20 Fantasy Football Sleepers that Could Save Your Season
Who should you target in the late rounds of your draft?
It’s hour three of your fantasy football draft. The nachos have gone stale, the beer is all gone, and you are sick of drafting dudes you’ve barely heard of and ready to go home.
But the late rounds are when some of the best values in fantasy football can be found. That’s where your leaguemates snagged Jay Ajayi, Michael Thomas, and Dak Prescott last season and crushed you in December. It’s those late picks that can fill in where your early swings missed, those guys that can bust out late and save an entire season.
So rather than throwing darts aimlessly, here are 20 guys available in the 8th round or later that could save your draft…
8.03 WR Eric Decker TEN
Decker missed most of last season. But he averaged over 80 catches, 1000 yards, and 10 TDs a season the previous four seasons, and now he has a chance to step into the Titans WR1 role that made Rishard Matthews a household fantasy name last year. He has a shot to finish among the top ten receivers at season’s end.
8.04 WR Pierre Garcon SF
The last time Garcon played in a Kyle Shanahan offense, he had 113 catches for over 1300 yards and led the league in targets with 181. Shanahan’s offense has also posted top fantasy numbers for Julio Jones and Andre Johnson. Brian Hoyer isn’t exactly Matt Ryan in San Francisco, but there’s definitely opportunity here.
8.05 QB Cam Newton CAR
8.10 Andrew Luck IND
9.05 Ben Roethlisberger PIT
How many years is it going to take you to learn that waiting at QB is a smart decision? Newton was the first QB drafted last year and the MVP in 2015 and he’s healthy. Luck is a top five QB when on the field and should be soon enough. Big Ben is an absolute animal at home and plays with two of the top three picks in your draft. Ignore QB early on, then grab two of these guys.
8.11 TE Zach Ertz PHI
Ertz is the 10th tight end drafted but should be a safe option. He led the Eagles in receptions last year and could very well do so again as Carson Wentz’s only remaining familiar options. He should be good for 70 catches and 800 yards and could do even more if Wentz takes the next step.
9.01 RB Jacquizz Rodgers TB
Quizz averaged 23 touches a game in his five starts for the Bucs last year, and he gets to start the first three games this season against Miami, Chicago, and Minnesota. That’s three definite starts for your team, and he could play well enough to keep Doug Martin sidelined after his suspension ends.
9.12 RB Jeremy Hill CIN
Hill is an incredibly boring pick that no one will notice on draft day as they scoop up rookie Joe Mixon in the third round, but Hill’s still the starter for now and the Bengals have been slow to make changes in the past. He averages 69 yards a game in his career and has 30 TDs in three seasons.
10.02 WR John Brown ARI
Larry Fitzgerald can’t post numbers forever, Michael Floyd is gone, and John Brown is still the fastest guy on the field when he’s out there. It looks like JBIII’s window might have passed, but there’s some big upside for this post-hype sleeper just in case it hasn’t.
10.09 WR Chris Hogan NE
14.01 WR Danny Amendola NE
Julian Edelman tore his ACL, and one of these two is the most likely benefactor. Edelman was a high 6th round pick two weeks ago. Would you trade a 10th and a 14th for a 6th? Of course you would, and New England’s possession WR always produces, so why not grab both of these guys and see what comes out?
10.12 RB Rex Burkhead NE
13.05 RB James White NE
New Patriots RB Mike Gillislee was a high 4th round pick two weeks ago before scaring fantasy owners away and sending his ADP tumbling — but someone has to play RB for the best team in the league, and one of these two is the answer if it’s not Gillislee. Burkhead has always had high upside if healthy, and White catches a lot of passes. These two could see an uptick in the passing game with Edelman out too.
11.05 WR Kenny Britt CLE
Britt finally broke 1000 yards for the first time in his career last year. Now he gets to step into the role Terrelle Pryor filled last year when he had 1000 yards of his own. Britt is 6'3" and should be a big target Deshone Kizer looks to early and often as he begins his NFL career.
11.06 RB Matt Forte NYJ
Bilal Powell fans won’t like to hear it, but Forte has been getting just as much time on the field as Powell in the preseason. Forte was still a top 20 fantasy RB last season, and that was his worst season ever as a pro. The Jets have almost no other offensive weapons. He could be this year’s Frank Gore and fill your RB2 slot if your other sleepers didn’t pan out.
11.07 TE Jack Doyle IND
Doyle is my favorite TE sleeper. I wrote about him and two other sleeper TEs:
12.02 WR Mike Wallace BAL
Every year, two or three receivers go from completely off the radar into the top ten. It’s usually either a young guy breaking out or an older veteran that’s done it before, and it’s most often a player that is the only real target on his offense. Wallace is old but he’s still fast and a great deep threat playing with the best deep ball thrower in the league in Joe Flacco.
12.03 WR Ted Ginn NO
Brandin Cooks is gone, and it looks like Ginn could actually end up with most of his targets. Everyone thought it would be Willie Snead, but Snead has remained the WR3 in the Saints offense while Ginn has been elevated into the WR2 role this preseason. He could be good if he doesn’t drop the opportunity.
13.02 WR Sterling Shepard NYG
Shepard was everyone’s favorite rookie receiver last year and actually had a pretty good season with 65 catches and 8 TDs. He’s probably not going to do much this year now that Brandon Marshall is in town, but he’s something of a high upside WR handcuff for Marshall or OBJ if you have the roster room.
13.12 WR Robby Anderson NYJ
Look, the Jets are going to be behind all season and that means they’re going to have to pass the ball. Who’s going to pass it, you ask? I don’t know. Nobody knows, nor do we know who they’ll pass to. But right now Robby Anderson is the Jets WR1 and he’s the 156th pick in the draft, so he’s worth a shot late.
14.06 QB Deshaun Watson HOU
If you forgot to grab a backup QB, Watson could have an outside shot at a rookie Cam Newton type year for the Texans. Newton had 14 rushing TDs and 700 yards on the ground his rookie season as he tucked and ran early and often while his pocket instincts grew. Watson already has two rushing TDs in the preseason and plays for a team that could have a lot of scoring chances.
14.07 WR Tyler Lockett SEA
Lockett was a huge sleeper last season but disappointed, and now everyone’s forgotten about him. But he’s healthy now which means his speed is back, and he’s a legitimate top 20 WR threat if your league happens to count kick and punt return yardage. He’s talented enough to hold great upside.
If you enjoyed this piece, give it a few claps so others will see it too! Follow Brandon on Medium or @wheatonbrando for more sports, humor, pop culture, and life musings. Visit the rest of Brandon’s writing archives here. All data thanks to Fantasy Football Calculator’s ADP tool and Pro Football Reference.
