One of the best ways to get an edge over the competition in fantasy football is by taking the time to dig into the rookie class that will be pouring into player pools in between seasons. It can be extremely beneficial to know the molds of each important player and how quickly and effectively their game may or may not translate to the NFL. Some players may thrive better in certain systems or wind up in landing spots that don’t have as clear a path to fantasy success as others. Being in the know on which players have the ability to be a significant contributor on day one is a golden ticket to winning your leagues on draft day. Here, I’m going through the top wide receivers in this year’s draft class and seeing who may be the best for fantasy football out the gate. While it may not be as deep at the top as last year’s draft class, there are ton of exciting pass-catching prospects coming out of the 2025 NFL Draft, many of which will be significant fantasy football contributors as soon as Week 1.

#1 Travis Hunter – Colorado

Player Comp: Justin Jefferson | Landing Spot: New York Giants

Boy, do I hope we get to see Travis Hunter unleashed as an Avengers-level threat on the offensive side of the ball. Even if he was drafted solely as a receiver, without the two-way upside, he would most likely still be the first WR taken in the draft. Hunter was an absolute shredder out wide, averaging 97 yards per game and scoring a whopping 15 touchdowns this season. He has ridiculous footwork to go with the ball-hawking skills at the catch point that has the potential to rival the greats in the NFL. He often feels like he’s playing a foot taller than his six-foot frame, and he is like water as a route-runner. It’s mouth-watering to consider what he would be able to accomplish as a full-time wide receiver in the NFL. Hunter will have top-10 fantasy WR upside in 2025 if he ends up taken by somebody hoping to play him on offense full-time.

#2 Tetairoa McMillan – Arizona

Player Comp: Drake London | Landing Spot: Las Vegas Raiders

Depending on where Hunter goes and how much he actually plays wideout in his future NFL home, Tetairoa McMillan would be a worthy WR1 for this rookie class. In what has been described by some as a lacking WR draft class, T-Mac stands head and shoulders above the other full-time pass-catchers on this list. He just turned 22 years old and has a monstrous frame at 6’5” that gives him a ridiculous catch radius. He is absolutely a go-to target who should be locked and loaded as a team’s WR1 on day one of the 2025 NFL season. McMillan’s got long strides and ran a respectable 4.54 40-time, and has enough speed to pull away from defenders down the field. He is great at playing mind games with defenders while route running by manipulating the timing of his routes to get separation. Many draft analysts have him as a top-10 player in the draft, and any player getting that capital should be a Day-1 contributor.

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#3 Emeka Egbuka – Ohio State

Player Comp: Tyler Boyd | Landing Spot: Washington Commanders

Arguably the safest pick among the wideouts listed is Emeka Egbuka, who made a collegiate career as the number two option for the Buckeyes’ pass attack. In virtually any landing spot he could end up at, he’s going to be glued to the field from the jump. He mostly played as a complementary wideout behind the likes of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Jeremiah Smith, and should be more of a missing piece to someone’s offense, rather than expected to suddenly become an alpha WR in the pros. While he lacks a standout elite trait, he does everything well and has no major concerns in his game. He’s a savvy route runner with crisp footwork and has the IQ to freestyle a bit, finding gaps back toward his quarterback, but just lacks some of that explosiveness to elevate his ceiling. I think he be a player a tier above the calibre that Boyd is, though, for lack of a better comp.

#4 Luther Burden III – Mizzou

Player Comp: Brandon Aiyuk | Landing Spot: Denver Broncos

The last player in this tier of fringe-first round talents, Luther Burden III is one of the best in the class with the ball in has hands after the catch, possessing great instincts when weaving through defenders and making guys miss. He is talented enough to manufacture touches for to give the offense a spark, and it feels like he could take any given touch to the house. He was primarily a slot guy, finding success doing so, running 81% of his routes out of the slot in 2024. I would argue he could’ve had an even better season, as there were a handful of instances where had his guy beat on should-be moon ball touchdowns, but his quarterback couldn’t hit him on target.

