It's Labor Day Weekend. What better time to say some crazy sh*t to brag about if I'm right or hope everyone forgets about if I'm wrong?

Presenting: My eight BOLD predictions for fantasy football ahead of 2025 that probably won't happen, but you could imagine what it'd be like if they did. These are centered around the players I've drafted the most this season. You can find more nuanced fantasy advice with our team's fantasy football rankings and other cool tools (code "IAN" for 20% off if you're into that kind of thing).

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Fantasy Football Bold Predictions For 2025

Derrick Henry Scores 30 Touchdowns

We recently did some bold calls on The Fantasy Life Show, and I had this back-and-forth with our producer, Matt Swing, about this one.

I mean, if ANYONE could do it—wouldn't it be Henry? The man "only" went for 18 touchdowns in his career-best campaigns in 2020 and 2024, but considering the mutant and offensive environment at hand … c'mon, it could happen!

After all, Henry's 325 carries produced a career-best 5.9 yards per carry last season, thanks in large part to the Lamar Jackson effect. Imagine the terrifying reality of being a defender tasked with choosing between getting a step outside to hopefully track down the greatest dual-threat QB ever (sorry Mike Vick, but at this point it's true) OR filling the gap against King Henry, a mythical modern monster that combines Brandon Jacobs' size with Chris Johnson's penchant for big plays.

We shouldn't underestimate the evil ways of the injury and regression Gods, but man, maybe we also shouldn't underrate arguably the best RB of his generation inside an offense that has consistently generated runways for RBs better than almost anyone else in the league. Henry got 22 of the team's 24 carries inside the five-yard line (92%) for crying out loud! And honestly, we're simply due for another TD record run—it's been too long!

30 f*cking touchdowns for King Henry. Book it.

Keon Coleman Is The WR5+ Who Scores 10-Plus Touchdowns

Scoring double-digit TDs is not an easy task. Again: These are BOLD calls.

But if we had to try to guess which WR with a consensus ADP outside the top-48 options at the position could go off …

• Keon Coleman (ADP WR49): We tend to judge WRs in varying degrees by their: 1) Talent, 2) Target competition/potential volume, 3) QB, and 4) Age/injury concern boxes. Well, Keon wasn't necessarily Malik Nabers or Brian Thomas Jr. as a rookie, but IF the former 33rd overall project manages to get just a bit better at the game, he has a good argument for tentatively checking all four of these boxes.
• Rashid Shaheed (WR53): The small-sample All-Star is one of the last WRs you can take in this range and feel legit good about weekly early-season upside. Obviously, the QB concerns are real, but with good health, we should be looking at triple-digit combined carries and targets for a GOOD player.
• Rashod Bateman (WR59): Bateman caught 11 TDs last season, including the playoffs—good for the fifth-most in the NFL! Not too shabby, and hey, 2024 was the first time the former first-rounder didn't have an unfortunate early-season injury of some degree. Big-time volume is unlikely, but getting #paid and catching passes from Mr. Jackson is good business.
• Romeo Doubs (WR68): The biggest stretch of the group certainly … but Jordan Love did say he'd trust Doubs with his wedding ring after all! Romeo … and Love?! C'mon, you can't make this up! Also, virtually every WR in Green Bay other than rookie Matthew Golden is banged up, it'd make sense if Doubs flirts with a spike year—he did catch nine scores in 2023 (including playoffs).

*Drum roll* … I've landed on Keon. One of "my guys", long story short, I think the 22-year-old talent displayed a fun combination of solid-to-elite contested-catch ability and YAC goodness. Throw in the aforementioned reality that he's the projected lead deep-ball and red-zone target for the league's reigning MVP, and I'm willing to pay sub-Gabe Davis prices for Mr. Coleman.

