The 2025 fantasy football season has ignited fierce debate over who deserves the coveted first overall pick. Whether it is who the steal of the draft is, who not to draft, or most importantly, who is the number one pick in this year’s draft, the 2025 fantasy football season will be one for the ages. The 1.1 (first pick in a draft in fantasy terms) debate boils down to a few players. While Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver JaMarr Chase appears to be the unanimous number one choice, strong arguments could be made for Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson or Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson.
The number one pick has many different perks or disadvantages. For example, the average fantasy league uses a snake draft, which means if the league has 12 teams, once you take your first pick, your second round pick is not until pick 24. But a caveat to that is you get your choice of every single player at pick one. Many fantasy league rules differ, but the standard rule most leagues use is called “PPR.” The rule, which stands for Points-Per-Reception, means that for every catch a player makes, they get one fantasy point. This rule heavily favors wide receivers, since they predominantly make catches. For BHS students who held the 1.1, it was a relatively easy choice.
JaMarr Chase was drafted out of LSU in 2021 at pick six by the Cincinnati Bengals. Since then, he hasn’t looked back. In his rookie season, Chase recorded 81 receptions and 13 touchdowns for 304.6 fantasy points. In 2022 and 2023, he had a little downtick in production, but last season was his best to date. With 127 receptions and 17 touchdowns, his 403.0 fantasy points led all players except Baltimore Ravens Quarterback Lamar Jackson, and was a full 84 points over the next wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
For sophomore Brody Maddin, taking JaMarr Chase was an easy choice. “I picked him because he has the talent, upside, and consistency to be a #1 player.” Maddin also touched on the idea that in a PPR league, taking a wide receiver with the first pick is a wise choice. “I also was eying running backs with my next two picks, so Chase fit into my strategy.”
On the other hand, the 1.1 decision for junior Jack Fouts was not as easy. “I had a hard time choosing at this slot, I was considering taking Bijan Robinson. I think that Chase is the better player but there is much more wide receiver depth this year so I strongly considered taking a tier 1 running back like Robinson, I think he is the best player in fantasy football, I also think that Chase is so obvious, so I couldn’t pass him up even if it meant reaching on some running backs later in the draft.” Fouts also touched on how he enjoyed having the 1.1 pick as “The perk of the 1.1 is you can choose whoever you think is the best player, and build the rest of your team around the best player in fantasy in your own opinion. Basically, the choice is yours and you’re the only one to have a real choice.”
In the past, the number one pick has also been an easy choice. However, since 2020, the most popular first pick has not only been disappointing, but also very injury-prone. In 2021 and 2024, the highest ADP (average draft position) player, Christian McCaffrey played in less than a third of his teams games, in 2022 the highest ADP Jonathan Taylor played in just over half of his teams games, and in 2023 the highest ADP, Justin Jefferson played in just over half of his teams games as well. This trend might reflect the regression to the mean phenomenon, where players who have exceptional seasons often see their production decline the following year. Fouts acknowledged this by saying, “I was very hesitant to have the first pick, as I know in the past it has been a cursed pick, but I have trust in Chase this season.” JaMarr Chase has only been injured for four weeks in his NFL career, so that may be an interesting trend to look out for if you have the first pick.
Overall, it seems if you had the first pick in your league’s fantasy draft, you most likely would have taken JaMarr Chase. And even though he has been one of the best players in past seasons, is the 1.1 the best pick?
