Fantasy Football Post Super Bowl 2025 PPR Mock Draft: Receivers fly off the board early

Super Bowl LIX is over, and the Eagles beat the Chiefs 40-22. That game might have influenced some of the picks in our latest 12-team, PPR mock draft.

Saquon Barkley was the first Philadelphia player drafted in Round 1, which is no surprise. He went at No. 4 overall. But right after Barkley was A.J. Brown at No. 5 overall as the third receiver behind Ja'Marr Chase and CeeDee Lamb.

Brown, who had three catches for 43 yards and a touchdown on five targets in the Super Bowl, should be considered a No. 1 Fantasy receiver and is worth drafting in Round 2. But he should not be selected ahead of Justin Jefferson, Puca Nacua, Nico Collins or Amon-Ra St. Brown, and I would rather have Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. ahead of Brown as well.

Brown was the No. 13 receiver this past season at 16.1 PPR points per game. He averaged 16.5 PPR points per game in 2023, so this is likely what you can expect from him, which is solid. He's just not a top-five player heading into the 2025 campaign.

The next Super Bowl surprise came in Round 2 at No. 16 overall with Xavier Worthy, who was the No. 10 receiver off the board. Worthy was a star in the Super Bowl with eight catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns on eight targets, and he closed the season on a tear.

In his final six games, including the playoffs, Worthy scored at least 19.6 PPR points in five outings over that span. He had 53 targets and 11 carries during that stretch and was Kansas City's best offensive player.

But what can we expect from the second-year player in 2025? Rashee Rice (knee) should be ready for the start of the season, and Travis Kelce could return. The Chiefs could also add to their receiving corps, especially if Marquise Brown, DeAndre Hopkins and JuJu Smith-Schuster don't return.

That makes drafting Worthy in Round 2 too expensive. But there is a way to justify drafting Worthy in that spot.

Rice could be slow in his recovery, and he also could still face a suspension related to his involvement in a hit-and-run car crash that occurred in Dallas last March. Kelce could also retire, and no receiver of significance could be added in Kansas City.

For now, the earliest I would draft Worthy is Round 3, and I like the outlook for him and Rice. I still view Rice as the No. 1 receiver for the Chiefs, which is why I drafted him in Round 2 at No. 23 overall. Prior to his knee injury in Week 4, Rice scored at least 17.3 PPR points in each of his first three games.

I started my team with Bijan Robinson at No. 2 overall, and he's my No. 1 running back in 2025. Robinson averaged 19.2 PPR points per game this past season, which was third behind Barkley (21.3) and Jahmyr Gibbs (20.5), but I'm counting on Robinson to hit another level next season. And he averaged 22.5 PPR points per game in his final eight outings in 2024.

My starting running backs might be the best in this league with Robinson and Bucky Irving, who I drafted in Round 3. And I filled out my running back corps with Najee Harris, Zach Charbonnet and Jaylen Wright. We'll see where Harris plays in 2025 since he's a free agent, and he could still be a flex option with the right team.

Charbonnet is a solid reserve running back with lottery-ticket upside playing behind Kenneth Walker III. And Wright should be the No. 2 running back in Miami behind De'Von Achane, which also makes Wright a potential lottery ticket.

Along with Rice, my receiving corps features George Pickens, Chris Godwin, Rome Odunze, Jerry Jeudy and Jordan Whittington. I like this group a lot, but there are question marks.

Rice and Godwin (ankle) are coming off injuries, and Godwin is a free agent. He averaged 19.1 PPR points per game before getting injured in Week 7, but he could still be a top-20 Fantasy receiver in 2025 depending on where he plays and his health.

Pickens and Jeudy have quarterback questions heading into 2025, but both have plenty of upside. Pickens scored at least 16.4 PPR points in four of his first six games with Russell Wilson last year. And Jeudy averaged 19.8 PPR points per game in his final eight games of 2024.

Odunze could be headed for a big sophomore season now that Ben Johnson is the new head coach in Chicago. And Whittington might be the heir apparent to Cooper Kupp in Los Angeles if the Rams move on from Kupp as expected.

I waited on tight end and quarterback and drafted Jonnu Smith in Round 10, which could be an amazing value pick. Smith finished last season as the No. 5 tight end at 12.7 PPR points per game, and he could see a boost in value if the Dolphins decide to trade Tyreek Hill.

I was the last manager to draft a quarterback in this league, so I ended up with Tua Tagovailoa (Round 13) and Trevor Lawrence (Round 14). It's not ideal, but Tagovailoa (19.3 Fantasy points per game) was just behind Patrick Mahomes (19.9) and Brock Purdy (19.7) last season and ahead of Kyler Murray (18.9), Justin Herbert (18.6) and Jordan Love (18.1).

And Lawrence will hopefully see a boost in value with Liam Coen as the new head coach in Jacksonville. If needed, I could always go to the waiver wire if we were playing this league out to find a quarterback, and the guys who didn't get drafted included Sam Darnold, Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye.

As a reference point for this mock draft, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We also award one point for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft.

Our draft order is as follows:

1. Dan Schneier, Senior Fantasy Editor

2. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer

3. Heath Cummings, Senior Fantasy Writer

4. Robert Thomas, FFT Facebook Moderator

5. Jake Ignaszewski, FFT Social Media Coordinator

6. Adam Aizer, FFT Podcast Host

7. Jake Grogins, CBS Sports HQ Production Staff

8. Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer

9. Brandon Howard, Fantasy Editor

10. Thomas Shafer, FFT Podcast Producer

11. Matt Donnelly, Dynasty Vipers

12. Joey Wright, Footballguys