George Kittle Re-Breaks The Single-Season TE Receiving Yards Record

For those who forgot: Kittle originally broke Rob Gronkowski's single-season record (1,327) with 1,377 yards back in 2018—just his second season in the NFL! Naturally, it took 136 targets to get there, and then he got 107 targets in 14 games the next year … and then somehow arguably the best TE on the planet hasn't reached even 95 targets in five seasons since.

Yes, injuries have shaved off at least a game or two along the way. Also, yes, the 49ers' embarrassment of riches on offense somehow made it fine for arguably the position's single-most lethal receiving option to take a back seat. From Christian McCaffrey, to Brandon Aiyuk, to Deebo Samuel: Kyle Shanahan's embarrassment of riches allowed him to refrain from overly feeding one of his "Monstars" and still get away with producing one of the league's most prolific attacks.

And hey, hell yeah, the 49ers reached the NFC Championship game four times during the 2019 to 2023 seasons … but could you imagine what their stud TE could have been pulling off with a featured role? Kittle has been putting up numbers on the same level as the league's very best pass-catchers, regardless of position!

The NFL's leader in yards per target (11.6!) over the last two seasons is suddenly looking at a potential spike in target volume thanks to the reality that the top-two WRs he's spent most of his career with are playing for another team (Deebo) and out for at least the first month (Aiyuk). Think about how STOKED you would be to start Kittle in this situation during any given week during the past half-decade—that's what we have for AT LEAST the first month of 2025, and the 49ers have every reason to continue featuring the league's highest-paid TE even once the offense is back to operating at full strength.

Xavier Worthy Finishes As A PPR WR1

Whether it was the inability to stay in bounds, a case of the butterfingers, or a bad pass from No. 15, the Chiefs' rookie speedster just never quite managed to get on the same page with Mahomes when it came to downfield heaves … until literally their last try of the season.

Yes, Worthy deserves credit for averaging a robust 17.1 PPR points per game (WR15) from Weeks 11-Super Bowl. Also, yes, his decrease in aDOT (11.9 vs. 7.5) reflects the potential for some of these opportunities to dry up when Rashee Rice is available … which won't be until Week 7.

I get it: We need to win fantasy championships in December, not October. Still, shouldn't the best QB the NFL has seen since the literal GOAT of the sport be able to enable more than one high-end WR? Clearly, the Chiefs figured out a good way to get Worthy involved in the underneath areas of the field down the stretch last season … what's the ceiling here if Patrick f*cking Mahomes manages to get on a better page with his 22-year-old WR who is kinda sorta the fastest man in league history in case you forgot.

Moral of the story: Worthy flashed to a high level in year one and continues to project for triple-digit opportunities inside what has usually been one of the league's best offenses, thanks to having the game's best QB under center. That should be an archetype we seek out in fantasy land, even in the presence of another baller in Rice.

Speaking of multiple dudes balling out in the same offense …

The Cowboys Produce *Two* Top-12 Fantasy Wide Receivers

It happens more than you think. In fact, 13 different offenses have produced multiple top-12 fantasy WRs in PPR points per game in the same season over the last decade (min. eight games).

We don't need to waste time explaining why CeeDee Lamb—THE WR1 in PPR points per game over the past two seasons—qualifies here. The real question comes down to ex-Steeler … and occasional knucklehead … George Pickens.

Here's the three-bullet bull case:

• The 6'3", 200-pound talent plays even bigger than that, combining tantalizing contested-catch ability with sneaky-solid speed after the catch. Pickens' highlight film speaks for itself: The man knows how to make big plays.
• Speaking of splash plays, the Georgia product has averaged a robust 16.3 yards per reception and 9.7 yards per target since entering the league—marks that rank seventh and 11th among 105 qualified WRs.
• He's the clear-cut No. 2 pass-game option led by a QB who had a strong case as league MVP in 2023 in an offense without a respectable RB on a team that now might boast the single worst defense in the league.

Basically, Pickens looks a LOT like a discount version of Tee Higgins, assuming the 24-year-old talent can keep his eye on the prize in this crucial contract year campaign.

