Super Bowl LIX is set, and we should have a great game between the Chiefs and Eagles in New Orleans. Kansas City beat Buffalo 32-29 in the AFC Championship Game, and Philadelphia knocked off Washington 55-23 in the NFC Championship Game.
As we've done throughout the postseason, we're going to take stock of these playoff performances and spin them forward to next season. We want to see who helped their Fantasy value for 2025, and who might see a downturn in their outlook because of some poor play.
But before we get to our playoff stock watch, let's talk about Saquon Barkley, who had another dominant performance for the Eagles against the Commanders with 15 carries for 118 yards and three touchdowns, and one catch for 4 yards on two targets. Should Barkley be the No. 1 overall pick in Fantasy leagues in 2025?
He now has 66 carries for 442 yards and five touchdowns in three playoff games, along with seven catches for 35 yards on eight targets. This comes after an MVP-worthy campaign in the regular season with 345 carries for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns and 33 catches for 278 yards and two touchdowns on 43 targets.
Barkley is making a strong case to be the No. 1 overall pick next season, and we'll see what he does in the Super Bowl. In my early 2025 overall rankings, I have Barkley as the No. 3 overall pick behind Ja'Marr Chase and Bijan Robinson, but that's written in pencil, not pen.
The positives for Barkley were on display against Washington. He now has seven touchdown runs of at least 60-plus yards this season, including three in the playoffs, a record for a single postseason and more than any other player has in an entire career.
Barkley also now has 2,447 rushing yards this season, including the playoffs, which is 30 shy of breaking Hall of Famer Terrell Davis' NFL record in 1998. Barkley might be having the best running back season of all time.
He plays behind a standout offensive line in a great offense, and we'll see if Kellen Moore remains as the coordinator in Philadelphia next season. No matter what, Barkley should be a star, even if he does lose an occasional touchdown or two to the Tush Push.
But he turns 28 on Super Bowl Sunday, which is Feb. 9, and he's at 451 total touches and counting. And the history of running backs with 2,000 yards rushing in a season isn't good for the following year.
Of the eight who have previously accomplished this feat in NFL history -- O.J. Simpson (1973), Eric Dickerson (1984), Barry Sanders (1997), Terrell Davis (1998), Jamal Lewis (2003), Chris Johnson (2009), Adrian Peterson (2012) and Derrick Henry (2020) -- two suffered serious injuries the next season in Davis and Henry. All of them declined in production by at least 562 rushing yards, with six of them dropping 871 rushing yards or more.
We'll get more into that history soon, but it doesn't bode well for Barkley. Still, the upside for him to succeed remains high, and it will be fun to talk about where he should rank in 2025 over the next several months.
Stock up
Jalen Hurts
Hurts was having a down playoffs prior to facing Washington, but he turned things around against the Commanders with 246 passing yards and a touchdown and 10 carries for 16 yards and three touchdowns. He was never in danger of falling out of the top-10 Fantasy quarterbacks in 2025, but he solidified himself as a top-five quarterback with Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jayden Daniels, and Joe Burrow. I have Hurts right behind those guys, and he's worth drafting as early as Round 4 in the majority of one-quarterback leagues.
James Cook
Cook was a star for the Bills against the Chiefs with 13 carries for 85 yards and two touchdowns and three catches for 49 yards on three targets. He finished his breakout season with 19 rushing touchdowns, including the playoffs, and Cook will be considered a No. 1 running back in all leagues in 2025. Hopefully, Buffalo doesn't start giving more work to Ray Davis next season, but Cook showed he can lose some touches and still be a standout Fantasy option. He's worth drafting by the end of Round 2 or early Round 3 in all leagues.
A.J. Brown
In Philadelphia's first two playoff games, Brown had three catches for 24 yards and no touchdowns on three targets, but he reminded us of his greatness against Washington. He caught six passes for 96 yards and a touchdown on eight targets, and Brown remains one of the best Fantasy receivers when healthy. He struggled with injuries in 2024, but he scored at least 19 PPR points in six of 13 games. I still value Brown as a No. 1 Fantasy receiver in all leagues, and I plan to draft him in Round 2.
Terry McLaurin
McLaurin didn't have a monster game against Philadelphia, but he finished with three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown on seven targets. He finished the regular season with 82 catches for 1,096 yards and 13 touchdowns on 117 targets, and he added 14 receptions for 227 yards and three touchdowns on 23 targets in three playoff games. The Commanders will likely be in the market to add another receiver, so keep an eye on what happens this offseason. But McLaurin should be viewed as a high-end No. 2 Fantasy receiver in all leagues, and he's worth drafting as early as Round 3.
Xavier Worthy
Worthy was the No. 1 receiver for the Chiefs against the Bills with six catches for 85 yards and a touchdown on seven targets, and he added two carries for 16 yards. He's now scored at least 19 PPR points in four of his past five games going back to the regular season, and we'll see what he does against the Eagles in the Super Bowl. Next season, Worthy could be the No. 1 receiver for the Chiefs if Rashee Rice (knee) isn't ready for Week 1 or faces a suspension for his role in a hit-and-run incident in March. We also have to see what happens with Travis Kelce, who could retire. A lot is still to be determined, but Worthy is looking like a future star. He could be drafted in the first four rounds in all leagues.
