2025 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: 12-Team Half-PPR Mock (5th Pick)
Updated: Tuesday, August 12, 2025The best way to become good at something is to practice. So, what should you do if you want to draft a better fantasy football team?
Practice, of course!
Leading up to the start of the 2025 NFL season, we will use the fantasy football mock draft simulator to complete fantasy football mock drafts. And we will do so using a variety of scoring formats — point per reception (PPR), half-PPR, standard scoring and even 2-QB leagues — and league sizes. The goal is to provide you with a good representation of the team that you may be able to draft given your league settings while also providing the rationale of why we made the picks we did.
> Our 2025 mocks will be centralized here: Fantasy Football Mock Drafts.
That said, nothing beats practicing yourself so (check out the simulator) and complete a mock in a matter of minutes.
Half-PPR Mock Draft: 12 Teams, 5th Pick
Starting positions: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex (RB/WR/TE), 1 K, 1 DST; Bench spots: 6
Embed from Getty Images1.05 - CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys
Lamb played several weeks dealing with a shoulder injury before shutting it down with a couple of games to go. While his (and Dak Prescott's) injuries factor in, his numbers were down considerably from 2023. Lamb set career lows in yards per reception (11.8) and target (7.9) and his per game averages dropped from 7.9/102.9/0.7 (2023) to 6.7/79.6/0.4 (2024). When everything's clicking, however, Lamb is as productive as any receiver in the league and he's my second-ranked receiver behind only Ja'Marr Chase.
2.08 - Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts
Like with Derrick Henry, a concern with Taylor is the lack of receiving volume, especially with Anthony Richardson (or Daniel Jones) under center. Taylor, who missed Weeks 5-7, had only 12/59/1 receiving on 21 targets over the final 10 games of the season. But his rushing numbers over that span were elite — 231 carries for 1,082 yards, both of which were second to only Saquon Barkley, and seven touchdowns. One additional concern with Taylor is that he has missed at least three games in three consecutive seasons.
3.05 - Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
While he would be a WR1 elsewhere, Higgins will continue to benefit from being the 1B to Ja'Marr Chase. While he has missed exactly five games in back-to-back seasons, Higgins finished second (behind Chase) among all wide receivers in fantasy points per game in 2024.
4.08 - Davante Adams, WR, Los Angeles Rams
Adams, who was traded midseason from the Raiders to the Jets, still managed to extend his streak of 1,000-yard, eight-TD seasons to five. Even though he turns 33 on Christmas Eve and won't dominate targets the way he had at previous stops, he should have (or come close to having) another 1,000/8 season. The biggest concern with Adams is Matthew Stafford's back, but he's a nice value as my flex.
5.05 - D'Andre Swift, RB, Chicago Bears
Heading into the draft, the Bears were one of the teams that many projected to take a running back early. Chicago drafted a running back but not until the seventh round (Kyle Monangai, 233rd overall). Barring any trades that shake up this backfield, there is plenty of potential value to unlock by rostering Swift or Roschon Johnson. (See 13.05)
6.08 - Calvin Ridley, WR, Tennessee Titans
Ridley has back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns including his first in Tennessee last season and he led the NFL in player share of a team's air yards (44.58%), per NextGen Stats. Team reporter Jim Wyatt said of Ridley that "it seems like he's even more eager to work, and to embrace helping Ward, and the rookies around him" [compared to last season]. While it would be reasonable to expect ups and downs for a rookie quarterback, the rookie version of Ward should still be better than Will Levis (12 starts in 2024) and Mason Rudolph (five).
7.05 - Jakobi Meyers, WR, Las Vegas Raiders
Meyers has finished as a WR2 (top 24) in both of his seasons in the desert — WR24 in 2023 and WR23 in 2024, respectively, despite sub-par quarterback play and trailing Brock Bowers in targets last season. While his upside is relatively limited, he's a reliable option who will almost certainly outperform his ADP.
8.08 - Jordan Mason, RB, Minnesota Vikings
I'd prefer Aaron Jones over Jordan Mason, but expectations are that the workload could be close to a 50-50 split. He has some standalone value as an RB3/flex, but he has plenty of upside if the 30-year-old Jones were to miss any time.
9.05 - Justin Fields, QB, New York Jets
The same year (2022) that Fields threw for 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, he finished as fantasy's QB6 in points per game and overall. Of course, it was the elite rushing production (160/1143/8) that outweighed his anemic passing stats that year. Even before the Steelers benched him in favor of Russell Wilson in 2024, Fields was the QB6 in fantasy points per game through his six starts.
10.08 - Rashid Shaheed, WR, New Orleans Saints
Yes, his 2024 season was cut short to a season-ending knee injury (meniscus). And yes, he'll likely be catching passes from rookie Tyler Shough. But Shahid is one of my favorite values at wide receiver. Shaheed appeared in only six games, but he had 20 catches for 349 yards (17.5 Y/R) and three touchdowns on 41 targets, added six carries for 29 yards and returned a punt for a score. He was the PPR WR17 (WR27 on PPG basis) through Week 6. He has added some weight this offseason to help him hold up better against contact.
11.05 - Mark Andrews, TE, Baltimore Ravens
The season ended terribly for Andrews (and the Ravens) with their playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills. From a fantasy perspective, however, Andrews was at his best down the stretch. His slow start included back-to-back goose eggs in Weeks 3 and 4, but he scored all 11 of his touchdowns over his final 13 regular-season games. In fact, his 11 touchdowns set a career high and led all tight ends in 2024. Andrews was the TE5 overall from Weeks 5-18 and sixth on a per-game basis if you include Taysom Hill, who appeared in only five games over that stretch.
12.08 - Ray Davis, RB, Buffalo Bills
Davis finished his rookie season with 130 touches including 17 receptions, 631 yards from scrimmage and six total touchdowns. If James Cook were to miss any time, Davis would become a weekly RB2.
13.05 - Roschon Johnson, RB, Chicago Bears
I think there's plenty of value to unlock with the Chicago Bears backfield, as it currently stands, so Johnson as my last (non-DST/non-K) pick is an easy click.
14.08 - Houston Texans DST
15.05 - Wil Lutz, K, Denver Broncos
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