Fantasy football 2025 All-Undervalued team featuring Dak Prescott, Chris Olave, Mike Evans

New York Times

3 hours ago

It's not likely Warren Buffett was talking about fantasy football when he said, 'Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.' He's too busy having all the cheese to concern himself with such frivolities. But what Buffett said holds as much truth in our hobby as when buying North Dakota. It's not the price you pay for a player. It's what you get for that price.
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In the case of North Dakota, it's a lot of barley, wheat, oats, sugarbeets and sunflower seeds. Oh, and the Bismarck Bucks of the Indoor Football League.
Mustn't forget them. This could be their year, you know.
In fantasy football, value is the key to success. Build a roster of undervalued players whose production in 2025 surpasses their price tag, and odds are it will be a good year. Conversely, fill a roster with players who fail to live up to their draft slot, and by the end of November, your chances of making a deep playoff run will be as dead as a Thanksgiving turkey.
There are many reasons why a player could be undervalued. They could be coming off an injury, have (GASP!) 30-plus candles on their birthday cake or play for a team expected to struggle.
Whatever the reason, undervalued players are waiting to lead fantasy managers to glory every year. And this season, the following players are an All-Star squad of fantasy bargains.
ADPs via FantasyPros
Prescott's ADP is evidence that fantasy drafters love a good grudge. After missing half of last season with a hamstring injury, Prescott is being drafted outside the top 12 quarterbacks even though in 2023 he completed almost 70% of his passes, was third in the NFL with 4,516 passing yards and led the league with 36 touchdown passes.
Those numbers landed Prescott third among quarterbacks in fantasy points. The addition of wide receiver George Pickens and the return of a healthy Jake Ferguson at tight end (and that CeeDee Lamb guy — hear he's good) gives Prescott a solid set of pass-catchers. And given the questions swirling around the Cowboys' ground game, Dallas could easily be one of the NFL's more pass-heavy teams this season.
Brown's second-half surge last year propelled more than a few fantasy teams to championships. Brown finished his second professional season with 1,350 total yards and 11 scores — good enough for an RB10 PPR finish. From Week 8 on, he had double-digit PPR points in every game he played and ranked sixth at his position in fantasy points.
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The Bengals have made it clear that Brown is the team's unquestioned lead back, with words and actions — Cincy recently released veteran running back Zack Moss. Playing for a loaded offense that prevents opponents from stacking the box as a three-down workhorse from the jump, Brown could flirt with the top-five at his position in 2025.
On some level, it's understandable why fantasy managers have concerns about Conner. He's a 30-year-old running back with an injury history. As a matter of fact, the next season Conner plays every game will be his first, although in his defense, the ninth-year veteran played a career-high 16 games a year ago.
Conner had arguably the best season of his career in 2024 — over 1,500 total yards, 4.6 yards per carry and an RB11 finish in PPR fantasy points. The season before that, Conner averaged 5.0 yards a pop and was RB13 in PPR points per game. Trey Benson isn't a serious threat to the veteran's three-down role — Conner is being drafted a lot closer to his floor than his ceiling.
Several rituals signify the end of summer — Labor Day barbecues, the closing of public pools, children returning to school, and, for reasons that make about as much sense as the Star Wars prequels, fading Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans in drafts.
Yes, Evans has played 11 years in the NFL. But in every one of those seasons, the 31-year-old has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards. Evans caught 11 touchdown passes a season ago — his fourth season in the past five years with double-digit scores. He has also posted four top-12 PPR finishes over that span. Other than that? Total bum.
It's not especially easy to get excited about the Titans offense. Even their quarterback, rookie Cam Ward (the first overall pick in last April's draft), admits the team has work to do, telling reporters from training camp, 'I just think we're very mid right now.'
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It's an assessment that doesn't exactly inspire fantasy enthusiasm.
But Ridley was WR27 last year catching wormburners from Will, 'The Mayo Man' Levis, who dreams to one day be 'mid.' Ridley topped 1,000 receiving yards for the second straight season in 2024 despite a career-low catch percentage of just 53.3. The last time that percentage was above 60, Ridley tied for fourth in the league with 1,374 receiving yards and was fifth in PPR points at the position.
Not long ago, Olave was considered a rising young star at wide receiver instead of a fringe fantasy starter. The former Ohio State star topped 1,000 receiving yards in his first two seasons and had a fantasy ADP inside the top-12 receivers a year ago. But after a concussion-marred mess of a 2024, it's downtown 'meh' for Olave's fantasy prospects in the eyes of many this season.
The Saints will probably be stinky poo (it's a technical term), and the team's quarterback situation may be the worst in the league. But someone's gotta catch passes for a New Orleans team that figures to be playing from behind a lot in 2025, and Saints head coach Kellen Moore's offense has produced more than a few big years from said offense's top wideout.
Engram is another player on the All-Undervalued team who missed significant time in 2024. Hamstring and shoulder injuries limited the 30-year-old to nine games, 365 receiving yards and just one score. But the season before, Engram had more catches than every player in the AFC not named Tyreek Hill and led the conference in fantasy points among tight ends.
The Broncos are paying Engram a substantial amount of money this year to fill the 'Joker' role in Sean Payton's offense, which means he'll be lining up all over the formation. It's the role Jimmy Graham played for Payton with the Saints, and as the New York Post's Howard Bender wrote, over a four-year span from 2011-2014, Graham averaged 138 targets, 89 receptions, 1,099 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.
Is that good? It sounds good.
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After an outstanding 2021 season in which he surpassed 1,700 total yards, scored 14 total touchdowns and finished third in PPR points among wide receivers, Samuel was a bona fide fantasy stud. Fast forward a few years, and after failing to hit 700 receiving yards for the second time in three seasons in 2024, it's off to downtown Dudsville for the 29-year-old in 2025.
Or is it?
As recently as 2023, Samuel eclipsed 1,100 total yards, scored 12 touchdowns and was a top-15 fantasy option at his position. If the Commanders were as sure as fantasy managers that Samuel was washed, they wouldn't have traded for him. And with the Terry McLaurin contract saga dragging into August and Washington's sights set squarely on Samuel's old stomping grounds (in, say, February), offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury could be all the more motivated to scheme him touches.
Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow Gary on X at @IDPGodfather.
(Photo of Mike Evans: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)
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