Let’s dive into fantasy football sleepers! I selected the start of Round 8 as my cut-off for sleepers because I’ve often found that’s the range in the draft when we start to see breakout RBs emerge.
The main goal is that one or several of them beat their average draft positions (ADP) by a significant margin, akin to performances from Rhamondre Stevenson, Tyler Allgeier, Dameon Pierce, Jerick McKinnon, Isiah Pacheco, D’Onta Foreman, Brandon Aiyuk, Christian Kirk, Garrett Wilson, Justin Fields, Daniel Jones and Tyler Conklin last season.
Be prepared to find hidden talents across all teams, including those in unexpected situations like the Arizona Cardinals. My only requirement is that these players possess ADPs outside the top-84 players (in some capacity because this can vary by draft platform).
Get ready to make strategic moves and uncover the next breakout stars! Here are my top fantasy football sleepers for all NFL teams. Below we’ll offer a free look at a few of these names.
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Fantasy Football Draft Sleepers
Average Draft Position (ADP) referenced using FantasyPros Consensus ADP in half-PPR scoring
David Njoku (CLE): Overall 95 | TE10
Only Travis Kelce saw more red-zone targets among tight ends than David Njoku last season, but he scored just three times. If Deshaun Watson‘s TD rate positively regresses closer to his career rate (5.8%) another year back into football, Njoku will be a top fantasy tight end in 2023.
The soon-to-be 27-year-old could explode, considering his 2022 usage as a full-time player with top-10 route participation. The athletic pass-catcher finished last season sixth in PFF receiving grade and inside the top 10 in several other efficiency metrics, including yards after the catch and yards per route run. It was easily his best professional season since 2018.
Greg Dulcich (DEN): Overall 127 | TE15
Greg Dulcich enjoyed a very productive rookie year for the tight end, In 10 games, Dulcich averaged 7 fantasy points per game (18th at the position). He was used as a downfield threat with a top-5 air yard share among tight ends (23%) averaging 1.3 deep targets per game. Dulcich proved he could earn volume with four games of 8-plus targets and a solid 18% target share. He’s a strong candidate to make a leap into Year 2. He ranked sixth in total routes run (31.6 per game) from Weeks 6-16. His per-game route total also ranked sixth versus all other tight ends.
Jake Ferguson (DAL): Overall 214 | TE30
Rookie tight end and Cowboys 2023 second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker is already dealing with an injury, something that he also dealt with toward the later part of his collegiate career. Any delay by the rookie could create an opportunity for second-year tight end and former 4th-rounder, Jake Ferguson, to get a head start on TE1 duties in Dallas. Last season, Ferguson averaged 4.5 targets per game in two games played with Dalton Schultz sidelined. He ran the most TE routes in those contests, with Week 6 featuring him strictly as a receiver (zero pass-blocking snaps). All in all, he was extremely efficient posting a 86.4% catch rate (4th) while ranking 10th in PFF receiving grade and 9th in yards per route run. His extremely low ADOT at 3.1 suggests that he’s a prime candidate for dump-off passes from Dak Prescott. The TE role in Dallas is really what’s most appealing for fantasy purposes, as we have seen a below-average real-life tight end in Dalton Schultz thrive as Big D’s No. 1 tight end over the past few seasons.
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