Everyone loves rookies. Everyone loves young players. Everyone loves building. Not enough people want to win right now. When it comes to Fantasy Football, those who know me as a content creator know I have always been tied to the phrase – “Play 2 Win”. My signature tagline. We all play Dynasty Fantasy Football in different windows, and for some of us, that window is the coming season. That window is right now.
Veteran players are frowned upon in the Dynasty Fantasy Football world, but could be the reason your team wins a championship at the end of the day. Often during this time of year, veteran players are cheap to acquire in Dynasty, and those acquisitions can give you a boost towards a championship in your league. For this piece, I give you seven players to buy with the intention to “win now” in your Dynasty League. We are not projecting beyond the 2025-26 season for these players, but simply aiming to win a championship with them this coming year.
7 Win Now Dynasty Fantasy Football Buys
1. Dak Prescott (QB, Cowboys)
Timing is key in Dynasty, and the timing might be a little late to go and acquire Dak Prescott for the low. News dropped early on Wednesday, May 7th, that the Cowboys sent a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick to the Steelers for George Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick. Dak gets Pickens to pair with his WR1 CeeDee Lamb and tight end Jake Ferguson. Pickens produced 1,140 receiving yards back in 2023, Lamb 1,749 yards the same season, and Ferguson 761 yards also in 2023, to show some upside there.
Prescott played just eight games in 2024 due to injury, but had a career-best statistical year in 2023. That season Dak threw for 4,516 yards and 36 touchdowns, rushed for 242 yards and two more touchdowns, and averaged 20.7 Fantasy points per game (PPG). Dak for Fantasy has averaged over 20 Fantasy PPG in four of his last six seasons. Dak at 31 years old, healthy, still has plenty left in the tank and now has one of the NFL’s best wide receiver duos for 2025. If everyone remains healthy, a similar season to 2023 can definitely be in the cards, and Dak averaged the fourth-most points for the position that year.
2. Jared Goff (QB, Lions)
The Lions have been one of the best offenses in the NFL over the last two seasons, and even though Jared Goff is the point guard of that offense, he tends to always feel undervalued for Fantasy Football. Amon-Ra St. Brown has produced 22 total receiving touchdowns in the last two seasons, with receiving yard totals of 1,263 and 1,515. Former first-round selection Jameson Williams finally had his breakout season in 2024 with 1,001 receiving yards across 15 games. Sam LaPorta has scored 17 total receiving touchdowns across his opening two seasons in the NFL, with over 700 receiving yards in both of those seasons. And then the Lions have one of the best, if not the best running back duos in the league with the pairing of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
Jared Goff threw for 4,629 yards and 37 touchdowns in 2024, averaging 19.8 Fantasy PPG, which ranked seventh for the position. In 2023, Goff threw for 4,571 yards and 30 touchdowns, averaging 17.8 Fantasy PPG, which ranked 11th for the position. This past season, the Lions produced the second-most total yards at 6,962 and scored the most total points at 564. Goff at 30 seems to always trend down Dynasty rankings during the offseason, despite the numbers he has been producing for the Lions. Coming off a career-year in passing touchdowns and the third time he has thrown for over 4,600 yards, there are no signs of slowing down for 2025.
3. Christian McCaffrey (RB, 49ers)
Before the 2024 season, Christian McCaffrey suffered a calf and Achilles injury that sidelined him until Week 10. He then played in the next four games before his season came to an end due to a PCL injury in his right knee. This lost season has led many Dynasty managers to move away from including McCaffrey in their future plans. Their decision is influenced by a combination of his history of injuries, his age at 28, and possibly emotional reactions from being without their Fantasy star.
The last time CMC played a full season, back in 2023, he was beyond dominant. 272 rushing attempts for 1,459 rushing yards paired with 67 catches for 564 receiving yards that season with 21 total touchdowns and 24.5 Fantasy PPG. The season prior in 2022, CMC averaged 21 Fantasy PPG. Reports just recently stated that Christian McCaffrey came to the first day of the 49ers’ offseason program with “zero restrictions“, which is a massive indicator of health heading into 2025. A healthy McCaffrey means a running back who has just as high of a rushing ceiling as anyone, a running back who has just as high of a receiving ceiling as any running back, and a Fantasy asset who has just as high a ceiling as anyone. Injuries scare off and anger Fantasy managers, so now is the time to go and grab CMC before we see him in pads again this offseason.
