Fantasy football analyst Scott Pianowski takes a snapshot of every NFL team from the NFC.
Go here for the AFC takes.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
NFC South
New Orleans Saints
Alvin Kamara is one of several veteran running backs who outkicked expectations last year. But maybe it’s time to stop putting our chips on his number. Kamara steps into an age-30 season, and he’s tied to a substandard offensive line and an inexperienced quarterback room. Kamara has also had trouble scoring touchdowns (he has seldom used for the chippies) and staying healthy in recent years (he’s played a full season just once since turning pro). Unless my fantasy football draft rooms offer a major discount on Kamara, I’ll note the actuary curves and sit this one out.
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Carolina Panthers
Bryce Young looked like a lost cause in his rookie season and was benched early in his sophomore campaign, but things took a positive turn down the stretch last year. Young posted a 92.3 quarterback rating and 6.9 YPA over his final seven starts, solid numbers when you consider how thin the Panthers were at receiver. Young also tacked on five rushing touchdowns, making him the QB6 for this period. Young seems to be meshing with offensive mind Dave Canales, and touted rookie WR Tetairoa McMillan has been added to the passing game. Young deserves sleeper consideration in 2025.
Atlanta Falcons
The longer I play fantasy football the more I want my rosters to skew younger, so I get the best part of a player’s career. Bijan Robinson is an appealing pick in his age-23 season, after outscoring all the backs over the final 12 weeks last year. It took new OC Zac Robinson some time to figure out Robinson’s best usage last year; he’s there now. I realize Robinson is high on everyone’s board, but he enters the summer as my RB1, the best of the backfield targets. I’m happy to pass on Saquon Barkley’s mileage (the workload last year is especially worrisome) and take a back who’s five years younger.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers can’t be that worried about Chris Godwin’s return from ankle surgery — they gave him a three-year deal in March, after all. But the team also isn’t guaranteeing that Godwin will be ready to play Week 1. The Yahoo draft market has kept Godwin in the top 80, which might be optimistic given the crowding in this passing game — Mike Evans is still here, Emeka Egbuka was drafted in the first round and Jalen McMillan had moments in his rookie season. It’s also worth noting that Godwin has not been a dynamic touchdown scorer with Baker Mayfield, spiking a modest seven times over their 24 games together. Unless the draft price comes down, I’ll be avoiding Godwin in August.
NFC West
Arizona Cardinals
Kyler Murray’s touchdown rate has been below league average for three years running, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Murray is obviously an undersized quarterback and there are some red-zone throws that he struggles to complete. And while Murray remains a dynamic runner when the mood strikes him, he’s not a heavy-volume player in that regard — he averages a useful but modest 33.1 rushing yards per game over the past four seasons. There are so many interesting quarterback options on the 2025 board, I’m not going to talk myself into a player I don’t completely trust. Murray is not a target for me this summer.
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Seattle Seahawks
Early Yahoo drafters are treating Kenneth Walker as the RB16. I’m not interested at that price. The Seahawks have a substandard offensive line, and Zach Charbonnet was a more efficient runner and receiver than Walker last season. Walker has also missed multiple games due to injury in each of his three pro seasons. I’ll think about Charbonnet in the later rounds, or skip this backfield altogether.
San Francisco 49ers
The market doesn’t know what to do with Christian McCaffrey this year, and I understand. He’s currently the RB4 in Yahoo ADP, typically going in that 10-13 range overall. McCaffrey has missed more than half the season in three of his past five years, but in his past four healthy seasons, he’s been the RB3, RB1, RB2 and RB1 in basic fantasy scoring. It’s ironic that McCaffrey played just four games last year while most of the other signature backs in the league were shockingly healthy. Bottom line, McCaffrey is the biggest boom-or-bust pick in the league. Do you feel lucky?
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Los Angeles Rams
It’s important to recognize when a fantasy candidate has more or less real-life value than fantasy value; you need to mind that gap. Puka Nacua could be one of those guys, perhaps more valuable in the real world. The Rams haven’t unlocked Nacua as a touchdown scorer (just 10 in 31 career games, including the playoffs), and they had little success with Nacua around the goal last year. And now Davante Adams joins the offense, a player put on the Earth to score touchdowns. Nacua also has more injury risk than the average player — he missed six games last year, and all four of his college seasons were injury-riddled. I understand the upside of Nacua — if healthy, he has a fair chance to lead the league in receptions. But he’s currently commanding around a top-10 pick in Yahoo leagues, and I won’t sign off on that.
