13 Position Battles to Watch in 2025
The NFL preseason is often thought of as the prime time for positional battles. Fantasy football managers watch intently to see who will win what jobs or what percentage of playing time. The truth is, however, that position battles are happening all season long in the NFL.
Below are 13 of the hottest positional battles that fantasy football managers have been following since mini-camp back in June. Many of these will be “settled” by a coach or an official depth chart outlining the hierarchy of a roster. But in reality, these battles will continue long into the season.
Fantasy football managers can benefit from paying attention to each of these. How is playing time distributed? How are the starters performing? Who steps up in situational roles (third downs, goal line, two-minute drills, etc.)? Being ahead of the news in this battle can benefit a team tremendously in-season.
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Quarterbacks
New York Giants
With Daniel Jones off in Indianapolis, the only remaining quarterback on the New York Giants’ roster from 2024 is Tommy DeVito. While DeVito is likely to stick around on the practice squad, the team brought in three new quarterbacks in Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and rookie Jaxon Dart.
They have said all offseason that Russell Wilson is their starter in 2025. But there is also not a football fan or fantasy football manager alive who believes that Russell Wilson is better than Winston or Dart. The Giants should at least turn the reins over to the rookie at some point this season to see if his stellar preseason (32-for-47, 372 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions) can be duplicated when games count.
Cleveland Browns
On Saturday afternoon, the Cleveland Browns’ general manager came out and said, “We don’t see (having four quarterbacks) as a problem. We see it as an opportunity.” Well, you can keep on believing that, but the reality is that the quarterback room for the most chaotic franchise in football is just as chaotic as well.
All of Joe Flacco (the named starter), Kenny Pickett, Shedeur Sanders, and Dillon Gabriel could see starting snaps this season. The Browns’ season is likely to go down the tubes sooner rather than later, and the management would like to see what they have.
And don’t forget, Deshaun Watson is still lurking around there somewhere on IR. But this team may implode, and they seek to draft their franchise quarterback in 2026.
New Orleans Saints
Heading into the last preseason weekend, the New Orleans Saints are the only team in the NFL yet to name a starting quarterback for the upcoming season. Head Coach Kellen Moore said they will watch tape and make an announcement in the coming week. As it stands now, the quarterback battle for the 2025 season is primarily between Spencer Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough. Jake Haener is also in the mix, but seemingly far behind the other two.
Shough is a (almost) 26-year-old rookie who put up some amazing numbers with three college teams but is still seen as raw and unproven. Spencer Rattler has NFL experience now, but he completed just 57% of his professional passes and has more interceptions thrown than passing touchdowns. Both have had up-and-down preseasons, and these are players you likely want to stay away from in fantasy football.
Running Backs
Dallas Cowboys
While the Dallas Cowboys technically have four reasonable options at running back as the year draws near, we will leave Deuce Vaughn out of the conversation. That leaves veterans Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, as well as rookie Jaydon Blue, out of the University of Texas.
Blue is one of those explosive players who you can’t believe what he is doing when you watch him. But he has never handled a full-time workload before. Williams is nominally the starting running back but has had long periods of inefficiency and hasn’t been the same since a 2022 knee injury.
Miles Sanders has very little left at this point and is just a two-down depth piece right now. There is room for Jaydon Blue to be so explosive; he ends up playing the role that Tony Pollard used to play for the Cowboys. Pollard would explode on 12-15 touches per game, and that’s what the Cowboys are likely counting on Blue to do.
Cleveland Browns
More Cleveland Browns turmoil? Of course there is. The Browns might avoid these types of problems if they would stop signing or drafting players with histories of assault or domestic violence, but here we are. After Nick Chubb left for Houston, Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong are the incumbents. Then the Browns drafted Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson.
Judkins isn’t even signed to the team yet as the Browns await fallout from his legal troubles. Sampson has been marginally effective but not separated by any means. That likely means Ford and Sampson split the role to start the season. Judkins, however, could join the team at any time and throw a wrench into everything. He is talented enough to be the lead back once he is back in football shape.
Jacksonville Jaguars
If you could give me a crystal ball and tell me I could see into the future to find out the performance of one team’s backfield this season, it would be the Jacksonville Jaguars. With Travis Etienne, Tank Bigsby, and rookie Bhayshul Tuten, the Jaguars have three backs with unique skill sets, and any one of them could be a lead back from game to game.
The reason why this room is so enticing is that the new head coach, Liam Coen, looks to install a dynamic, fast-paced brand of offense that could feature the running backs in various ways. Through a few preseason games, there has been no one tipping their cards as to the running back rotation for 2025.
It’s surely to be something that causes fantasy football managers headaches all season long.
