It’s time to check in on the {at least reasonably assumed} players that could make up the 2025 rookie class, here the players seeing their stock going up. So far this year, we’re starting to see some quarterbacks that we had our eye on impressing (Jaxson Dart, Cam Ward, Jalen Milroe, Garrett Nussmeier, etc.), but maybe not quite solidifying high-end draft capital yet. The running back position continues to look deep with even some new names to keep an eye on. And the wide receiver group looks fairly steady with the known names at the top of the class like McMillan and Burden.
Let’s check out who has raised their future fantasy stock this early into the season.
Travis Hunter (WR/CB, Colorado)
Whether it’s on the defensive side of the ball or the offensive side of the ball, Hunter has been the best player on the field for Colorado. For all 120+ snaps that he plays for the team every single week. He has been great on both sides of the ball with an 85.5 coverage PFF rating on the year and putting up over 100 receiving yards in each of Colorado’s first four games. This output playing both ways creates some confusion about what his role is going to look like at the NFL level. Can he be a two-way player at the highest level of this sport? If you’re in any kind of Devy or Campus to Canton league, I think his talent makes him worth holding onto and finding out if he can help you out on offense for your fantasy teams. He’s a lock for the top of the first round of the NFL Draft.
Quinn Ewers (QB, Texas)
Despite being replaced by Arch Manning in the matchup versus UTSA early in week 3 due to injury, Quinn Ewers has looked great in his first few outings. He’s improved a lot over the offseason and showed off that improvement thus far into the season, especially in his outing against Michigan in The Big House. Enough improvement that he could work his way back in as a confident first-round selection. We’ll see how he progresses with his current injury, but I’d expect that we see him back sooner rather than later. And we’ve seen the best competition bring out the best in Ewers in the past, so maybe this season against SEC opponents will bring out what we all need to see from Ewers to solidify himself as one of the top quarterback prospects in this class.
Cam Ward (QB,MIA)
Ward excelled at the FCS program Incarnate Word in 2020 and 2021. Enough so that he was able to transfer up to Washington State where he produced at a very high level, throwing for over 3,200 yards and 23+ touchdowns in both 2022 and 2023. For his final season in college, he transferred to Miami where, through four weeks, Ward has put up over 300 yards and three touchdowns in all of Miami’s games thus far. He’s also added 100 yards and a touchdown on the ground throughout the season as well. If he continues this, at a place where the national media spotlight shines bright in Miami, he has a great chance to work his way into the top end of the first round of the NFL Draft.
Ashton Jeanty (RB, Boise State)
Through the first three games of the season, Jeanty looks like a player who has a fairly realistic chance to be the first running back Heisman winner since Mark Ingram over a decade ago. He has produced 267, 192, and 127 rushing yards in the first three games. This includes his 200 total-yard game against Oregon, a game where he looked like the best athlete on the field despite being a player on the G5 team. That Oregon game went a long way in proving he’s not just a player that beats up on lower competition.
With just three games through four weeks, he is second in the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. While the Heisman is probably a long shot for a running back, if he keeps this up, he should be a lock to be invited to New York and could lock in first-round draft capital.
Ole Miss Offense
The Ole Miss offense has been the definition of hot through four weeks of the college season. And through those four weeks, Jaxson Dart has looked like a Heisman contender as he leads the FBS in passing yards, Tre Harris has looked like an absolute stud as he leads the FBS in receiving yards with 661, and Henry Parrish Jr. is in the top 15 in the FBS in rushing yards. Dart has passed for over 375 yards in each of Ole Miss’s first four games and if he keeps up this pace, he is making a real case to work his way into the first round of the NFL Draft. Tre Harris has had over 125 receiving yards in each of the first four games and also is making the case to be regarded in the top tier of receivers in this class. And finally, Parrish has also looked impressive both as a pure rusher and as a receiver out of the backfield. He is making the case to secure a role in an NFL offense as an older player in this running back class.
The catch is whether Ole Miss can continue at least some version of this trend throughout the whole season. So far, the Rebels have played against Furman, Middle Tennessee, Wake Forest, and Georgia Southern. Not quite what one would consider a tough slate of defenses to face. But in terms of tough defenses, Ole Miss fairs pretty well the rest of the season, really only keying in on Georgia towards the end of their season. But still, SEC play starts this upcoming week, so we’ll see pretty quickly if this pace keeps up.
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