Looking for AFC East fantasy football sleepers is a daunting task. The AFC East is one of the most confusing divisions in the NFL to figure out this year. The previously dominant Patriots are now in the midst of a total overhaul. The once lowly Bills are sitting pretty atop the division. The Dolphins and Jets both seem poised to contend this year as well.
AFC East fantasy football sleepers for 2021
All of this change makes for a potentially wild year all around. This also means that there are a lot of potential sleeper picks in the AFC East as well. Here are my top candidates for AFC East fantasy football sleepers at the WR position in 2021.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills finished 2020 as the AFC East division winner with a 13-3 record, tied for second in all of the NFL behind only the Chiefs. Led by QB Josh Allen, the team looks to repeat as divisional champion in 2021.
They lost WR John Brown to the Raiders but replaced him in free agency with WR Emmanuel Sanders to replace him. They also have a pair of RBs in Zack Moss and Devin Singletary fighting for carries in the backfield.
Gabriel Davis, WR | ADP: 168
The top of my list of AFC East fantasy football sleepers is none other than Gabriel Davis. I went into depth about him in my fantasy football WR sleepers article, but his talent and opportunity make him the prime player for a list like this. Josh Allen is the real deal, and as long as Davis is the WR2 on the team, he should easily outperform his ADP.
Miami Dolphins
In 2020, the Dolphins finished second in the division with a 10-6 record. Rookie QB Tua Tagovailoa started on the bench behind veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick but eventually got the starting job after the team’s Week 7 bye.
The Dolphins added a number of weapons in the offseason. They signed WR Will Fuller and RB Malcolm Brown in free agency and drafted rookie WR Jaylen Waddle. They also expect to see TE Mike Gesicki take another step forward in the offense this year.
DeVante Parker, WR | ADP: 123
The best option when looking for fantasy football sleepers on the Dolphins is the one who saw a 20% target share last year — DeVante Parker. The addition of all of those weapons has caused Parker’s ADP to fall into the 10th round in 12-team leagues. That’s a tremendous value, even if he’s the second pass-catching option on the team. Parker took a while to break out, but now that he has, I don’t mind paying this cheap of a price to see if it continues.
New England Patriots
The Patriots finished 2020 with a paltry 7-9 record, their first sub-.500 season before Tom Brady was the starting quarterback. Led by aging QB Cam Newton, the team looked like a shell of its former self.
Because of this, the team went on a shopping spree this offseason. They added a pair of TEs in Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry and added veteran WRs in Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne. They drafted QB Mac Jones in the first round of the draft to be their QB of the future. RB Damien Harris is also on the verge of breaking out, as long as the team decides to give him the chance.
Jakobi Meyers, WR | ADP: 245
Once again, the Patriots’ addition to this list of AFC East fantasy football sleepers is one of the WRs that isn’t new to the team. Jakobi Meyers looked solid last year with Newton under center. He averaged over 10 PPR points per week and secured a 24.7% target share when he was on the field.
That kind of connection doesn’t just go away because some new competition is added to the team. I fully expect Meyers to be flex-worthy in most weeks, making him a steal as an undrafted fantasy player this year.
New York Jets
Last but not least is the New York Jets. The team finished with a 2-14 record, which was good enough to earn them the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. With that pick, they selected QB Zach Wilson to be the new face of the franchise.
The team also parted ways with head coach Adam Gase. This was a welcome sight to Jets fans and fantasy managers alike. In addition to Wilson, the team also drafted WR Elijah Moore and RB Michael Carter to complement WRs Corey Davis and Denzel Mims on the offense.
Denzel Mims, WR | ADP: 213
Speaking of which, WR Denzel Mims is one of the deeper fantasy football sleepers this year. He is being ignored by almost everyone, as evidenced by his 17th round ADP. While Mims didn’t do much last year, he did see 7 or more targets in four of the nine games he played.
Rookie WRs tend to struggle as it is, and along with the chaos that was 2020, it’s no shock that Mims didn’t do more. A new coaching regime and a young QB could do wonders for Mims as he continues to grow. Since he’s going undrafted in most leagues, he’s worth watching to see what he does in Week 1 at the very least.
Deep 2021 fantasy sleeper from the AFC East
My deep sleeper pick from this division is Patriots WR N’Keal Harry, but not for the reason you might think. I don’t think he’s a bad player, I just think he’s on the wrong team. The Patriots may decide to trade or cut him. If Harry goes somewhere else, it’s entirely possible that he figures out a way to shine again. In deeper dynasty formats he’s worth looking at, but I’m avoiding him in redraft regardless.
Andrew Hall is a writer for PFN covering the NFL and fantasy football. You can follow him on Twitter @AndrewHallFF.