This past fantasy football season was one for the record books in terms of rookie wide receivers. In PPR formats, five first-year receivers found their way inside the top 35 at the position in total points. Brian Thomas Jr. of the Jacksonville Jaguars was the WR4 overall, with Malik Nabers (WR6), Ladd McConkey (WR12), Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR30) and Xavier Worthy (WR33) not far behind.

Can the 2025 rookie wide receiver class top that level of production? The odds are against it, but there are still many intriguing prospects from the incoming class to consider for both dynasty and redraft leagues. The hype of a rookie class has become an annual tradition in fantasy football circles, but when you see what a talented crop of receivers can do as was the case in 2024, it’s clear the learning curve has gotten shorter for these first-year players.

A lot of variables will factor into the situation rookie wide receivers will face. Team context, offensive environment, depth charts, and injuries will all play a role. They must adjust to new teams, rule changes, and a faster-paced game speed. But 2024 showed that rookie wide receivers can succeed instantly for our fantasy teams.

Here are ten wide receiver prospects that could make an immediate impact on the 2025 fantasy football season.

Early Top 10 Rookie Wide Receivers

1) Tetairoa McMillan (WR – Arizona)

Considering his combination of size, athletic ability, and speed, there is likely no better wide receiver prospect in the 2025 draft than Tetairoa McMillan. As a junior at Arizona, he posted 84 receptions, 1,319 yards, and eight touchdowns, all of which were slightly down from his sophomore totals (90/1,402/10). Arizona was a mess on offense this year, but McMillan was a force to be reckoned with each week, even putting up a 300-yard, four-touchdown game this season. At 6’5″ and 212 pounds, McMillan is a Mike Evans clone who should be able to dominate smaller cornerbacks at the NFL level. His landing spot will be very interesting, but he has more of a chance to make an immediate impact than anyone on this list.

TETAIROA MCMILLAN NOW HAS FOUR TOUCHDOWNS AND 248 RECEIVING YARDS ????

IT’S ONLY THE THIRD QUARTER ???? pic.twitter.com/WD7u2uTluc

– ESPN (@espn) September 1, 2024

2) Luther Burden III (WR – Missouri)

I don’t know if Luther Burden necessarily wants to burn the tape from his 2024 junior season with Missouri, but he sure must be glad the tape from 2023 exists. After posting stellar numbers with 86 catches, 1,212 yards, and nine touchdowns in 2023, Burden took a major step back in 2024 with just 61 receptions, 676 yards, and six touchdowns. He does have the rushing component a la Deebo Samuel (nine rushes for 115 yards and two scores), and that multi-dimensionality will be very attractive to teams this season. At just 5’11”, Burden relies on his speed and yards after the catch ability to generate much of his production. He could very easily wind up as a slot receiver for a team like the Green Bay Packers, as was predicted in our latest NFL mock draft.

3) Travis Hunter (WR/CB – Colorado)

Will Travis Hunter play full-time wide receiver in the NFL? Only time will tell. He is a ready-to-start-now cornerback in the NFL after emerging as a shut-down corner the last two seasons. He also dominated on offense, racking up 92 receptions for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns. All of those were top-five numbers in the country in 2024, but the NFL is likely going to force him to spend the majority of his time on one side of the ball or another. Where he ends up could depend a lot on, well, where he ends up. Hunter’s next team is likely one of the most anticipated in this draft and whether or not they have a weakness in the secondary, at wide receiver, or both, might go a long way to determining where he spends most of his time as he begins his NFL career.

Travis Hunter = Tempo King

He manipulates his defenders with speed transitions, tempo, and footwork.

Special talent.pic.twitter.com/uGkOR4sn49

– Snoog’s Fantasy HQ (@FFSnoog) January 16, 2025

4) Isaiah Bond (WR – Texas)

Last year, it was 5’11”, 170-pound Xavier Worthy out of the University of Texas who entered the league and became a field-stretching, gadget wide receiver with an immediate impact. In 2025, it could be 5’11”, 180-pound Isaiah Bond out of the University of Texas who plays a similar role. Bond (while not record-breaking fast like Worthy) is a certified speedster and can benefit any team that needs a deep-threat wide receiver. Bond averaged 15.9 yards per reception in 2024 as well as 24.5 rushing yards per attempt on his four carries this year. Bond is unlikely to end up with Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback, but he has enough tricks in his bag to work with just about any signal-caller in the NFL.

