The 5 Worst Fantasy Football Offenses To Avoid Including The Saints and The Browns
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Every team has players with the potential to breakout. But a lot of teams have other players and factors that minimize these budding fantasy football breakouts from ever even happening. Here is five teams to be careful of having players from in fantasy football in 2025.
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints’ offensive roster as a whole has many problems. And a lot of that starts at the quarterback position. They recently named Spencer Rattler the starter for Week 1. And honestly, no matter if they went with the rookie from Louisville, Tyler Shough, the initial outlook for fantasy would not change much. Both players are unproven.
Every Spencer Rattler throw of 20+ air yards from a clean pocket in 2024: pic.twitter.com/NtXwJMBaX9
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) May 14, 2025
Rattler started in six games last year and did not show well. He went 0-6 as the Saints’ starter, threw for five touchdowns, four interceptions, and also had three lost fumbles. New Orleans arguably also had one of the worst or possibly the worst offensive lines last year.
This, combined with QB play with little experience, and no proof of success, should dampen the expectations of notable fantasy names on the roster–Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, and Rashid Shaheed.
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns have a pretty similar situation to the Saints on the offensive side of the ball. A below average O-line and a questionable quarterback situation. Joe Flacco was named the starting QB, and it will be his 18th season in the NFL. He did have some starts last year, for the Indianapolis Colts, starting in six games and playing in eight. Through those games, he played fairly well, completing 65.3% of his passes, throwing for twelve touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
Anytime a quarterback of Flacco’s age, 40, gears up for a new season, there will be question marks about how he will fare. It is good to be cautious when thinking of drafting any of the Browns’ pass catchers in fantasy–David Njoku and Jerry Jeudy, to name a couple.
Also, the Browns’ running back room is crowded. Jerome Ford, Quinshon Judkins, and Dylan Sampson are all in line to get carries. There should be no high expectations for what any of these backs can do fantasy-wise in 2025.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Aaorn Rogers will be the starting quarterback for the Steelers this season. It will be his 21st season in the NFL. A quick look at the Pittsburgh receivers, and there really is only one viable pass catcher that will help in fantasy, DK Metcalf. The former Seahawks pass catcher who the Steelers acquired via a trade, had 66 catches for 992 in 2024. He might be worth the gamble in drafting, but his expectations should be steadied a bit with the uncertainty how Rogers will play at 42 years old.
Aaron Rodgers hits DK Metcalf for the first down during team period at #Steelers training camp! 🔥pic.twitter.com/OcnUb1qOu2
— Steelers Update (@SteelersUpdate1) August 11, 2025
The RB situation is a tricky one. Jaylen Warren is listed as RB #1, but talented rookie out of Iowa, Kaleb Johnson, is expected to be used a good amount. Both these players should be drafted with caution because how they will ultimately be utilized is unknown.
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks will be without the receiving tandem of Tyler Lockett and Metcalf for the first time in a long time. They are hoping to replace that production with third year Seahawk Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and former Los Angeles Rams star Cooper Kupp, who has continued to trend down in fantasy football since his breakout season in 2021. In that season, he became the steal of every fantasy draft, recording 1,947 yards on 92 receptions. Since then, he has not eclipsed another 1,000 yard season , and most recently in 2024 put up 710 yards on 67 receptions. He is currently listed as Seattle’s WR #2. With it also being Sam Darnold’s first year as a Seahawk, the fantasy production that can come from Seattle’s pass game is questionable.
As far as the running back situation goes, Kenneth Walker is slated as the lead back, but backup Zach Charbonnet could gain more carries this year. Walker is coming off his worst year statistically recording 153 carries and 573 rushing yards through 12 games.
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts' QB carousel has continued, as they named a quarterback who struggled mightily last year as their starter. That being former sixth overall pick from the 2022 draft Daniel Jones. Jones, last year for the Giants, threw for 2,070 yards, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions through 10 games.
I asked Shane Steichen why he believes the #Colts can win with Daniel Jones when he’s 24-44-1 as a starter and 3-13 over the last two years:
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) August 19, 2025
“Well, I think that he’s proven that he’s played good football in that 2022 season (playoff berth). He had a hell of a year that year. …” pic.twitter.com/c2tyDUEp8F
The only sure-fire fantasy-relevant player right now in Indianapolis is RB Jonathon Taylor. With Jones at the head of the operation, he will have to show dramatic improvement to make any other pass catchers on the Colts’ roster playable in fantasy. Players like Tyler Warren, Michael Pittman Jr., and Josh Downs have the potential to be solid fantasy players if Jones can improve.
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Gray Deyo is a Nashville-based sportswriter who graduated with a sports management bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has covered prep sports, college sports, the WNBA, and the NBA for the past four years. In addition to writing for SI, Gray also currently contributes to Prep Girls Hoops