2025 Fantasy Football Bust Report: Lamar Jackson, Justin Jefferson Among the Misses

The 2025 fantasy football season is in the books, and these high-profile draft picks — including Lamar Jackson and Justin Jefferson — fell well short of expectations, leaving fantasy managers frustrated and searching for answers.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) practices before the game at Acrisure Stadium. | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

The 2025 fantasy football and NFL regular season are now over. We are going to take a look back on the season that was and talk about some of the biggest busts of the year. These are some of the most disappointing fantasy players of the season. The guys you drafted to be your star players, and they ended up being complete duds for one reason or the other. 

QB Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Jackson came out of the gates this season and looked like the MVP we've become accustomed to having in our fantasy lineups. Then he suffered a hamstring injury in Week 4 and never quite looked the same. It only cost him three games, but his fantasy production fell off a cliff, and he finished as the QB20 overall and the QB16 in points per game.  

QB Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) throws a pass in the fourth quarter the Cleveland Brownsat Paycor Stadium. | Sam Greene-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Burrow got off to a horrific start to the season as he often did, but then he injured his toe, which knocked him out in Week 2, and he didn't return until Week 13. Once he returned, he was good, but he was also up and down. Including a 7.5 fantasy point game in the fantasy playoffs. He finished as the QB29 overall and the QB15 in points per game.  

RB Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles

Expectations were high for Barkley coming off a historically great year. Unfortunately, he was not able to live back up to the hype. He had a lot of down games and finished as just the RB14 overall and the RB15 in points per game this season. That's not terrible, but also not what fantasy owners were looking for when they drafted him.  

RB Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders

Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty (2) carries the ball against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first half at Allegiant Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The hype around the rookie may not have been fair to put on him. We may have overlooked just how bad the Raiders' offense around him could be. A few blowup games were enough to help him finish as the RB11 overall and the RB16 in points per game; however, he had a ton of games that sank fantasy owners' weeks.   

RB Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs

This is one that I didn't see coming. I had him pegged as a potential draft-day steal. That did not end up being the case at all. He finished the year as the RB56 overall and the RB54 in points per game. Awful.  

RB Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints

This, on the other hand, was one that everyone should have seen coming from a mile away. Kamara is an aging running back in a new regime that was never going to base the offense around dumping the ball off to him. He has also been getting injured predictably at the end of each year. His season played out exactly how we said it would all summer. He finished as the RB46 overall and the RB36 in points per game. Only once all season was he able to reach 15 fantasy points in a game.  

WR Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) looks on during warmups before the game against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

All offseason, the narrative was that Jefferson was quarterback-proof based on what we've seen in the past. We couldn't have been more wrong. JJ McCarthy aggressively proved that theory wrong as the wheels completely fell off for Jefferson once Carson Wentz went down with an injury. He finished as the WR21 overall and in points per game after being drafted as the WR2 overall.  

WR Brian Thomas Jr, Jacksonville Jaguars

This is one we did see coming. Too many people just ignored his lack of success with Trevor Lawrence last season. Once he started dropping passes and running poor routes, things went off the rails. His struggles were his fault, not anyone else's. He finished the year as the WR42 overall and in points per game. He's just not that good. 

WR Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers 

McConkey was a weird one, but other options emerged around him, and it crushed his production. Quentin Johnston broke out, Keenan Allen outperformed expectations, and Oronde Gadsden II had his moments. Justin Herbert isn't a good enough quarterback to sustain multiple fantasy options on a weekly basis. We keep saying he should be because he's a big, strong-armed quarterback, but he has always been a better player on paper than in real life.