Austin Ekeler Emerges As The Most Productive Fantasy RB In Washington

After all, the future first ballot fantasy football hall of famer finished as the RB29 in PPR points per game last season, thanks to his typical PPR goodness and relative every-down role (70%+ snaps in multiple games) when B-Rob missed some time.

Look, where there's smoke, there's fire: Bill Croskey-Merritt is deserving of a lot of the hype being thrown his way and profiles as the lead early-down option here. Still, Ekeler's pass-down work doesn't figure to be going anywhere, and what happens if HE winds up earning the goal-line role? After all, Ekeler has scored the position's third-most TDs inside the five-yard line since 2021 (27!) and done so at a pretty great 56% clip—far better than bigger body guys like Jonathan Taylor (39%) and David Montgomery (49%).

This is less of Bill slander and more of, hey, Ekeler looked plenty spry last season, and suddenly his main touch competition was replaced by a seventh-round rookie … and literally nobody else. There's room here for 12-15 weekly combined carries and targets inside an offense many expect to (again) flirt with top-five scoring status—that's not a bad bet for a guy going as the RB40 on Sleeper and RB45 on Yahoo.

TreVeyon Henderson Leads All RBs In Fantasy Points From Receiving

Hand up: Fantasy Life Director of Analytics Dwain McFarland and I can't stop drafting Mr. Henderson over at Real Time Sports. We regularly take him in the middle of Round 3 as our RB2 on a site where the position generally goes early and often.

And hey, I'm a Columbus, Ohio lifer and bleed scarlet and grey. I have no qualms with believing in Henderson early—the man possesses the sort of provocative one-hitter quitter big-play ability that gets the people going! This is something we saw plenty often at Ohio State and even again in the preszn.

Still, the real reason why I'm believing in Hendo big time this year is the realization that the explosive pass-catching talent could mess around and finish as one of this team's top receivers. After all, high-volume receiving RBs really don't have much of a history of busting in fantasy land.

Consider …

• 49 RBs have 50+ catches in a season since 2020
• Their average positional PPR per game rank: RB14.5.
• The median: RB11
• 26 of 49 (53%) finished as top-12 RBs
• 39 of 49 (80%) were top-24

And I get the concern. This is a rookie second-round pick who figures to cede plenty of early-down work to incumbent starter Rhamondre Stevenson. Josh McDaniels' RB history has been a bit finicky over the years

But man: From Alvin Kamara, to De'Von Achane: This is the EXACT sort of archetype we've seen blow up early and often in fantasy land. There were flashes of rare receiving excellence inside a college offense with as good a case as WRU as any outside of Baton Rouge—10-ish carries combined with five-plus targets per game could produce fantasy fireworks here.

Calvin Ridley Gains 1,500+ Yards While Leading The NFL In Targets

This one would be especially awesome if it hits because I have been bugging Mr. Dwain McFarland since April about Ridley's Fantasy Life target projection.

After all, Ridley went for 120 targets last season while sharing the field with guys like DeAndre Hopkins (for six games) and TD machine Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (now in Miami). And that was also with Will Levis and Mason Rudolph feeding him the football—it's no wonder he led the league in total unrealized air yards last season by 179! There were PLENTY of occasions of Ridley creating all kinds of downfield separation.

Fast forward to 2025, and this profiles as one of the sadder WR rooms in the league when looking at everyone past the franchise's $92 million man. Van Jefferson and 33-year-old Tyler Lockett are tentatively expected to join Ridley in three-WR sets. Seriously. If they get beat out, it'll probably be by day-three rookies Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike.

I maintain the 30-year-old veteran (younger in football years!) is good at the game and still capable of putting up some big-time numbers when paired with something close to a plus QB.

Guys like Jerry Jeudy and Chris Olave could have similar arguments to this sort of bold call. But guess what: I'm going with Ridley—it's a great day to be great.

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