4. James Conner (RB, Cardinals)
At 30 years old, James Conner feels like a player many are anticipating falling off the cliff of relevancy for Fantasy Football. Conner’s Dynasty market value has not felt high in a very long time as a player who always is discounted due to injury history. Conner has played 13 or less games in six of his eight seasons, which shows he has consistently missed some sort of time but that amount of time always feels exaggerated.
For four straight seasons, Conner has averaged over 15 Fantasy PPG, with two of those seasons ranking inside the top 10 running backs in PPG that year. Conner played 16 games for the first time in his career in 2024, rushing 236 times for 1,094 yards and catching 47 balls for 414 yards. Conner has scored nine touchdowns in both of the last two seasons, with a career-high 18 back in 2021. The Cardinals drafted Trey Benson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, which had many projecting a hostile takeover of some sorts, but Benson finished with just 69 touches last year. A healthy James Conner operates as a true workhorse for the Cardinals and has both upside as a rusher and receiver. The last four years have been extremely Fantasy consistent for Conner, which shows he continues to be unappreciated for Fantasy Football and is a guy I would want on my team.
5. Calvin Ridley (WR, Titans)
Calvin Ridley returned to football in 2023, after playing just five games in 2021 before a pause in his career for reasons you can Google. Ridley bet on himself (see what I did there) by returning to football with the Jaguars in 2023, where he earned 136 targets, caught 76 of them for 1,016 receiving yards, scored eight touchdowns, and averaged 13.5 Fantasy PPG. Ridley transitioned from Trevor Lawrence to primarily Will Levis in 2024 with the Titans, where he earned 120 targets, caught 64 of them for 1,017 receiving yards, scored four touchdowns, and averaged 11.7 Fantasy PPG.
The Titans selected quarterback Cam Ward with the first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Miami. Ward threw for 4,313 yards and an FBS-leading 39 passing touchdowns. Head Coach Brian Callahan, who spent 2019-2023 as the Offensive Coordinator for the Bengals, can finally open up the passing game with Ward. The Titans added veteran Tyler Lockett this offseason, and will have hope for the likes of former first-round selection Treylon Burks and tight end Chig Okonkwo, but Ridley is clearly the #1 target in Tennessee. Back-to-back 1,000+ yard seasons for Ridley, connected to a quarterback who is a gunslinger, can create a big jump in production for 2025. Think Terry McLaurin’s production last season with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, or Courtland Sutton’s with rookie quarterback Bo Nix.
6. Davante Adams (WR, Rams)
2024 was an interesting year for Davante Adams, who played three games for the Raiders before rejoining Aaron Rodgers in New York to play 11 games as a Jet. Adams would go on to score the 11th most Fantasy Points for the position through just 14 games, averaging 17.2 PPG on the year. The Fantasy Football upside was very evident, with five weeks of over 20 Fantasy Points and a spike of 42.8 points last year.
Adams signed a two-year, $46 million contract this offseason with the Rams, where Cooper Kupp would soon depart to become a Seahawk. Adams pairs up with Puka Nacua, who averaged 9.6 targets, 7.2 receptions, and 90 receiving yards in his sophomore season. Matthew Stafford threw 517 times last season for 3,762 yards and 20 touchdowns. The Rams won a Super Bowl in the 2022 season, and this move pairing veteran Davante Adams with veteran Matthew Stafford on top of Puka, it shows they are aiming for another run. Expect heavy targets to flow to both Puka and Adams, and seeing as though Adams showed he had plenty left in the tank last season I expect the Fantasy upside to continue.
7. Jonnu Smith (TE, Dolphins)
The Dolphins signed Jonnu Smith to a two-year, $10 million deal in March of 2024 during NFL Free Agency. Smith would go on to have a career year across the board in 2024 with 111 targets, 88 receptions, 884 receiving yards, eight touchdowns (tied 2020 high), and 13.1 Fantasy PPG (#5). Jonnu totaled the fourth-most total Fantasy Points in 2024 and was a huge difference-maker in Fantasy lineups on the year.
Jonnu Smith had a huge year with a mixture of Miami quarterbacks, which included 11 games for Tua Tagovailoa, five games for Tyler Huntley, three games for Skylar Thompson, and two games for Tim Boyle. Tua averaged 36.3 passing attempts per game in 2024, which 17 would have been 617.1 passing attempts through 17 games. There is an obvious high volume in Miami. Another note is the ongoing rumors of Tyreek Hill wanting out of Miami. So, with the combinations of having a great 2024, the potential for an increased role, high passing volume in general, and a mediocre Fantasy tight end landscape comes the emphasis to get Smith on your rosters.