#5 Matthew Golden – Texas

Player Comp: Jordan Addison | Landing Spot: Seattle Seahawks

One of the biggest NFL prospects to see their draft stock soar after the NFL combine was Texas’ Matthew Golden, who ran a blistering 4.29 40-yard dash at his test day. He doesn’t have the greatest hands in the world, but he is often the fastest player on the field and possesses some solid route-running chops. One of his biggest drawbacks is that he has a lackluster statistical profile across his college career, second-worst among first-round WRs taken in the last five seasons. He averaged 63 yards per game, dwarfed by the averages of the other wideouts on this list, but he was outstanding down the stretch vs. stiff competition in the college football playoffs. He made great strides as a collegiate wideout, but he is more of a boom-bust candidate for me, though I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if he wound up breaking out in a heartbeat.

#6 Kyle Williams – Washington State

Player Comp: Jayden Reed | Landing Spot: New England Patriots

Someone I’m buying into in a big way in this pre-draft process is Kyle Williams out of Washington State. He played as the X receiver for the Cougars’ offense despite lacking the size typically embodied by an X WR, and he could benefit in a big way from lining up more in the slot in the league. He is a phenomenal separator and has the motor to sustain it down the field, too. His talent jumps off the film, succeeding vs. the toughest of coverages and even forcing 20 missed tackles after the catch last season. He’s got a great twitch and footwork to perform great breaks in his routes, and also is a vertical demon as one of the best receivers 20+ yards downfield in 2024. Per Underdog’s Hayden Winks, he had the most 20+ MPH plays in college football last season. He’s a bit of a late bloomer with five years in college, but he has few knocks in his game and would not surprise me to see him hit the ground running in the NFL.

#7 Jayden Higgins – Iowa State

Player Comp: Rome Odunze | Landing Spot: Green Bay Packers

The X receiver out of Iowa State is a hulking 6’4″ wideout that has arguably the best hands in the class, possessing just a 3.3% drop rate in 2024. He generates separation with a quick jab step or hesitation moves, but he could use some work on his footwork at the top of his routes. He lacks some elusiveness, but with pure physicality and focus he’s able to come down with difficult deep balls or back shoulder catches at a great clip. Despite being a great contested catch player, he does a good job at shielding his body from contact, though his play style could lead to more bumps and bruises than some of the speedsters in the class. Overall, he has great upside, and his reliable hands and large frame should make him a craved receiver in the early second round of the NFL Draft.

#8 Jack Bech – TCU

Player Comp: Chris Godwin  | Landing Spot: Jacksonville Jaguars

One of the most well-rounded wide receivers in this year’s draft class, Jack Bech out of TCU has a pro-ready profile that should give him something of a production floor in his rookie season. He offers some positional versatility, in that he lined up extensively as a tight end, slot receiver and out wide in different seasons of his college career, though he figures to be more of a slot WR in the NFL. He has great footwork on his routes, despite not being the fastest in-class as signaled by his lack of 40-yard dash testing. Bech has good, reliable hands, and while he does most of his damage within the intermediate and short areas of the field, he has exceptional focus to come down with tough targets down the field. I could easily envision Bech as a missing piece of an ascending offense and act as a great compliment that could even outproduce some number-one receivers around the league.

#9 Jaylin Noel – Iowa State

Player Comp: Christian Kirk | Landing Spot: Minnesota Vikings

I fell in love with some of Noel’s highlight plays when watching his tape, and while I wanted to move him higher on this list, I had to come to terms with some of the drawbacks to his game that might make him less of a safe pick than those I wound up placing ahead of him. He is a dog that plays bigger than his size at times, coming down with some ridiculous contested catches downfield, through traffic with multiple defenders in the area. He benefitted from some awesome testing at the NFL combine, and he’s versatile enough to play out wide on top of his near-perfect build for the slot. Noel is a crisp route-runner, though he could sometimes be a little too deterred by some physicality from opposing DBs that can defuse his routes quickly, and there are concerns that this could be even more glaring against pro-level defensive backs..

#10 Tre Harris – Ole Miss

Player Comp: Quentin Johnston | Landing Spot: Houston Texans

Jaxson Dart’s top target in 2024 at Ole Miss was Tre Harris, who’s now slated to likely find himself drafted on day two of the NFL Draft. He’s more of a vertical field stretcher that can easily level up his potential by expanding his route tree. He may be among the more unpolished WRs in this class, but he’s an ascending talent who will probably end up boosting his production towards the end of the season and be a more appealing 2026 draft choice than this year. Harris has unique size for someone who does most of his work vertically, standing at 6’3” and weighing 210 lbs. I love Harris as a great upside swing, but he’s not as probable to wind up making a fantasy football impact out the gate.