Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Busts to Avoid In 2025: Tyreek Hill Being Overdrafted

Michael Fabiano | Aug 29, 2025

Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill finished last season 18th in fantasy points at his position, which was a mediocre finish by his standards. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Wide receivers have become the most important position in fantasy football, so you have avoid busts at the position at all costs. They can be detrimental to your chances of taking home a fantasy football championship. Just ask any manager who drafted Tyreek Hill or Marvin Harrison Jr. last season. Based on their lack of success, it was tough to make up for their poor level of production … unless you landed Brian Thomas Jr., Jaxon Smith-Njigba or Ladd McConkey. Regardless, those bust wideouts were tough to overcome.

So, let’s get into some of the wide receivers who could fail to meet expectations … and I’m not going to bring you some weak sauce and mention players who won’t cost you some real draft capital. Was Keenan Allen a bust last season after scoring 278.9 fantasy points the previous year? Maybe, but his AD wasn’t until Round 7, so regression was baked in.

Last year, Hill and Harrison Jr., both top-20 overall picks, are perfect examples of busts. Chris Olave, who had an ADP of 26.2, finished as a disappointment as concussion issues cost him a big portion of the year. Even Deebo Samuel Sr. who was picked on average at 32.0, can be labeled a bust. He wasn’t even in the top 40 among wide receivers!

Bust can’t be busts if they don’t cost you something significant in the draft, though. The issue for me, an analyst, however, is that I don’t see a world where any of the big-name wideouts fail to meet expectations due to anything short of injuries. Sure, Ja’Marr Chase is unlikely to score 17 touchdowns again, but will he be a bust who isn’t worth a high pick?

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That’s very unlikely.

Am I a bit concerned about a sophomore slump for Thomas Jr.? Maybe, but I can’t project him to bust. Is Ladd McConkey’s ADP rising a little fast and higher than I’m comfortable with? Yes, but that’s my guy (“Laddy Daddy”) and I still think he’ll be solid in 2025.

So, while I’m not going to give you “curtain jerkers” at the position … my list will include some big names … I’m also going to focus on players coming off injuries and those who are unlikely to be as good after a solid 2024 campaign. So, let’s call these wideouts you should beware or who could fail to meet your expectations regardless of their draft status.

All Busts: QBs | RBs | TEs

2025 Fantasy Football WR Busts to Avoid Drafting

Tyreek Hill, Dolphins: Not only did Hill have a bad fantasy year last season, but his advanced stats are worrisome too. His yards per catch average dropped from 15.1 to 11.8, and his receiving extra points added went from +81.3 down to +19.9 based on NextGen Stats. Hill was also less effective after the catch, recording just 306 such yards last season. That total was 690 yards in 2023. He also saw his target share drop from 37.8 to 24.1, which was due in part to the emergence of Jonnu Smith. He also experienced a drop of more than two full yards per route run in 2024. Smith being gone helps, but at age 31 we’ve already seen the best of Hill.

Terry McLaurin, Commanders: I love McLaurin as a player, but a few things do have me worried. First off, he held out of training camp before signing a contract extension. He’s also coming off a career season, scoring 267.8 fantasy points. That’s the most he’s scored in his career. McLaurin isn’t super young either, at least for a wide receiver (he’ll be 30 in September), and the Commanders added Deebo Samuel Sr. in the offseason. This could all be why he’s sliding down based on ADP data, now coming off the board at 37.2.

Tee Higgins, Bengals: Higgins is a very good receiver and he’s in a great offense with a great quarterback in Joe Burrow. He’ll never be the alpha as long as Chase is around, however, and he’s only had one season (2024) where he averaged more than 16 points per game. Higgins has also missed 10 games over the last two seasons due to injuries, yet his ADP is still at 29.0 as the WR13. Sorry folks, but that’s simply too rich for my blood.

Davante Adams, Rams: It’s hard to discount Adams in fantasy leagues, but the wheels have to fall off eventually, right? After all, he’s going to be 33 in December and will be playing in a new offense with a new quarterback in Los Angeles. He also won’t be the top wideout on the roster, at least while Puka Nacua is around. So, unless Nacua gets hurt and misses time, drafting Adams at 33.2 as the WR14 could be less than ideal at year’s end.

Jerry Jeudy, Browns: Jeudy blew away his previous career high in targets last season, posting 145 (he never had more than 113 while in Denver). He was an absolute target hog in seven games with Jameis Winston under center, averaging 10 per game. In the 10 games without him, however, Jeudy averaged just 7.6 targets. Winston is now with the New York Giants, and the Browns will get back Cedrick Tillman and signed Diontae Johnson in the offseason. Statistical regression is likely coming for Jeudy this season, so beware.