The 2025 NFL season is right around the corner and with it comes fantasy football. Every season, legions of NFL fanatics and casuals alike gather remotely to draft a made-up team weekly competition. Sometimes it's just for bragging rights. Others put money on it. But either way, it is a deathly serious operation.
So many variables go into picking a successful fantasy football team. Some of it is knowing your way around the NFL — knowing which plays are primed for breakouts and which are destined to underperform. A lot of it is sheer luck. Injuries can turn a frontrunner into a league loser in a hurry. Oftentimes, the least knowledgeable fans stumble into the most successful teams. It can be a real crap shoot.
This purpose of this article to attempt to convey a few potential pitfalls for fantasy football managers hoping to take their league(s) by storm in 2025. We cannot predict the future with any real certainty, especially in terms of fantasy outlook, but these stars feel especially vulnerable to falling short of expectations.
WR/CB Travis Hunter, Jacksonville Jaguars
Travis Hunter was broadly viewed as the best overall prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft, even if he slipped past the QB-needy Titans at No. 1. He ends up, on paper, in a great spot. Trevor Lawrence is a talented quarterback and the Jacksonville Jaguars are hopefully adopting a more potent offensive scheme under head coach Liam Coen.
That said, Hunter is still WR2 on a largely unproven roster and he's a rookie. So it's worth proceeding with a bit of caution, especially given how unique he is positionally. Hunter was a monster wide receiver at Colorado, but he's an even better cornerback. He was regularly able to log 100-plus snaps per game as a two-way star in college, but tacking on such a workload at the NFL level feels unsustainable. The Jags also need Hunter at cornerback almost as badly as they need him at wide receiver, if not more.
For fantasy purposes, the ideal version of Hunter would be a full-time wideout. But that's just not going to happen. God forbid if the Jags decide to skew his usage more heavily toward defense than offense. There is too much uncertainty over Hunter's exact role and involvement to invest a high pick in fantasy drafts. There is upside with such a singular talent, but Hunter could fall flat in the fantasy realm, even if he's impactful in the real games.
WR Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins
There was a time not so long ago when Tyreek Hill was a viable No. 1 fantasy pick in the Miami Dolphins offense. Not much has changed on the surface. Mike McDaniel is still calling the plays. Tua Tagovailoa is still throwing the pigskin. And yeah, Miami has a ton of speed, which should allow the Dolphins to stretch the field and engineer big plays.
That said, the vibes are off in 2025. Last season was a huge step back for the Dolphins' offense after Tua Tagovailoa missed several weeks with a concussion. After the season, Hill demanded a trade at his locker and said he was done with Miami. The former All-Pro wideout has since walked back those comments, but both Tagovailoa and McDaniel seem weary of welcoming Hill back into the fold with open arms. He's at camp. He's a centerpiece of the offense. But it's clear he does not have the full trust of those around him.
It wouldn't be shocking if Tagovailoa and Hill aren't as telepathically connected as we've seen in years past. Jaylen Waddle is there to take on a heavier workload if need be. The Dolphins can lean on De'Von Achane and the run game. Plus, Hill's production dipped below 1,000 yards last season. Some of that was due to the performance of Miami's backup QBs, but Hill has not seen a number that low since 2019 — when he only managed 12 games because of injury. He hasn't had a healthy season below 1,000 yards since he was a rookie.
Hill is 31, and Father Time comes for everyone in football. The self-proclaimed Cheetah relies so heavily on speed and athleticism. If he starts to lose even half a step, it's going to muck up offensive timing and make it more difficult for the 5-foot-10, 191-pound wideout to win his matchups. He's a physical pass-catcher and his talent stretches far beyond his quickness, but folks drafting Hill in the first couple rounds as their marquee wide receiver should prepare for disappointment.
QB Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Is Patrick Mahomes still the best quarterback in the NFL? The fact that we've even asking that should probably put the Tom Brady comparisons to bed for a little bit. While the Kansas City Chiefs are still favorites to win the AFC and maybe even the Super Bowl, Mahomes' production is on the decline. We can blame the increasingly unstable WR room in Kansas City, but one can't help but wonder if all the mileage on Mahomes' arm and legs is beginning to take its toll. The two-time MVP is no longer a spring chicken at 29.
Quarterbacks can play forever, and Mahomes has plenty of productivity ahead of him. But we also know the Chiefs are content to coast until the playoffs. Even last season, when KC won 15 games and felt unbeatable, most of those wins were by one score in defense-driven affairs. The offense lagged behind past iterations of the Chiefs offense before it collapsed spectacularly in the Super Bowl.
Mahomes threw for 3,928 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last season. Not bad at all, but those numbers were nearly identical to Aaron Rodgers with the Jets. So it's not like Mahomes was lapping the field. He fell about 1,000 yards short of league-leading Joe Burrow.
A lot of people will still take Mahomes early — in the same tier as Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen — because conventional wisdom ordains him as the best passer in football. While that may still be the case, this is a more conservative and less talented Chiefs offense than we are used to. Mahomes averaged 17.7 PPR points per game last season, 13th among quarterbacks. The so-called GOAT is no longer a priority add in fantasy drafts.
TE Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
Welcome back to the annual "Is this Kyle Pitts' Year?' column. The answer is the same: nope.
We do this every damn season with the Atlanta Falcons offense. There is so much talent. Zac Robinson is a branch on the Sean McVay coaching tree and knows a thing or two about drawing up plays. And Michael Penix Jr. is, in a perfect world, the franchise-changing quarterback Atlanta has so desperately lacked in recent years. But after what we saw last season, it's hard to proceed with too much optimism.
Bijan Robinson will feast, but beyond that, most of the pressing questions around this Falcons offense remain unanswered. Penix was fine after he took over for Kirk Cousins in 2024, but it's not like the rookie southpaw lit the world on fire. Cousins is still lurking in the shadows as the stopgap if Penix struggles; god only knows what that would mean for the Falcons offense.
Penix is a certified deep ball artist who loves to work along the sidelines. That should bode well for Drake London and the like, but it leaves Kyle Pitts in a potential dead zone on the intermediate routes. Also, Pitts has never once lived up to pre-draft hype. Not in the real NFL Draft and certainly not in fantasy drafts. He looks like a Greek god out there — everything suggests that he should dominate — but year after year, he finds new ways to disappoint. The lack of coordination and physicality for a pass-catcher at his size won't magically subside in his fifth NFL season.
Pitts finished 22nd in average PPR points per game among tight ends last season. He's a mid-round tight end at best, nothing more. Anyone selecting him early in hopes of a long-anticipated breakout is falling into a trap door with a giant neon sign on top that reads 'Trap Door, do not walk here.'