2025 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: 12-Team Half-PPR Mock (4th Pick)

Updated: Wednesday, August 27, 2025

The 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, 4th Pick

Starting positions: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex (RB/WR/TE), 1 K, 1 DST; Bench spots: 6

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1.04 - Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Detroit Lions

It was tough to pass up CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson at 1.04, but I loaded up on wide receiver and really love the value I got with my WR4/WR5. Gibbs set or tied career highs across the board in rushing (250/1,412/16, 5.6 YPC) and receiving (52/517/4, 9.9 Y/R) in his second season. Gibbs was also top five among running backs with a minimum of 17 targets in yards per route run (1.67) and YAC per reception (11.5), per PFF. Gibbs was especially good when David Montgomery missed the final three regular-season games (RB1 overall), but he was also the RB3 (RB4 on a PPG basis) from Weeks 1 to 15 when Montgomery was also active.

2.09 - A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

AJB missed four games in 2024 but channeled his inner excellence to finish with 67 receptions for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns. While there were some quiet games, Brown's 2024 per-game averages of receptions (5.2) and yards (83.0) weren't that much lower than his career averages (5.7/86.8). Big days from Saquon Barkley could lead to low pass volume in any given week, but I expect more passing overall from Jalen Hurts (24.1 attempts/G in 2024) in 2025. As a comparison, Hurts averaged 30.4 pass attempts per game from 2021-2023 with a minimum of 28.8 per game in each of those three seasons.

MORE: Jalen Hurts 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook

3.04 - 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.

4.09 - Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Commanders

McLaurin, who recently agreed to a three-year extension, has eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in five consecutive seasons, and he's been remarkably consistent — 77-87 catches and 1,002-1,191 yards in each of the past five seasons. Likely touchdown regression following last year's spike (13, nearly double his previous career high) and a slow start following his hold-in are potential concerns. Beyond that, however, McLaurin is the top weapon in one of the league's best offenses (seventh in yardage and fifth in scoring in 2024) and Jayden Daniels should be even better in year two.

MORE: 2025 Washington Commanders Fantasy Football Projections

5.04 - Jameson Williams, WR, Detroit Lions

Between injury and suspension, Williams' career got off to a slow start, but he broke out in 2024 with 58 catches for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns. He also added 11 carries for 61 yards and another score. While Amon-Ra St. Brown commands a dominant target share, the speedster is a big play waiting to happen (career 16.8 yards per catch).

6.09 - Jaylen Waddle, WR, Miami Dolphins

Waddle set career lows across the board — 58/744/2 on 83 targets — in 2024.

To be fair, he didn't benefit much from Tyreek Hill's diminished production in 2024, but I'm still buying Waddle and his potential to reemerge as a WR2-type fantasy receiver. (And given his WR5 draft-day cost, the upside is tremendous.)

MORE: 2026 Miami Dolphins Mock Draft Roundup

7.04 - Jaylen Warren, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

I like Warren more as a flex than needing him to be my weekly RB2. Warren has been efficient with his touches — career 4.8 YPC and 7.0 Y/R — and could see a year-over-year bump in workload with rookie Kaleb Johnson replacing Najee Harris. A talented receiving back, Warren's receiving work dipped in 2024 (3.1 targets and 2.5 catches per game) from 2023 (4.35 targets and 3.6 catches), but last year's quarterback duo of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields ran 105 times combined. I'm not going out on a limb to say that Aaron Rodgers will run much less than that, and therefore Warren should be the recipient of more dumpoffs.

8.09 - J.K. Dobbins, RB, Denver Broncos

Injuries have derailed Dobbins' career. Since the Baltimore Ravens selected him 55th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, Dobbins has played only 37 total games. His 13-game campaign with the Chargers in 2024 was only his second season playing more than eight games, and he rushed for 195/905/9 (4.6 YPC) and added 32/153/0 (4.8 Y/R). Even though I have RJ Harvey ranked ahead of Dobbins, he will be a weekly flex option with upside as long as his health cooperates.

9.04 - Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders

Earlier this summer, Croskey-Merritt (aka "Bill") was a sleeper worth a late-round pick who generated plenty of buzz. As Adam Kilgore wrote, he "makes a play that turns heads ... almost every day." His ADP ascent will continue following Robinson's trade to the 49ers, but the seventh-round rookie will almost certainly emerge as the most valuable member of the backfield as the season progresses.

MORE: 2025 Fantasy Football Sleepers

10.09 - Rachaad White, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers love Bucky Irving, and he's the clear RB1 entering 2025. If Irving were to miss time, White has plenty of upside. Even if he doesn't, however, he has a chance to yield fantasy managers flex-level production as a standalone option.

11.04 - 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.

MORE: 2026 NFL Mock Draft

12.09 - Tyler Warren, TE, Indianapolis Colts

Tight end is a position where rookies have historically struggled to make immediate impacts, but a pair of rookie tight ends — Sam LaPorta (2023) and Brock Bowers (2024) — have led the position in fantasy points in back-to-back seasons. Viewed by many as the most well-rounded tight end in this draft class, Warren's all-around skill set could outweigh the potential limitations of a mediocre offensive environment with subpar quarterback play. If you draft multiple tight ends, Warren is a back-end TE1 who could pay huge dividends.

13.04 - Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears

Perhaps it would be better to double-dip with a rookie-veteran tight end, but both rookie tight ends have upside although Loveland may have more competition for targets. Ben Johnson has compared Loveland to Sam LaPorta, who led all tight ends in fantasy points as a rookie in 2023. A TE1 overall fantasy season shouldn't be expected from Loveland, but there is plenty of upside.

MORE: Way-too-early 2027 NFL Mock Draft

14.09 - Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots

Could Maye breakout in 2025? There are plenty of positive signs. The Patriots bolstered their pass protection and pass-catching weapons via free agency and the NFL draft including Stefon Diggs, LSU's Will Campbell (Round 1), Ohio State's TreVeyon Henderson (Round 2), and Washington State's Kyle Williams (Round 3). Considering his rushing ability, Maye's floor is high even with a run-heavy approach under Mike Vrabel, but the improvement in offensive firepower gives him more upside as a passer in year two.

15.04 - Detroit Lions DST

16.09 - Wil Lutz, K, Denver Broncos

MORE: View full mock