Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings: Ricky Pearsall, Bucky Irving, and More Polarizing Players
Sam Wallace highlights players that he had the most trouble ranking in his 2025 dynasty fantasy football rankings, including Ricky Pearsall and more.
My first dynasty fantasy football rankings of the offseason are live. While some players were pretty easy to rank, others were a bit more difficult. With many things likely to change between now and Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season, namely the NFL Draft and the slew of summer camps, here's a highlight of some players I initially struggled to pin down.
Check out my full dynasty rankings here.
Polarizing Players In My Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings
Ricky Pearsall, WR - 49ers
The 49ers offense is undergoing a transformation before our eyes. With Deebo Samuel in a different uniform and Brandon Aiyuk likely to miss games as he recovers from injury, the pass catchers are down to George Kittle and a group of unproven options.
Even the backfield has been gutted, including everyone not named Christian McCaffrey and Isaac Guerendo.
With that in mind, Ricky Pearsall is the one name I am most interested in. I also feel he has the widest range of outcomes, which is why I have him ranked where I do.
Brock Purdy is going to get an extension this offseason, and he's previously demonstrated an ability to support high-level assets in his fantasy-friendly offense. The biggest challenge is going to be how he performs with Pearsall and Jauan Jennings as his top-two wideouts instead of Samuel & Aiyuk.
Jennings had a solid season in 2024 and could continue to evolve in his role, but Matthew Freedman laid out the case both for Pearsall (and against Jennings) in a recent piece when he said:
“No. 3 WR Jauan Jennings is in the final year of his contract, and his 2024 fifth-year breakout (77-975-6 receiving) might've been a fluke.”
Admittedly, whenever Freedman is higher on someone than I am, I get a bit nervous. I might be a tad low on Pearsall compared to what his ceiling actually is, but I think it's fine to hedge against him for a bit until we get a true sense of what this offense looks like.
From a broader perspective, I'm anticipating another massive year from CMC. I know, I know, injuries and all that, but the RB room is essentially empty and he's still an elite talent. Toss in Kittle likely commanding a higher target volume than normal and we'll see just how big of a slice Pearsall carves out for himself.
Pearsall is someone I can see rising my dynasty ranks very quickly in the months ahead. If you're a believer, get in on him sooner rather than later.
Marvin Harrison Jr, WR - Cardinals
I'm choosing to be much more optimistic on Marvin Harrison than his 2024 season would lend itself.
The 4th overall pick in 2024, Harrison's end-of-season stats were fine (62 / 885 / 8) and he finished as the WR39 in points per game. However, what was most frustrating was knowing that there were so many points left on the field.
Kendall Valenzuela noted the following:
“According to PFF, only 59% of Harrison's targets were deemed catchable, which ranked 129th among 140 qualifying wide receivers (minimum 100 routes).”
I simply refuse to believe that two people as talented as Kyler Murray and Harrison can't get on the same page moving forward. Specific to Harrison, he is tied with Ja'Marr Chase as the best prospect in our entire Rookie WR Model (2018-2025).
It might seem rich to him inside my top 10 of dynasty wideouts, but the opportunity that this offense is going to provide should not be ignored. I specifically like to target offense with consolidated target shares. Case in point, Harrison & Trey McBride accounted for 50% of the targets last season.
Sometimes, I like to see it before ranking a player in a particular range, but with Harrison, I'm fine making the projection for what he can do for both the Cardinals and dynasty managers.
Bucky Irving, RB - Buccaneers
You have to make a decision on Bucky Irving.
I've clearly made my position known, as shown by his dynasty ranking, but let me fill in a few additional thoughts.
Following his Week 11 bye, Irving averaged 17+ points per game over his final seven games and was the true definition of a league winner.
It's not just his rushing numbers that stand out, it's also how involved he was in the passing game. Irving was effectively a better receiving option than Rachaad White despite the latter being heralded—and utilized—as a more traditional pass-catching option.
This offense will continue producing for fantasy under Baker Mayfield. Between Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and then Irving in the backfield, this will be an offense for fantasy managers to exploit both this season and beyond.
On the flip side, Jonathan Fuller made an excellent case about how, depending on the state of your roster, now might be the time to cash in on Irving and flip him to a competitor. He was a Day 3 selection with underwhelming size and athletic testing numbers.
I understand the hesitation about elevating a fourth-round pick into elite dynasty territory, but I feel confident in the body of work, coaching, and personnel decisions, and Irving's contributions in various facets of the game.
Joe Burrow, QB - Bengals
In his "Way-Too-Early 2025 Fantasy Football Rankings: Breaking Down The QB Tiers", Ian Hartitz tabbed the top-four QBs as Dual-threat aliens (Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jayden Daniels, Jalen Hurts).
No arguments there.
Sitting atop Tier 2 (top-tier passing phenoms) is Joe Burrow, and I feel the exact same way from a dynasty perspective.
Heading into this offseason cycle, I was unsure about where to put Burrow from a dynasty perspective. We know the talent and passing prowess are there, but injuries have started to mount. There was also the question of what was going to happen with star wide receiver Tee Higgins.
Even before we knew that Higgins was sticking around, I made the decision to put Burrow as my dynasty QB5.
It felt bold at the time, but I feel validated now.
Hartitz also mentioned, "The Bengals' +7% drop back rate over expected easily led the league in 2024".
The Bengals love to throw it early and often, and, with as much money as they're spending on the offensive side of the ball, they'll be in plenty of shootouts in the seasons ahead.
Case in point, Burrow threw for almost 5,000 yards and 43 TDs last year while completing 70% of his passes last season. With the best WR tandem in the league locked up for the foreseeable future, it's wheels up for Burrow and dynasty managers.
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