have to be factored in here. 

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