2025 Fantasy Football: Ja'Marr Chase Headlines Top 5 NFL Wide Receivers

Discover the top five fantasy football wide receivers for the 2025 NFL season, featuring elite talent, high-volume roles, and league-winning upside.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) breaks away with a reception in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 17 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Denver Broncos at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. The Bengals took a 30-24 win in overtime to remain in the post season chase. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) runs with the ball against the Cleveland Browns in the second half at Paycor Stadium. | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

1. Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals

Ja’Marr Chase took another step forward in 2023, notching career highs in receptions (100) and targets (145) while topping 1,000 receiving yards (1,216) for the third straight year. The only blemish? A dip in touchdowns (7), marking back-to-back seasons of declining scores. Still, he gave fantasy managers plenty to cheer about in five explosive outings (highlighted by 15/192/3 and 11/149/1), which accounted for more than half of his production in just under a third of his games. Once Joe Burrow went down, Chase’s fantasy output followed suit—finishing the season with several quiet games and a missed Week 16 due to a shoulder sprain.

But then came 2024.

Chase detonated. He delivered a fantasy masterpiece with 127 receptions, 1,708 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 175 targets, blowing past the WR2 (Justin Jefferson) by a staggering 85.30 fantasy points in PPR. He dazzled in early-season shootouts (6/118/2 and 10/193/2), then bulldozed opponents over the final eight weeks (72/991/10), peaking with jaw-dropping games like 11/264/3 in Week 10 and 14/191/2 in Week 14. He posted at least seven catches in nine games and proved unguardable down the stretch.

Chase enters 2025 as the consensus WR1 in PPR formats, and rightfully so. The Bengals’ pass-heavy offense is built to support another monster season—and Chase is the engine. That said, fantasy history reminds us that repeating generational seasons is no small feat:

• 2019 Michael Thomas: 149/1,725/9 → 40/438 (2020)
• 2021 Cooper Kupp: 145/1,947/16 → 75/812/6 (2022)
• 2022 Justin Jefferson: 128/1,809/8 → 68/1,074/5 (2023)
• 2023 Tyreek Hill: 119/1,799/13 → 81/959/8 (2024)
• 2023 CeeDee Lamb: 135/1,749/12 → 101/1,194/6 (2024)

Still, Chase isn’t just chasing stats—he’s chasing history. He’s one of the rare receivers who can win short, deep, outside, and over the middle, and his 19 receptions of 20+ yards (eight of them for 40+) prove that he’s a weekly nuke waiting to explode.

Let’s pencil him in for 120 catches, 1,600 yards, and 12 touchdowns—with a real shot at an all-time fantasy season if Burrow stays upright and Zac Taylor opens the throttle. The future in Cincy is draped in No. 1 jerseys.