2025 NFL Draft: Top Fantasy Veteran Winners & Losers Round 1
The first round of the 2025 NFL Draft has reshaped the fantasy football landscape. Many rookie landing spots will have an instant impact on veteran players. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the biggest veteran winners and losers for fantasy football based on their landing spots. Continue reading for our top 2025 NFL Draft fantasy football veteran winners and losers.
Fantasy Football Veteran Winners
We are just 32 picks into the 2025 NFL Draft and the fantasy football landscape has already shifted. Some rookie picks were drafted into ideal fantasy spots and some simply didn’t. Round 1 saw many key developments that will impact fantasy rookie drafts moving forward heading toward the 2025 fantasy football season.
Let’s go over which veteran were winners and which ones were losers after round 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Trevor Lawrence – Quarterback, Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars made an eye popping trade at the draft when they acquired the 2nd overall pick from the Cleveland Browns, where they subsequently drafted dual-threat and uber talented Travis Hunter out of the University of Colorado. I wish any team’s secondary the best of luck next year trying to game plan and stop Brian Thomas Jr. and now Travis Hunter.
Furthermore, let’s not forget that Lawrence is only 25 years old and has a QB8 and QB13 finish in his short career. Yeah, we are definitely back on the Lawrence bandwagon.
Caleb Williams – Quarterback, Chicago Bears
Last year the Bears drafted receiver Rome Odunze and signed free-agent Keenan Allen. This year they drafted extremely talented tight end Colston Loveland from the University of Michigan with the 10th overall pick. Clearly, the Bears are trying to surround their franchise quarterback and 2024 1st overall pick with offensive weapons to be successful. Along with fortifying their offensive line this past off-season.
Bryce Young – Quarterback, Carolina Panthers
Like the Bears, the Panthers are trying to surround their 2023 1st overall pick with offensive weapons. Last year the Panthers traded back into the first round and drafted Xavier Legette with the 32nd pick. Needless to say, Legette did not have a good year in 2024. This year, the Panthers drafted Arizona Wildcat Tetairoa McMillan with the 8th overall pick.
Notably, at 6’5″, over 210 pounds, McMillan presents a match up nightmare for any secondary in the league. Additionally, he is a typical X receiver and will give the Panthers and Young a potential alpha receiver.
Keep in mind, that last year from Weeks 12-18 Young showed a massive improvement as we was the QB6 during that span.
Jaylen Warren – Running Back, Pittsburgh Steelers
With the 21st overall selection, the Steelers did not draft a quarterback (as was rumored) nor a running back. They don’t have a draft pick until round 3 with the 83rd pick overall.
Furthermore, odds are TreVeyon Henderson, Kaleb Johnson and Quinshon Judkins will be drafted before the Steelers 3rd round pick. Even if the Steelers do draft a day 2 back in the third round or even a day 3 back, at worst Warren is in a timeshare. Even then, he has the advantage of already knowing the playbook and having that comfort level with the players and coaches.
Warren only signed a one year contract in the offseason and may not be in the Steelers’ long term plans. However, this is a victory for now and for this year in fantasy football leagues.
Fantasy Football Veteran Losers
Najee Harris – Running Back, Los Angeles Chargers
Najee Harris may not have been part of the Chargers plans after the 2025 season considering he only signed a one year deal in the offseason, but the drafting of North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton with the 22nd overall pick, all but seals Harris’ fate.
If Ashton Jeanty was not part of this rookie class, it would be Hampton who would have been considered the top back in the 2025 draft. Hampton is a bruising back who can also catch passes out of the backfield. To begin, Harris may very well be the Week 1 starter for the Chargers. However, it won’t take Hampton long to show why he is a first round pick and to eventually usurp Harris in the backfield.
Jalen McMillan – Wide Receiver, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
In a surprising and perplexing move, the Buccaneers drafted talented Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka. To be honest, I could have put any of the Buccaneers’ receivers on this list – Mike Evans and Chris Godwin included. Egbuka and Godwin’s skillsets overlap as they both play out of the slot.
However, Godwin signed a three year contract with the team and isn’t going anywhere and Evans plays as the X receiver in this offense. Who would that make the odd man out? That would be the 2024 3rd round pick Jalen McMillan. Which is unfortunate considering he emerged during the later half of last season. From Weeks 14-18 McMillan was the WR5 averaging 15 fantasy points per game.
Cole Kmet – Tight End, Chicago Bears
In 2023, Cole Kmet finished the season as the TE6. There was hope that in 2024 Kmet would take a step forward. Unfortunately, that did not happen with Kmet struggling all season. Notably, he surpassed 6 fantasy points only four times last year. Heading into the 2025 season, there was mild optimism that with quarterback Caleb Williams entering his second season and with an offensive minded head coach in Ben Johnson, that Kmet would rebound into a top 12 tight end.
Well, the Chicago Bears (to the surprise of many) used their 10th overall pick to draft the tight end out of Michigan, Colston Loveland. Kmet should still play many snaps as he is the superior blocking tight end. However, Loveland will clearly dominate the passing down snaps. This makes Kmet one of my biggest losers from the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Trending Now
