Fantasy Football Quarterbacks and Wide Receivers Who will Improve in 2025 | Justin Herbert, Malik Nabers, Jordan Love, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and More

A week ago, I put together a couple stories on fantasy football players who would regress in 2025. We looked at quarterbacks and wide receivers in one story and running backs and tight ends in the other. 

We'll do the same thing to end this week, but instead focus on fantasy players who will improve. We'll start with QBs and WRs. I'll be using ESPN's scoring leaders page, and PPR settings when discussing things. 

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Quarterbacks

Jayden Daniels" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#player-pop-up" href="/nfl_player_news/Jayden_Daniels/">Jayden Daniels, Justin Herbert and Jordan Love are three fantasy quarterbacks who I see faring better in 2025.

Daniels was already a fantasy star in his rookie season, finishing fifth in fantasy points among QBs - he was sixth if you went by fantasy points per game.

Daniels threw for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions and rushed for 891 yards and six touchdowns on 148 attempts in 17 games played. He completed 69% of his passes.

Daniels was over 250 passing yards on five occasions. He rushed for at least 50 yards in eight games.

Most people are expecting Daniels to improve in his sophomore season, but along with natural progression, Washington's influx of offensive talent around him is why I see Daniels performing better in 2025.

The Commanders have a ton of cap space and will likely be bringing in a new crop of pass catchers for the young quarterback. Washington could make a splash in free agency and draft a receiver in the early rounds.

I think even one more proven/talented receiver will take Daniels' game to the next level. He was great with basically just Terry McLaurin doing the heavy lifting this season, and a couple more reliable options outside him could improve Daniels' fantasy outlook and keep the Commanders as one of the top teams in the NFC.

Herbert just missed out on a spot inside the top 10 among QBs, taking 11th in total fantasy points in 2024.

Herbert played in 17 games, but was banged up for a couple of them. After a slow start, with the injury factoring in, he ended the season strong.

He completed 65.9% of his passes on his way to 3,870 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Herbert rushed for 306 yards and two more scores.

It's going to be hard for him to limit turnovers as well as he did in 2024, but an increase in yardage and passing scores could offset a couple more picks thrown. As long as he can stay healthy, I also see him improving in his second year of play with this coaching staff.

The Chargers have cap space to play with this offseason and aren't expected to lose any big-time offensive contributors. I could see Los Angeles making a splash or two in free agency, along with surrounding Herbert with more offensive talent in the draft. 

I think when you add everything I've talked about together, Herbert is in store for a big 2025 season. Going for at least 4,000 combined passing and rushing yards, getting close to 30 total touchdowns and having under 10 interceptions should help Herbert finish firmly inside the top-10 fantasy QBs.

Love dealt with injuries on and off all season. He played in 15 games, so his QB17 overall finish makes sense. Even if you break things down on a per-game basis, he was QB17 among the quarterbacks who were starters for more than a couple weeks.

Love completed 63.1% of his passes, pretty much on par with his 64.2% mark from 2023. With fewer games, he finished with 770 less passing yards and seven less passing TDs, but matched his 11 interceptions. 

After rushing for 247 yards and four scores in 2023, Love had just 83 yards and a touchdown in 2024. Injuries likely played a role in him running less, so even getting to half his numbers from 2023 would be a nice fantasy boost for 2025.

The Packers are another team with cap space to burn, and some offensive weapons might be coming Love's way. Green Bay isn't expected to lose any big-time contributors from this season, but a free agent signing or draft pick should help the offense take the next step.

Getting Love healthy again is the biggest reason why I see him bouncing back in 2025.

Wide Receivers

Brian Thomas Jr., Malik Nabers" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#player-pop-up" href="/nfl_player_news/Malik_Nabers/">Malik Nabers and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are three young receivers who I see improving as fantasy assets in 2025.

Thomas was the No. 4 PPR fantasy receiver in 2024. That's honestly pretty remarkable considering how bad Jacksonville was, and the QB injuries the team dealt with.

Getting Trevor Lawrence back healthy, and with a new-look team, I think Jacksonville's offense takes a step forward, and Thomas will improve as a fantasy asset.

In 17 games, Thomas had 1,282 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on 87 receptions and 133 targets. He had 48 rushing yards on six attempts.

Jacksonville has some cap space to work with, and the team is probably going to make some more changes to make even more room for possible upgrades. The Jaguars' offense isn't going to lose any big-time contributors, but Christian Kirk and/or Evan Engram could be cut candidates, thus opening even more targets and production for Thomas.

Thomas already was one of the top receivers in the league as a rookie, and now the Jaguars are going to build around him for years to come. Getting a reliable No. 2 option should keep defenses from honing in on Thomas, and a healthy Lawrence should also benefit the young wideout.

Nabers was sixth in total fantasy points among receivers. He was in a similar boat to Thomas, on a bad team and with no locked-in quarterback whatsoever.

Despite only playing in 15 games, Nabers had 1,204 receiving yards, seven touchdowns, 109 catches and 170 targets. He added just two rushing yards on five attempts.

Nabers is the best offensive player the Giants have, and they'll build around him for years to come. New York has cap space to build around him, but what he really needs is a quarterback.

The Giants are either going to bring in a veteran or draft a highly-ranked prospect (maybe both), and the team's QB play should improve in 2025. That should help take Nabers' game to the next level, and he'll be in the running for the top fantasy wideout by the end of the season as a result.

Smith-Njigba was the No. 9 fantasy wideout in PPR formats for 2024. I think he's now going to be used as the team's top receiver, even if DK Metcalf is around.

In 17 games this past season, JSN had 1,130 yards and six touchdowns on 100 grabs and 137 targets. He added 26 rushing yards on five attempts.

He played in two more games than Metcalf, but had nearly 30 more targets, so Smith-Njigba was really the No. 1 wideout this season. There's a pretty good chance that Seattle moves on from Tyler Lockett as well, which should open even more opportunities for JSN.

Seattle needs to shed cap, which is why I think Lockett gets moved. The Seahawks might bring in another veteran receiver if they move on from Lockett, but it's very unlikely to affect Smith-Njigba. 

I'd feel a little better about JSN if he had a better QB than Geno Smith throwing to him, but there's also a chance the team makes a QB chance.

Regardless of who is throwing to him, I see Smith-Njigba emerging as a top-five fantasy receiver this season. As of now, I'd guess JSN is going to be a pretty underrated fantasy player going into 2025.