2025 NFL Draft Wide Receiver Rookie Rankings/Tiers for Fantasy Football: What the film/analytics tell us

The 2025 NFL Draft is just days away and it’s time to put all of the hours poured into evaluating All-22 college film, analytics and data into a set of tiers and rankings. Of course, it’s vital to note that these rankings will change based on draft capital. Where a wide receiver is selected in his class plays a big role on his future Fantasy Football outlook. However, the data and film tell the clearest story. If you want to find out the rest of my tiers, rankings and individual breakdowns of players, make sure you subscribe to the Fantasy Football Today newsletter. You’ll find everything there. You can subscribe at the link below:

Below, we will reveal my tiers and rankings and then break down the first tier in depth. You’ll find in-depth breakdowns of the prospects in other tiers in the newsletter.

Pre-Draft 2025 WR Rankings

(For Dynasty Fantasy Football purposes)

Tier 1

WR1 — Tetairoa McMillan
WR2 — Travis Hunter
WR3 — Luther Burden
WR4 — Emeka Egbuka
WR5 — Matthew Golden

Tier 2

WR6 — Jaylin Noel
WR7 — Tre Harris
WR8 — Jayden Higgins
WR9 — Elic Ayomanor
WR10 — Tory Horton
WR11 — Kyle Williams

Tier 3

WR12 — Jalen Royals
WR13 — Jack Bech

Tier 4

WR14 — KeAndre Lambert-Smith
WR15 — Isaac TeSlaa
WR16 — Elijhah Badger
WR17 — Savion Williams

Tier 5 
WR18 — Pat Bryant
WR19 — Andrew Armstrong
WR20 — Xavier Restrepo

I’m waiting to see if they get drafted to rank them:

Dont’e Thornton Jr. — His per-opportunity data is awesome, and his film shows speed to burn at six-foot-five

Isaiah Bond — Electric as a mover, but underwhelming data and off-field concerns

Percentage of team receiving yards when on the field

Percentage of team receiving TDs when on the field

Career percentage of team receiving yards when on the field

Career percentage of team receiving TDs when on the field

Tier 1 — Travis Hunter, Tetairoa McMillan, Luther Burden, Emeka Egbuka, Matthew Golden

WR1 — Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona

22.6 years old at start of 2025 NFL season

I started my process with film first this year. For the first time, I watched the prospects before digging into any data. For top prospects such as McMillan, I watched every snap of every game that I could find. I loved McMillan’s film. He occasionally struggles with physical play, but he’s still young and filling out his frame. He doesn’t have run-away speed, and his first step isn’t as lethal as Drake London’s, for example. But everything else was awesome. His ability to throttle down and come back to the ball is unfair for a player at his size, and he catches everything away from his body. This ability to keep defenders away from the ball by using his frame allows McMillan to win even on reps where he didn’t create tons of separation with his feet. He does create separation with his feet sometimes, by the way.

He’s a joy to watch catch the ball, in a myriad of ways, McMillan wins at the catch point. And he’s really good with the ball in his hands! McMillan certainly has room for significant improvement, but his film showed enough translatable skills to bet on him as a productive player right away.

The other thing that I noticed in McMillan’s film was how often he was missed on a throw or a turndown by his QB. It also did not feel like his offensive design did much to maximize his skill set. So, it was not a surprise to find that his data profile was good but not great. That’s not a concern for me. One data point that I will cling to until McMillan disproves the notion is his lack of production vs. press coverage.

If he’s drafted to Carolina or New England — anywhere that might ask T-Mac to immediately produce as a primary X-receiver would make me nervous that his developmental track may become rushed. Ideally, he’d land somewhere like Jacksonville. Brian Thomas Jr. as the primary X, with both Round 1 receivers offering flexibility for Liam Coen to move around the formation and create mismatches. I’m not sure if McMillan is ready for the physicality of NFL press coverage during his age-23 rookie season.

WR2 — Travis Hunter, Colorado

22.5 years old at start of 2025 NFL season

If Hunter is selected to a team that commits to him as a full-time receiver, he’s probably going to be the biggest steal of Dynasty rookie drafts. His combination of movement skills unlocks any route, and his otherworldly catch radius and adjustment skills when playing a ball in the air allows Hunter to win even on reps where his route running wasn’t decisive enough for an initial W. He has the traits to become one of the most difficult coverage assignments in the NFL.

