Stefon Diggs, DK Metcalf and Fantasy Football 2025 Bust Candidates to Avoid

A handful of notable veteran fantasy football stars have the potential to take a step back in production in 2025.

Stefon Diggs and DK Metcalf are among the notable names who enter the season is less favorable situations compared to a season ago.

DJ Moore falls into the same category at wide receiver, but unlike Diggs and Metcalf, a crowded depth chart is a concern for the Bears wide out.

David Montgomery comes with concerns at running back. He is clearly the Lions' backup, and while his touchdown production is nice, he falls into the avoid column.

Stefon Diggs

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Stefon Diggs comes into New England off his worst season in the NFL.

Diggs played just eight games in Houston because of injuries in 2024. He only had 496 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

The Patriots want the player who had six straight 1,000-yard seasons to show up in their offense, but he's another year older and dealing with early injury issues.

Diggs was questionable for the Pats' preseason opener with a knee issue. That's not ideal for a player working to build chemistry with a young quarterback.

The chemistry already developed between Drake Maye and Demario Douglas could affect Diggs' early-season production.

He could still have a solid season in New England, but he can disappoint compared to the player he's been in the NFL, which in turn, will affect his fantasy football stock.

DK Metcalf

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There's reason to be concerned about DK Metcalf's production because of his quarterback.

Aaron Rodgers is no longer the 4,000-yard quarterback he was for most of his career. He may struggle to find Metcalf at times.

Metcalf has another issue at hand at being the only notable wide out on the Steelers depth chart after the George Pickens trade.

Opposing defenses will double up on Metcalf and let Calvin Austin III and Robert Woods try to beat them.

Metcalf will still get open and have some big games, but there's support around him to take defenders away from his side of the field.

A small drop in receiving yards is expected because of those factors. Some potential touchdowns could be taken away, too, since Jaylen Warren can be effective in red-zone situations on the ground.

DJ Moore

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At some point, the young pass-catchers in the Chicago offense have to take off.

Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland form a solid foundation of pass-catchers for Caleb Williams to work with in his first season in Ben Johnson's offense.

The abundance of playmakers also means that DJ Moore's production has the potential to slide.

Moore's had two strong seasons in a Bears uniform, but the loaded depth chart has the potential to weigh down his stock as a WR1 in fantasy circles.

David Montgomery

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David Montgomery is old in running back years.

The 28-year-old has 1,319 NFL carries on his legs and he's missed at least three games in each of the last two seasons.

He can still be an effective red-zone rusher, but his yardage production should drop off even more with Jahmyr Gibbs as the feature back in the Detroit offense.

Montgomery's rushing-yard total dropped 240 yards from 2023 to 2024. Another tumble of about 100 yards wouldn't be a surprise given his role as Detroit's RB2.

Montgomery should be no more than a RB2 in fantasy circles, and he might even be lower as the season goes on.