Travis Hunter could be poised for a fantasy football breakout, but what about the rest of the 2025 rookie WR class?

https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/article/travis-hunter-could-be-poised-for-a-fantasy-football-breakout-but-what-about-the-rest-of-the-2025-rookie-wr-class-194350824.html

Has your favorite rookie wide receiver not taken off just yet? Don’t worry, all hope is not lost. Rookie wideouts and the edge they can bring to both fantasy football and real-life teams are often discussed talking points in the summer. Then, when instant gratification doesn’t arrive, frustration can set in for outsiders.

However, as Ron Stewart outlines below, we are just now reaching the point in the season where rookie wide receivers really begin to make their presences felt.

This makes intuitive sense. While rookie wideouts, especially those from big programs with years of experience running routes at a high level, are more prepared than ever to make an instant impact, we too often treat it as a clear negative when they aren’t maximized right away. Patience is in short supply these days. Even if the receiver is ready to play early, it still takes time for them to fully adjust to the pro level, their coaches to get a handle on their optimal deployment and the chemistry to set in between them and their quarterbacks.

It’s why we utter the phrase “post-bye rookie bump” (shoutout to Hayden Winks for being the first I heard to use it).

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Of course, the post-bye rookie bump magic and the boost following Week 8 isn’t a one-size-fits-all rule. As Ryan Heath notes below, rookie receivers who are Day 2 or 3 draft picks and weren’t full-time players right from the start usually see the biggest second-half leap.

With all that context in mind, now is the perfect time to take a look at the opportunity being given to the 2025 rookie wide receivers to see who might be in line for the second-half boost. We’ll use route participation — how often the receiver is running a route when his team drops back to pass — to bucket the players into four groups:

Full-time players all season: Receivers with a route participation above 80% all season.
Major roles: Receivers with a route participation above 50% but below 80% all season.
Playing time trending up: Receivers who weren’t playing big roles early but have seen their route participation increase over the last three weeks.
Guys to keep an eye on: Receivers who haven’t seen a tangible bump yet but are worth having on the radar.

Full-time players all season

Tetairoa McMillan, Panthers – 94%

McMillan walked right into the Panthers’ starting X-receiver gig from Day 1 and has held it down ever since. He leads all rookies with a 25.7% target share and 41.3% air yard share. That hasn’t turned into consistent high-end production due to up-and-down quarterback play in Carolina and some mistakes from McMillan at the catch point. I’d love it if he moved around the formation more to get him some more layup looks, but no other receivers on Carolina’s roster can play X-receiver, so that’s unlikely to change.

Emeka Egbuka, Buccaneers – 87%

Egbuka has cooled the last two weeks after a white-hot start to his rookie season. Don’t let that change your opinion by an ounce on how great a player he is, as a slow stretch is not uncommon for any wide receiver, and this one needs context.

Egbuka returned earlier than expected to play through a hamstring injury. He’s not 100% and Baker Mayfield had his worst game from an accuracy standpoint in Week 8. In the past game, Egbuka dropped a touchdown and the team just didn’t need to do much to beat the Saints. I still view Egbuka as a WR1 candidate for the rest of the season.

Elic Ayomanor, Titans – 87%

The Titans’ fourth-round rookie has been starting as an outside receiver for the team since Week 1. While Ayomanor has had moments, that says more about the state of this roster rather than what he’s done on the field. He’s a hit-or-miss separator who makes mistakes at the catch point, just like he was in college. There’s a chance he develops into more down the road but that’s likely a 2026 conversation.

Major roles

Travis Hunter, Jaguars – 77%

Hunter’s role has been a little difficult to pin down over the course of the season, as the two-way player has adjusted to playing NFL receiver after running in a stripped-down offense at Colorado. However, we’ve seen him being ramped up more as a receiver and he reached a turning point in his last couple of games.

Hunter started seeing more downfield routes in Weeks 4 and 5, and after taking well to those plays, saw his route participation jump to 88% and 90%, respectively, in the two games before the bye. He had averaged 71% in the first five weeks. Coming out of their bye, there’s a good shot Hunter is the primary focus of this Jaguars’ passing game after a week off to get more embedded with the offensive playbook. He’s been their most consistent separator and catcher of the football this season.

