How to Spot the Next Puka Nacua: Late-Round Fantasy Football Picks With Star Potential

John breaks down the best 2025 fantasy football breakout stars who no one is paying attention to. These candidates have the potential to become fantasy gold.

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua was a fantasy football league winner out of nowhere in 2023. And if you read my "Rookie Report: Searching For League Winners" column after Week 3 of this past season, where I told you to buy Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. and Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving immediately, you could have gotten two league winners for 2024.

I predicted the exact date of Thomas' breakout -- Week 4 when he caught six passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. The evaluation process I use has been excellent at identifying breakout stars, and I refined it even further during the 2024-25 season.

This is one of the most important articles for dynasty fantasy football managers to read because all that effort and knowledge has been poured into evaluating the biggest breakout stars for the 2025 season. The next Nacua (and other Nacua-like players) are flying way under the radar. Read on if you want to know who he is.

• 2025 fantasy football rankings (redraft)
• Dynasty fantasy football rankings
• 2025 NFL rookie fantasy football rankings
• Best ball fantasy football rankings
• Quarterback fantasy football rankings
• Running back fantasy football rankings
• Wide receiver fantasy football rankings
• Tight end fantasy football rankings

How To Get League-Winning Players Late In Fantasy Football Drafts

The No. 1 way to do this is by identifying underrated rookies. You won't have to break down film or do analytics -- I'm here to do that for you. But I'll explain in detail why each player is here, at least. Still, the most important truth to leverage is that NFL scouting regularly gets it massively wrong. 

Just look at Nacua's case, for starters. There were telltale signs that he could be great in the NFL, but he was largely ignored. The biggest was his efficiency and targeted passer rating. You can see him sandwiched between a bunch of good NFL WRs.

YPRR and targeted passer rating vs zone coverage from college WRs since 2018

Puka Nacua is an interesting name at Rams camp pic.twitter.com/CLR6MGyLwK

— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) August 17, 2023

Players who smash efficiency metrics and consistently produce good outcomes when their team gets them the ball are excellent players to bet on. They don't always work out, but the hit rate is pretty impressive. And even before the 2024 NFL Draft, Marvin Harrison Jr. was identified as the best WR, but it turned out to be Brian Thomas Jr.

So, what's the point here? The point is that there are gems in most rookie classes that go almost completely ignored. It happens every year, and yet the lower-ranked players in draft classes are still written off as if they stink, or at least aren't great.

So, every year, assume that there are massively underrated rookies. Because there usually are. And that's how you get league-winning players in drafts -- first by accepting this truth, and second by reading below. And I will list the Big Three -- three running backs with league-winning potential.

League Winner No. 1: RB Dylan Sampson

This is a DEEP running back class. One of the best in a long time. Yet, the vast majority of the attention has been commanded by RB Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty is great, but his presence pushes down the rating of the other RBs. That's a bad philosophy to follow. There is a massive opportunity with this year's RBs.

The Colts need someone like Dylan Sampson (preferably Sampson himself) really, really badly pic.twitter.com/XLW9JZEVm1

— John (@colts_report) January 30, 2025

Tennessee Volunteers running back Dylan Sampson is a track star wearing a football uniform. He's capable of handling workhorse usage in the league and has almost everything you want in a running back. But even if he doesn't get 15-20 touches per game, he's a threat to take the ball to the house on every play.

Get Dylan Sampson involved in the passing game more.

Beautiful play-call pic.twitter.com/IyX1YcGtsm

— Landon Raby (@lambo_raby10) November 25, 2024

He's also a solid route runner, and offensive coordinators are probably already salivating at the idea of getting him the ball out of the backfield on passes and letting him turn it upfield for explosive gains. He broke his school records for rushing and was First Team All-SEC.

So, he's ridiculously underrated. Flag plant, he will win leagues in 2025. Thanks to Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, and Kaleb Johnson, Sampson is flying under the radar. That's just what happens when one position is very deep in the NFL Draft.

He has 4.3 speed. And long touchdowns are massive for fantasy football. Draft him in every redraft league you can.

