The Detroit Lions are once again stacked with fantasy football assets going into the 2025 NFL season.
Detroit had a total of four players finish in the top 10 at their respective positions in fantasy points in 2024, with running back Jahmyr Gibbs, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, tight end Sam LaPorta and quarterback Jared Goff all making the cut.
We also saw the emergence of wide receiver Jameson Williams, who exploded onto the scene after two lackluster years to begin his career.
Along with running back David Montgomery, St. Brown, Gibbs, Williams, Goff and LaPorta are all expected to make big impacts in fantasy football in 2025.
With all that in mind, here’s how we rank those six players in terms of fantasy value. Also, we’ll go over a few sleepers to keep an eye on in Detroit.
Note: All fantasy rankings and stats are courtesy of Fantasy Pros.
Detroit Lions’ best fantasy football assets
1. RB Jahmyr Gibbs
Gibbs cemented himself as one of the best running backs in the NFL last season after tallying over 1,900 yards from scrimmage, including 1,412 rushing yards, which earned him the ranking of RB1 overall in PPR.
The biggest concern for Gibbs is David Montgomery, who will continue to take snaps and touches away from the third-year back, especially at the goal-line.
However, the Lions run the football a ton (third-most carries in 2024), and with Gibbs’ heavy involvement in the passing game, Montgomery’s presence isn’t enough to scare us away from calling Gibbs an elite fantasy back.
2. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
St. Brown saw a dip in production after a career-best 2023 campaign that saw him tally 1,515 yards and 10 scores. But St. Brown’s 115 catches and 1,263 yards still ranked second and fifth, respectively, and he scored two more touchdowns. St. Brown’s 12 receiving touchdowns ranked second among pass-catchers.
After finishing as WR3 overall in each of the past two seasons, there is no reason to believe he won’t do that again, or at least something similar to it. He is once again in the upper-echelon of fantasy receivers this season, along with Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb.
3. QB Jared Goff
Goff’s ceiling is a bit limited because of his inability to scramble for yards, but he hasn’t finished below QB10 overall since 2022 and ranked as QB6 last season despite the Lions ranking 16th in pass attempts.
Admittedly, having a quarterback who commandes a run-heavy offense is a bit risky, but Goff makes up for that by ripping off chunks of yardage on passes. Only one team in the NFL had more yards per completion (8.6) than Detroit in 2024.
Often underrated, Goff should be there beyond the middle rounds and is a fantastic option to fill your need at quarterback if you don’t spring for one of the more high-profile options earlier in the draft.
4. WR Jameson Williams
Williams is fresh off a breakout season that saw him break the 1,000-yard mark and cement himself as one of the most explosive players in the NFL. The Lions have been hyping up Williams all offseason long, so he could take that next step this season.
That said, he isn’t the No. 1 option in Detroit’s passing attack and has to contend with St. Brown, Gibbs and Sam LaPorta for targets. Also, we’d love to see him be less dependent on the big play and touchdowns, which makes him boom-or-bust.
Williams could very well settle in as an every-week WR2, but we feel more comfortable having him as a flex option instead.
5. TE Sam LaPorta
LaPorta was unable to build off his historic 2024 rookie campaign and finished with 163 yards and three touchdowns less in 2025. Part of that was because he appeared in one less game, but the emergence of Williams hurt, too.
Even with that drop-off, LaPorta ranked as TE8 overall and has the potential to be among the elite tight ends in the sport in 2025. As a result, LaPorta could end up being a steal in the middle rounds of drafts.
6. RB David Montgomery
Despite missing three games and sharing a backfield with Gibbs, Montgomery was RB18 overall.
There is more than enough room for two productive backs in the Lions’ offense, which had the third-most carries in the NFL in 2024. If Gibbs were to get hurt, Montgomery would easily become a borderline RB1.
Montgomery is once again going to do the dirty work for Detroit, and that includes getting plenty of goal-line work on what is a high-scoring offense. He shouldn’t be any worse than a weekly flex option this season.
Detroit Lions’ fantasy football sleepers
K Jake Bates
Bates brought his unlimited range from the UFL to the Lions in 2024 and finished as the No. 7 kicker in fantasy.
Bates’ upside is limited a bit due to head coach Dan Campbell’s affinity to go for it on fourth downs, but Bates also gets a ton of extra point opportunities thanks to the Lions’ elite scoring offense, so that helps make up for it.
Even if Bates sees just a slight uptick in field goal attempts in 2025, he should easily finish as a top-five kicker.
WR Isaac TeSlaa
Following the trade of Tim Patrick, the path is cleared for TeSlaa to take over the WR3 role in Detroit following an impressive training camp and preseason where TeSlaa showed he has a nose for the end zone with three scores.
Of course, TeSlaa has a ton of competition for targets and isn’t going to be anything more than the fifth option, at best, in the offense. But if Williams or St. Brown get hurt, the rookie is going to be thrust into a huge role in Detroit.
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