Ricky Pearsall, Rashee Rice Headline 2025 Fantasy Football Breakout Wide Receivers

Rashee Rice, Jaylen Waddle, and Ricky Pearsall headline our list of breakout wide receivers poised to explode in fantasy football for the 2025 season.

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) catches a pass during the second quarter against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Every year, a number of young stars go from good to great and turn their potential into a breakout season. These are the wide receivers that we believe are going to make that leap in 2025 and become breakout fantasy stars. For the sake of this article, we will not be including rookies.

Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs

Sometimes, the most obvious choice is the right choice. As a rookie in 2023, Rice looked great, catching 79 passes for 938 yards and seven TDs. Then he came out of the gates on fire in Year 2. Last season in just three games, he caught 24 of 29 targets for 288 yards and two TDs. He was on pace to be a high-end WR1. Of course, that is a small sample size, but one I bought into before he even stepped on the field in 2024. This is a prospect that I both graded out at the top of his rookie class and projected to be a first-round pick. It sounds like he's already fully healthy and will be a full go in Week 1. If that is the case, he's a sure-fire WR1 in 2025. 

Rashee Rice is criminally UNDERRATED 💨 pic.twitter.com/xpqOLgEzRO

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 23, 2025

Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins

Can the same player break out twice? Apparently, they can when I make the rules because that's exactly the case here. Waddle was excellent as a rookie and even better in his sophomore campaign. In 2022, he caught 75 receptions for 1,356 yards and eight TDs on 18.1 yards per catch. That was on the heels of a 1,000-plus yard, seven TD rookie season. However, the past two seasons he has seen a steady decline in production. Injuries, lack of volume, and less downfield passing in Miami have really hurt him. This is the year he breaks back out and reminds everyone just who he is. 

Tyreek Hill is on the downside of his career, Jonnu Smith is gone, and no one should be afraid of Darren Waller. This offense is going to be extremely pass-heavy and run through Waddle and De'Von Achane this season. We expect him to top 75 - 1,300 - 8 again in 2025.  

Is #PhinsUp WR Jaylen Waddle in for Bounce Back in 2025?

First 3 season avg
💥83 Receptions
💥1128 Rec Yards
💥14.93 Fantasy PPG

Last season
🥶58-784-2 for just 10.0 FPPG

13 career games w/o Tua
🥶 4.5 rec- 47 yards - 0 TD 👀

💰Dynasty Value WR Buys⬇️pic.twitter.com/bTlk0wdiQh https://t.co/oten1ual7G

— Dynasty Dad (@DynastyDadFF) June 3, 2025

Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers

Pearsall is my 49ers wide receiver of choice. Some like to play it safe with Jauan Jennings or go old school with Brandon Aiyuk. I'm rolling with the second-year first-round pick. He's younger and more athletic than Jennings, and we still don't know that Aiyuk is fully healthy. There is a reason they invested a first-round pick into him and he gave us a glimpse at the end of last season when they leaned on him. 

In the final two games of 2024, Pearsall caught 14 of 18 targets for 210 yards and two TDs. This offense comes with a ton of value, granted, players will have their on days and off days because there are a lot of mouths to feed. Nevertheless, I want a piece of this passing attack and this is the wideout I think breaks out and has the best year of the bunch.