As we enter the final week of the regular season, most fantasy football seasons are (hopefully) over and glancing eye is already looking ahead to the possibilities of 2025. In the final Fantasy Football Market Report of the season, we look at the players whose value is going to rise or fall the most from where they were selected a year earlier as their situations are going to increase or implode.
A significantly larger investment will be required for some next year. An as-is fire sale goes on for others.
Fantasy football risers
Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix – Nix was available on the waiver wire at midseason. That’s going to change. In his last seven games, Nix has thrown 17 TD passes and has the Broncos knocking on the door of the playoffs. He was slammed as being a reach pick by the Broncos at the end of April’s QB draft feeding frenzy, but Nix had the last laugh. With a full offseason to grow, Sean Payton will have a dangerous dual threat at his disposal (hopefully with a skill-position talent upgrade).
Jacksonville Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr. – With all the fanfare given to rookie wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze, Thomas was somewhat forgotten. He quickly made benching him difficult, even with some big names in front of him on fantasy depth charts. Thomas became more a factor as the year went on (80 catches for 1,179 yards and 10 TDs), and his ceiling is as high as any of his draft class next time around.
Cincinnati Bengals RB Chase Brown – On draft day 2024, Brown and free-agent signee Zack Moss were viewed as interchangeable. After taking over the starting job in Week 4, Brown is posting Joe Mixon-type numbers. In his last 13 games, Brown rushed 215 times for 886 yards, caught 49 passes for 341 yards, and scored 11 touchdowns. It will be difficult to keep him from being a RB1 next year.
Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers – First-round rookie tight ends are always a dice roll, but Bowers has lived up to all the hype. He needed just 16 games to catch 108 passes for 1,100 yards with seven or more catches in eight of them – doing it with one of the worst quarterback rooms in the league. He is a cornerstone player to build an offense around and has gone from a high TE2 as a rookie to a favorite to be the first off the board in 2025.
Los Angeles Chargers WR Ladd McConkey – Drafted to be a back-of-the-bench WR5 as a rookie, McConkey has been the epitome of consistency. In 14 games, he has caught 77 passes for 1,054 yards and seven touchdowns. In his last 11 games, McConkey reeled in five or more passes in nine of them and had 83 or more receiving yards in five of his last six games. In 2025, he’ll be drafted to be a weekly starter, not a plug-and-play guy.
Fantasy football fallers
San Francisco 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey – When you’re the No. 1 fantasy pick and blow a tire, there’s nowhere to go but down. McCaffrey played just four games after starting the year on injured reserve and wasn’t effective when he played, rushing 50 times for 202 yards and catching 15 passes for 146 yards with no TDs. He killed more when in the lineup than not being an option. If healthy, CMC remains a premium pick, but nobody who took him this year will take a second bite.
Los Angeles Rams WR Cooper Kupp – Kupp disappeared late in the season and crippled fantasy teams. He’s due $20 million in base salary and roster bonuses next year, and there is no guarantee the Rams are going to continue pay premium money for a player with markedly diminishing returns. His dead-cap number drops from $52 million to $22 million in 2025, and the Rams may just move on.
Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud – Stroud was a top-six fantasy quarterback on draft day 2024 following an impressive rookie season. He has thrown just nine touchdowns in his last 10 games and brings little as a runner – less than 20 ground yards in 12 of 16 games and no rushing TDs. When Stroud’s receiving corps is healthy, he will get drafted but as a mid-QB2 with upside, not a QB1.
Atlanta Falcons TE Kyle Pitts – When will people learn that Pitts is poison? He’s been drafted as TE 1 in all four of his NFL seasons and has scored just 10 touchdowns. Atlanta picked up his fifth-year option, and someone will buy the snake oil again with Michael Penix Jr. appearing to be the immediate future. Hopefully, not you. Ask anyone who has ever had Pitts on their roster if they’d do it again? If you hear “yes,” don’t respect their opinions on anything.
Seattle Seahawks WR DK Metcalf – He’s never been a high-volume receiver, but his athleticism has made Metcalf a WR2 the entirety of his career. However, in his last six games, he fell off the table, catching just 21 passes for 301 yards and one touchdown. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the WR1 in Seattle, and it’s hard to justify an $18 million base salary for a No. 2 receiver in an offense that isn’t prolific. He may be trade bait in the offense.
