NFL Expert Picks: Best Late-Round Targets for Fantasy Football Drafts

By the end of our drafts, our leaguemates are spaced out.

They're onto the next thing, thinking about that errand they need to run or the snack they're about to grab.

Not us, friends.

We're locked in, scraping for upside and trying to identify the guy who can carry us to glory down the stretch.

Which late-round picks should be on our mind as the rounds wind down?

We polled the FanDuel Research staff for their favorite picks who are currently outside the top 150 in consensus half-PPR average draft position (ADP) at FantasyPros. Here's who they're targeting to try to separate late.

Best Late-Round Fantasy Football Draft Picks for 2025

Austin Swaim

Late-Round Pick: Tahj Brooks, RB

The "injury away" handcuff litters most of the final rounds of drafts with guys like Trey Benson, DJ Giddens, and Ray Davis having no immediate path to huge playing time.

Why is Tahj Brooks left behind?

After the Cincinnati Bengals waived Zack Moss, it's just Brooks and Samaje Perine, for passing downs, left in the Stripes' backfield. Brooks was dominant and posted 3,314 scrimmage yards and 28 touchdowns in his final two years at Texas Tech. His draft capital is identical to Chase Brown's, so it's not crazy he sees work sooner, too.

In deeper leagues, beat the FAB rush should something happen to Brown and stash the RB on your bench.

Kenyatta Storin

Late-Round Pick: Rashid Shaheed, WR

Admittedly, the New Orleans Saints' QB situation doesn't exactly paint a rosy picture for the offense this season, but that's baked into the modest ADP for Rashid Shaheed, who's typically being drafted around WR55.

In six games before a season-ending injury, Shaheed averaged 2.04 yards per route run with a 24.4% target share and 48.3% air yards share. Although his 17.2-yard aDOT made him a boom-or-bust player, his 11.6 half-PPR points per game would've placed him inside the top 30 among wideouts over a full campaign.

Further, he could have a more varied route tree under a new coaching staff and has a proven history of contributing as an occasional rusher, which are ways he could boost his floor in 2025.

Austan Kas

Late-Round Pick: Marvin Mims Jr.

After Bo Nix's rookie season, the arrow is pointing up for both Marvin Mims and the Denver Broncos' offense, and I want in.

Nix showed an affinity for Mims last year, targeting Mims on 29.5% of Mims' routes, the seventh-best target rate among all receivers. What held Mims back was a lowly overall snap rate of 26.6%. But three of Mims' five highest single-game snap rates of the regular season came across the final three weeks, and Mims played 69% of the snaps in Denver's playoff game, by far his highest snap rate of the season.

That could be a springboard into a big 2025, and with Mims holding an ADP of 156th overall, he's one of the more appealing late-round options.

Annie Nader

Late-Round Pick: Christian Kirk, WR

Fantasy managers drafted three of C.J. Stroud’s receivers inside the top-65 picks last year. This season, we can get Stroud’s WR2 outside the top-150 picks.

Are we overcorrecting?

Christian Kirk is easy to forget after injuries forced him out of 14 games since he churned out a WR11 finish in 2022, but the 29-year-old was on pace to total 3,000-plus receiving yards across his last three campaigns if his averages were extrapolated to a full 17-game season. Kirk has commanded an 18.0% target share or higher in all but one season since entering the league and flashed an impressive 57.2% route win rate through nine games in 2024.

I think we may be viewing Kirk and his environment through the wrong lens based on his current ADP.

Riley Thomas

Late-Round Pick: Ollie Gordon II, RB

The regular season is still a couple of weeks away, and the Miami Dolphins already have injury concerns in their backfield. De'Von Achane has a calf injury that could hold him out for a couple of games. Durability has always been the concern for Achane, which immediately turns my attention to Miami’s RB2.

Jaylen Wright could end up being a dud with underwhelming offseason results. This has opened the door for Ollie Gordon II – who is currently being circled as the RB2 favorite.

Gordon is shaping up to be one of many impactful rookie tailbacks, and his 220.5 ADP makes him worth a swing.

Skyler Carlin

Late-Round Pick: Trevor Lawrence

With the arrivals of two-way standout Travis Hunter and new head coach Liam Coen to pair with second-year wideout Brian Thomas Jr., Trevor Lawrence is set up for success in 2025.

During the 2024 campaign, Coen helped orchestrate a career year for Baker Mayfield, leading to an overall QB4 finish in fantasy with career-highs in passing yards (4,500), passing touchdowns (41), and rushing yards (378). Even if we don't get that sort of production from Lawrence, he's currently carrying an ADP of 162.7 (QB22), and he was the QB17 in fantasy points per game in 2023 and QB14 in fantasy points per game in 2022.

All we need is a slight uptick in production in a revamped offense for Lawrence to return value.

Jim Sannes

Late-Round Pick: Will Shipley, RB

Saquon Barkley is a hoss, and we must protect him at all costs.

However, should he miss any time this year, Will Shipley would likely step into a really nice role.

Kenneth Gainwell is gone, opening the door for Shipley to operate as the Philadelphia Eagles' RB2. He played ahead of A.J. Dillon in the preseason opener and then sat out Week 2 entirely. He's certainly number two for now.

Getting the role is one thing; producing is another. But Shipley would have a great environment around him, and he busted off a huge run as the Eagles iced out the NFC Championship last year. The Eagles also had him return kicks at times, showing they want the ball in his hands.

Shipley's unlikely to carry standalone value, so if you have a short bench, you may not be able to stash him. If you can, though, he's got the upside to justify holding.

Aidan Cotter

Late-Round Pick: Roschon Johnson

In general, this Chicago Bears backfield appears to be undervalued heading into the 2025 season. But with an ADP outside the top 200 picks, Roschon Johnson is the rusher to target here.

Johnson’s never exceeded 10 rush attempts in a game, and he’s unlikely to earn a true RB1 workload in his third season. But he registered a 45.5% rushing success rate last year — right in line with Jahmyr Gibbs — and we’ve seen short-yardage backs hold fantasy value in this Ben Johnson offense. And while he saw only 20 targets in 2024, Roschon is strong in pass protection and did record 34 receptions as a rookie in 2023; there may be more upside there than we’d think.

If the Chicago offense clicks and Johnson seizes the short-yardage role, he could be a real value at the end of drafts.

Futures Day is coming August 26th. Learn more here.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.