Matthew Golden, Packers – 73%

Playing time and being impactful when he’s received opportunities haven’t been the issue for Golden. He’s seen his route participation even jump up a tick out of the bye to 76% in the last three weeks. Among 94 receivers with 20-plus targets this year, his 9.7 yards per target ranks 17th, his team success rate when targeted ranks third and his EPA per target also ranks third. The problem is that he ranks 79th in that cohort in targets per route. The Packers’ pass-catcher group is crowded and it’s only getting tighter with the return of Christian Watson and Jayden Reed set to get back at some point.

There was always some chance of being a low-volume player with Golden as a late-round selection, especially given his role as a vertical receiver. Yet, I’m not willing to fully give up on him based on his on-field impact and the Packers’ overall healthy offensive environment.

Dont’e Thornton Jr., Raiders – 64%

Thornton technically still qualifies for this section but his team started to go away from him in recent weeks after running him out as a full-time player to start the season. His route participation dipped from 77% in Week 4 to 56% in Week 5 before crashing to 0% in Week 6. He hasn’t caught a pass since Week 3. His route rate jumped back up to 85% in a blowout loss to the Chiefs with Jakobi Meyers inactive, so maybe there’s a glimmer of hope with the veteran a trade candidate, but they also just signed Tyler Lockett, most likely to take Meyers’ place.

I’m on record that the Raiders galaxy-brained their receiver room and threw a developmental prospect in Thornton out there way too early in his rookie season.

Arian Smith, Jets – 63%

There’s a part of me that thinks the Jets truly only drafted Smith to be the full-speed motion at the snap player to create mismatches and leverage for other players in Tanner Engstrand’s passing game. Here’s an example of that:

Smith is sitting on 0.25 yards per route run this season, having been targeted just 10 times on 189 routes (5.3%). If you’re looking for a player comparison for this role, think Tutu Atwell in Los Angeles. You know what that equals in fantasy.

Isaiah Bond, Browns – 59%

The Browns signed Bond on August 18 after he fell out of the draft and went untouched in the months after because he turned himself in for sexual assault on April 10. For some reason, they also felt the need to give him a fully guaranteed deal. Bond got a promotion in the rotation in Week 4 after Cedric Tillman got hurt, averaging a 75% route participation since then. Obviously, the Browns are a messy passing environment with Dillon Gabriel under center but Bond has done next to nothing since, averaging 0.67 yards per route run. He’s almost never on the same page with Gabriel or within the structure of the play; no shock for a player who had no offseason time with the team. He fell behind fellow UDFA rookie Gage Larvadain in the rotation last week.

Tory Horton, Seahawks – 56%

Horton is one of my favorite sleepers from this class, and it’s a positive sign that he earned a sizable role with this team out of training camp. He’s had some splash plays and rookie moments. From a fantasy standpoint, he is capped in what he can provide this season as the team’s deep-threat third receiver. It’s unlikely that he overtakes Cooper Kupp across from Jaxon Smith-Njigba this year and because the Seahawks play so many multiple-tight-end looks, they’re 31st in 11 personnel rate.

Tez Johnson, Buccaneers – 82% since Week 6

The Bucs’ seventh-round rookie has had to play a major role for the team due to injuries. He’s handled the opportunity well, albeit with some rookie mistakes. Johnson looks like he belongs as a separator against zone coverage and can make plays down the field. He’ll have some big weeks when this unit is clicking.

Jack Bech, Raiders – 80% since Week 6

Bech was barely playing at all to start the year, which, as I mentioned in the Thornton section, I viewed as a mistake at the time. Bech has had some strong moments on film before some mixed results in the Chiefs game. Hopefully, he can get more ramped up as the Raiders’ big slot option coming out of the bye, because this team needs someone to hit singles and doubles in the passing game. I’m not exactly looking for new and creative ways to invest in the Raiders’ mess of an offense but I’m at least open to Bech having a nice second half for dynasty purposes.

Cimere Dike, Titans – 76% since Week 6

I’ll admit that I had mixed feelings on Dike as a prospect but he’s stepped up the last few weeks and looked good doing it. He’s taken 75% of his snaps from the slot in the last three games and looks like a fit as the team’s speed option from the interior. The Titans released Tyler Lockett to clear the way for Dike in this role.