5) Emeka Egbuka (WR – Ohio State)

Often overshadowed by his elite freshman teammate Jeremiah Smith, it’s Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka who has a chance to make a big splash on Sundays in 2025. It’s not Egbuka’s fault that he has had to play beside Smith this year and Marvin Harrison Jr. for two years before that. He still managed 81 receptions, 1,011 yards, and 10 touchdowns in the 2024 season and had fantastic after-the-catch ability. If those kinds of numbers are what he is putting up with number one receivers across the field from him, imagine what he might do on the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Carolina Panthers – teams in desperate need of a true WR1.

6) Xavier Restrepo (WR – Miami)

One of the older wide receiver prospects in the 2025 NFL draft will be Xavier Restrepo out of the University of Miami. After he was granted a COVID exception in 2021, Restrepo played in almost five full seasons, becoming the first Miami Hurricanes player to have back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2024. He finished the season with 69 receptions for 1,127 yards and 11 touchdowns. Despite being undersized at 5’10” and 195 pounds, Restrepo used his route-running and yards-after-the-catch ability to gain national attention and shoot up draft boards. He profiles as maybe a second or third-round pick this year but can be a productive possession receiver on any number of NFL teams.

One of my favorite prospects to study throughout the draft process has been Miami WR Xavier Restrepo.

We’ll see how much his size impacts his draft slot, but there is so much to like about his game.

His quickness, toughness, strength, competitiveness and clutch gene are all… pic.twitter.com/KmxLw5H5Bm

– Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 16, 2025

7) Tre Harris (WR – Ole Miss)

If I tell you Ole Miss wide receiver Tre Harris finished the season with 60 catches, 1,030 yards, and seven touchdowns, you would probably think that is some wonderful production in his final year before coming out in the NFL draft. But what if I told you he did all of that in just eight games, and in one of those games he had just one catch for 43 yards? Harris missed multiple games with hip and groin injuries, but in his first seven games of the season, he had at least seven receptions and 94 yards in six of them. At 6’3″ and 210 pounds, he is going to be a problem at the next level with his ball-hawk skills and amazing body control.

8 & 9) Evan Stewart and Tez Johnson (WRs – Oregon)

As the top two receivers on one of the consistently most dynamic offenses in the country, both Evan Stewart and Tez Johnson are climbing up draft boards and the pre-draft process takes shape. Tez Johnson left quite an interesting taste in NFL scouts’ mouths over his last two games. In a showdown with #3 Penn State on December 7th, Johnson busted them up for 11 catches, 181 yards, and a touchdown. But he followed that up with just five catches for 32 scoreless yards against Ohio State. Still, he has back-to-back seasons with at least 83 receptions and 10 touchdowns, so his NFL and fantasy profile is looking up. Evan Stewart played second fiddle to Johnson most of the year, but he was able to parlay a strong two years at Texas A&M into 48 catches for 613 yards and five touchdowns in 2024. At just 175 pounds, he might need to bulk up, but he looks like the frame of someone like Xavier Worthy and has the speed to back it up.

Oregon has a lot of talent at WR, headlined by Evan Stewart

Oregon’s WRs
-Evan Stewart (Speed, but also can go get 50/50 balls)
-Tez Johnson (Speedster)
–Traeshon Holden (Big body) pic.twitter.com/yZaAjo73Rq

– LandonTengwall (@landon_tengwall) December 5, 2024

10) Jalen Royals (WR – Utah State)

Never heard of Jalen Royals before? We won’t blame you. He played outside the Power 5 conferences at Utah State and played just seven games (going 1-6) in 2024 before his season ended with a foot injury. However, in those seven games, Royals posted 55 receptions, 834 yards, and six touchdowns. This was after a 2023 season where he had 1,080 yards and 15 touchdowns, earning All-Mountain West Honors that season. An All-State high jumper in high school, Royals has the athletic ability to gain separation and high-point the ball to win even when there is contact. Some NFL team who takes a chance on Royals on day three of the 2025 draft may come away with a steal of a player.