The 2025 NFL preseason is wrapping up and that means fantasy football draft season is underway. We finally made it people!
The 2024 NFL Draft class produced several offensive playmakers who ended up making an immediate impact upon their entry into the league. We saw the likes of Jayden Daniels, Bucky Irving, Malik Nabers, and Brock Bowers have standout performances as rookies and they’ll be sure to be mainstay fantasy football names for years to come.
But we’re not here to talk about them. We’re here to talk about some of their peers in the tier below them. Whether it’s a move up the depth chart, a new coaching staff, or simply having a season of pro football under their belts, there are a handful of second-year players that have the chance to step it up in Year 2 and become breakout stars for your fantasy rosters. We’ll go over some of these names below and we’ll use PPR rankings for further clarity.
Drake Maye, New England Patriots
2024 Fantasy Finish: QB23 (14.4 FPPG)
Current ADP: QB16, 123 Overall
Maye put together a solid rookie campaign last season and was one of the lone bright spots on a dismal 4-13 Pats squad. The No. 3 overall pick of last year’s draft completed 66.6% of his passes for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 12 starts for New England. He also notably had 421 rushing yards on 7.8 yards per carry, the highest ypc among starting QB’s with at least 20 rushing attempts. Some of that can be attributed to him being forced to run for his life at times due to the team’s pass protection struggles, but his mobility is what helped make him a highly touted prospect coming out of North Carolina.
He is primed to take a jump in Year 2 considering that he’ll have a seemingly more stable situation around him with Mike Vrabel now running the show as head coach. He’s now under the tutelage of veteran offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who in his third stint in Foxborough, and has a big-play receiving target in Stefon Diggs. The team also got him some much-needed protection in the form of left tackle Will Campbell, who they took with the No. 4 pick of the NFL Draft in April.
If these offseason personnel upgrades pan out and Maye shows improvement over his rookie season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him creeping around as a top-10 fantasy QB by the end of the season.
Braelon Allen, New York Jets
2024 Fantasy Finish: RB51 (5.0 FPPG)
Current ADP: RB50, 147 Overall
At 6’1”, 235 pounds, Allen was drafted in the fourth round out of Wisconsin last year and served as Breece Hall’s backup on a Jets squad that struggled with a 5-12 record. His 334 rushing yards, 148 receiving yards, and three total touchdowns on the year weren’t eye-popping numbers by any stretch, but he did manage to get plenty of reps even as the team meandered through a mediocre campaign.
Entering Year 2, Allen stands to benefit from a brand new coaching staff with former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn taking over as Jets head coach and Lions passing-game coordinator Tanner Engstrand coming over as OC. The Lions’ offense was one of the deadliest attacks in the entire league last season thanks in large part to the “Sonic and Knuckles” tandem of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. It was a classic two-back setup where the 230-pound Montgomery would handle business between the tackles as a bruiser while the speedier Gibbs could be used as a weapon in the passing game. Both finished as top-20 fantasy running backs in PPR leagues and the vision in New York is for Allen, Hall, and even third-stringer Isaiah Davis to replicate that dynamic.
All has turned heads during the preseason and his play even sparked brief trade rumors surrounding Hall. Glenn has stated that all three of his running backs will be utilized in the offense this season, but it would not be a shock to see the second-year playmaker quickly emerge as their lead rusher.
Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
2024 Fantasy Finish: WR80 (2.2 FPPG)
Current ADP: RB65, 242 Overall
Similar to the aforementioned Allen, Corum spent his rookie season in a backup role and posted modest numbers with 58 carries for 207 rushing yards on the year. The third-round pick out of Michigan did get a chance to start in the team’s regular-season finale against the Seattle Seahawks, but unfortunately suffered a broken forearm that sidelined him for the postseason.
Corum’s low usage as a rookie in 2024 can be squarely pinned on the sheer volume of touches received by starter Kyren Williams. He led all running backs in the NFL with 888 total snaps and was able to produce 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns off 316 carries for the season. While fantasy managers were satisfied with that level of production, it wasn’t necessarily efficient as he averaged just 4.1 yards per carry with a rushing EPA of -0.07 and an explosive run rate of just 6.96%.
Sean McVay has liked using running back committees in the past and given how impressive Corum and third-stringer Jarquez Hunter have looked in training camp, the second-year tailback may get a heavier workload this season. He’s a prime handcuff candidate in fantasy leagues and could see his numbers take a significant spike.
Ricky Pearsall, San Franciso 49ers
2024 Fantasy Finish: WR82 (8.5 FPPG)
Current ADP: WR41, 92 Overall
Pearsall is being hyped as one of the top second-year breakout candidates for the 2025 season and he could very well make a name for himself this year. The former Arizona State/Florida pass-catcher was receiving buzz ahead of his rookie year before being shot in the chest during an attempted armed robbery just days before the start of the season.
Miraculously, he was able to step onto the field for his debut in Week 7 and ended up making solid contributions to the team, catching 31 targets for 400 yards and three touchdowns. It was the final two weeks of the season where he really flashed his potential for the organization and fantasy managers alike, notably going off for 141 yards and a touchdown in Week 17 against the Detroit Lions.
San Francisco’s receiver room will look a lot different this season with Deebo Samuel now in Washington, Brandon Aiyuk still recovering from a torn ACL/MCL, and Jauan Jennings dealing with a calf injury while pushing for a new contract. Those circumstances are the perfect storm for Pearsall to immediately emerge as the team’s top receiving threat next to George Kittle and fantasy managers should take note.
Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs
2024 Fantasy Finish: WR33 (11.0 FPPG)
Current ADP: WR23, 53 Overall
Selected towards the end of the first round in 2024, Worthy immediately emerged as Patrick Mahomes’ second-favorite option behind Travis Kelce. The former Texas Longhorn delivered a solid rookie campaign for the perennial powerhouse franchise, catching 59 targets for 638 yards and six touchdowns during the regular season. And even as the Chiefs were being totally annihilated by the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, he still managed to carve out some history by setting a SB rookie receiving record with eight receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns.
Entering 2025, Worthy having a breakout Year 2 will be an absolute necessity for Kansas City’s offense. The franchise hasn’t had a 1,000-yard wide receiver since Tyreek Hill in 2021 and it’s a risky proposition to continue to ask Mahomes to do more with less. The aforementioned Kelce finally showed his age with the least productive season of his career last year and Rashee Rice’s suspension saga still looms over the offense. The door is wide open for Worthy to become a top-20 wideout in fantasy this season and he could become Mahomes’ favorite target by the end of the year.
Ja’Tavion Sanders, Carolina Panthers
2024 Fantasy Finish: TE36 (4.6 FPPG)
Current ADP: TE29, 239 Overall
Sanders is an under-the-radar weapon that could end up playing a big role for the Carolina offense as the team tries to take a step forward in 2025. As a rookie last year, the former Texas tight end did well for himself in place of an injured Tommy Tremble, posting 33 receptions for 342 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers could’ve been higher had a neck injury he suffered against the Kansas City Chiefs in November not limited him in action for the next several weeks.
Something to note as Reid of Panthers Stats pointed out is that Sanders actually led the team in average yards after catch at 5.6. That ability to take full advantage of his targets and help the team move the ball down the field makes him a potential X-factor for the offense, especially with Tremble rehabbing from offseason back surgery. Whether you scoop him up towards the end of your draft or off waivers, there’s a chance you could be getting an absolute steal in one of the rising tight ends in the league.
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