Fantasy Football Rankings: Ja'Marr Chase Vs. Saquon Barkley

Ja'Marr Chase and Saquon Barkley are two of the biggest names in fantasy football coming off monster 2024 seasons. Chase was the WR1 overall for the Cincinnati Bengals, and Barkley was the RB1 overall for the Philadelphia Eagles. They are once again being drafted at the top of fantasy football drafts in 2025, but which one should you be selecting for your team?

WR Ja'Marr Chase Cincinnati Bengals

ADP: WR1 Overall: 1.0

The Case For Chase

The case for Chase is simple: last year we saw him catch 127 of 175 targets for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns, and lead all wide receivers in fantasy points. This year, he returns, and nothing has changed. As a matter of fact, things may have gotten better. He will once again enter this season with an elite quarterback and Tee Higgins opposite him to draw away attention. Except now the Bengals' defense is even worse, and they are sure to be in shootouts on a weekly basis and the team has allowed their starters to participate in the preseason to avoid another slow start.

His top competition at his position are Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson and Dallas Cowboys wideout Ceedee Lamb. Both enter the season with potentially damaging changes. Jefferson has missed significant time with a hamstring injury and will have a quarterback who has never taken an NFL snap, and Lamb will now have George Pickens opposite him to potentially compete for targets. While they both have new variables, we know exactly what we're getting from Chase.

The Case Against Chase

Honestly, I'm not sure there is one. He's an elite wide receiver with an elite quarterback who is going to play in what will most likely be the most prolific passing attack in football. We are hard-pressed to find a downside.

Chase is currently the WR1 in our 2025 PPR Rankings.

RB Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles

ADP: RB2 Overall: 3.2

The Case For Barkley

Barkley made his case last season. He's an elite talent who, for years, was stifled by playing in a terrible New York Giants offense. In his first year in Philly, he exploded for 2,005 rushing yards and 13 TDs on 325 carries while adding another 33 receptions for 278 yards and two TDs through the air. Still just 28 years old, he will once again be running behind arguably the best offensive lines in the league, in one of the most run-heavy offenses in the league. Everything is still in place for him to be the best running back in the NFL.

The Case Against Barkley

We have seen him deal with injuries in the past, and running backs coming off a workload like we saw him handle in 2024 tend to both get injured and see a dip in production. Including the playoffs, he saw 436 carries and 58 targets last season. That's an unreasonable number of opportunities. The Eagles also ran the ball at a historic rate last season. His 2024 pace is simply unsustainable for another year.

It feels impossible that everything falls in place again like it did last year. The Eagles were so good that they were able to run the ball for the majority of the second half of almost every game. Barkley also averaged a ridiculous 5.9 yards per carry on 345 carries. The volume and efficiency is extremely unlikely to repeat. However, even with a dip in both production and efficiency, he can still be unbelievable because 2024 was a historically great season.

Barkley is currently the RB3 in our 2025 PPR Rankings.

The Verdict: Ja'Marr Chase Vs. Saquon Barkley

As great as Barkley is, Chase should be the first pick in fantasy drafts this season. If you were to go with a running back, Barkley isn't even our top choice, Bijan Robinson is. ADP agrees with Robinson being the first running back coming off draft boards. I'm a guy who prefers to go running back in the first round too, but Chase is the top guy this year. Everything has fallen perfectly in place for the Bengals' star wideout.