When to Draft a Wide Receiver in Your Fantasy Football League

Aug 21, 2025

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

In a world ruled by "bell-cow RBs" half a decade ago, the top of the first round and the majority of the first three rounds were ruled by running backs. In 2020, for example, each of the first five picks, two-thirds of the first round, and 53% of the first three rounds by ADP were RBs. Then there was a shift in more recent seasons, as running-back-by-committee became more popular and the stable of star wideouts in the league began to grow. Last year, just one of the first five picks was an RB (Christian McCaffrey), along with less than half of the first round and just 33% of the first three rounds.

Then 2024 happened. In the "Year of the Running Back," five of the top six non-QB finishers in half-PPR fantasy points were RBs, as were 16 of the top 24. Both were major jumps over previous seasons — just two of the top six were running backs back in 2021, and the 16 of 24 mark (67%) was the highest for the position since 2002 (also 16).

So, has fantasy football reverted? Are running backs ... back? Or was 2024 an outlier year? I tend to believe the latter. Despite the heroics of Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs, and others, the modern NFL is still predicated on the pass, and most franchises are moving away from the 300-carry bell cow. Which means, by my estimation, we will see a correction in 2025. However. As always, 2025's ADP is heavily dictated by 2024's results, which means RB is inflated and WR is deflated. That creates opportunity for value. And we're going to pounce.

Together, we will sort through each critical window of your draft — with unique perspectives depending on where you’re at in the draft order — and come out the other side with a comprehensive understanding of when and where you should be drafting which wide receivers.

For the sake of versatility, we’ll be working within the framework of a typical 12-team, half-PPR snake draft and assuming two starting receivers and a FLEX. We’ll also be using 4for4’s brilliant multi-site ADP data and will conclude with several mid-round values, sleepers to target, and a helpful round-by-round cheat sheet.

So stick with me. Let’s get into it.