2025 PUP List Candidates

Last week, we discussed players who are at risk of getting cut this NFL offseason. Those players — especially the fantasy-relevant ones listed at the top of the article — have the potential to majorly impact best ball draft boards once their respective teams decide whether or not to move on from them.

Today, we’ll look at PUP list candidates — players who suffered injuries during the 2024 season that could cost them regular-season games in 2025. This is another redo of an article submitted last season by Sam Sherman, who has also graciously helped out this year as I write this article for the first time.

Players placed on the PUP list to begin the season must miss a minimum of four games. With that in mind, it makes sense to err on the side of caution with these players, who won’t be able to contribute to your best ball rosters early in the year and may still take some time to ramp up their workloads after that. In addition, the backups to these players could provide usable early-season value as the de facto starter while their teammate gets healthy.

Note: I am not a doctor. As Sam Sherman mentioned last year, the assumptions made in this article are largely based on the medical knowledge of Edwin Porras, founder of PRO Athlete Physical Therapy. I’m using the same timelines Sam used last year that were originally provided by Edwin; by combining that baseline with a rigorous examination of news/updates/quotes available online, we can ideally project a fairly accurate timeline for when we can expect these players to return to the gridiron. Of course, it’s only February and we’ll get plenty of concrete injury news in the coming months, but this should serve as a useful starting point.

1. Tank Dell (PUP Risk: Season-ending I.R. candidate)

Dell suffered perhaps the most devastating injury of the 2024 season in late December when he tore his ACL, dislocated his kneecap, and suffered other damage in his left knee. DeMeco Ryans noted in January that he was in good spirits following his first surgery on Jan. 15, but he still has multiple surgeries left and an extensive rehab process after that before he can return to the field. Given how late in the season Dell’s injury occurred and the sheer magnitude of the damage his left knee endured, there’s a very strong chance we don’t see Dell at all in the 2025 season. Houston beat writer Aaron Wilson said as much: “His outlook to play next season, due to the timing of the injury and the severity and multitude of the damage that will require more than one surgical procedure to repair all, is regarded as the most unlikely scenario.” Wilson did say it was “likely” that he will be able to play in 2026. Dell will technically not be placed on PUP in likelihood and instead go on season-ending I.R. with no designation to return.

Fantasy takeaways:

• Dell will probably miss all of next season and Stefon Diggs is an unrestricted free agent (and coming off a torn ACL, more on that in a second). Nico Collins had a 0.26 target-per-route-run mark with Diggs and Dell both off the field and figures to be a top-tier fantasy WR again in 2025. The departure of Bobby Slowik should be a major boon to this passing game, as Houston likely adopts a more modern offense under Sean McVay disciple Nick Caley. Dalton Schultz also posted a 0.18 TPRR without Diggs/Dell and is the second option in this passing game by default with the current state of their WR corps.
• If they don’t re-sign Diggs, Houston is going to add another WR to compete for WR2 duties with incumbents John Metchie and Xavier Hutchinson. Dell shouldn’t be drafted in any fantasy leagues.

2. Deshaun Watson (PUP Risk: Season-ending I.R. candidate)