Since we will be talking about avoiding some league-losing players below. If you want to avoid being the last-place loser in your fantasy football league this year, you MUST download the WalterPicks app.

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Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson was arguably the biggest fantasy bust last season. After going in the first round of fantasy drafts, Jefferson finished as the overall WR21 while averaging a mere 11.9 PPR fantasy points per game.

The biggest thing that went wrong for Jefferson last year was Minnesota’s quarterback play. J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosmer did not help Jefferson’s numbers at all. McCarthy ranked as the QB40 in catchable catch rate and as the QB34 in true passer rating. Wentz and Brosmer weren’t viable quarterbacks either.

Having a solid quarterback does matter for these WRs in fantasy. Look at Jefferson last year. If there was any WR to follow a similar path this year, it’s New York Jets playmaker Garrett Wilson.

Wilson has established himself as one of the best wide receivers in the league, but there are question marks about New York’s QB play. Geno Smith is expected to be the Jets starting QB, and that is not necessarily great for Wilson’s fantasy value. Smith ranked as the QB36 in air yards per attempt, QB26 in QBR, and QB24 in true passer rating with the Raiders last year.

While Wilson can still be a high-floor fantasy WR each week, the ceiling might not be there with subpar quarterback play.

Other Candidates: Brock Bowers, Tetairora McMillan

Every season, rookies get hyped up. Last year, it was Ashton Jeanty and TreVeyon Henderson. Jeanty had a late Round 1 ADP, while Henderson rose all the way up to Round 4 after some training camp/preseason hype.

Both RBs were fine fantasy options in 2025, but neither returned fantasy value. Jeanty finished as the RB13 in half-PPR formats, and Henderson finished as the RB21 in PPR formats. At the end of the day, both rookie running backs were going way too high in drafts, and fantasy managers bought too much into the offseason hype.

Almost everyone wants to draft the new shiny toy in fantasy. But Love is another example of a rookie RB going way too early in drafts. The Cardinals have listed the rookie as the RB2 behind Tyler Allgeier on Arizona’s initial depth chart, and the coaching staff already said the team plans to ease Love in in Year 1. The upside is there for the former Notre Dame star, but there’s also a chance that he is a part of a three-headed backfield committee for most of the year.

Right now, Love is going as the RB11 in Sleeper drafts. It’s hard to envision him reaching that RB1 status in his first year. He’ll almost certainly be splitting with Allgeier to begin the year, and Arizona’s offensive line has huge question marks.

Other Candidates: None

Everything aligned perfectly for Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy to break out in 2025. He was entering his second season, was a part of an elite Chiefs offense, and Rashee Rice was suspended for the first six weeks of the season. As a result, Worthy was going in Round 5 of 2025 fantasy football drafts.

However, Worthy never quite broke out. He only totaled 42 catches for 532 yards and one touchdown across 14 games and averaged just 7.9 PPR fantasy points per game. Things aligned for Worthy to be that consistent fantasy WR2, but that was never the case.

The fantasy community appears to be all in on Luther Burden III. Like Worthy last year, everything aligns for Burden to break out this season. DJ Moore left in the offseason, the Bears have a top offense, and the young WR is entering his second NFL season.

The problem, though, is that his 41.1 ADP on Sleeper is way too high for a player who had just three games over 12 PPR fantasy points in 2025. There is just too much competition for targets in this offense with Rome Odunze, Colston Loveland, and D’Andre Swift that Burden could be one of the biggest busts. He had 7+ targets in only two games last year, and Burden averaged just 5.6 PPR fantasy points when Odunze played.

Other Candidates: Terry McLaurin, Christian Watson