Everyone knows to draft Ja’Marr Chase and Bijan Robinson in the first round of fantasy football drafts. Leagues are won by finding those under-the-radar guys who significantly outperform their cost. With training camp and preseason underway, player values are starting to solidify. Based on current ADP, here are my favorite sleepers for this season.
Justin Fields, QB, New York Jets
In modern fantasy football, having an elite quarterback not only matters, but it’s advisable. It’s okay to spend a Round 2-4 pick on a QB. But only a handful of teams will be able to pay up for that top-end production. Fortunately, if I miss out on a top QB, I know Justin Fields exists.
Given the depth of the position, it’s understandable that Fields is ranked so low. Yet, it’s still surprising.
Fields may not be a high-end NFL quarterback, but that doesn’t matter for fantasy purposes. The only “concern” with Fields is that his performance may result in him getting benched. Well, on the Jets, I don’t see any world where he loses his job unless he’s truly horrendous. For all of Fields’ criticisms over the first four years of his career, the guy is, at worst, a low-end NFL starter. He belongs.
Since 2022, Fields has started 34 games. Over that span, he’s averaged 18.8 fantasy points per game. He is a QB1 whenever he starts. Only seven quarterbacks have been better during that timeframe, and they are the ones you would expect.
Fields’ ADP is QB11. That is essentially his floor. Meanwhile, Fields has outproduced the likes of Kyler Murray, Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott, Baker Mayfield, and Justin Herbert, to name a few. Most of these guys will be drafted ahead of Fields this year. If you miss out on the elites, wait and take Fields.
Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots
The Drake Maye proposition is similar to Fields, except that Maye doesn’t have as much of a track record of production.
Maye was understandably overshadowed by Jayden Daniels having the most incredible rookie season in NFL history, Caleb Williams being the top pick and featured on Hard Knocks, and Bo Nix leading the Broncos to the playoffs. Of the top three picks, Maye was the only one not to start immediately.
This has created a value proposition for Maye heading into 2025 fantasy drafts, at least for now. There are a lot of quarterbacks with 20 ppg upside. As a result, Maye is unlikely to be taken inside the top 12. But he can give us a QB1 season.
Maye’s 14.4 ppg average is fake. It includes the 2.1 points he scored when he made his NFL debut in Week 3 for only a handful of plays, as well as his 0 points in Week 18 when he played just three snaps. If we remove those two games, Maye posted 16.8 ppg, much more respectable.
This year, the Patriots added reliable veteran WR Stefon Diggs, rookie third-rounder Kyle Williams, and a receiving back in TreVeyon Henderson. Maye is also another year older and has an experienced, competent head coach. Plus, Josh McDaniels is back.
With his rushing ability raising his floor, Maye could be a surprise top-five fantasy quarterback if things break right this season. His QB18 ADP is criminal.
Jaydon Blue, RB, Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have made it abundantly clear what they think of the running back position. Before the draft, Jerry Jones claimed the offensive line was the reason the running game struggled — not the personnel.
I understand Jaydon Blue was a fifth-rounder for a reason. But Rico Dowdle was an unexpected RB2 in fantasy last season, playing in this offense. There is a fantasy upside here.
Blue has a chance. He comes with 4.43 speed and a solid receiving profile, earning an 11.3% target share in his final season.
Most importantly, he needs an opportunity. Blue is stepping onto a roster with two replacement-level options ahead of him in Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders.
I would argue Sanders is sub-replacement-level. Yet, Sanders has been outplaying Williams in camp.
I do not buy the reports that Blue was “lazy.” He is an explosive runner who offers this offense far more than either Williams or Sanders.
Blue could immediately carve out a role as the receiving back. If Williams and Sanders perform to their skill levels, we could easily see Dallas push more work Blue’s way. If they were willing to make Dowdle a three-down back due to a lack of alternatives, they can do it with Blue.
Jordan Mason, RB, Minnesota Vikings
Once you get past the clear and likely starters, it’s time to take chances on backups. Jordan Mason is going to back up Aaron Jones. But there’s a lot of upside here.
Jones has been mostly durable throughout his career. However, he’s now 30 years old. He’s said himself that “age is just a number.” But we look at age 30 a different way for a reason.
The years 2024-2026 may end up going down as a strong stretch for old running backs. Yet, betting on history is still a good move to make.
Jones didn’t miss a game last year, but he did play through a couple of injuries. The lack of talent behind him forced the Vikings to give him a career-high 255 carries at age 29. It was this exact situation that prompted them to trade for Jordan Mason, who thrived filling in for Christian McCaffrey.
From Weeks 1-4, Mason averaged 18.6 ppg. He was a strong RB1. While he never hit double-digit fantasy points again, he battled injuries for the majority of the remainder of the season.
