The fantasy football season is about to get underway with a thrilling Week 1 just around the corner. Fantasy football drafts are wrapping up before kickoff, but even after the draft is in the books, there’s still work to do to get your fantasy football team ready to roll for the season. Every year, players emerge who were not drafted but can make a huge difference for your squad. Normally, these players are on the fantasy football waiver wire at the start of the season, but they make sense to stash on your roster if you can, either with a pre-kickoff roster move or a late-round pick. In this post, we’ll focus on a few of these fantasy football sleepers with big-time upside.
We’ll be looking at players with ADPs (average draft positions) outside the top 175, so depending on your league size, these options are either final-round fliers or options that should be on the waiver wire. They bring good upside and possible production based on their expected role coming into the year. Even if you opt not to add them right away, they’re definitely worth watching as the season gets underway. Throughout the season, each week I’ll be highlighting the top waiver wire pickups each Sunday night, and these are players who could earn spots on that list early in the year.
Let’s hunt some fantasy football sleepers before the season gets underway!
WR Jalen Nailor, Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders will be one of the most important teams to watch in the early part of the season. With two new quarterbacks in Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza and a new offense under new head coach Klint Kubiak, the team will look to erase its offensive struggles from last year’s 3-14 campaign under Pete Carroll. While the team has solid options in the backfield, the receiving corps is still pretty thin. The one meaningful addition to the receivers was former-Vikings WR Jalen Nailor, who has a chance to step in as the team’s top receiver.
The Raiders signed Nailor to a three-year, $35 million contract. The sixth-round pick from Michigan State has caught just 69 passes in 55 games over his four-year career in Minnesota. He was behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison on the depth chart most of that time, but he has stepped up when he has had opportunities in the last two years. Nailor has caught 10 total touchdowns in the last two seasons, while producing 400+ yards and playing all 17 games in each season.
The big boost for Nailor this year is that he should be a regular every-down starter for the Raiders. He’ll be competing with Tre Tucker, who has been very volatile and a boom-or-bust speed producer. Nailor could be much more of the possession player and his red zone effectiveness in the past could make him a top target near the end zone.
Nailor hasn’t had a great training camp or preseason, but he has stepped up in the past when given a chance in games that count. He’s worth a flier since the Raiders are so thin in the receiver room and will be looking for someone to step up. He’s definitely not a lock, and his lack of buzz helps him go undrafted in over 90% of Yahoo! leagues.
RB Kaleb Johnson, Green Bay Packers
Another player who could step into a large enough role to be one of the best fantasy football sleepers is new Packers running back Kaleb Johnson. Johnson was a third-round pick of the Steelers out of Iowa before last season, but he made some big mistakes on special teams and wasn’t able to carve out much of a role as a rookie under coach Mike Tomlin. With new coach Mike McCarthy in charge of things in Pittsburgh, he was in danger of losing his roster spot but was instead traded to Green Bay in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
A change of scenery could be exactly what Johnson needed, and he steps into what could be a huge opportunity with MarShawn Lloyd’s health always uncertain and Josh Jacobs looking at a potential suspension. Johnson never got much of a shot in Pittsburgh, mostly due to his struggles in pass protection, but if he gets a chance to run between the tackles in Green Bay, he could translate his success from college.
Johnson was a target for the Packers in the draft after racking up 1,535 yards in the 2024 season with 21 touchdowns. He appears to be a good fit for coach Matt LaFleur’s offense, which is very similar to the outside zone running scheme he ran in college under offensive coordinator Tim Lester.
His fresh start could end up leading to nothing, but there’s also a chance he turns into the RB1 with Jacobs out and becomes a player that is almost a must-start in fantasy. With that in the realm of possibility, he’s worth snagging if you’re looking for a fantasy football sleeper at running back from the ranks of undrafted options.
TE AJ Barner, Seattle Seahawks
One fantasy football sleeper who is still on the same team he played for last year is Seahawks TE AJ Barner. Barner had a few big games down the stretch for Seattle and finished as the TE14 in both PPR and standard scoring formats. He hauled in 52 catches for 519 yards and six touchdowns, taking a huge step forward after a solid rookie season.
