Fantasy Football League Winners: Two Late-Round QBs With League-Winning Upside

Over the last several weeks, I've run through my QB rankings and tiers for 2025, as well as my overall fantasy draft strategy for the quarterback position.

With two pieces of the positional puzzle down, the last one remaining is identifying the two late-round QBs that possess league-winning upside for fantasy football in 2025.

What you will find below are those two players, along with the write-ups from my QB Rankings and Tiers column, breaking down what needs to happen to unlock that league-winning upside.

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League-Winning Quarterbacks With Late-Round ADP for 2025

Caleb Williams | Bears

• ADP: Pick 114.4 (Round 10)

Yes, Caleb Williams was bad as a rookie. It happens! That doesn't diminish the traits he brings to the game. Williams is one of a handful of QBs who can extend plays and similarly hit home runs to the elite options. Does he need to take more singles and doubles? That will be the focus of Ben Johnson. And it has a good chance of working because Johnson's scheme is designed to force those layups.

In the history of covering fantasy football, I can't remember an offensive line receiving such a massive upgrade. I reached out to Brandon Thorn—the leading offensive line expert in our industry—to see if he recalled such a climb, and he couldn't think of one either.

• New left guard: Joe Thuney
• New center: Drew Dalman
• New right guard: Jonah Jackson
• Drafted right tackle: Ozzy Trapilo to push Braxton Jones

The Bears unit now ranks in Thorn's top ten and is the No. 4 graded squad by PFF.

Chicago also added Colston Loveland—the fifth-best TE prospect in the history of the Rookie Super Model—in Round 1 of the NFL Draft.

They didn't stop there. In Round 2, they snatched WR Luther Burden III, who joins forces with DJ Moore.

Let's recap:

• Coaching: Improved
• Offensive line: Improved
• Weapons: Improved

But we can't stop there. Williams rushed for 489 yards (28.8 per game) on 81 attempts last year. Oh yeah, he didn't score a rushing touchdown. Since 2011, QBs with 70 to 90 rushing attempts averaged 3.6 TDs.

Floor-ceiling projection model

• Floor: 14.9 PPG
• Median: 18.2 PPG
• Ceiling: 23.4 PPG

I have Williams as my No. 9 quarterback in the Fantasy Life rankings—the highest on the team. Williams is one of the few quarterbacks in the NFL who could pass for 4,500 yards and rush for 500. That gives him HIGH-END QB1 UPSIDE. He might be a complete bust, but with a Round 10 price tag, I am willing to gamble.

Drake Maye | Patriots

• ADP: Pick 132 (Round 11/12)

This offseason, the Patriots added Stefon Diggs, who appears on track for Week 1 (mid-season ACL) based on camp reports. They also drafted an explosive playmaker out of the backfield in TreVeyon Henderson in Round 2 and added WR Kyle Williams in Round 3. While we can't label those additions as massive upgrades, they should still be an improvement over the 2024 model.

Mike Vrabel takes over as the head coach with Josh McDaniels as the play caller. Historically, Vrabel has opted for a conservative style of football, aiming to win close games. That will likely be their recipe for success in 2025: rushing to create efficiency in the passing game.

There could be a silver lining in that approach. Maye posted a 14% designed rush rate in college, but only accounted for 3% of the Patriots' workload as a rookie. That is something we could see change under new leadership. Maye already ranked second in scramble rate (11%) as a rookie.

The Patriots' offensive line ranks in the bottom five for both PFF and Thorn despite adding Will Campbell early in Round 1 of the NFL Draft.

Floor-ceiling projection model

• Floor: 15.2 PPG
• Median: 18.5 PPG
• Ceiling: 23.6 PPG

Maye is poised to make a run at a breakout campaign in 2025. He is hardly a lock, but he offers the combination of rushing and passing ceiling that makes him worth targeting ahead of ADP. He is a QB we could select in Round 5 of the fantasy drafts in 2026.

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