Dallas Goedert
Goedert was great against Washington with seven catches for 85 yards on eight targets, and he's had a strong playoffs so far. In three games, he has 15 catches for 188 yards and a touchdown on 18 targets, and he scored at least 14.7 PPR points in two outings. Goedert struggled with injuries during the season, but he scored at least 10 PPR points in seven of 12 games, including the playoffs. He should be considered a low-end No. 1 Fantasy tight end next season, and you should be able to get him at a discounted price with a late-round pick.
Zach Ertz
Ertz was the leading receiver for the Commanders against the Eagles with 11 catches for 104 yards on 16 targets. It wasn't the ultimate revenge game since Washington lost, but Ertz reminded his former team -- and Fantasy managers -- that he could still be a solid producer. He did well in the playoffs with 18 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown on 25 targets, and he scored at least 13.8 PPR points in two of three outings. He also scored at least 12 PPR points in five of his final seven games in the regular season. He's a free agent this offseason, so keep an eye on what happens with Ertz, who is 34. Depending on where he plays, Ertz can still be worth a late-round pick in all leagues, especially if he returns to Washington.
Stock down
Isiah Pacheco
Pacheco once again struggled against the Bills, and he will be an interesting player to rank for 2025. Against Buffalo, Pacheco had five carries for 12 yards and two catches for 12 yards on two targets. I'm expecting Pacheco to come back in 2025 at 100 percent, and I'm hopeful that his struggles to close the season and in the playoffs were due to the broken leg he suffered in Week 2. Pacheco scored seven PPR points or less in five regular season games after returning from the injury in Week 13, and he has 10 carries for 30 yards and two receptions for 12 yards on three targets in two playoff games. When healthy, Pacheco can be a top-10 Fantasy running back, and he scored at least 15 PPR points in the first two games of the season before he got hurt. As long as the Chiefs keep Pacheco in the No. 1 role in 2025, he should be worth drafting as early as Round 4 in all leagues.
Brian Robinson Jr.
Robinson struggled against Philadelphia with 11 carries for 36 yards and no targets. He's now scored eight PPR points or less in five of his past six games, including the playoffs, and it will be tough to trust him as a starting Fantasy running back in 2025. Most likely, we'll end up drafting Robinson as a high-end No. 2 running back after Round 6, but we'll see if the Commanders alter their backfield at all this offseason, especially since Austin Ekeler turns 30 in May. Robinson should remain the No. 1 running back for the Commanders, but his upside is limited if he's not going to be more involved in the passing game. Including the playoffs, Robinson had only 24 catches on 30 targets.
DeVonta Smith
Smith only had four catches for 45 yards on four targets against Washington, and he was the third-leading receiver for the Eagles behind A.J. Brown (six catches, 96 yards, and a touchdown on eight targets) and Dallas Goedert (seven catches for 85 yards on eight targets). He's had a quiet playoffs so far with 12 catches for 121 yards and no touchdowns on 12 targets, but I still consider him a borderline No. 2 receiver in all leagues. During the season, Smith benefitted from Brown and Goedert dealing with injuries, and Smith scored at least 13 PPR points in nine of 13 games. He should be drafted as early as Round 4 in most leagues, and hopefully, he does well in the Super Bowl after three mediocre playoff games to date.
Keon Coleman
Coleman only had one catch for 12 yards on four targets against the Chiefs, and he ended his first playoff run with just three catches for 22 yards on eight targets in three games. I'm still hopeful Coleman can be a standout Fantasy option, but we have to see what Buffalo does this offseason with its receiving corps. Khalil Shakir is locked in as one of Josh Allen's top threats, and Coleman should be a starter in 2025. But the Bills need to add another receiver, and anyone of prominence will hurt Coleman's Fantasy stock in his sophomore campaign. For the season, he scored double digits in PPR just four times, and he finished with 29 catches for 556 yards and four touchdowns on 57 targets in 13 games. He should be worth drafting in Round 8 depending on what Buffalo does in free agency and the NFL Draft.
DeAndre Hopkins
In two playoff games for the Chiefs, Hopkins has one catch for 11 yards on three targets. That's now five games in a row with minimal production against Buffalo, the Texans twice, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland where he's combined for 12 catches for 91 yards and no touchdowns on 17 targets. We'll see how he does in the Super Bowl, but Hopkins was outplayed by Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Hollywood Brown against the Bills. He turns 33 in June, and his best days are clearly behind him. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Hopkins go undrafted in most Fantasy leagues in 2025.
Amari Cooper
Cooper likely played his final game with the Bills in the loss to the Chiefs, and he finished with four catches for 33 yards on four targets. In 11 games with Buffalo, including the playoffs, Cooper had 26 catches for 338 yards and two touchdowns on 40 targets, and he is a free agent this offseason. He turns 31 in June, and we'll see where he plays in 2025, but it's unlikely he'll have a prominent role after the way he looked with the Bills. At best, Cooper will be a late-round pick in the majority of leagues.
Dalton Kincaid
Kincaid had two catches for 13 yards on four targets against the Chiefs, and he suffered a bad drop with under two minutes remaining in the game on a crucial fourth-down play. It was a rough playoffs for Kincaid, who had six catches for 71 yards and no touchdowns on nine targets, which came after a difficult season. He only scored two touchdowns and reached double digits in PPR just three times, and it will be tough to trust him as a starter in 2025. Most likely, depending on what the Bills do this offseason to enhance their receiving corps, Kincaid will be drafted as a high-end backup tight end with a late-round pick in all leagues.