Mason should have deeper-league standalone value right away as an RB3/4. The Vikings have hinted that he may be the primary goal-line back.
Then, of course, there’s the contingent upside should something happen to Jones. Mason can handle a heavy workload. There’s RB1 upside. Mason is the exact type of back fantasy managers should be throwing a dart at in the mid-to-late rounds of drafts.
Tyjae Spears, RB, Tennessee Titans
For the second year in a row, I am all in on Tyjae Spears. Last season, head coach Brian Callahan indicated the Titans’ backfield would be a split between Spears and Tony Pollard. As the incumbent who had shown flashes as a rookie, I expected Spears to outplay an underwhelming Pollard. Not only was I wrong, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
While Spears was far from bad, this wasn’t a split. It was Pollard’s backfield. His 73% opportunity share was ninth in the league. Meanwhile, Spears played fewer snaps than he did sharing a backfield with Derrick Henry the year prior.
I am once again buying into the talk that this will be more of a split backfield. Pollard is another year older and wasn’t all that efficient last season. His 4.4 yards per touch ranked 44th, and his 3.12 yards created per touch ranked 46th.
Meanwhile, Spears is entering his prime and showcased his three-down upside when he got a chance to fill in for Pollard late in the season.
Every Tyjae Spears rush + target from Year 2 pic.twitter.com/ioxfUZwS6m
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) June 27, 2025
With an RB42 ADP, Spears will be the fourth or fifth running back you select in fantasy drafts. He is all upside and zero downside. I am pushing that button every time, especially in PPR.
*Note: Obviously, Spears’ high ankle sprain puts a damper on this. His ADP is sure to plummet. I still believe he is a talented player who will work his way into a meaningful role, but now he will open the season with a lot of ground to make up.
Emeka Egbuka, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I will be perfectly candid. I do not think this is a fair pick as a sleeper. Emeka Egbuka has been getting a ton of training camp buzz and is steaming up draft boards. His WR47 ADP feels very fake. I suspect he will crack the top 40 imminently. Nevertheless, I am going to talk about him.
There is no player I want in fantasy drafts more than Egbuka. We know several things working in his favor. Rookies are great bets every year in fantasy. First-round rookie wide receivers are even better bets. Most importantly, rookie wide receivers and rookies in general tend to backload their production.
The concern with Egbuka is that he will open the season buried behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. There are obvious parallels to fellow Ohio State alum Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The Seahawks’ WR1 was a great prospect as well, but completely flopped as a rookie, posting 8.8 PPG and being completely unstartable.
The reason he failed from a fantasy perspective certainly wasn’t talent-related, as he proved last season. JSN was trapped behind established veterans DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Sound familiar? I do not have the same fears for Egbuka, though.
For starters, the Bucs have a much better offense than the Seahawks did in 2023. Baker Mayfield is a far better quarterback than Geno Smith.
We also have the matter of Evans and Godwin being much older than Metcalf and Lockett. Evans is 32 years old and started to show some signs of decline last season, at least physically, missing three games with a hamstring strain.
Godwin is 29 years old and is coming off offseason ankle surgery. He may not be ready for Week 1.
Both Evans and Godwin, due to their history and age, are injury risks. All it takes is for one to miss a chunk of time for Egbuka to be thrust into a starting role he may never give back.
Even if Evans and Godwin stay healthy, though, there is a path. Mayfield can support three receivers. Plus, Egbuka could make himself undeniable, creating an arc where his second half of the season production far outpaces the first half. Essentially, Egbuka has league-winning upside. I am chasing that all day at a WR4 price tag.
There’s one player who I want in every single draft:
Emeka Egbuka.
— Frank Ammirante (@FAmmiranteTFJ) July 25, 2025
Jauan Jennings, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Sometimes, weird things happen in football and, consequently, fantasy football. Jauan Jennings never should’ve been anything. He was a 2020 seventh-round pick who didn’t play at all as a rookie, then amassed a total of 78 receptions across three seasons from 2021 to 2023. That’s an average of about 1.7 per game.
Then, last year, the 49ers suffered some injuries, and Jennings was forced into an increased role. Yes, his 14.0 ppg average was heavily bolstered by his 46.5-point explosion in Week 3. But throughout the season, he also posted games of 16.3, 25.1, 28.0, and 13.7.
Now, the 49ers head into 2025 with Deebo Samuel on another team, Brandon Aiyuk set to miss a chunk of the season as he recovers from a torn ACL, and Christian McCaffrey believed to be fully healthy, but always an injury risk. Jennings is poised to open the season as the WR1 and possibly second or third option in the passing game behind George Kittle and McCaffrey.
