To win your fantasy football league, you need only proper preparation and a little luck.
To consistently excel at this grand game, it’s essential to have a deep and thorough knowledge of the sport and familiarize yourself with more than simply the top 160 players in a standard draft.
If you’re willing to challenge yourself this season, why not try a 12- or 14-team, a dynasty or even an IDP (individual defensive players) league? Going outside your comfort zone can pay dividends, even in the shallowest fantasy football league, due to the demands these formats place upon your knowledge of players deeper on the depth chart, many of whom might swiftly become universally important performers.
To help give you a head start on populating your late-round target lists in deeper formats, and give you the beginnings of an in-season watch list for prospective pickups, the list below comprises my annual “deep sleepers.” These are players who by all accounts will not — and in most cases should not — be selected in standard 10-team ESPN drafts, yet have decent odds of becoming fantasy-relevant during the upcoming season.
Remember: This is a deep sleepers column, meaning you won’t find players I value as late-rounders in standard leagues, such as Jaydon Blue, Jayden Higgins and Michael Penix Jr. This list aims to dig much deeper into the player pool, familiarizing you with names you might not know yet, but should want to.
Dyami Brown, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars: After four years of disappointing regular-season returns, Brown delivered a pair of breakthrough playoff games for the Washington Commanders last season, totaling the second-most playoff receiving yards of any player (227). Seeing this, the Jaguars signed him for $9.5 million guaranteed in the offseason, and while their subsequent selection of Travis Hunter heightened their level of competition for targets, Brown’s field-stretching ability could still prove handy. His 13.5-yard average depth of target during his Commanders career was 12th highest among players with at least as many as his 103 targets, and 45% of his receiving yardage came after the catch, an unusually high rate for a player typically targeted that deep. His big-play ability makes him an ideal best-ball stash.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Commanders: Don’t discount this rookie’s potential simply because he slipped to the seventh round of the draft. Eligibility issues limited him to one game for Arizona in 2024, surely deflating his draft stock. Croskey-Merritt has since shaped up as a potential draft-day steal, drawing raves for his rookie camp and early preseason work while showing remarkable speed and quick-cutting ability. Considering Austin Ekeler is now 30 years old and Brian Robinson Jr. is coming off a disappointing 2024, Croskey-Merritt could quickly work his way into the Commanders’ rushing rotation, with his eye on a starting job before long.
Jaxson Dart, QB, New York Giants: In a year light on deep quarterback sleepers, Dart best fits the description as the projected nonstarter with the highest statistical ceiling if he can capture the job. Remember, this is a make-or-break year for Giants general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll, who invested quite a bit of draft capital (No. 34 and No. 99 picks and a 2026 third-rounder) to move up nine spots to get their passer of the future. Dart paced all qualified FBS quarterbacks in yards per attempt last season (10.8), and his willingness to create plays with his legs should be plenty appealing to fantasy managers. Monitor his progress, as he’ll be an instant add the moment he’s handed the job.
Tory Horton, WR, Seattle Seahawks: A speedy, sure-handed receiver prospect who generates yards after the catch, Horton slipped to the fifth round of April’s NFL draft, perhaps because of the knee injury that limited him to six games last season. Nevertheless, he excelled in that time, as his 3.5 yards per route run ranked seventh among FBS receivers who ran at least as many as his 94 routes. During his three seasons at Colorado State, he totaled 193 catches for 2,620 yards and 17 touchdowns in 30 games. Horton is already pressing Marquez Valdes-Scantling for the Seahawks’ No. 3 receiver role, but there’s a good chance the rookie will be needed to make starts regardless, as starter Cooper Kupp has averaged six missed games the past three years. Horton’s big-play upside makes him an intriguing stash.
Theo Johnson, TE, New York Giants: He seemed to be coming into his own around the midpoint of last season before suffering a metatarsal fracture in his foot that required surgery and prematurely ended his season. From Weeks 8 to 12, he saw a 17.5% target share and turned it into 35.2 fantasy points. Between his shortened season and the Giants’ miserable quarterback play (45.0 Total QBR, fifth worst), Johnson seems to have been entirely forgotten entering 2025. That said, the team’s additions of Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston and Dart should steer them closer to the right direction on the quarterback front. Johnson’s size (6-foot-6) and speed (second-fastest 40 time at his position at the 2024 NFL combine) make him an appealing target.
Adonai Mitchell, WR, Indianapolis Colts: One of 2024’s most disappointing rookies, Mitchell’s 42.6% catch rate was the worst among receivers who saw at least 50 targets. Sure, poor quarterback play contributed — the Colts’ 50.1 Total QBR ranked 23rd — but Mitchell’s own 5.6% drop rate (the leaguewide rate was 3.3%) played a significant part. That said, the second-year receiver has received positive marks in camp, and in the preseason opener he had 15- and 22-yard catches. Mitchell remains one of the speediest receivers in the league, and if he can simply improve his efficiency, he could push Alec Pierce for a starting role on the perimeter.
Keaton Mitchell, RB, Baltimore Ravens: The lone holdover from last year’s list, Mitchell needed more than half of the season to fully recover from December 2023 reconstructive knee surgery, an operation he recently admitted threatened his career due to tears in his ACL, posterior cruciate ligament, lateral collateral ligament and hamstring. In retrospect, it’s understandable that the speed demon never got into a groove, though all 10 of his kick returns (playoffs included) did go for at least 23 yards. Mitchell’s 2025 is off to a smoother start, capped by a preseason debut that saw him rush for 68 yards and a touchdown. Considering that Derrick Henry, the man atop the Ravens depth chart, is 31 years old and has 2,355 career carries on his legs, Mitchell is an almost mandatory insurance policy in any league deeper than ESPN’s standard.
Kyle Monangai, RB, Chicago Bears: A 2025 seventh-round pick, Monangai is a sure-handed prospect who has emerged as a legitimate threat to Roschon Johnson‘s status as D’Andre Swift‘s primary backup. While he’s not a burner, Monangai went an FBS-leading 607 rushing attempts without a fumble across his past three seasons at Rutgers and his 156 forced missed tackles were seventh, underscoring his exceptional contact balance. New coach Ben Johnson doled out double-digit carries to multiple running backs in 20 of 51 games as the Detroit Lions‘ offensive coordinator the past three seasons, signaling his willingness to spread the rushing chores around. Monangai might well earn a meaningful role.
Tre Tucker, WR, Las Vegas Raiders: A speedy deep threat, Tucker certainly had his moments in 2024, three times exceeding 15 fantasy points, and saw at least a 20% target share on four occasions. He’s in line for a much larger role in his third NFL season, indicated by his catching a 15-yard pass on his first preseason play, then swiftly departing the game alongside the other Raiders first-teamers. With Pete Carroll and Geno Smith now in Las Vegas, Tucker is in a much better position to succeed than he was in his first two years. The young receiver has drawn positive marks from Smith and his coaches and could finally be ready to break through.
