FantasyPros Staff | Thu, Aug 29th 2024, 3:08am EDT

Fantasy Football Sleepers: Xavier Worthy, Joshua Palmer, Romeo Doubs, Demarcus Robinson

Fantasy football sleepers! Is it a real thing anymore? It can feel like everyone may know the top late-round picks with upside to target if you spend your days in the fantasy football streets, but there is still an edge to be gained, especially in home leagues, if you can identify the top fantasy football draft sleepers. Here are a few of our favorite at the wide receiver position.

Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Sleepers

With fantasy football drafts vastly approaching or already happening, there are plenty of different strategies to take when selecting wide receivers. Whether it be selecting them early, before selecting your running backs or spreading them out across the draft. That said, here are four fantasy football sleepers, wide receivers with an average draft position ADP of 36 or higher.

Xavier Worthy (WR – KC)

Putting Xavier Worthy as a sleeper may be somewhat unfair as he was the 28th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, there are plenty of options in the Chiefs passing game that could be causing Worthy to have a fantasy ADP of 84th overall in fantasy football drafts. Between Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco, Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice, it does make sense. That said, this was the Chiefs offense that saw Patrick Mahomes go from having over 5,000 yards passing to just over 4,100 yards passing.

That makes me believe Worthy is the type of player the Chiefs offense has been missing. He may not be Tyreek Hill but Worthy has similar speed, which has been missing from the offense. In his first preseason game against the Lions, Worthy had three receptions on six targets for 62 yards. On the opening drive, he had a big catch for 39 yards and he also had one carry for 11 yards.

With Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, anything can happen for any player in this offense. We’ve seen Brown suffer a shoulder injury through parts of training camp, so Worthy is believed to be a starter. With how successful this offense can be under Mahomes, I think there’s a strong chance Worthy outplays his ADP and could be an Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate.

Joshua Palmer (WR – LAC)

When you look at the Chargers’ depth chart, I’m a little surprised to see Joshua Palmer going so late in fantasy drafts. The Chargers moved on from veteran pass-catchers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams this offseason and yet, Palmer still has an ADP ranking of WR55. Competing for targets with him are DJ Chark, Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, Will Dissly and Hayden Hurst.

Certainly, the Chargers will look to run the football under Greg Roman as the offensive coordinator but they still have to throw the ball. They have one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL in Justin Herbert. It’s hard to look past his well-established rapport with Palmer.

Two seasons removed from catching 72 passes for the Chargers, I’d have to imagine he can get back to those types of numbers as the primary pass-catcher. Palmer has a strength of schedule ranking of 13th and should be fully healthy after being placed on injured reserve (IR) on Week 8 with a knee injury. I’d be looking to draft Palmer every chance I get in fantasy drafts.

Romeo Doubs (WR – GB)

With an ADP ranking of WR 52, there’s some understanding as to why Romeo Doubs is ranked where he is. There are a lot of options for Jordan Love in Green Bay with Christian Watson, Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft and Jayden Reed, and the arrival of Josh Jacobs in the run game. That said, nobody should overlook Doubs.

He’s got the second-best strength of schedule for wide receivers and is a season removed from 69 receptions for 908 yards and nine touchdowns. Sure, those aren’t top numbers for wide receivers but considering where you’ll draft him, I’d consider Doubs an absolute steal. Especially when you consider Watson can’t stay healthy and there’s been nothing but positive news on the rapport between Love and Doubs this summer. I’d have no hesitation in putting Doubs in my starting lineup as a WR2 or Flex every week when making fantasy football start sit decisions.

Demarcus Robinson (WR – LAR)

Lastly, I want to talk about Demarcus Robinson and how he could have serious value early on this season. For starters, he finished the final 6 weeks on such a high note last season. He was WR31 in fantasy points per game from Week 13 to Week 17 and had a touchdown in every single game but one of them. In the game he didn’t score, he still had six receptions for 92 yards.

Why is he so important to the Rams early on this season? With Puka Nacua dealing with a knee injury, there’s some uncertainty about whether he’ll be ready to go to start the season. If he can’t play, the expectation is that Robinson will step into a bigger role. As we saw last year, he has no issues with more in this Rams offense.

Meanwhile, we’ve seen consecutive seasons where Cooper Kupp has dealt with ankle injuries and surgery. You could lean on Robinson early on the season and stash him for potentially the second half of the season as well. With him having an ADP ranking of WR79, you could take a swing on him late in your fantasy drafts. If there are any substantial injuries to Rams receivers, it could pay off in a big way to have Robinson on your roster.

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