Expert Fantasy Football Mock Draft Recap: 12-Team Half-PPR (June 2025)
The NFL may be in its one quiet period of the year, but fantasy football sleeps for no one. Even with limited player news or updates, it's never a bad time for a mock draft. With this in mind, I gathered 11 chums from the 4for4 family and a few special guests to get an expert mock draft rolling.
The ADP referenced in this piece will be from our Underdog ADP tool. I'll post the whole draft board at the end.
2025 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Settings
- Roster Settings - 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 2 FLEX (WR/RB/T), 1K, 1DST, 5 bench (Kickers and defenses were not mandatory selections)
- Scoring - Half-PPR
Draft Participants (in order)
- Brendar Dar (terpfan20)
- Matt Jones (Matt Jonestfr)
- Jason Brown (numba1punna)
- Jennifer Eakins (jeneakins)
- Tim Riordan (timmymr)
- Neil Dutton (dutts13)
- Zach Krugrer (tyrodasaurus)
- Stephen Hoopes (seh363)
- Denny Carter (dennycarter)
- Justin Edwards (justin_redwards)
- Scott Simpson (nimblewnumbers)
- Ryan Kirskey (cableboxscore)
Rounds 1-3
The first three rounds were dominated by wide receivers, with 19 of the first 36 players taken wideouts. Running backs account for 13 of the selections, while two quarterbacks and two tight ends were taken.
Risers
Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a huge riser in our mock compared to his ADP. According to the folks at Underdog, Smith-Njigba was the 31st-ranked player, but the Seattle wideout went at pick No.20 in our draft. Lamar Jackson enjoyed a similar meteoric rise, going 11 picks ahead of ADP. Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving went 14th overall, near the top of the second round, and almost a full half-round ahead of his Underdog ranking of 21st.
Fallers
Christian McCaffrey, for many years a stone-cold certainty to be one of the first players drafted in all formats, remains a first-round player for the bulk of drafters at Underdog, going at approximately the 1.08. But here he fell in the middle of the second round. Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice, boasting a second-round ADP on Underdog, was still on the board as the third round of our mock began, while a similar fate befell Bengals wideout Tee Higgins.
Rounds 4-6
As with the first three rounds, wide receivers continued to dominate, with exactly half of the players taken in rounds 4-6 being wideouts. The number of quarterbacks and tight ends taken increased, with four passers finding homes and three tight ends picked up, leaving 11 running backs drafted.
Risers
One of the biggest risers in this range was Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson. Hockenson's ADP of 86.8 was smashed, with Denny Carter snapping him with the ninth pick of the fifth round, the 57th overall selection. Quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow also went considerably earlier than their Underdog ADP suggested, with Mahomes (ADP 86.5) going at 68th overall and Burrow (60) going in the middle of the fourth round.
Fallers
Our draft didn't seem overwhelmed with the prospect of adding rookie wide receivers at this stage of the draft, at least compared with their Underdog ADPs. Travis Hunter fell almost three rounds after his Underdog ADP of 44.6, while Panthers first-round pick Tet McMillan fell from the early third round to the first selection of the fourth. The Detroit Lions have gone out of their way to talk up Jameson Williams this offseason, but this buttered no parsnips with our group. Williams fell more than an entire round before being selected as the WR29 in the fifth round.
Rounds 7-9
Wide receivers continued to dominate the selections, with 15 of the 36 players taken in these three rounds being wideouts. This area saw the most tight ends taken so far, with six going off the board, while running backs (11) and quarterbacks (11) remained the same as the previous block.
Risers
Two of the biggest risers came from the tight end spot, with both Jonnu Smith and David Njoku going considerably earlier than their Underdog ADP would suggest. Smith has been going off Underdog boards as the 112th selection, but he was snapped up as the 87th overall pick. Despite taking Mark Andrews a round earlier, I took Njoku at the 102, over two rounds earlier than Underdog drafters have been taking him. What can I say, I'm a sucker for this position, and for the huge role Njoku will have when Joe Flacco wins the Browns starting job. Tyrone Tracy went almost three rounds earlier than his typical ADP, and a good three rounds earlier than Giants rookie Cam Skattebo.
Fallers
A trio of players who project to be the WR1 on their teams didn't seem to find favour with us, with significant drops against ADP for Calvin Ridley, Jauan Jennings, and Matthew Golden. All three went more than two rounds later than their typical ADP. Golden seems to be just the latest in a long line of rookie wide receivers our group was simply happy to let fall to someone else, until they became an unignorable value.
Rounds 10-12
This block marked the first time in this draft that more running backs were drafted than any other position, with 14 tailbacks drafted against just 10 wide receivers. Tight ends continued to have their names called, with six taken between rounds 10-12, while another six quarterbacks were also added to rosters.
Risers
One of the biggest proponents of Zero-RB over the years, Denny Carter, continued to expound that philosophy here, taking Jerome Ford at the 136th pick, a massive jump from his typical ADP if 213th. Another running back, Tank Bigbsy, enjoyed a 38 pick jump compared to his ADP, while Jalen McMillan also went nearly four rounds earlier than Underdog drafters have been taking him.
Fallers
Two quarterbacks attached to exciting offenses (in theory) went off the board in this part of the draft somewhat later than they would have expected, with Caleb Williams falling to the middle of the 12th round and Dak Prescott the end of the same round. Williams' typical ADP has seen him taken in the ninth round, while Prescott has generally been gone by the time the 10th round has ended.
Rounds 13-15
The final rounds, as so often is the case, were something of a free-for-all. Running backs once again made up the bulk of the selections, with nine going off the board, but there were also eight wide receivers, eight DEFs, five kickers, four tight ends and two quarterbacks. Not everyone elected to fill the DEF and kicker spots on their rosters; however, some drafters decided to keep adding to their bench instead of spending draft picks on streamable spots.
Risers
Despite waiting so long to be drafted, there were a few players who found themselves going earlier in our draft than their typical ADP. DeAndre Hopkins enjoyed such a bump, going at the 13.3 despite a 16th-round ADP on Underdog. Two rookie running backs were also sought, with Jarquez Hunter and Brashard Smith taken with the 160th and 169th selections, respectively.
Fallers
A surprising faller, Drake Maye was the final quarterback taken in our draft when he went off the board with the first pick of the 14th round. Maye's typical ADP of 120 puts him firmly in the early double-digit rounds, but if the Patriots' offensive revamp can get the best out of him, then landing him as late as Ryan Kirskey did could be seen as a hell of a bargain.
Of the players not selected in this draft, a few names caused me to raise my eyebrows a tad. Our managers didn't find places for Trevor Lawrence, Matthew Stafford, or Tua Tagovailoa within their quarterback spots. Dalton Schultz, Chig Okonkwo and Cade Otten remain on the tight end streets. Rookies like Jaylin Noel, Mason Taylor, and Cam Ward have experienced no love from the drafters.
Full Draft Board
Bottom Line
- Adopting a wide receiver-heavy approach throughout the draft can yield significant results, with viable options seemingly available into the late rounds.
- The tight end position seems to be deep, in the sense that almost every manager took at least one before the double-digit rounds.
- Rookies don't seem to have fully captured the imagination of this group of drafters, with many first-year players falling way beyond their typical ADPs, nor left on the table completely.
- There will still be an early-season opportunity to stream viable quarterback options, although they all seem to be part of the pocket passer archetype.
