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The 2024-25 NFL season has come to an end after the Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, meaning it's time for the dynasty fantasy football offseason! It's always fun to analyze to incoming rookie class of fantasy skill players, so it's time to begin the preparation.
The last few NFL draft classes have brought in a plethora of wide receiver talent, but the 2025 NFL Draft class looks like one of the weaker years for the position. However, three of the big names at WR include Tetairoa McMillan, Luther Burden III, and Emeka Egbuka. The class may not be littered with elite wide receiver prospects, but there could still be game-changers in the first round of rookie drafts.
Below, we'll dive into the dynasty draft outlooks for the former Arizona, Missouri, and Ohio State pass-catchers.
Tetairoa McMillan Dynasty Fantasy Football Outlook
Choosing a WR with the second pick of rookie drafts in a weak class is philosophically a bad move if you think about it. The chance that he's not the best WR in the class is an idea that's scoffed at by many. The same could have been said for Marvin Harrison Jr. last year, and look how that turned out.
After hundreds of hours of film evaluation, I simply can't see why many are so high on him. His size is an asset, but it's being used to excuse the clear deficiencies in his game, and the idea that he'll be elite out of the gate is a bit ludicrous. He's just not an elite separator and is far too inconsistent for comfort.
Even if you focus on Tetairoa McMillan’s primary strengths, Travis Hunter STILL has him beat on paper (and film)
Contested-Catch win %
📌 Tet: 62.1%
📌 Travis: 68.8% ✅Drop %
📌 Tet: 8.7%
📌 Travis: 3.2% ✅ pic.twitter.com/T5v46QQqqC— SCOUTD (@scoutdnfl) December 16, 2024
It's telling that a guy who probably won't even primarily play WR at the next level is just straight-up better than TMac. And it's easy to get excited about him as the next Mike Evans, but I'm convinced that everyone who makes that comparison didn't watch Evans play college football at all. McMillan has upside, but his cost in dynasty drafts could be too rich.
Luther Burden III Dynasty Fantasy Football Outlook
Next on the list of overrated receivers in a weak class is Burden, who lacks a lot of skills that he desperately needs to succeed at the next level to the degree that would warrant this pick in rookie drafts. Burden's yards-after-catch ability is pretty impressive, but his route-running isn't.
One of the biggest flaws of NFL scouting is their tendency to selectively overrate players' route-running ability to retroactively fit consensus more. They did the same thing with New England Patriots wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk. Despite being hyped as the surefire WR1 for the Patriots, he barely saw the field because he was actually a non-factor.
Philosophically, taking a stand on certain players is better because consensus has hyped up massive busts. And at the wide receiver position, many of them share one common trait. That would be overrated route-running, and Burden's explosiveness out of his breaks simply doesn't inspire confidence. And in the NFL, contested catch opportunities are way harder to come down with. And his route isn't very fluid -- the wasted chop steps at the beginning of his routes don't fool defensive backs.
Boston College CB Amari Jackson keeping edge contain while taking on a Luther Burden III block 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/CEHnadBLoa
— Jake Rabadi (@JakeRabadiNFL) January 1, 2025
He's also a liability as a blocker. I wouldn't be surprised if Burden wasn't taken in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft or even if he fell to the third. He's not explosive enough out of his route breaks or savvy with his footwork. And what a WR does before the catch is far more important than what he does after. He will struggle against NFL defensive backs, as he had to be schemed open even against college DBs.
Emeka Egbuka Dynasty Fantasy Football Outlook
Egbuka is a slot wide receiver at the next level, and while he's being hyped up massively, he has the same problem Burden does -- lack of explosiveness out of his route breaks. The fantasy community hates the idea of a single stat being telling unless it's a stat they like or if it gives them confirmation bias, but both Egbuka and Burden's EPA/play were quite concerning. To see a WR like Oregon's Tez Johnson absolutely demolish them in this regard is concerning, though quarterback play has something to do with that, of course.
Emeka Egbuka trying (and failing) to fight through contact in the slot pic.twitter.com/lTXcvmoo1o
— Jackson Powers (@jpownfl) January 23, 2025
There are many who will say that this evaluation is too harsh, but we're talking about a top-5 pick in a rookie draft. You don't want a receiver who can't fight through slot contact and, more importantly, one who won't be able to play on the outside in the NFL. Egbuka doesn't have the slipperiness or the strength to stand up to decent outside cornerbacks in the big leagues.
He won't be the WR1 on most teams, and even if he was, they'd probably struggle mightily because of it. He's a slot guy. You don't want to spend such an expensive pick on a WR like that. Of course, most people prefer PPR scoring formats, so receivers have an advantage.
It's not like he's a bad player, but this year's WR class feels a lot like 2024's RB class. A lot of wash picks and maybe a gem or two late. The crop of pass-catchers in the early first round here would've all been ranked behind Harrison, Malik Nabers, and Rome Odunze. Throw in Ladd McConkey and Brian Thomas Jr. if scouts hadn't whiffed so hard on their evaluations of those two.
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