Adam Schefter Drops Cheat Sheet for Fantasy Football Mock Drafts for 2025 NFL Season

As fantasy drafts begin ramping up with less than two weeks remaining before the start of the 2025 NFL regular season, one of the league's most prominent insiders has shared his cheat sheet for managers to use.

On Saturday, ESPN's Adam Schefter dropped the cheat sheet he used for a 12-team league with a list of players to choose from at each of the four key skill positions and why he put them where he did.

Here is what Schefter's list looks like, as well as our takeaways from each position group.

Quarterbacks

Early Rounds: Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens; Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Middle Rounds: Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Bo Nix, Denver Broncos

Late Rounds: Drake Maye, New England Patriots; Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons; Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Running Backs

Early Rounds: Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons; Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions; Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals; Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneeers

Middle Rounds: Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers; TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots; RJ Harvey, Denver Broncos; Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs

Late Rounds: Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commander; Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns; Dylan Sampson, Cleveland Browns; Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals; Jaydon Blue, Dallas Cowboys; Bhayshul Tuten, Jacksonville Jaguars; Will Shipley, Philadelphia Eagles

Wide Receivers

Early Rounds: Ja'Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals; Amon-Ra St. Brown, Cincinnati Bengals; Nico Collins, Houston Texans; Malik Nabers, New York Giants

Middle Rounds: Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals; Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks; DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles; Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions; Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears; Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers

Later Rounds: Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings; Matthew Golden, Green Bay Packers; Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills; Marvin Mims Jr., Denver Broncos; DeMario Douglas, New England Patriots; Dyami Brown, Jacksonville Jaguars; Jaylin Noel, Houston Texans; Troy Franklin, Denver Broncos

Tight Ends

Early Rounds: Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders; Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals

Middle Rounds: Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions; Evan Engram, Denver Broncos; Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys

Later Rounds: Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens; Theo Johnson, New York Giants; Ja'Tavion Sanders, Carolina Panthers; AJ Barner, Seattle Seahawks

Analysis

The quarterback group is largely agreeable, with no one likely to dispute that Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen as the top two options in either order.

Baker Mayfield is a tough evaluation because he's a prime regression candidate after setting career-highs in completion percentage (71.4), passing yards (4,500) and passing touchdowns (41), but he also tied for the league lead with 16 interceptions.

This is the third different offensive coordinator Mayfield has played under in three seasons with the Buccaneers. Dave Canales was hired by the Carolina Panthers after the 2023 season. Liam Coen left to become head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in January.

Josh Grizzard, who was Tampa's passing game coordinator in 2024, is the new offensive coordinator. This will mark his first time calling plays in the NFL.

The Bucs have an outstanding supporting cast around Mayfield, including Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka at wide receiver. Chris Godwin is expected to return from an ankle injury in October.

If you believe in the roster around him and Grizzard's ability to acclimate himself quickly to a new role, Mayfield could be a solid fantasy player in 2025. That's a lot of things to bet on going right.

At the running back spot, Los Angeles Chargers rookie Omarion Hampton is a player I would be tempted to overdraft. He is currently coming off the board as the RB16 and No. 37 overall pick, per FantasyPros.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh has been vague about Najee Harris' status after he suffered an eye injury due to a fireworks mishap during a Fourth of July event.

Harbaugh and Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman want to play physical and run the ball. Even with Justin Herbert at quarterback, they had the ninth-highest ratio of running plays in the NFL last season.

There will be some concern about the Chargers' offensive line with Rashawn Slater out for the season that could impact Hampton's overall output, but he's going to get such a high volume of touches that it might not matter.

Another player that you should have no problems drafting higher than where he is going right now is Ricky Pearsall. The second-year wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers is coming off the board as the WR42, between Godwin and Matthew Golden.

If you haven't seen the 49ers depth chart at wide receiver right now, it's pretty bleak. Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Jordan Watkins, Jacob Cowing and Malik Turner are all injured. Demarcus Robinson received a three-game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, though he could potentially appeal the decision.

The 49ers could end up having to use Skyy Moore, who was acquired in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday, as a starter in Week 1 because of how many injuries they have.

Pearsall, on the other hand, has been healthy and arguably the 49ers' best player throughout training camp. His rookie season stat line with 400 yards and three touchdowns on 31 catches doesn't stand out, but keep in mind he got shot in the chest 10 days before the start of the regular season.

The fact that Pearsall was able to play at all in 2024 is incredible. Everything that he has been doing in camp suggests this could be a huge year for the Florida alum in a very friendly offensive system.

Tight end is always something of a crap shoot unless you are getting one of the top-level guys, like Brock Bowers, Trey McBride or George Kittle. Schefter didn't list Colston Loveland at all in his list of players at the position.

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson hasn't been shy about criticizing the offense in the preseason when he has seen poor play. That could be scaring some people off from a lot of players with this unit.

Loveland, though, figures to be a huge part of what Johnson wants to do in Chicago. When Sam LaPorta was a rookie with the Detroit Lions in 2023 and Johnson was calling plays, he put up 889 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Standing 6'5" and weighing 245 pounds, Loveland is an impossible matchup for linebackers. He is coming off the board around pick No. 112 in fantasy drafts right now.

If you can't get one of those elite tight ends—or you just want to wait to address that position so you can focus on other areas of need—grabbing Loveland in the ninth round has the potential to pay off in a big way.