While it’s important to know who to target as you prepare for your fantasy football drafts, it’s equally as important to know which fantasy football draft landmines you’re avoiding. Our analysts provide players they are avoiding in their fantasy football drafts. Here are a few players they consider overvalued or are otherwise avoiding this fantasy football draft season.
You can find all of their players to avoid here: Fitz | DBro | Erickson | Joe
Fantasy Football Draft Landmines to Avoid
Here are a few fantasy football draft landmines our analysts avoid.
Fitz’s Players to Avoid
Jared Goff (QB – DET)
Goff threw a career-high 37 TD passes last year — five more than his previous career high of 32 with the Rams. His TD rate of 6.9% was a full percentage point higher than his previous single-season high. He also had a career-high completion percentage of 72.4% and averaged a career-best 8.6 yards per attempt.
Regression is coming for Mr. Goff.
There are other concerns, too.
The Lions are going from Ben Johnson, one of the better playcallers in the league, to new offensive coordinator John Morton, who hasn’t been an NFL playcaller since 2017, when he was with the Jets under head coach Todd Bowles. Morton was fired after that season.
Stalwart Lions center Frank Ragnow recently announced his retirement.
And Goff provides almost zero rushing value.
Pass on Goff at his ADP of QB10.
Check out all of Fitz’s fantasy football picks to avoid 
Joe’s Players to Avoid
Rhamondre Stevenson (RB – NE)
I’m firmly in the camp that the new regime wants TreVeyon Henderson to take over this backfield completely by mid-season, leaving Rhamondre Stevenson in the dust. The Patriots take just a $3 million cap hit if they cut Stevenson after this season, and I guess that they will.
Stevenson’s PPR ceiling is capped already by Henderson and, to a certain extent, by Drake Maye’s rushing ability as well. I just look at Stevenson as a bad investment, barring an injury to Henderson. When a new regime shows its hand in the draft, it’s typically wise to believe them.
Check out all of Joe’s fantasy football picks to avoid
Erickson’s Players to Avoid
Rashee Rice (WR – KC)
Rashee Rice enters 2025 as one of the biggest wildcards in fantasy football. After suffering LCL/hamstring injuries that ended his 2024 season early, his Week 1 status remains uncertain – but a return within the first few weeks is realistic based on a similar ACL injury timetable. The looming legal situation adds another layer of risk, though early projections suggest a minimal suspension (potentially just three games) that will probably not occur until 2026. When on the field, Rice was electric: through the first month of 2024, he ranked third in target share (32%) and averaged nearly 100 yards and 17.6 fantasy points per game (second only to Ja’Marr Chase).
Over his last 18 games played, dating back to the middle of his rookie season, Rice has averaged 13.0 PPG – WR16 territory. If healthy and active in Week 1, Rice could be a massive value pick tied to Patrick Mahomes in an offense still searching for reliable wideouts.
But if he is not 100% back from the injury, he may disappoint fantasy managers in a big way. Especially considering there’s more WR competition between Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown compared to the start of last season.
I am starting to get very concerned about Rice delivering on his rising best ball ADP, which is entering the back-end of WR1 territory on some platforms. It’s very aggressive based on his 3.5-sample size with WR1 fantasy production. I’ve done work on identifying the archetype of “busts” at WR, and typically they all follow similar patterns.
They are the highest-drafted WRs without true season-long breakouts on their resumes. It’s paying a premium for a potential. And when it is easy to write the narrative that KC spreads the ball more with a healthier WR room to not put all the pressure on their third-year WR coming off a season-ending injury, it’s not hard to see Rice underwhelming against lofty expectations.
Therefore I feel the need to express some reservations with Rice and a rising draft cost, given that players always report to “look great” or ahead of schedule from season-ending injuries. Being available Week 1 and being 100% back in pre-injury form aren’t the same.
Check out all of Erickson’s fantasy football picks to avoid
DBro’s Players to Avoid
Kyle Pitts (TE – ATL)
The Kyle Pitts hope and hype train is off the tracks. I can’t do it. Last year’s performance should scare everyone off, even at his depressed cost this season. Last year, Pitts was the TE20 in fantasy points per game.
Among 47 qualifying tight ends, Pitts ranked 24th in target share, 19th in receiving yards per game, 26th in yards per route run and 39th in first downs per route run, per Fantasy Points Data. There’s nothing statistically I can point to that gives me hope for 2025 and beyond. Pitts is off my draft board.
Check out all of DBro’s fantasy football picks to avoid
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