Fantasy Football Analysis for Ward, Hunter, Jeanty and TMac After NFL Draft 2025 Day 1

Half of the top 10 picks in the 2025 NFL draft will line up on offense in their rookie seasons.

No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward was one of two quarterbacks chosen in the first round, but he is the only one expected to make an impact in fantasy football circles.

Travis Hunter, Ashton Jeanty and Tetairoa McMillan all come into different situations in which they can thrive.

Hunter is a deep-play threat in Jacksonville, Jeanty is the primary ball carrier in Vegas and McMillan was drafted to be the guy in the Carolina passing attack.

Cam Ward

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Cam Ward comes into an offense with a handful of solid pieces around him.

Calvin Ridley and Tyler Lockett are the top two wide receivers, Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears are solid pass-catchers out of the backfield and Chig Okonkwo is coming off a breakout season at tight end.

Ward resides in a better situation than some rookie quarterbacks and he has the benefit of working with head coach Brian Callahan, who helped Joe Burrow through his first few years in Cincinnati as offensive coordinator.

Ward should be in the second or third tier of fantasy quarterbacks at best going into the season, but he has plenty of room for improvement and could finish around the top 15 in fantasy rankings if the Titans' offensive numbers improve with the No. 1 overall pick at the helm.

Ashton Jeanty

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Ashton Jeanty will be the highest-rated rookie in fantasy football circles.

The No. 6 overall pick could easily be a first-round pick in many leagues because of his dynamic running ability and his situation with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Jeanty should receive a ton of carries each game as the Raiders figure out their depth in the passing game behind Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers.

At minimum, the Raiders now have one dynamic player in the ground game in Jeanty to partner with a strong pass-game target in Bowers.

Jeanty won't have to worry about splitting carries with Raheem Mostert, like Omarion Hampton will have to do in Los Angeles with Najee Harris, so he'll have a relatively easy path to 1,000 yards and potentially the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Travis Hunter

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Jacksonville was in need of another dynamic playmaker to go along with last year's first-round draft pick Brian Thomas Jr.

Travis Hunter should be the No. 2 target at wide receiver for Trevor Lawrence.

He won't be the main focal point of the offense, like Jeanty will be in Vegas, but he should put up some solid numbers with his deep-play threat.

Jacksonville should use Hunter as a wide receiver first and then ease him into a full set of snaps on defense.

It's unclear how Hunter deals with balancing the offensive and defensive responsibilities in the NFL, but if he performs similarly to his time at Colorado, he will be a solid WR2.

Thomas is still the top target in the Jags offense, and with Hunter added, Trevor Lawrence may be the biggest beneficiary from a fantasy football perspective.

Tetairoa McMillan

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Tetairoa McMillan is the rookie wide receiver to bank on in fantasy football drafts in terms of targets.

McMillan will be the top pass-catching threat inside the Carolina Panthers offense.

Carolina still has Adam Thielen to rely on in key spots and Xavier Legette displayed some bright spots in his rookie season, but McMillan will be the No. 1 guy.

How high McMillan gets drafted is dependent on the quarterback play. Bryce Young and Andy Dalton both started in 2024.

McMillan's fantasy value will only grow if Young or Dalton start the season strong.

There's a lot of potential for McMillan to grow in Carolina, but whether he is a WR2 or a fringe WR1 depends on how accurate the balls thrown to him are.