Overshadowed by rookies, recency bias, or changing team dynamics, veteran players often fall further in fantasy football drafts than they should. But savvy fantasy managers know that experience, opportunity, and role stability can be a goldmine—especially when found at a discount. In this article, we highlight three undervalued veterans poised to outplay their ADP in 2025.
Alvin Kamara
RB Alvin Kamara finished the 2024 season as the RB9 overall in PPR and is now paired with offensive-minded HC Kellen Moore. Fantasy footballers have been predicting Kamara’s decline for seemingly three seasons now, and outside of 2023’s injury-riddled campaign, Kamara has done nothing but silence the doubters. Kamara finished 2024 with 8 total scores and almost 1,500 total yards in what was supposed to be a year of splitting carries with RB Kendre Miller.
While his days of being an unquestioned RB1 are most likely in the past, he is still a top 15 RB and is good for more than a few RB1 performances throughout the season. He may deliver a couple dud performances, but his pass-catching and playmaking ability, coupled with Kellen Moore’s offensive creativity, provides way too much upside for his current ADP of RB20.
New HC Kellen Moore has big plans for the 29-year-old veteran, calling Kamara a “premier player in our league”, and confirmed “he’ll be a big part of our offense.”
While the Saints did draft Kansas standout RB Devin Neal in the 6th round, I’m confident Kamara will stave off any competition from the rookie for at least one more season. With the Saints’ quarterback situation most likely a competition between QB Spencer Rattler and rookie QB Tyler Shough, Moore will need a centerpiece to lean on for offensive production. I expect Kamara to fill that role.
Isiah Pacheco
Kansas City Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco had a disappointing fantasy season in 2024. After fracturing his fibula in Week 2, Pacheco missed the next 10 games as the Chiefs turned to a bevy of RBs in his stead, eventually settling for the return of free agent RB Kareem Hunt.
Before getting injured though, Pacheco was the RB15 overall, averaging an 80% snap share and 17 touches per game. Albeit was a small sample size, the 26-year-old Rutgers product looked poised for a dominant season in those first two weeks of action, and ready to surpass his RB17 sophomore performance from a season prior.
While Pacheco was more than underwhelming in his return to play (7.8 carries per game and 3.4 yards per rush), it was obvious he was not fully healthy. Pacheco is an explosive, angry runner, and I’m sure recovering from a broken leg inhibited a great deal of his natural running ability.
“He was forcing that thing coming back [when he did]. Most guys probably wouldn’t have come back,” HC Andy Reid said when asked about Pacheco’s return in 2024. “I think we’ll get a better player this year.”
With a full off-season of rest and rehab I expect Pacheco to return to the form that we saw in 2023 (1,179 total yards and 9 TDs) and reclaim the Chiefs top running back position. If that happens, his current ADP of RB30 (88th overall) presents extremely high value as the Chiefs project to be one of the league’s top scoring offenses yet again.
Jakobi Meyers
WR Jakobi Meyers quietly had the best season of his career in 2024 with perhaps the worst quarterback room in the entire NFL. The six-year veteran had career-high numbers in receptions (87), targets (129), and yards (1,027) while pulling in 4 TDs from QB Aiden O’Connell and QB Gardner Minshew.
Following the in-season trade of WR Davante Adams last year, Meyers rose to the top of the Raiders’ WR depth chart. Although he played second fiddle to TE Brock Bowers, Meyers was consistently the team’s best wideout. From Weeks 4–18, he paced the Raiders in target share (25.4%), receiving yards, and end zone looks, and was the only player in the NFL with 100+ targets and zero drops in 2024.
While Meyers remains behind Bowers in the team’s target pecking order, the additions of QB Geno Smith and OC Chip Kelly will only improve the 28-year-old’s overall output. Smith posted a 68.3% completion rate over the past two seasons — 6th-best in the NFL — while ranking top-10 in passer rating and yards per attempt (7.5). He’s a clear upgrade over last year’s quarterback carousel.
The Raiders did spend a second-round draft pick on TCU WR Jack Bech, but with Meyers entering a contract year, I doubt he lets the rookie take the reins as the team’s top wideout. Meyers should be motivated to build upon his career outing from last year and has a rock-solid WR2 floor, making his current ADP of WR41 baffling.
