2025 NFL Futures Fantasy Draft: How to play, plus full results from SportsLine expert league

Two years ago, I took a crack at putting my spin on designing an NFL Futures competition that feels like a Fantasy football draft, then I put 12 top experts from CBS Sports and SportsLine to the test competing to see who would come out on top with their predictions. Like a Fantasy draft, once a bet has been selected, it’s off the board for everyone else. However, it’s crucial to balance the competition in a way that rewards the best overall NFL futures drafter and avoids as much as possible one somewhat realistic surprise winner nullifying the rest of the draft.

The groundwork for building a successful NFL futures portfolio is win totals, so our draft makes hitting those foundational picks crucial. In 2023, SportsLine’s Larry Hartstein put together an excellent draft overall but missed his second win total, and that was enough to deny him the title when SportsLine’s Mackenzie Brooks hit all three of her top win totals. In 2024, Hartstein hit both his top win totals but missed his third, and that resulted in another second-place finish to someone who hit all three win totals plus other high-value picks.

NFL Futures Draft rules

So what does each roster look like? With a 12-person draft in mind, we have each drafter make 16 picks of varying unit sizes in any order, like so:

Win totals

• 3u Win total
• 2u Win total
• 1u Win total
• 0.5u Alternate win total

Rule: Each side of a team’s win total is only allowed to be selected once whether it’s used for a regular win total or alternate slot. That means of the possible 64 picks (32 Overs and 32 Unders), 48 different win total sides will be selected in a 12-team league.

Playoff bets

• 1u Make/miss playoffs
• 0.5u Division winner
• 0.25u Super Bowl winner

Rule: Once a team is used for either side of a make/miss playoff bet, the other side is also removed from the board. Therefore, two picks in the category will not be in direct competition.

Awards bets

• 0.25u MVP
• 0.1u Offensive Player of the Year
• 0.1u Defensive Player of the Year
• 0.1u Offensive Rookie of the Year
• 0.1u Defensive Rookie of the Year
• 0.1u Coach of the Year

Rule: Selection of a player only removes him from the board of that category and still allows him to be selected for other awards. For example, Lamar Jackson to win MVP and Lamar Jackson to win Offensive Player of the Year could both be selected in the same draft.

Player props

• 1u Passing yards/TD over/under
• 1u Rushing yards/TD over/under
• 1u Receiving yards/TD over/under

Rule: Once a player is used for a category, all other potential picks are removed from that player for that category alone, but the player can be selected for another category. For example, Saquon Barkley rushing yards Over being selected would mean no other Barkley rushing props can be selected, but Saquon Barkley receiving yards Over is still available.

Odds selection

The simplest rule for which odds to use is to pick one sportsbook and stick with it for every pick. We went with DraftKings Sportsbook for the SportsLine NFL Futures Fantasy Draft, which was an extended draft via email that took roughly four weeks to complete. For slow drafts especially, use the odds in real time when a pick is made and make sure the pick is still available to be bet so that the competition is truly about finding the best NFL futures bettor and not taking advantage of stale lines or injured players.

SportsLine NFL Futures Fantasy Draft

Our group of 12 participants from SportsLine includes the following experts, in order of how the randomizer slotted them in the draft: Sia Nejad, Larry Hartstein, R.J. White, Bob Konarski, Thomas Casale, Mackenzie Brooks, Jeff Hochman, Danny Vithlani, Josh Nagel, Dave Richard, Eric Cohen and Alex Selesnick.

We’ll go round by round to show you how the draft played out.

Round 1

For the third straight year, everyone began the draft by taking a three-unit win total as it’s imperative to hit the pick in that slot in order to have any chance at winning. My top pick was the Broncos Over 9.5, but Sia took it at first overall, so I settled for my second favorite pick in the Patriots Under 8.5. Unlike last year, two different drafters didn’t take opposite sides of the same win total in the first round, so there is potential for everyone to hit this pick.

Round 2

Again, win totals are the name of the game as everyone filled their two-unit win total slot, with again only three drafters getting aggressive and going for plus odds. I was the only person to make two plus-odds plays with my first two picks, which gives me the potential to take the early lead in this draft if both hit.

Round 3

With the two big win totals out of the way for every drafter, now we see some strategy come into play. Five people decided to back a Super Bowl winner, and I correlated my play in that category with my 49ers Over as if the win total hits, I’ll have great value on this play heading into the playoffs. We also saw the first two MVP picks come off the board along with two division-winner plays, two one-unit win totals and one make/miss playoffs pick. I was extremely disappointed to see the Packers division winner come off the board, and I wish I would’ve waited on the 49ers Super Bowl pick in retrospect.

Round 4

A majority of teams either took a division winner or MVP in this round, and I went with the latter as I didn’t want to be shut out of the market for the top options even though I love Bo Nix as a sleeper. My target was Patrick Mahomes, but Dave took him early in the round so I went with Jayden Daniels instead. We also saw our first foray into the 0.1-unit awards with Ja’Marr Chase being grabbed for Offensive Player of the Year. I love Jeff getting aggressive by using the Titans as his division winner this round as well, and they were on my list of potential picks for the category.

