Kenneth Walker, Josh Downs, and More 2025 Breakouts

Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker set career highs in targets (53, 4.7 per game) last season, more than doubling his 2.2 targets per game that he recorded in 2023, while recording 7 touchdowns in his first five games and averaging over 18 touches per game. Sounds like a sure-fire RB1 in fantasy land, right? Wrong. After playing only 11 games last year, there’s more meat on the bone, especially with RB16 ADP.

With a new coaching staff and offensive line improvements, will 2025 finally be the year that KWIII gets unleashed?

In receiver land, Colts WR Josh Downs finished inside the top-20 wideouts on seven separate occasions last season. Throughout his two-year career, his target share (18% → 26%), PFF receiving grade (71.0 → 85.3), and more of his underlying metrics point to an ascending WR1 (h/t Dwain’s WR breakout candidates).

Sure, there are valid QB concerns, but his ADP? WR46. Will 2025 be the year we see it all come together for Downs?

Kendall Valenzuela and Adam Ronis dive into these exact questions, and a trio of additional breakouts for 2025. ⬇️

Is This Omarion Hampton’s Time To Shine?

With NFL Training Camps underway, the spotlight is shining as bright as ever on the 2025 class of NFL rookies.

Who will lock down a starting role from Day 1? What will Travis Hunter’s role be? Whose stock will rise (and fall) the most?

Among all of these questions, Dwain McFarland identified the seven most important storylines to watch during Training Camps, starting with—you guessed it—a rookie.

With Najee Harris’ unfortunate injury over the July 4th holiday, is rookie RB2 Omarion Hampton set up for immediate success?

“Hampton is the 10th-best RB in the history of the Rookie Super Model with a rating of 79.

“He offers the size-speed combination that NFL teams love, and checks scores of 75 or higher in every aspect of the model (the scale ranges from 50 to 100). To put his rating into context, 73% of his comps in the model achieved a top-12 finish by Year 3, and 27% reached top-six status.

“From a probability standpoint, there isn't much bust potential with Hampton, and it is more a matter of when he will break out rather than if he will break out. With Najee Harris opening camp on the NFI list, the Hampton will get an opportunity to impress immediately.

“Hampton's ADP is already climbing on the Harris news, but if he gets starter reps immediately, even with Harris back in the fold, he could climb into Round 3 of fantasy drafts by summer's end.”

What other rookies and storylines should you be following for fantasy football, and how can you prepare to take advantage of them now? Dwain breaks it down. ⤵️

Around the Watercooler

The latest NFL news and fantasy football analysis from our merry band of football nerds

📈 Let’s do a stock watch going into training camp. Who’s rising, and who’s falling?

👴 Do these seven vets have one more good season in the tank? Yes and no…

⬆️⬇️ These QBs are headed for regression … even of the positive variety.

💪 Why stop at 10, when you can identify 14 breakout WRs for 2025?

🤔 Can we trust Sam Darnold to support the Seattle offense? The verdict is still out.

🚀 There’s a new RB2 in Cincy. Things are looking up for the rookie.

👋 The Honey Badger is retiring. Great career.

👀 Who is that guy hiding at Chargers practice? Lol.

🤓 A former fantasy analyst is making an impact in a front office. Cool story.