Jayden Higgins, Texans – 70% since Week 6

Higgins’ playing time has increased on a weekly basis from Week 4 to Week 8. The Texans have been dealing with injuries to some of their veterans, which has allowed the rookies to finally get more work. Higgins hasn’t turned those chances into big production, as he’s yet to clear 40 yards in a game. However, he’s been impactful in a small sample in the exact way I expected him to be as a prospect:

I remain concerned about Higgins being a high-volume player on the outside given his skill set but think he could thrive by being a 30% to 35% slot player, which is still possible with the other guys in the room. He’s taken just 12.9% of his snaps from the slot so far this season, however, so this is unlikely to happen.

Pat Bryant, Broncos – 52% since Week 6

Unsurprisingly, Bryant started to get more playing time right after he started to see more slot work. Bryant ran two, eight and two routes in the first three weeks while averaging a 16.7% slot rate. He saw 48% of his snaps in the slot and ran 16 routes in Week 4. In Weeks 5 to 8, he’s run a route on 52% of the dropbacks and has been in the slot on 48% of his snaps. Bryant is a perfect fit in that power slot role in Sean Payton’s offense and it’s currently a missing dynamic in the system. Bryant has flashed a bit as a receiver and really stood out as a blocker in the run game. He’s a name to file away in case his playing time increases.

Jaylin Noel, Texans – 47% since Week 6

If you’ve followed my content since the NFL Draft, you know how highly I view Jaylin Noel. He was a three-level separator at Iowa State who demolished man coverage and won big-boy contested targets as a vertical slot receiver. He was a fringe Round 1 talent who fell because of sizeism.

Noel has shown all of those skills at the NFL level in small doses. While he’s received a playing time boost the last three weeks, the Texans are still being a little too slow to unleash him as a full-time player. He’s their second-best pass catcher beyond Nico Collins and, based on the way he’s used, his quarterback knows it. While Noel has only run a route on 47% of the dropbacks the last two games, he’s been targeted on 28.9% of them. Only Emeka Egbuka has a higher rate. He just needs to play more; simple as that.

Guys to keep an eye on

Jaylin Lane, Commanders – 56% since Week 6

Lane’s route participation is a bit overstated because of injuries; he had to run out as the team’s primary slot receiver in Week 7 when Deebo Samuel Sr. was out. He ran a route on 75% of the dropbacks in that game but fell back down to 46% on Monday night (Terry McLaurin missed a good chunk of the second half). The Commanders are an older and therefore constantly injured team, so Lane could get more work this season if needed. However, the film has been up and down for Lane when working on the outside.

Tre Harris, Chargers – 49% since Week 6

Harris’ numbers are a bit over-inflated because he started a game at the X-receiver spot in place of Quentin Johnston in Week 6. While he didn’t do anything from a fantasy standpoint in that game, I came away really impressed with the film. So did the coaching staff, apparently; even with Johnston healthy, Harris has cleared 40% of the snaps in each of the last two weeks by getting on the field in certain packages.

Harris has shown well as a blocker but I thought he stacked several impressive wins against man coverage in Week 6. We’re unlikely to see more of him the rest of this season unless more injuries strike but keep his name on waiver wire speed dial, just in case, and your dynasty buy list.

Isaac TeSlaa, Lions – 43% since Week 6

The star of the preseason has flashed the ability to win crazy catches and draw targets in high-degree of difficult spots. However, he just hasn’t gotten consistent playing time with the first-team offense. The Lions made a big bet on TeSlaa, trading away multiple future picks to get him in Round 3, but I’m comfortable with labeling him a developmental guy for this season unless others get hurt. He’s making a big shift to the X-receiver spot after being a collegiate big slot.

Luther Burden III, Bears – 27% since Week 6

Whenever Luther Burden III is on the field, it’s usually for a designed play that gets him the football.

Now, some of those specific looks are juicing his per-route target and efficiency metrics but I still think Burden has shown promise when on the field. At some point, I’d like to see him get involved as the team’s slot or flanker receiver. That would require a trade of DJ Moore or a benching for Olamide Zaccheus, who the coaches seem to really value. Burden is only a deep stash or waiver wire speed-dial option until something changes.

Kyle Williams, Patriots – 17% since Week 6

The Patriots staff, and specifically Mike Vrabel, has historically played it conservatively with non-elite rookie skill position players. I’d have loved to see more of Williams at this point, as he was a prospect I liked and could bring some juice to this room. However, veterans like Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte are playing well to the point that it’s hard to envision big changes to this room.

https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/article/travis-hunter-could-be-poised-for-a-fantasy-football-breakout-but-what-about-the-rest-of-the-2025-rookie-wr-class-194350824.html