Fantasy Football: These are the biggest lessons we learned from 2025 – and takeaways for 2026

Yahoo’s Fantasy Football analysts come together to reveal the biggest lessons they learned during an eventful 2025 season: What will we take with us into 2026?

The biggest lesson from this season? Situations matter

Talent is the trailer, environment is the engine. We love the forty times and the vibrations but the bad offensive lines transform the Ferraris into shopping carts. Ashton Jeanty got the volume, but ran into a Raiders front that was bullied every week. Justin Jefferson is still him, but the shaky quarterback play has us chasing ghosts.

Snapshots from the start of the season also lie. Emeka Egbuka started hot, then faded when the roles changed. Luther Burden III limped in as a rookie, then won leagues when usage reversed late.

Training adjustments, injuries, depth chart churn – it all depends on the weather we have to play with. The approach here is to remain fluid. Trust what teams tell us in snaps, routes and red zone work. Clear out obsolete priorities. Pivot faster.

Fantasy is a proxy for Sundays, not our summer catches. In 2026, I select the player, but I bet on the ecosystem. Every time. -Ray Garvin

Rookie tight ends can fit in quickly

Although Sam LaPorta and Brock Bowers were freshman successes over the past two seasons, their instant success seemed more isolated and not necessarily symbolic of a sea change. But after watching what the 2025 tight end class has accomplished, I’m ready to re-evaluate the position as a whole. If you look at the receive the leaders among first-year players this seasonfour of the first six names are tight ends (Tyler Warren, Harold Fannin Jr., Oronde Gadsden II, Colston Loveland).

There have been ebbs and flows, of course – Warren was better early in the season (before Daniel Jones got hurt), Loveland came in late. But we need to definitively abandon the idea that rookie tight ends can’t be fantasy relevant in their first seasons. The offensive schemes of college and professional football continue to get closer, giving these talented recruits a better chance for early success. —Scott Pianoowski

Draft Years 3 and 4 Wide Receivers

The wide receiver position in 2025 was dominated by players in years 3-4. Six of the top 12 scorers per game were receivers in their third or fourth seasons. The fantasy community has a blind spot when it comes to these types of players reaching new heights. Because the space has become too influenced by dynasty content, we have in some ways become less patient than ever with younger players.

There is a feeling that a player “is what he is” after just a few seasons. This leads to elite cuts on guys like Chris Olave and JSN this year and Nico Collins a few years ago. This will be a receiver archetype to heavily target in the middle rounds next season and beyond. —Matt Harmon

Late QB approach should never be in doubt

While I touted the recruiting of elite QBs like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson this summer, their advantage over other fantasy passers wasn’t as noticeable as in recent seasons. Allen still averaged two more points per game than the other QBs, but he was closer to the pack than last year. Meanwhile, Jackson saw his campaign derailed by injuries.

At the same time, we had nine quarterbacks – drafted outside of the top 100 picks in fantasy drafts – who were good starters. Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye, Brock Purdy and Trevor Lawrence made up four of the top six Fantasy QBs in scoring per game. Other deep values like Jared Goff, Justin Herbert and Caleb Williams also finished as top-12 QBs. We even saw Daniel Jones post QB8 numbers for 13 weeks before getting injured, and Jaxson Dart became a top-10 fantasy option once he started starting Week 4.

While I was tempted by high-end passers in 2025, the overall goal should still be to try to uncover late-round quarterbacks with a path to significant production. —Justin Boone

If last year’s busts have a new situation, hurt feelings = value

I did a research study this offseason looking at fantasy players’ recent cap seasons in relation to their ADP. I didn’t know what the outcome would be, but it revealed one thing: emotions can lower ADP too much. Travis Etienne Jr. was the RB3 in 2023; A bad season later and he’s ADP RB30 – just behind Kaleb Johnson. A new coach who produced two Fantasy RB2s the year before insisted that Etienne would be the starter and it seemed like no one wanted him because he hurt their 2024 team.

Michael Pittman Jr. was very similar. ADP WR46, even though he was a top 20 fantasy WR from 2021 to 2023. Javonte Williams, Chris Olave, Christian McCaffrey – the list goes on. This does not mean that we will have to recruit Justin Jefferson, Kenneth Walker III or Garrett Wilson no matter what, but rather if their situation changes.

Because if nothing changes, nothing changes. — Joel Smyth

Be patient with a player if the right signs are there

I know we want all of our players to come out of goal strong, but situations can change, forcing us to lower our expectations. However, if usage is lower than production, I would be willing to wait until next season. Take Chase Brown, for example.

After Joe Burrow went down, the Bengals ranked last in yards per game, but Brown not only sat with a 15% target share, he also had a lock in the backfield with a 59% rush share and all goal lines.

Knowing HC Ben Johnson’s effect on Detroit’s running game, D’Andre Swift’s 61% share of their pass pass at least put him in pole position if the Bears offense found its rhythm.

From George Pickens leading the Cowboys in end zone targets before CeeDee Lamb’s injury to Zach Charbonnet taking 90 percent of goal-line carries before Kenneth Walker III’s preseason foot injury became a larger story, we tend to value perceived certainty about a player’s week- or season-winning potential.

So while I’ll always bet on how well my stars perform, I’ll be more willing to take an interest in guys with lackluster starts through 2026. —Chris Allen