This week I’m coming back to the 2025 class of Wide Receivers. Last year’s class featured some of the best prospects we’ve seen in a decade. That’s a hard class to follow and may leave people disappointed in this class by comparison. That shouldn’t be the case, though – this Wide Receiver class has a great combination of top-end talent and depth that’ll make your 2025 rookie draft picks valuable.
In this article, I’ve updated my rankings and also included projected draft capital for each receiver. Providing projected draft capital helps managers evaluate how this draft stacks up against previous seasons.
1. Tetairoa McMillan
(Top 10)
Following a huge Week 1 performance with 304 yards and four touchdowns, Tetairoa McMillan has come back down to earth somewhat. He’s had spike weeks since, but he’s also had games where he doesn’t dominate the way you’d hope a top receiver prospect can. That’s what keeps him from being a top 5 pick right now.
It’s difficult to put any negative spin on McMillan’s game. He shows up as expected on tape. He’s a big, physical receiver that can make really tough catches and make them look easy. He’s shown flashes of being able to separate, but that’s not really his game. At the next level he projects to be a big X receiver that can go up and catch balls over the middle and make contested grabs on the sideline.
At this point there’s little discussion to me around McMillan’s place among the receivers in this draft – he’s the #1. The question now comes down to whether he further separates himself and earns a top 5 draft selection or if he continues to post up-and-down performances and stagnates as a mid-1st round selection in the NFL Draft.
2. Travis Hunter
(Top 15)
Travis Hunter jumps over Luther Burden in these rankings for me. Hunter got off to a great start to the season, posting at least 100 yards in 4 straight games. He then found himself in a bit of a mid-season slump, with back-to-back performances of under 30 yards and three catches. Some of that may be explained by fatigue associated with playing both sides of the ball. Some could be extra attention he’s receiving on the offensive end.
Hunter’s skillset is easy to identify when watching the film. He has extremely strong hands, so much so that he’s only had one drop to 60 catches on the season. He uses sudden movements after the catch to pick up extra yards. He’s also great at fighting through contact to make difficult catches in traffic.
The big question is whether any of this will matter for fantasy managers. Many expect Hunter to declare as a defensive back, and if he does, find himself selected near the top of the 1st round. If Hunter decides to play receiver in the NFL, I don’t expect him to make it past the mid-point of the 1st round.
3. Luther Burden
(Mid-Late 1st)
Luther Burden’s season has been largely disappointing. Heading into the year, the discussion between McMillan and Burden at the top of the class was a toss-up. It came down to stylistic preference. If you preferred the big X receiver then you went with McMillan, if you liked the speedy slot receiver that made explosive plays with the ball in his hands you chose Burden.
This year the problem has been that Burden simply hasn’t had the ball in his hands enough. Between an offense that seems content not passing much or can’t pass effectively and a game plan that often ignores Burden’s strengths, there simply hasn’t been enough of him making plays. When he does get the ball in his hands, amazing things happen. He can make multiple defenders miss on the same play and break away with lightning speed for a touchdown.
Burden will be an interesting name to watch on Day 1 of the NFL Draft. He’s shown the production previously to warrant an early 1st round pick. If there’s a team out there that thinks they can use him in a way that’s more suited to his talents than he was used in Missouri, then he could go in the top half of the 1st round. If teams see him as more of a gadget receiver who doesn’t earn targets, he could make his way closer to the back end of the 1st.
4. Emeka Egbuka
(Late 1st)
Emeka Egbuka likely made the right choice in going back to school for an extra year. He’s looked comfortable as the top receiver for Ohio State with Marvin Harrison off to the NFL. While the team has been understandably run-heavy, Egbuka shows his combination of size and quickness every time he gets the ball.
Egbuka has good hands, good body control, and he’s a good route runner. None of his traits fly off the screen and scream 1st round talent, but when you consider that lack of holes in his game, you can see why NFL teams will be interested. I doubt Egbuka is ever a top receiver at the next level, but he could be an elite 2nd option in an offense and could do so beside any star receiver. He’s a do-it-all kind of receiver, and I think that he’ll work out to a very high floor in the NFL.