Barner will look to take another step up this year and is set for an expanded role in the team’s passing game. Without any big pass-catching additions, he could emerge as the second option behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba if he continues to progress, and he could easily crack into the top 10 as a starting tight end option.
Additionally, Barner is the team’s QB in short-yardage situations for the team’s version of the “Tush Push,” in a formation they call The Barn Yard, since it’s focused on Barner and designed to get one yard. It worked very effectively last year, resulting in nine first downs and a touchdown on nine rush attempts. Any extra touchdown or two only boosts his value throughout the season.
Barner is an excellent blocker, which has resulted in boom-or-bust production when he’s asked to stay and support in blocking more than running routes. However, he has earned the confidence of Sam Darnold and the coaching staff to deliver when he steps up as one of the team’s top targets.
He finished last year with four catches for 54 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots in the Super Bowl, and during the regular season, he had a 10-catch game against the Rams. With big performances like that, he definitely has the ability to be a regular top-10 producer at the position if the offense provides him enough chances to continue to make plays.
Barner is only being drafted in 6% of Yahoo! leagues, so he has the potential to be one of the best depth options off the waiver wire early in the season or a great depth pickup if you’re not happy with the way the draft landed with your team’s tight end options.
WR Dontayvion Wicks, Philadelphia Eagles
Another intriguing fantasy football sleeper who is going largely undrafted is one of the Eagles’ new receivers, Dontayvion Wicks. With A.J. Brown traded to New England, DeVonta Smith is set to step up as the Birds’ No. 1 receiver, but the team brought in Wicks in a trade from the Packers while also drafting Makai Lemon in the first round. After trading a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick, the Eagles added on an additional year to Wicks’ contract, keeping him with the team through the end of the 2027 season.
Wicks has flashed potential during his time with the Packers but wasn’t able to stand out in a crowded receiver room. He flashed with one monster game in each of his last two seasons with Green Bay, but wasn’t able to find any consistency. Last year, his big game was in Detroit, where he hauled in two touchdowns and finished with six catches for 94 yards in a win over the Lions. He had zero targets the following week against the Bears, though, and only had four catches the rest of the season.
This year, both Smith and Lemon dealt with injuries in training camp, allowing Wicks to show his upside and work on his connection with Jalen Hurts. Wicks made some big plays and lit up social media with some splashy catches, but he’s still flying into the season a little under the radar.
He’s only being drafted in about 15% of leagues, but he has the potential to be a big piece of one of the best offenses in the NFC.
WR Ted Hurst III, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Another NFC team that is hoping to contend this year may have to rely on a rookie receiver to step into a bigger role early in the season. Ted Hurst III is a great fantasy football sleeper option who is only getting drafted in about 2% of Yahoo! leagues. With Mike Evans in San Francisco now, Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan will have to step up for Baker Mayfield and the Bucs, but all three of those receivers have dealt with training camp injuries. Egbuka and McMillan are still very uncertain for Week 1, and if Hurst gets a chance, he has proven he is ready to step right in and produce.
Hurst was the Bucs’ third-round pick out of Georgia State, where he dominated the Sun Belt Conference. He measured well at the combine and has the raw athleticism to step right in and produce. While he has made some splashy plays, he has earned praise from both head coach Todd Bowles and QB Baker Mayfield for his steady contributions on a regular basis, and he has become a trusted option early in his time with the team.
If you have Egbuka, Hurst is a great handcuff, but even if you are not already invested in the Buccaneers’ passing game, Hurst is exactly the kind of fantasy football sleeper to stash ahead of Week 1. If the opportunity is there and he goes off, he could be a valuable trade chip, or you can ride it out to see if his role is large enough to make him a starter all season.
The Bucs have made it clear the rookie will be involved from the start of the season regardless of the injuries, but if Egbuka or McMillan miss time, he’ll have a wide open door to an even bigger role.
The Bottom Line — Fantasy Football Sleepers are Key!
The five players in this post all have the potential to be great fantasy football sleepers with the potential to break out early in the season. If you have an extra roster spot at the end of your draft or even after your draft has concluded, they’re the top names to look to stash heading into Week 1. Be sure to check back all season long for other options who emerge as options on the waiver wire to help guide your fantasy football team to the top of the standings.
