Ranking NFL Offenses: Detroit Lions No. 2
The Detroit Lions are coming off one of the most successful seasons in franchise history, dominating the regular season with a 15-2 record and earning the NFC’s top seed. Although they fell short of a Super Bowl appearance, Detroit heads into the 2025 fantasy football season boasting a stacked roster and the league’s second-best fantasy-friendly environment. With multiple top-10 players at their positions—including RB Jahmyr Gibbs, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, TE Sam LaPorta, and QB Jared Goff—this offense is primed to deliver major fantasy production.
Detroit Lions Starting Offense:
QB Jared Goff
RB Jahmyr Gibbs
RB2 David Montgomery
WR1 Amon-Ra St. Brown
WR2 Jameson Williams
WR3 Tim Patrick
TE Sam LaPorta
WR4 Kalif Raymond
No. 2: Detroit Lions Fantasy Football Outlook:
Detroit led the NFL in scoring last season, averaging a staggering 33.2 points per game, while also ranking second in total offense (409.5 yards per game) and passing yards (263.2 per game), thanks in large part to one of the league’s most efficient play-action attacks. Their ground game was equally potent, as the dynamic duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery propelled the Lions to the sixth-most rushing yards per game (146.8).
Jared Goff exceeded expectations in a big way, finishing as the QB6 despite entering the season with a preseason Expert Consensus Ranking (ECR) of QB16. The veteran quarterback completed an impressive 72.4% of his passes for 4,629 yards—second only to Joe Burrow—while throwing 37 touchdowns against just 12 interceptions. Though he offered no rushing upside (35 carries for 56 yards and no scores), Goff remains the engine of Detroit’s high-octane aerial attack and enters the 2025 fantasy season as a solid top-10 quarterback option. His lack of rushing production keeps him out of the elite fantasy tier, but his efficiency and supporting cast make him a reliable weekly starter.
Since Jared Goff was traded to the Lions in 2021, only 3 QBs have thrown more TDs than him...
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) May 5, 2025
Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow pic.twitter.com/3Nv27aTnIW
Gibbs finished as the RB1 overall in PPR formats, even outpacing Saquon Barkley’s 2,000-yard campaign, thanks to his elite versatility and efficiency. He racked up 1,412 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 250 carries (5.6 YPC), while adding 52 receptions for 517 yards and four receiving scores—all without missing a single game. Averaging an impressive 21.3 fantasy points per game, Gibbs delivered elite production despite ceding over 200 touches to David Montgomery. With a similar backfield split expected in 2025, even a modest increase in volume could solidify his spot atop the rankings once again. He’s firmly a top-three running back and a consensus top-six overall pick in fantasy drafts.
Montgomery is coming off an RB18 finish despite missing three games. The veteran tallied 775 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns on 185 carries, and caught 36 of his 38 targets for 341 scoreless yards. After averaging 15.8 fantasy points per game, Monty is arguably the best RB2 in the NFL and fantasy football formats alike. He’s hovering just around the RB20 in my preseason rankings but if Gibbs goes down, Montgomery screams of RB1 upside.
In the passing game, Amon-Ra St. Brown remains Jared Goff’s clear-cut No. 1 option. The “Sun God” finished as the WR3 in PPR formats—trailing only Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson—after posting 115 receptions on 141 targets (an elite 81.6% catch rate), 1,263 receiving yards, and 12 touchdowns. While Detroit’s offense is loaded with playmakers, St. Brown is still the focal point, and if he sees 150 targets in 2025, he’s a near lock to finish as a top-five fantasy wideout. Should the Lions find themselves in more competitive games this season, game script could work in his favor and potentially push his volume closer to the 164 targets he saw in 2023, when he averaged an elite 20.7 PPR points per game (compared to 18.6 in 2024). No matter the scenario, St. Brown remains one of the safest and most consistent wide receivers in fantasy football.
Amon-Ra St. Brown’s headstand was one of the BEST touchdown celebrations of the 2024 season 🤣 pic.twitter.com/mXaFCflIgk
— Crunch Time Sports (@officialctpod) May 5, 2025
Jameson Williams finally delivered on the promise that made him a first-round pick out of Alabama in 2022. After an underwhelming rookie year (2.5 fantasy points per game) and a modest sophomore campaign (6.7 PPG), Williams broke out in Year 3, averaging 14.1 fantasy points per game over 15 contests. He surpassed the 1,000-yard mark with 1,001 receiving yards on 58 catches and scored seven receiving touchdowns, plus one on the ground, en route to a WR22 finish in PPR formats. While his week-to-week production can be volatile—evident in dud performances like 1.2 points in Week 3 and 0.6 in Week 7—his big-play upside makes him an ideal BestBall target. He exploded for 50.5 combined points in Weeks 16 and 17, making him a potential league-winner. Given Detroit’s crowded target tree with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta, and a run-heavy offensive scheme, Williams profiles as a high-end WR3 with legitimate WR2 upside. He’s currently in the WR25-WR30 range.
Outside of St. Brown and Williams, the Lions don’t have many trustworthy playmakers in the wide receiver room. Tim Patrick has the inside path to earning the WR3 role, and Kalif Raymond should earn the WR4 role, but both should be considered afterthoughts in redraft formats. I wouldn’t rank either one of them within the top 100 players at the position.
After an impressive rookie campaign in which he averaged 14.1 fantasy points per game and scored 10 touchdowns, Sam LaPorta experienced a slight regression in 2024. Despite the dip, he still finished as the TE8 overall, posting 60 receptions on 83 targets for 726 yards and seven touchdowns. Entering his third NFL season, LaPorta is a strong candidate for a bounce-back year and remains firmly entrenched as a top-five tight end. As of now, only Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, and George Kittle rank ahead of him heading into the 2025 offseason.
With elite talent at every skill position and one of the league’s most efficient offenses, the Detroit Lions are locked in as a fantasy goldmine heading into the 2025 season. From Goff’s steady hand at quarterback to the explosive playmaking of Gibbs, St. Brown, Williams, and LaPorta, this unit offers both high floors and massive ceilings across the board. While the supporting depth at wide receiver is thin, the concentrated target distribution among Detroit’s stars only enhances their fantasy value. As long as this core stays healthy, the Lions should remain one of the most dominant and reliable offenses in fantasy football—worthy of their No. 2 ranking.
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-93d081519425a2ac5afbaba6a5df6de3.jpg "Matt Brandon")
Matt Brandon has worked in the Fantasy Sports / Sports Media industry for over a decade including stints at Scout Media, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, DrRoto.com, Fantasy SP, FullTime Fantasy, and more. Brandon produced Top-10 rankings in FantasyPros’ nationwide contest three years in a row. He has taken down a few big DFS tournaments on FanDuel and DraftKings but his bread and butter is season-long fantasy football, fantasy basketball, and sports betting. Brandon bleeds blue for his New York sports teams: the New York Giants, New York Knicks, New York Rangers, and New York Mets.