Washington Commanders
The biggest buzz of the last week has been the state of the Washington Commanders' running back room. After Brian Robinson Jr. was traded to the San Francisco 49ers, it left an ambiguous situation for Austin Ekeler, Chris Rodriguez, and everyone’s new favorite rookie, “Bill” Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
Ekeler and Croskey-Merritt sat along with the other starters in the last preseason game, so that might signal something. But my read on this is that it becomes a full-blown three-man committee. Croskey-Merritt and Rodriguez will play the Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery roles, respectively. Austin Ekeler is likely to be deployed on some third downs and two-minute drills. Rodriguez likely gets the goal line to start.
But it’s certainly possible that “Bill” comes in and blows everyone away and forces a bigger piece of the pie.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Najee Harris is gone and is learning how to safely deal with fireworks, while Jaylen Warren remains and welcomes rookie Kaleb Johnson to the Pittsburgh backfield. Johnson comes to Pittsburgh from the University of Iowa and looks to be the running back of the future for the Steelers.
However, Johnson has struggled at times in the preseason and has looked downright awful in some pass protection situations. Warren hasn’t blown anyone’s doors off, but has been solid, just as he was the past two seasons. This might be a situation where both are capable runners and pass-catchers, so the Steelers split time with him to see who becomes the hot hand from game to game and week to week.
Minnesota Vikings
Jordan Mason – who dominated as Christian McCaffrey’s backup last year – was signed by the Minnesota Vikings for two years and seven million dollars this offseason. That is “we play to play you money,”
Mason’s competition this season is Aaron Jones, who will turn 31 this season and has 1,755 career NFL touches. Jones was efficient last year in his first season with Minnesota, but that came with almost no competition behind him, which forced a huge workload. His efficiency took a tumble as the season progressed. After a 62% rushing success rate in 2023, that number plummeted to 49.8% in 2024.
The buzz from Kevin O’Connell out of Vikings camp is that this is going to be a shared backfield. It might not be a pure 50/50 split, but Mason is going to be heavily involved. But what if we get a repeat of 2023, where Aaron Jones misses six games? What if Jones falls off the age cliff? With Mason going around pick 100 in drafts right now, the discrepancy between where these players are going doesn’t match what might be the reality. Expect big things from them both this year.
Wide Receivers
Los Angeles Chargers
With the signing of Keenan Allen and the drafting of Tre Harris out of Ole Miss, the Los Angeles Chargers have four legitimate weapons at wide receiver this season. That’s in addition to rookie running back Omarion Hampton and two tight ends they signed in the offseason.
Quentin Johnston being out with a concussion right now simplifies things. Ladd McConkey becomes the X receiver, Keenan Allen is the Y, or the slot receiver, and Tre Harris – a speedster – will be the Z receiver. That should be their traditional three-receiver set until Johnston is back.
But how do they handle it when he returns? Does Harris immediately take his role? What if Keenan Allen gets hurt? In that scenario, McConkey likely comes inside, and Harris and Johnston become the flanking wide receivers on the line of scrimmage.
Green Bay
No wide receiver on the Green Bay Packers saw more than 75 targets in 2024. With the addition of first-round pick Matthew Golden to Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and ascending tight end Tucker Kraft, does that continue this year?
A lot of hype has gone into Golden as a first-round pick and how good he has looked in camp. He likely has a starting spot sewn up. But the other receivers, as well as Christian Watson when he returns from injury, will be fighting for what scraps are left over.
Will Matt LaFleur commit more to the pass in 2025 after Josh Jacobs’ career year last season? If you can predict what happens with this passing offense, you might have a cheat code that can break fantasy football in 2025.
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills have become known for a team that runs the ball well and has a very flat structure to their passing game that does not emphasize one player. That is not how they want to run their offense, in my opinion.
What the Bills want is a return to the days when Stefon Diggs topped 150 targets four seasons in a row. They want a reliable pass-catcher they can count on for third downs, contested grabs, and explosive plays. Khalil Shakir and Joshua Palmer are fine possession receivers. Curtis Samuel is aging and might have a few gadget plays left. Elijah Moore and Laviska Shenault Jr. are purely backup depth at this point. Second-year receiver Keon Coleman, who was fourth among wide receivers in yards per reception last season, could be the man to break out here and take over the alpha role in the passing game.
Tight Ends
Cleveland Browns
Yes, more Cleveland Browns positions in a state of flux. What a franchise. As the 2025 season begins, the tight end position is likely to have the least amount of chaos among the Browns’ offense. David Njoku is one of the league’s most athletic and dynamic receiving tight ends. He has the reins to start the season and should do well with Joe Flacco at center.
What worries me is when the Browns start to lose games, and do they decide to go full youth movement. If they make a quarterback change to Sanders or Gabriel, would they also make a change to stellar rookie tight end Harold Fannin? Njoku is a trade candidate this season, and his managers should pay close attention.