Given the depth of the wide receiver position, it’s hard to rank a guy like Jennings that high. Everplease yone knows to draft Ja’Marr Chase and Bijan Robinson in the first round of fantasy fo
Rashid Shaheed, WR, New Orleans Saints
There are many reasons to fade Rashid Shaheed. He’s coming off a serious season-ending injury. He’s a former UDFA. The Saints are poised to start a 26-year-old rookie quarterback. All of that will be baked into his depressed ADP, though.
Before getting hurt last season, Shaheed was averaging 13.6 ppg — 4.0 ppg more than Chris Olave. Once a massive fan of Olave, I’m no longer certain Olave is that much of better of a fantasy asset. I will have Olave ranked ahead of Shaheed, just like everyone else, but the gap is probably not as large as the rankings and ADP have it.
Shaheed opened the 2024 season with four games of at least 16.3 fantasy points. He’s volatile. He’s reliant on splash plays. But he’s also inexpensive. Shaheed is the perfect guy to add to your Flex, offering the upside of potentially swinging a matchup.
CARR TO SHAHEED 70 YARDS 🔥
📺: #NOvsDAL on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/GV0MW5cduw— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024
Joshua Palmer, WR, Buffalo Bills
The Bills were widely expected to address the wide receiver position in the NFL Draft. They did no such thing, waiting until the very last round to select Kaden Prather, a person I knew existed before April 26.
This wide receiver corps has no clear alpha. Khalil Shakir will lead the team in targets, but he’s not an outside receiver. I’m sure the Bills want Keon Coleman to be that guy. Unfortunately, he’s just not that good.
Joshua Palmer has made a living by consistently exceeding expectations. Although he’s never averaged more than 10.7 ppg in a season, Palmer has had stretches of WR3 value. He’s a reliable receiver who earns the trust of his quarterbacks.
I fully expect Palmer to be the primary outside receiver and out-target Coleman. Behind him and Coleman are Elijah Moore and Curtis Samuel. I don’t see either as a threat to Palmer.
ADP can and will shift over the coming months. Right now, though, Palmer is a potential WR3 that is quite literally free.
Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears
It’s tough to find true tight end sleepers because the position tails off after the first six to eight guys. In the absence of obvious breakout candidates, why not the rookies?
Colston Loveland’s offensive situation does not appear conducive to a massive rookie season. He will be competing for targets with DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, and Luther Burden III. Those passes will be thrown by Caleb Williams, who needs to take a significant step forward as a sophomore if there is to be any hope of all these guys returning value.
So, why am I touting Loveland? I’m not touting him. This is more of a value proposition.
Historically, only a handful of tight ends matter every year. You can primarily stream 10 ppg. In 2024, a total of five TEs averaged more than 13 ppg. One averaged around 12 ppg. Then, we had around 10 in the 9-11 ppg range. The difference between those guys is negligible.
Loveland is an elite prospect with early-first-round draft capital. If I’ve punted the TE position, I’d rather take the swing on the talented unknown in the rookie. If it doesn’t work out, the person I pick up will be no worse than the one I could’ve drafted. But the person I could’ve drafted would have had less upside than Loveland.
Brenton Strange, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars
By no means should you go into a draft hoping to get Brenton Strange as your TE1. But if it happens by accident, it’s not the worst thing in the world.
Strange takes over as the Jaguars’ primary tight end following Evan Engram’s departure. Last season, we got a glimpse of what that looks like.
Strange played eight games with Engram sidelined due to injury. In those eight contests, Strange averaged 8.5 PPG. Those are closer to streamer-level numbers. With a full offseason as the clear TE1, plus Liam Coen bringing innovative concepts to what was a poor offense, we could see Strange take off this season.
At a TE21 ADP, Strange is quite literally free, available in the last round of fantasy drafts. If you punt entirely on the tight end position, he should be the guy you target.
Mason Taylor, TE, New York Jets
Once upon a time, the Jets had a logjam at the pass-catcher position. There were too many guys and not enough offense. This year, it’s the complete opposite.
Garrett Wilson remains entrenched as the WR1. He will dominate targets likely at a career-best level. Beyond him, though, there’s very little. Currently, Josh Reynolds and Allen Lazard project to be the WR2 and WR3. Why can’t Mason Taylor emerge as the second option in this passing game?
The Jets have no real incumbent at tight end. Maybe the guy ends up being Jeremy Ruckert. In that case, you drop Taylor. But what if Taylor impresses right away and earns the TE1 role? Justin Fields is capable of supporting two fantasy-relevant pass-catchers. The only one we know for sure is Wilson. This is a no-risk, pure upside play.
