Rank's Flex 150

Fantasy football flex rankings after NFL draft: Ashton Jeanty, Travis Hunter among 16 rookies in top 150

Published: May 01, 2025 at 07:59 AM

RANKING TIERS

Nos. 1-50
Nos. 51-100
Nos. 101-150

FLEX RANKINGS: 1-50

I'm expecting a lot of you to be hesitant about drafting Eagles RB Saquon Barkley first overall this year because you think there's no way he's going to be able to replicate his 2024 season. You might think Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase would be a safer choice after he scored the most fantasy points of any non-QB last season. Here's the thing: A player hasn't finished as the WR1 in back-to-back seasons since Antonio Brown did in 2014-2015. We've seen a running back go back-to-back as No. 1 more recently than that (Todd Gurley, 2017-2018), and Christian McCaffrey just missed doing so in 2022-2023. If there are other reasons, you're going to avoid Barkley, that's cool. I'm still going to keep him in the top spot.
I might have Puka Nacua higher than most, but he's a first-rounder. Sean McVay's offense will aways be able to support two WR1s, but there is going to be one alpha. That is going to be Nacua. The offseason addition of Davante Adams won't push me off this position. In fact, I'm even more locked in.
I'm almost second-guessing how low I have Ladd McConkey. He could be even better this season despite the return of Mike Williams and the second-round selection of Tre Harris. I believe having additional weapons on the field is going to open it up for McConkey this season.
Folks tried to bully me away from Kyren Williams last year, and then he finished as the fantasy RB7. Blake Corum could end up being more of a factor in Year 2, but Williams is an easy call for me in the second round.
Chase Brown was on my preseason list last year and he took advantage of his opportunity when Zack Moss suffered an injury early in the season. The Bengals didn't draft a running back until Round 6 (Tahj Brooks) this year, so -- for the time being – Brown appears to be the three-down back in Cincinnati. That's huge. Unless the Bengals sign Nick Chubb or something. Sorry, that's not even fun to talk about for people rostering Brown.
I'll be looking to add Tyreek Hill to my roster this season. I'd prefer to have him as my WR2 to insulate myself a little in case he doesn't get back to posting the production we expected from him last season. I'm hopeful the Dolphins can get the most out of him again.
De’Von Achane's production was great last year. He was the fantasy RB5 and carried the Dolphins' offense at times. He's a small running back, though, at 5-foot-9 and 188 pounds, so I'm wondering if he'll be able to maintain the same workload and efficiency. There is a chance Achane's volume won't be quite what it was a year ago, which pushes him down just a touch.
George Kittle signed an extension with the 49ers this week. Interesting that they waited until after the draft -- in which the Bears selected Michigan TE Colston Loveland 10th overall -- to make that official. The conspiracy theorist in me always was hoping Kittle would end up playing for Chicago in 2025. He was the fantasy TE3 in 2024, but didn't seem to get a lot of recognition from fans for it. I'm not talking about you, of course. You obviously know ball, but a lot of other people overlooked him.
Many Bears fans had their hearts set on drafting Ashton Jeanty this year. He ended up going to the Raiders at No. 6, four picks before Chicago was on the clock, and that's good news for D’Andre Swift. The players competing for snaps behind Swift are Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, Ian Wheeler and seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai. I'm sure you're surprised I didn't have Monangai much higher than No. 150, but I'm trying to be realistic. Trying.

The Kansas City Chiefs didn't draft a running back until Round 7 (Brashard Smith) this year. Isiah Pacheco could be in for a huge bounce-back season.
I thought the Giants would be one of the potential suitors for Ashton Jeanty this year. I even had him going to the G-Men in my mock on what teams should have done in Round 1. They drafted Abdul Carter instead. I'm not hurt. A lot of you screamed "What about Tyrone Tracy Jr.?" at me, and I love him. I had him on my fantasy rosters, too. He's going to be the RB1 for the Giants in 2025.
I was one of the few who mocked an offensive player to the Jaguars during the pre-draft process, so I love that they traded up for Travis Hunter. Like, this is what the Jags need the most right now. They need more offensive weapons (and Hunter can help on defense, too!). I'm sure Hunter is going to come off the fantasy boards higher than I have him ranked right now. And I'm cool with that. I'm not going to talk you out of it. But I did love the move by Jacksonville. The Jaguars need to do everything they can to get the most out of Trevor Lawrence.
I'm curious to see what happens with Sam LaPorta in 2025. He averaged nearly 14 fantasy points per game from Weeks 10-18 after a relatively quiet first half of the season, at least by his standards. I can still see him flourishing for the Lions despite the departure of Ben Johnson.
I was a big Bucky Irving guy last year, and you screamed at me about it. I appreciate all of you who apologized. Both of you. I'm ready to go to bat for Broncos second-round running back RJ Harvey this year.
Somebody was telling me the other day that Deebo Samuel will greatly benefit from playing in Kliff Kingsbury's offense. And that's fine. But let's remember Samuel played for Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco. It's not like he was playing for a defense-oriented head coach or something. I wanted Deebo to be great last year, and it never happened. I hope the change in scenery helps him and he flourishes.