League Winner No. 2: RB RJ Harvey

University of Central Florida Knights running back RJ Harvey finished his career at UCF as the best running back in the team's history. Here are his stats from the last two seasons:

2023: 226 carries, 1,416 yards (6.3 yards per carry), 16 rush TDs, 19 receptions for 238 yards and two touchdowns

2024: 232 carries, 1,577 rush yards (6.8 yards per carry), 22 rushing scores, 20 catches for 267 yards and three scores

RJ Harvey's breaking💥a rail for 75yds & 6. Dude rolls up breakaway plays among best RBs in #nfldraft2025.

📍827 breakaway yds (3rd)
📍52.4% bay/yds (4rd)

He's also met with *all* 32 teams including the #patriots & #steelers pic.twitter.com/RwbYLCxpR1

— ZeeBee (@BellinoZee) February 3, 2025

He is an elite NFL Draft prospect being hugely overshadowed by the guys above him. The logo on his helmet is the biggest reason for this. If he went to Ohio State or Alabama and put up numbers like this, he'd probably be the consensus RB2. The tape shows that his numbers are not a fluke.

Good morning

The nation’s leader in rushing yards at the end of this season will reside at UCF, and his name is RJ Harvey pic.twitter.com/IJ1jzipTLS

— jeremy chandler taché (@jeremytache) August 30, 2024

It's very difficult to find holes in his game. He has great size for the position, can handle a large workload, shows fantastic burst, lateral agility, and acceleration, and has the jets to take plays to the house. He is a ridiculous steal in redraft leagues, and can easily finish in the top 10 of RBs this season in the right situation.

Knight Nation, We need to fill the house on Black Friday to send off RJ Harvey. He deserves a loud crowd on his Senior Knight.

He could have left this program the last 2 offseasons & stayed to be a legend here. He’ll leave with the best RB career at UCF.pic.twitter.com/8WWsgQSKmQ

— ⚔️Sidelines - UCF⚔️ (@SSN_UCF) November 24, 2024

Harvey's agility stands out. He's very shifty and often makes great plays when he looks dead to rights. And he's an elite athlete. He doesn't have Sampson's speed, but he'll probably run a 4.45-ish 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

He is hilariously underrated right now. In redraft, you can probably snag him late because he'll likely be mostly ignored.

League Winner No. 3 and the Biggest Sleeper: RB Bhayshul Tuten

As I was nearing the end of my film study for running back prospects, I saw former Virginia Tech Hokies running back Bhayshul Tuten ranked around the 14th spot in 2025 running back prospect ranking lists. After watching his tape, I was stunned. He might be the most underrated prospect I have ever seen in my years of following the NFL Draft.

Tuten is a complete back. He has elite speed, is incredibly difficult to tackle, has the best curvilinear acceleration of any RB in his class, can reach speeds of over 21 mph, is extremely shifty, and like the backs before him on this list, has no issue with a heavy workload.

I see a lot of this in Bhayshul Tuten. Big reason I'm so high on him. pic.twitter.com/C2w0Mjaode

— Jordan W (@hillarambe) January 19, 2025

Tuten's ability to transition from a horizontal run to exploding upfield and shocking the linebackers with his elite speed turns this play into a long score. His explosive athleticism will translate immediately to the next level, and if he's given the chance, he will bust off long plays and scores in the league this year.

Pretty cool to see @bhayshul Tuten make some #HokieHistory last night! #Hokies pic.twitter.com/o7CzpWZRSa

— Clark Ruhland (@Hokie20) October 18, 2024

The fantasy football community will be shocked at how he performs in 2025, if he doesn't get injured, of course. I've never been so stunned at the disrespect a player has gotten. But it's probably a symptom of the logo on his helmet, yet again. Tuten didn't go to a big-name school.

Bhayshul Tuten. Better wrap up and better not let him hit you first. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/WV7QgizlWw

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 2, 2024

Tuten's ability to shrug off direct hits and immediately reaccelerate and burn the entire defense is hilariously good. He's an elite running back who also happens to be a track star -- he's projected to run in the 4.3s at the NFL Combine. You cannot let him slide through your fingers in redraft.

He has the potential for a Bucky Irving-type breakout season, just like the two RBs before him on this list.

League-Winning Draft Strategy For 2025

Draft these three players. Lean into the best athletes from deep position groups. That would have gotten you Ladd McConkey and Brian Thomas Jr., two fantastic WRs from last year's draft class. This year, do it with the running backs. Also, draft SMU RB Brashard Smith because he's a stud as well. Until next time.

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