NFC East
New York Giants
Malik Nabers is currently the WR7 off the board in Yahoo drafts. The market might be missing an opportunity here. New York’s quarterback room is complicated, but at least things are upgraded from last year’s medley of Daniel Jones, Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito. And the Brian Daboll scheme will force the ball to its best players — Nabers was second in the NFL in targets last year despite missing two games. Normally the goal with your early picks is to target the best players on the best teams, but Nabers is likely too big to fail. If you sneak him in the second half of your first round, you’ve done well.
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Dallas Cowboys
Injuries have been common with Dak Prescott in recent seasons — he’s missed 25 games the past five years — and perhaps it’s obscuring what’s possible. Consider that he was the QB2 in 2019, QB7 in 2021 and QB3 in 2023, the year he finished second in the MVP voting. The supporting cast looks appealing; the Cowboys have an elite wideout in CeeDee Lamb and now a dynamic No. 2 in George Pickens — if Pickens is OK in that role. Jake Ferguson isn’t a bad tight end. And perhaps Prescott will have to throw liberally, given a defense that was 24th in DVOA last year, and a running game that looks pedestrian on paper. Prescott is currently the No. 14 quarterback in Yahoo ADP, and has the potential to smash that ranking.
Washington Commanders
Deebo Samuel Sr. was a first-team All-Pro receiver back in 2021, but that feels like a lifetime ago. He’s missed chunks of time in the past three seasons (he was also hurt for most of 2020) and the 49ers practically gave him away in a trade, recouping just a fifth-round pick from Washington. I still expect Terry McLaurin to be the featured target here — the contract stuff should work itself out — and I’m not betting on Samuel onboarding quickly to his new team. Although Samuel’s ADP has slipped just outside the Yahoo top 100, I still can’t view him as a proactive pick.
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Philadelphia Eagles
Saquon Barkley’s season has ‘outlier’ stamped all over it, with 15 touchdowns coming from an astounding average of 29.4 yards. The Eagles didn’t give Barkley a single touchdown from the 1-yard line — that’s Jalen Hurts’ territory — and Barkley remarkably kept hitting those glorious home runs. But 5.8 YPCs are always poor bets to repeat (De’Von Achane waves hello) and Barkley might have trouble staying healthy after handling a ridiculous 482 touches last season. Pricing in some regression is the prudent play; let’s not forget that Barkley missed multiple games in each of the five seasons preceding his move to Philadelphia.
NFC North
Chicago Bears
The market has been cool to Colston Loveland so far, and I think that’s the right call. Although Sam LaPorta and Brock Bowers both had dynamic rookie years in the past two seasons, it’s likely a mistake to apply their success to the Chicago situation. Consider that Loveland steps into a crowded situation for pass catchers (the Bears have a slew of good wideouts and even a respectable other tight end in Cole Kmet). And we still need some proof that Caleb Williams can play in this league — he had a horrible sack problem last year, and generally sack problems are mostly about the quarterback, not other things. Even if I wind up drafting two tight ends on some roster builds, Loveland is not a player I’m targeting.
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Green Bay Packers
There is always talent in the Green Bay receiver room. But do the Packers want to lean into a featured receiver? That hasn’t been the case in recent years. No Green Bay pass-catcher has gone past 100 targets since Davante Adams left town. Until I see usage changes from Matt LaFleur — a play-designer I do respect, by the way — I can’t draft any of these wideouts proactively, though I don’t mind the current market price on splash-play tight end Tucker Kraft.
Minnesota Vikings
Obviously J.J. McCarthy is all over this preview; let me quickly add that I expect him to beat his global ADP of QB20. I’d follow Kevin O’Connell into a burning building, and Minnesota’s pass-catching rooms are brimming with talent.
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Another value target is Jordan Mason, the new backup running back. Mason is about five years younger than Aaron Jones, and is 15 pounds heavier. It’s possible Mason could become this team’s short-yardage specialist, and Mason looked like a potential feature back during his time in San Francisco (5.3 YPC). The depth chart is thin after Jones and Mason — the Vikings probably envision Mason holding a notable role no matter what becomes of Jones. Mason isn’t cheap (his Yahoo ADP is just outside the top 100) but he’s still a proactive pick for me.
Detroit Lions
The market gets nervous when someone like Ben Johnson leaves Detroit, but Jared Goff is a tenured quarterback in Detroit — he’s essentially a coordinator for this offensive unit. Goff isn’t going to forget what’s worked with Amon-Ra St. Brown the last four years. The Sun God lost some volume last year but made it for it with a spike in his touchdown rate. But even if he regresses to the 2022 touchdown rate, we’re still talking about a player with a very high floor. I have no problem paying the sticker on St. Brown, which is somewhere in the 9-12 range in most Yahoo leagues.