5. Isaiah Bond
(Mid 2nd)
Isaiah Bond’s transfer to Texas has likely been a positive influence on his NFL Draft potential. While Bond hasn’t met some of the expectations many had of him so far this season, he’s shown a more well-rounded game than he did at Alabama. He’s played significantly more outside with Texas, and his route tree has developed beyond screens and deep shots.
Bond started his season off great, with 50+ yards in each of his first 5 games. In his most two recent games though, Bond has only combined for 16 yards on 3 catches. Bond is a smaller receiver who wins with his speed. Coming from Alabama he seemed to be limited as a receiver to just a field stretcher role, a classification that isn’t good for fantasy or his draft prospects. With Texas though, we’ve seen a variety of routes from Bond.
Bond’s blazing speed and quickness with the ball will certainly attract NFL teams. If Bond can put his slow stretch of games recently behind him and get back to earning targets, he could see himself pushing for Day 1 draft capital.
6. Tre Harris
(Mid 2nd)
Tre Harris has been PFF’s highest-graded college receiver this season, and rightfully so. He’s been consistently dominant this season, with a season-low of 81 receiving yards across seven games. He’s averaging almost eight and a half receptions a game.
The only thing that’s holding back Harris from being much higher on this list is his age. Harris will be 23 come the draft, minimizing his perceived upside. Harris’ film is impossible to ignore though. He’s a big-bodied receiver who can quickly change directions, allowing him to get open consistently against man and zone coverages. He wins consistently on curl, go, and crossing routes.
There are questions on whether Harris’ size plays an outsized role in his college dominance, something that doesn’t usually translate as well to the NFL. Harris has been able to gain separation consistently against various coverages, though. He certainly benefits from his pro-ready size, but he doesn’t rely on it either. I think there will be plenty of suitors for Harris in the 2nd round of the NFL Draft looking for an instant contributor.
7. Elic Ayomanor
(Late 2nd)
Elic Ayomanor is a very difficult prospect to evaluate. He’s an elite athlete with an incredible combination of strength and agility. You don’t see too many 6’2, 210lbs receivers as twitchy as he is. The problem is he is still fairly raw. He’s only in his 2nd college season and doesn’t have the same production profile as many of the other receivers in this class.
Ayomanor has shown signs of being a dominant number 1 receiver. In a game against Colorado last season Ayomanor put himself on the NFL Draft radar with a 294-yard, 3-touchdown performance, including an absolutely crazy catch over top prospect Travis Hunter for a touchdown. This season though, in only 3 of his 8 games he has surpassed 55 receiving yards.
It’s hard to put all of the blame for Ayomanor’s lesser production on his shoulders. Stanford has not been a good passing offense by any measure. A lack of throwing talent at the quarterback position means Stanford is forced to run the ball quite often. You can see how dominant Ayomanor can be down the stretch in some games, though. Often he’ll be completely out of the gameplan until the 4th quarter, when entire drives will go directly through Ayomanor and it’ll seem like no one can cover him.
Ayomanor will likely be somewhat of a project in the NFL after only playing two college seasons. I think young teams with lower expectations will be willing to take a chance on the upside Ayomanor brings late in the 3rd round.
8. Xavier Restrepo
(Early 3rd)
Xavier Restrepo is a quarterback’s best friend. A prototypical slot receiver with amazing hands and great route-running. Restrepo has great change of direction and often finds himself open for an easy pass.
What holds back Restrepo’s draft projection is his limitation to the slot and his age. Restrepo has played 90%+ of his snaps from the slot in each of his last three college seasons. He’s also going to be 23 years old come the NFL Draft. Despite these limitations, Restrepo has shown that he is one of the most reliable receivers in all of college football. He’s posted 99+ yards in 5 of his eight games this season and only has one drop to 43 receptions.
Restrepo’s limitations will probably push him out of consideration in the 2nd round, but I think a team looking for a solid producer out of the slot will target Restrepo early in the 3rd round.
