Featured Pros analysts have identified the best late-round draft steals for running backs and wide receivers in the 2024 fantasy football season. Finding these little-known gems could be the game-changer that takes you from a good season to a championship run. These deep sleepers have a chance to overperform their draft positions and give amazing value to your team in fantasy leagues. Continue reading to find out which players you should be going after in later rounds in order to maximize your team’s chances of winning.
Here are some wide receivers they are targeting.
- 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2024 Fantasy Football Rankings
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Late-Round Draft Steals: Wide Receivers
Which one WR outside the top 60 in half-PPR WR ADP do you plan to target in all drafts as a late-round steal and why?
Dontayvion Wicks (WR – GB)
“While Christian Watson missed time, 2023 5th-round rookie Dontayvion Wicks stepped up. He caught 39 passes from 58 targets for 581 yards at 14.9 yards per reception during the regular season. The 6-foot-1 and 206-pound WR averaged nearly 2.0 yards per route run – which ranked 27th among all WRs and 5th among all rookie WRs (also identical to Jayden Reed). Per True Media, Wicks’ first downs per route run tied Davante Adams for 18th among all players. Given Jordan Love‘s tendency to spread the “love” between his pass-catchers displayed in 2023…Wicks could emerge as one of the top pass-catchers in this ascending Packers offense.”
– Andrew Erickson (FantasyPros)
“Dontayvion Wicks enters his sophomore season as part of a very crowded wide receiver group in Green Bay! Last year, Jordan Love broke out without a true WR1, and this year, Wicks is poised to take that role! He finished 2023 with 6+ targets in three of his last four games (closing the seasons with a 6/61/2 TD performance in Week 18!). This offseason, he has been putting in the work to the point that coach Matt LeFluer is raving about his growth and comparing him to DeVante Adams. Managers who take a late-round flier on Wicks will be rewarded with a player who will be a difference maker in an ascending Green Bay passing offense!”
– Adam Dove (The Fantasy Couriers)
“Dontayvion Wicks is a stud with amazing route running. In a WR room with a lot of questions, he could establish himself as the number 2 guy for Jordan Love. He has the upside to being the WR1 in this team, even if it is a crowded room.”
– Alejandro Orellana (Estadio Fantasy)
Jahan Dotson (WR – WAS)
“Honestly, I don’t know if there’s a wide receiver ranked outside the positional top 60 who looks like a potential steal, but Jahan Dotson is my highest-ranked player from that group. There’s plausible upside for Dotson, a 2022 first-round draft pick who scored seven touchdowns in 12 games as a rookie. Dotson wasn’t much of a factor last year, but that may have had more to do with erratic QB Sam Howell than with Dotson himself. No. 2 overall draft pick Jayden Daniels threw 40 TD passes in 12 games for LSU last season, and if Daniels is the rising tide that lifts all ships in the Washington offense, Dotson could provide a nice payoff on a modest investment.”
– Pat Fitzmaurice (FantasyPros)
“Let’s try and say Jahan Dotson’s 2023 was based around the lackluster QB play in Washington. Dotson had moments, but it was not enough for someone who was talked about as a potential breakout candidate a year ago. Now very much in the post-hype category, I love taking Dotson as a swing for the fences pick at the end of drafts. Curtis Samuel is gone, and Jayden Daniels is now the man in Washington. The equation I see is simple: more snaps + better QB play = who knows. But the formula for a Dotson 3rd-year breakout is there, and at WR62, I am all in on that.”
– Ed Birdsall (Talking Points Sports)
Javon Baker (WR – NE)
“The New England Patriots have arguably the most underwhelming wide receiver core in the NFL. However, I picked Javon Baker in nearly every dynasty rookie draft and will aggressively target him in redraft leagues. We have seen NFL Draft Day 3 picks turn into fantasy stars as a rookie, including Puka Nacua and Amon-Ra St. Brown. More importantly, Baker had the 11th-high PFF receiving grade in the draft class last season and posted a higher yards per route run average than Rome Odunze (3.21 vs. 2.93). Furthermore, he ranked in the 97th percentile in college target share. Don’t be surprised if he turns into Jacoby Brissett or Drake Maye‘s go-to target.”
– Mike Fanelli (FantasyPros)
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