One of the biggest advantages you can gain in Underdog Fantasy Best Ball Contests is hitting a bullseye on Round 18 dart throws. Just last year, Puka Nacua, Tank Dell and Kyren Williams all ended up being true league winners. It’s crucial to target fantasy sleepers with the upside to be real difference makers.
Today, I’m going to be giving you EIGHT players that you can draft in Round 18 who have that same type of upside for 2024!
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Tank Bigsby, RB64
Every time I make this click, it feels like I lose years off my life. However, all of the reports out of Jacksonville are that Tank Bigsby will be more involved in 2024. He also provides pure handcuff value if anything were to happen to Travis Etienne. The only other running backs he has to compete with are D’Ernest Johnson and fifth round rookie Keilan Robinson. This is a bet on the offense and the situation more than it is the player. That’s good enough for me in Round 18.
DJ Chark Jr, WR90
Weekly upside matters more on Underdog Fantasy than any other platform. Right now, it feels like DJ Chark is the only field stretcher for the Chargers. This stat may shock you, but Chark actually had five TDs on an abysmal Panthers team in 2023. Chark finished that season with the No. 7-highest ADOT in the NFL. Quentin Johnston (No. 23 ADOT) doesn’t feel like a pure field stretcher, neither does Josh Palmer (No. 45 ADOT) or Ladd McConkey. Therefore, give me DJ Chark in Round 18! Chark finds himself in a better offense and connected to Justin Herbert who has a cannon for an arm.
Justin Fields, QB32
Fields is a much better fantasy football quarterback than a real-life quarterback. This is why his ADP is this low, but there is real value to be had here. If we know that Week 17 is all that matters, and Justin Fields has been named the starter by then, there aren’t many other QBs in the league who have more rushing upside and therefore more weekly upside than Justin Fields.
Whether Justin Fields actually gets on the field this year remains to be seen. However, the AFC North is a brutal division. If the Steelers are under .500 in the later part of the season, I think we could see Fields get a shot.
Malik Washington, WR98
Drafting players on really good offenses is usually a great strategy. That’s part of the thinking here with sixth round rookie Malik Washington. With that being said, I don’t want to discount the fact Washington is actually really good at football. Only four players in the past 10 seasons of college football have had a season where they:
- Played in a Power-5 Confrence
- Had 110+ recpetoins
- Had 1,400+ receiving yards
The list is Amari Cooper (2014), Justin Jefferson (2019), Devonta Smith (2020) and Malik Washington last year in 2023.
Ryan Flournoy, WR112
This one of the deeper fantasy sleepers. Ryan Flournoy is a guy that I’ve definitely taken more than a few shots on at the end of drafts. Flournoy started his college career at D2 Central Missouri. He then made his way to JUCO at Iowa Western Community College. Finally, he played his last two years in the FCS at Southeast Missouri State.
He obviously did enough to get drafted in the sixth-round. By all accounts (mostly from Jason Allwine), Flournoy was a standout at the Senior Bowl. Additionally, the third WR spot on the Cowboys is up for grabs, and Jalen Tolbert did nothing with the opportunity he got last year. If we start to hear some buzz during training camp about Ryan Flournoy stealing the spot, it could be wheels up in this high-octane Cowboys offense that led the NFL in scoring last year!
Evan Hull, RB75
The 2023 fifth-round rookie selection of the Colts saw his rookie campaign end just one game into the season after tearing his MCL and meniscus in Week 1. He was one of the more popular fantasy sleepers in drafts last year due to his three-down workhorse ability. In his final season at Northwestern, Hull amassed over 1,400 total yards and caught 55 passes which was good for a 17.3% target share. Trey Sermon is currently being drafted ahead of Hull on Underdog, but I think Hull could be the guy to own if Jonathan Taylor were to ever miss time.
Tutu Atwell, WR117
Tutu Atwell saw his role diminish toward the end of last year after Demarcus Robinson cemented himself as the WR3 for the Rams. With that being said, Atwell still has immense weekly upside due to his field stretching ability and is absolutely one of my fantasy sleepers. Plus, the Rams led the NFL last year in 11-personnel rate at a whopping 91-percent. If Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp or Demarcus Robinson were to miss anytime, Atwell should see an increased role given how many three-wide receiver sets they are projected to run.
Zach Ertz, TE37
The last time we saw Zach Ertz in a Kliff Kingsbury offense was in 2022 where Ertz was the TE6 in fantasy points per game before he tore his ACL that same season. If you recall, that was also Trey McBride‘s rookie season where he had just 29 catches for 265 yards and one touchdown. Ertz now finds himself in Washington reunited with Kingsbury, where another Round 2 rookie tight end has emerged in Ben Sinnott.
There has already been some talk of Sinnott playing some full back this year. Quite frankly, it feels like Ertz already has the upper hand on Sinnott due to his knowledge of the offense. Yes, Ertz is definitely on the wrong side of 30 years old, but he’s got enough juice left in the tank to vastly outperform his current ADP.
Read Kelly Singh’s favorite sleepers to draft on Underdog here: Fantasy Sleepers to Draft Right Now on Underdog
