Old Guys Rule! Veterans Still Contributing To Fantasy Football

I like talking about rookies and young, breakout players as much as anyone, but we shouldn't ignore the savvy veterans either. Every year, there are players who defy Father Time and deliver a strong fantasy finish at their position despite fantasy managers wanting to write them off for being too old. 

The criteria for this old-guy all-star list is at least 30 years old for RB, WR, and TE, but 35+ for the QB position. Being in my early thirties myself it pains me a bit to acknowledge people my age on the 'old guys' list but considering I woke up sore from playing pickleball yesterday, maybe it is more accurate than I would like to admit. 

The players in this list are likely being drafted at a discount due to perceived age risk. I won't tell you that risk doesn't exist, but it is easy for fantasy managers to overrate that risk—particularly in the early and middle rounds.

You probably don't want to build an entire fantasy team out of players over the age of 30, but you also can't go all in on rookies and unproven upside picks in your draft either. The best fantasy rosters will have a mix of young, breakout stars and steady veterans like the ones listed below.

Veteran Players Who Will Excel For Fantasy Football 2025

QB Matthew Stafford | Rams

Looking at the list of active NFL QBs 35 and older made me realize what a shift the league has gone through over the last five years. Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, and Philip Rivers have all retired since the 2020 season after extremely successful careers that lasted much longer than expected. 

Today's crop of older QBs isn't nearly as compelling. Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and Kirk Cousins have all declined meaningfully in recent years while bouncing from team to team. That leaves Matthew Stafford as the one QB who is at least 35 years old whom I am expecting to play at a high level in 2025.

Stafford himself isn't the most valuable fantasy asset, he's usually a solid QB2, but he has helped propel many WRs to elite fantasy seasons. Most notably: Calvin Johnson, Cooper Kupp, and Puka Nacua have all put up legendary fantasy campaigns while serving as Stafford's primary pass catcher. That should be the case again this year with both Puka Nacua and Davante Adams being drafted as top-24 WR options. 

The biggest risk with Stafford is the back injury that he has been dealing with for most of the offseason. A couple weeks ago I would have had a much more difficult time including him on this list. However, Stafford has now been a full participant at practice for more than a week straight. He almost certainly has an elevated injury risk, but he looks to be healthy enough that I am no longer docking the outlook for anyone else in the Rams offense. 

RB Derrick Henry | Ravens

No player embodies this list more than Derrick Henry. The 31-year-old has been the picture of consistency, playing in at least 15 games in eight of his nine professional seasons and he has had 300+ touches in five of his last six seasons. Among active players he has the most carries, rushing yards, and rushing TDs. 

Henry currently ranks 19th on the all-time rushing list and has a shot to crack the top 10 if he can go over 1,316 rushing yards this year. I wouldn't be surprised if that becomes a priority for Henry to get to that mark if things are going well for Baltimore later in the season. 

Despite heading into his 10th NFL season, Henry doesn't appear to be slowing down. He posted the best YPC of his career by a wide margin in 2024. This is partially to his credit and partially due to the excellent situation playing alongside Lamar Jackson. Fortunately, his situation hasn't changed much heading into 2025 so there isn't really a reason to project Henry to fall off. I'm not saying it is a 0% chance, but that shouldn't be your default expectation.

The biggest criticism of Henry's game is just that he won't catch many passes. This is really only a concern in full PPR leagues, but he is still falling into the second round of half-PPR leagues often enough. He looks like a great value in any format where TDs are the biggest driver of fantasy value (i.e. standard and half-PPR). 

WR Mike Evans | Buccaneers

Similar to Henry, Mike Evans has been the picture of consistency, but at the WR position. You've probably seen the stat that Evans is the only player to start his career with 11 straight 1,000+ yard seasons. That level of consistent production means he has not only been effective when on the field, but he has also missed minimal time over the years. 

It also helps that his game has aged relatively well. Evans' combination of solid fundamentals and physicality is less susceptible to the age cliff than players who rely more on raw athleticism and explosive ability. He also has developed good chemistry with Baker Mayfield and is a threat to score 10+ TDs yet again, something he has accomplished in four of the past five seasons.

Things have also broken well for Evans so far this offseason with a seemingly deep WR room being thinned out due to injuries, as both Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan are expected to miss the start of the season. 

Evans may not be the most exciting selection in the fourth round of your draft, but he is a great pick who should get off to a fast start and is very likely to cross the 1,000-yard mark for the 12th consecutive season.

TE Mark Andrews | Ravens

I'm pushing the limits with this one considering Mark Andrews will turn 30 the day before the Ravens' Week 1 matchup. But technically he counts and I'm more excited about his prospects in 2025 than Travis Kelce, who was the other finalist for this spot.

I'm somewhat surprised about the overall lack of excitement surrounding Andrews heading into this season. It seems to me that fantasy managers are remembering how Andrews started the 2024 campaign, rather than how he finished it. 

The Ravens downplayed it at the time, but in hindsight the car accident he was in before the season must have been a bigger deal than we realized. This caused Andrews to start the season slowly, totaling just 120 scoreless receiving yards through five weeks. Over his next 12 games, his per-route efficiency really bounced back and he scored 11 TDs. 

The biggest limitation to his overall production was just a lack of route volume. Despite technically playing in all 17 games, he only ran 358 routes. In 2022, he was at 434 routes (15 games) and in 2021 he was all the way up at 623 routes (17 games). I'm not expecting him to match that total from 2021, but if he plays 17 games again I think he will be well over 400 routes. Based on his career efficiency, that should add a few hundred additional receiving yards to his total stat line and make him a strong candidate to return to top-6 TE status. 

I'm still optimistic about what Andrews can provide for fantasy managers in 2025. The Ravens offense will be run-heavy, but I still expect Andrews to serve as one of the top two pass catchers in a highly efficient passing game. He has double-digit TD upside yet again and is one of my favorite targets if I don't get Brock Bowers or Trey McBride at the beginning of my drafts.

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