And, really, when allowed to play as a full-time receiver at Colorado, Hunter was more productive than any WR from the 2025 class.

Some cite Hunter’s relatively underwhelming per-route data, but even that is easily contextualized.

Averaging nearly 3.00 yards per route run without taking part in the WR meetings throughout the week is pretty absurd stuff. Hunter basically rolled out of bed and put up 1,300 yards and 15 touchdowns. I’m content taking a “risk” on this talent, even if the outlook isn’t quite as clear as that offered by a traditional early Round 1 receiver.

WR3 — Luther Burden, Mizzou

21.8 years old at start of 2025 NFL season

One of the most enigmatic WR prospects in recent memory, Burden could turn into thousands of words in this space if I attempted to explore every nuance of his profile. The reality is this: we have no way of predicting what will come from a profile like this. When “effort” becomes part of the equation, it is so clearly out of our hands as best guessers.

The flashes of elite WR upside are absolutely real:

Ball tracking 1
Ball tracking 2
Feel for space
Start/stop suddenness

We don’t know if he can win vs. press coverage. We don’t know if he can run a detailed route tree. We don’t know if he can stay locked in if things aren’t going his way. I watched every route from an abysmal 2024 season, and he clearly appeared to voluntarily drift out of plays.

I’m willing to bet on the skill set. He’s not a small gadgety slot receiver. He has the size and play strength to develop into something like an early-career Chris Godwin, and I actually think that Burden might offer significantly more juice as a downfield route runner. That’s based on only a handful of flashes from his film, though. He’s purely hypothetical upside at this point, and I wouldn’t blame anyone for removing him from their board in a draft class with lots to like. More for me, I guess. I expect he’ll end up as a late Round 1 or early Round 2 pick in Dynasty rookie start-ups, and I view those picks as 50/50 shots at returning value. So I’m fine taking an L if Burden’s career flames out. The upside is there for him to be one of the most valuable Fantasy contributors from this class, and it could happen in Year 1. He absolutely has the talent to be a big-play creator and/or a reception accumulator from the slot as a rookie.

WR4 — Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State

22.9 years old at start of 2025 NFL season

I don’t have much to add on Egbuka. He’s probably “just” the “safest” receiver pick in the draft. There’s value in that. Robert Woods feels exactly right as a comp. I was a huge Bobby Trees fan. In the right offensive environment, Egbuka could be a highly-productive Fantasy receiver, and he’s probably going to be a good pro no matter where he lands. I don’t expect him to create much on his own, but he’s rock solid. If the Burden profile makes you nauseous, Egbuka is your antithetical antidote. Feel better, there’s no need to ride the Burden rollercoaster, don’t let my insanity worry you. 

Here’s what I will add — there might be untapped upside! Egbuka averaged over three yards per route run with C.J. Stroud at QB. His numbers weren’t as good with Kyle McCord and Will Howard. Did you watch those offenses? They maneuvered around limitations at the QB position.

For his career, Egbuka averaged 16.5 yards per target on throws of 15+ air yards. That was the third-highest mark in the class and by far the highest of any WR who played in the SEC or Big 10. Not what you might expect from a guy who was mostly used as a slot and pre-snap motion player in 2023 and 2024. I wouldn’t blame anyone for pushing Egbuka ahead of Burden. Depending on draft results, I might do just that.

WR5 — Matthew Golden, Texas

22.1 years old at start of 2025 NFL season

If Golden’s data was better, he’d be in contention for the top spot (assuming his projected mid-Round 1 draft capital holds true) in this WR class. I liked his route-running that much. I gave him a Ladd McConkey/Josh Downs comp, in terms of suddenness, and I never do that! Those two put some of the most fun route-running reps on tape of any receivers in 2024!

Golden was showing up open all over his Texas film, but the offense was a mess. As a 19-year-old at Houston, Golden gave us some encouraging data points. Enough so that I’m willing to take his 2024 data with a grain of salt. He was great against man coverage during his freshman season and accounted for a whopping 60% of Houston’s receiving touchdowns when on the field during his sophomore season.

He took over at Texas to close out his junior season. He’s one of the youngest receivers in the draft and could develop into a pro who wins all over the field as a route-runner, ball-winner, and yards after catch creator. Feel free to doubt — the data certainly would tell you to — but do realize that there’s massive upside in Golden’s skill set.