Round 5

The 49ers weren’t necessarily my top divisional pick at this point, but they were close, and I figure may as well continue the correlation with my two-unit win total play. I expect Abdul Carter to win Defensive Rookie of the Year, but the win wouldn’t net Bob that much in terms of points since we only make those 0.1-unit plays. We also see our first player prop come off the board with Dave taking Josh Allen’s rushing yards Over, while Eric followed it up by backing an MVP repeat for the Bills quarterback.

Round 6

We’re now in the part of the draft with a good mixture of categories in every round, with three player props, two awards, two win totals and one division bet joining four make/miss playoffs bets. I wanted to lock in a make playoffs bet on Denver after missing out on the Broncos for my first win total, and I really like Larry taking a shot on the Cardinals winning the NFC West at the +450 price, even though I have the 49ers there.

Round 7

This round breaks ground on the half-unit alternate win totals, with some like myself passing on their one-unit standard win total to get aggressive with one of the few win totals left we like. I decided to buy in on the Ben Johnson upside and take the Bears to be a 10-win team at what I think is a value price at +180, and Josh and Jeff also got aggressive with win total Overs on Miami and Arizona, respectively. Even though it won’t pay off much in terms of points at +350 on a 0.1-unit play, I love the value backing Cameron Ward for Offensive Rookie of the Year as well, though I have my sights set on a longer shot there.

Round 8

I was devastated to see Bijan Robinson Offensive Player of the Year come off the board two picks ahead of me, making me regret waiting one round too long for that selection. I pivoted to the Offensive Rookie of the Year value I like the most in Tetairoa McMillan, whose receiving yards over/under has trended upwards in recent days as he is poised to be the main passing-game weapon in the Carolina offense.

Round 9

We’re well into awards season with many of our win totals and playoff bets figured out along with plenty of options in the player props, and in one 20-pick stretch that includes this entire round, we had 19 awards bets selected. I see Justin Jefferson as a good value at +1600 to win Offensive Player of the year even though I would’ve preferred Bijan Robinson, as Jefferson has proven to be quarterback proof over the course of his career. Some interesting Coach of the Year candidates also come off the board, including one huge +6000 swing by Dave.

Round 10

More awards off the board, including one +6000 longshot for MVP that would end the competition if it were to somehow hit. I love Bo Nix as an MVP sleeper as well, and if that comes through for Jeff he’s going to have a great shot of winning, but I didn’t want to take him at +3500 with other books having him as high as +6000 (a price that would’ve made him my play over Jayden Daniels, who I took several rounds earlier).

Round 11

Travis Hunter gets taken for Rookie of the Year in back-to-back rounds, and interestingly enough, it was the defensive category where he went first last round, which may speak more to the options he’s up against in each category. I saw both him and Mason Graham as the last realistic Defensive Rookie of the Year options as voters have typically pulled those winners from the top 12 overall picks, and since I don’t think Hunter is going to play enough defense to get the mix, I went with Graham at longer odds.

Round 12

Interesting note here is that Thomas preemptively sniped Dave by taking the Keon Coleman Over, as the Fantasy analyst would settle on Coleman as his sleeper of the summer within the following days and presumably would’ve taken him to fill his open receiving prop slot. Dave certainly loves the value he got on Trey Hendrickson to win Defensive Player of the Year after the pass rusher agreed to a reworked deal for 2025, while I love the value I’m getting on Nick Bosa for the same award at +1500. Nothing compares to the home run swing by Sia, who took Danielle Hunter at +8000 for the same award.

Round 13

Awards still dominate the conversation in this round, though we also see some teams reaching back to key categories they passed on earlier like Super Bowl winner in this round. My plan for Coach of the Year had been to take Ben Johnson even with the lower price as one of the favorites, as I still see +700 having the potential to make the difference in the teams at the top. But with him taken two rounds ago, I instead take a shot on LaFleur being honored for what I believe will be a great Packers season.

Round 14

This round we see the final win total picks closed out with three teams taking their alternate plays and one their one-unit win total, making the Chiefs Under the 48th win total taken. Both Josh and I left all three of our player props until the end of the draft, and I thought his Mike Evans Over was a smart play. I’m more focused on Unders and trying to find numbers that are already stretching the boundary of what I think is realistic, then giving injuries a chance to help me cash. I see Derrick Henry’s touchdown over/under of 13.5 as massive for any player, and any combination of saving him for playoffs, resting starters at the end of the season or even missing one game due to injury could help my pick cash.

Round 15

We’re mostly finishing up with player props here, though we do have three interesting longshot plays for one of the Rookie of the Year awards as well as a final divisional winner pick. I felt the pull of Bo Nix’s yardage Over for my passing prop but ultimately stuck with my fade plan and backed Sam Darnold’s touchdown Under instead. I don’t see a lot of upside for him in the category based on the options in Seattle and what I believe the offensive philosophy will be for the team.

Round 16

We finish up mostly with player props but also a few more awards longshots, and Dave’s Josh Jacobs for Offensive Player of the Year pick is especially interesting at the +6000 price. I faded DK Metcalf in the Steelers passing offense with my final pick, expecting seven TDs to be a tall order for any receiver in that situation, and I was able to get even odds on the play to boot.

I provided further analysis of the draft in real time for our SportsLine Discord members over the last few weeks, so be sure to check it out if you want more NFL betting analysis and picks.