The NFL has a second straight 10-game main slate lined up for Sunday afternoon. Even with a Monday Night Football doubleheader, a London game, and two teams on a bye, we still have 20 teams in the player pool. Those wide receiver rooms offer some intriguing potential fantasy football sleeper plays available at WR. In this post, we’ll dive into the wide receivers who can make a huge difference in your DFS fantasy football lineup, but still have a very affordable DraftKings salary.
The fantasy football sleeper plays at wide receiver in this post each week can be excellent values for DFS contests, and they can also be sneaky plays in your season-long league if you need help there, since they are in line to exceed expectations and many are still on the waiver wire. Earlier this week, I highlighted my top-30 starters at wide receiver, and in this list, we’ll focus on players outside those 30 who still bring a high ceiling.
Week 6 Fantasy Football Sleeper WR picks (analysis below)
- Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers ($3,900)
- Ryan Flournoy, Dallas Cowboys ($3,600)
- Isaiah Bond, Cleveland Browns ($3,700)
- Tez Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($3,200)
- Ben Skowronek, Pittsburgh Steelers ($3,000)
Week 5 Results:
- Darius Slayton, New York Giants ($4,300; 5.1 FPTS)
- Elic Ayomanor, Tennessee Titans ($4,100; 3.8 FPTS)
- Malik Washington, Miami Dolphins ($3,900; 4.0 FPTS)
- Luke McCaffrey, Washington Commanders ($3,700; 6.0 FPTS)
- Jalen Tolbert, Dallas Cowboys ($3,600; 0.0 FPTS)
Whether you’re looking for value plays in your DFS contests like the NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st] or looking for a last-minute addition from the waiver wire, here are my top five fantasy football sleeper wide receivers for Week 6 of the 2025 season:
Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers ($3,900)
Legette and the Panthers are in a great wide receiver matchup as they face the Cowboys this week. No team in the NFL has been a better matchup for wide receivers this season. Dallas has allowed an average of 189 receiving yards per game to opposing receivers and 10 wide receiver touchdowns in just five games.
The Panthers don’t have a lot of depth at receiver, but they do have a developing top option in Tetairoa McMillan ($6,000). They could be getting back Jalen Coker ($4,200; quad) from IR this week as well, but he’s still a game-time decision and could face limitations if he’s available. While I love Coker’s upside, Legette is a great value who is even cheaper and also brings a very good ceiling. He returned from a two-week absence of his own last week and caught two of his three targets for 31 yards and 11.1 fantasy points.
Legette played 79% of snaps in his return, second among all receivers behind only McMillan. Whether Coker is back or not, Legette should have enough work to attack the Cowboys, especially if the Dallas defense focuses on shutting down their former teammate Rico Dowdle and the run game. In this very favorable spot, I love Legette’s upside, even though he’s very risky with a low floor.
Ryan Flournoy, Dallas Cowboys ($3,600)
Last week in my sleepers, I spotlighted Jalen Tolbert ($3,500) as a player who could step up in the Cowboys’ high-volume passing attack against the Jets. Right idea, wrong player. Tolbert didn’t catch his only target, while Flournoy, who was behind him on the depth chart until last week, broke through with a monster game. I highlighted him in my early waiver wire pickups on Sunday and still believe in him as a great sleeper at this salary as the Cowboys take on Legette’s Panthers.
Last week, Flournoy helped the Cowboys fill in for the absence of CeeDee Lamb (ankle) and KaVontae Turpin (foot) who are both once again sidelined this week. The second-year receiver from SE Missouri State stepped up with six catches on nine targets for 114 yards and 21.4 fantasy points.
With Tolbert and Lamb out again, Flournoy should be busy against the Panthers, who will focus on shutting down George Pickens ($6,800) and Jake Ferguson ($5,300). That potentially leaves room for Flournoy to post another big game.
Isaiah Bond, Cleveland Browns ($3,700)
With Joe Flacco ($4,000) starting on the other side of the Buckeye State now, the youth movement is fully underway in Cleveland. Dillon Gabriel ($4,400) will make his second start of the season against the Steelers in Pittsburgh this week, and one fellow rookie who deserves a look at receiver is Isaiah Bond ($3,700).
Bond has stepped up as the team’s second receiver across from Jerry Jeudy ($4,500) the past two weeks while Cedric Tillman (hamstring) was hurt and placed on IR. Bond had three catches on six targets for 58 yards in the game that Tillman left, and he was even busier with Gabriel under center last week, drawing seven targets. He only had two catches for 29 yards against the Vikings in London, but his target share makes him worth paying attention to this week.
The Steelers have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points in the NFL to opposing receivers, and Bond could break out with a splash this week. He has all the talent to make big plays like this one, but he hasn’t been able to break out just yet for the Browns suddenly very young offense.
Tez Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($3,200)
The Buccaneers have been hit hard by injury at wide receiver with Mike Evans (hamstring), Chris Godwin (fibula), and Jalen McMillan (neck, IR) all out for this week’s matchup against the 49ers. Fortunately, the Bucs have breakout rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka ($7,200), but they also have another rookie who could be a big part of their solution Sunday against the Niners.
Before last week’s game, Baker Mayfield ($6,600) talked up seventh-round pick Tez Johnson out of Oregon. Johnson went out and delivered with four catches on four targets for 59 yards.
As I highlighted in my standalone fantasy football sleeper post on Johnson, he has tons of elusiveness and could step into a much larger role with Godwin joining Evans on the sideline. He hasn’t hit his ceiling yet, which makes him high-risk, high-reward for this week at an incredibly cheap salary.
Ben Skowronek, Pittsburgh Steelers ($3,000)
If you’re looking for a fantasy football sleeper play all the way at the minimum salary in Week 6, check out Skowronek, who could be the Steelers’ second receiver this week against the Browns. Calvin Austin III (shoulder) is out, leaving limited options behind DK Metcalf ($5,500). Skowronek played the third-most snaps of all receivers in Week 4 before the team’s bye week, although he wasn’t targeted on any of his 34% of the team’s offensive snaps. He did have a big week in Week 1, catching a 22-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers ($5,300).
Skowronek has been called a “glue guy” by Rodgers, who loves to get him involved as a receiver. With more opportunities this week, the hard-working, tough-blocking, extremely versatile option could end up be huge value play as well as a fantasy football sleeper who can stretch your salary at every other spot while still giving some upside of his own.
He’s a high-risk option, but without Austin, the chances should be there for him.
