Fantasy Sleepers are lesser-rostered players that can make an impact this week or later in the season. Whether you’re looking for a player to beat your league to on the waiver wire or someone to insert into your lineup this week, I’ve got you covered.
(NOTE: ALL PLAYERS ARE AVAILABLE IN AT LEAST 70% OF LEAGUES. ROSTER % LISTED)
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Quarterbacks
Daniel Jones – New York Giants (19%)
Jones is QB13 on the season and coming off a big win over Seattle without Malik Nabers. He’ll be without his star receiver once again, but the matchup this week is a fun one. The Giants will need to keep up with the high-powered Bengals offense. Defensively, Cincinnati was shredded by Baltimore and Washington in recent games, allowing the second-most points per game (29). While Jones is certainly no Lamar Jackson or Jayden Daniels, he can still challenge this defense. I’m using Jones in a big spot with Patrick Mahomes on a bye.
Drake Maye – New England Patriots (6%)
Maye makes his first NFL start this week against last year’s offensive rookie of the year, C.J. Stroud. There will be a lot of eyes on this one, but there are also some major concerns. The Patriots cannot score and are dead last in points per game this season with 12.5. They have also allowed the second-most sacks in football with 19. This is not an ideal situation for a rookie quarterback, but Maye has intriguing fantasy potential.
He has a big arm, but his most exciting aspect is his scrambling ability. At UNC, Maye rushed for over 1,200 yards and even led the team in rushing in 2022. Expect Maye to run early and often, putting pressure on the opposing defense with his legs. He makes for an intriguing speculative addition and one of the more intriguing fantasy sleepers to stash.
Wide Receivers
Jalen Tolbert – Dallas Cowboys (32%)
Tolbert being this widely available is honestly surprising. He did nothing in Week 1, but since then, he has been on an upward trajectory in usage and production. Tolbert has had at least 13 PPR points in three of the last four games. In Week 5’s victory over Pittsburgh, he posted a career-high 21.7 PPR points, catching seven passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. The Dallas offense is predictable: CeeDee Lamb, Jake Ferguson, Jalen Tolbert, and some Rico Dowdle. Tolbert isn’t contending with much competition, so consider him a WR3 and one of the better fantasy sleepers moving forward.
Adonai Mitchell – Indianapolis Colts (9%)
Mitchell could benefit from a banged-up Colts WR room. Michael Pittman is playing through a back injury that kept him out most of the week, and Josh Downs, who has been dominant, is dealing with a toe injury. WRs coach Reggie Wayne highlighted Mitchell this week. Stash him as he is one of those fantasy sleepers worth adding.
Darius Slayton – New York Giants (16%)
We mentioned Slayton in the article last week, and he delivered big time. Slayton put up a monster game, finishing with 8-122-1 on 11 targets, good for 26.2 points. The Giants used him as a direct replacement for Malik Nabers. The Bengals just allowed four TD passes, so expect Jones to lean heavily on Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson.
Michael Wilson – Arizona Cardinals (15%)
Wilson leads Arizona in receptions at the WR position. He has scored 12.8 or more points in two of his last three games. Wilson and Arizona head to Green Bay to face a Packers team that will pressure them to keep up offensively. If Jordan Love gets going, Arizona will need to take some shots downfield.
Xavier Legette – Carolina Panthers (21%)
Legette was knocked out of last week’s game, but he’s now fully healthy and ready to go.
He’ll look to get back on track against Atlanta. Legette had his best game as a pro in Week 4, finishing with a 6-66-1 stat line. He is one of those fantasy sleepers that should at least be rostered.
Rashod Bateman – Baltimore Ravens (10%)
Bateman scored last week and now faces off against a Washington Commanders secondary that has allowed 10 TD catches to opposing WRs. This game could tilt over.
Xavier Hutchinson – Houston Texans (3%)
Hutchinson could be this year’s Noah Brown. He will step into – at least a large part of – Nico Collins‘ vacated role. A 7th-round pick in 2023, Hutchinson is the reason Houston moved on from Brown this offseason. He had a 107-catch season at Iowa State and has good size at 6-3, 210 pounds.
Running Backs
Tyler Johnson – Buffalo Bills (3%)
Ray Davis – Buffalo Bills (10%)
James Cook looks like he’ll miss Monday Night Football against the Jets and potentially a few more weeks. How the Bills distribute carries between Johnson and Davis remains to be seen. Johnson had more touches in Week 5, but Davis has led the backfield over the last three weeks combined. This could be an ugly split, but Buffalo has been productive at the RB position. There’s value in picking up one or both of these players. Watch for indications on who will lead the backfield this weekend. I have more Davis exposure but have also accumulated some Johnson.
Roschon Johnson – Chicago Bears (26%)
Johnson has effectively phased out Khalil Herbert with his strong play. He’s playing about 1/3 of Chicago’s snaps, but that hasn’t stopped him from putting up solid fantasy numbers.
He’s scored at least 8.6 points in three straight games and has three rushing touchdowns over the last two weeks. D’Andre Swift is playing fantastic football, but Johnson should be rostered. He can be used in an emergency situation, but his real value lies in his upside if Swift ever misses time.
Tyler Allgeier – Atlanta Falcons (28%)
Justice Hill – Baltimore Ravens (26%)
This is more of a stash reminder, but both could be desperation flex considerations if you need an RB2 and want to chase potential high-scoring games. These players would provide massive value if Derrick Henry or Bijan Robinson were injured.
Trey Benson – Arizona Cardinals (20%)
Blake Corum – LA Rams (16%)
Emanuel Wilson – Green Bay Packers (11%)
Benson and Corum have become widely available. Benson has been playing behind Emari Demercado and didn’t have a single touch in Week 5. If James Conner gets injured, Benson would be a 50%+ waiver addition in every league, so save some FAAB and add him now for free. Corum has finally supplanted Ronnie Rivers as the No. 2 back. If Kyren Williams were to miss time, Corum could help win leagues. Wilson is next in line for Green Bay. Unlike Benson and Corum, he could face a challenge from MarShawn Lloyd when he returns from injury.
Tyler Goodson – Indianapolis Colts (2%)
Jonathan Taylor is going to miss another game, and Trey Sermon is also dealing with an injury. Sermon led the Colts in RB scoring in Week 5, but he wasn’t very efficient. Goodson is worth adding to see how the situation unfolds.
Tight Ends
Zach Ertz – Washington Commanders (26%)
In a matchup between two of the NFL’s top offenses, the Washington Commanders face the Baltimore Ravens.
Ertz was targeted eight times last week but did nothing with them. Still, that kind of target volume can’t be ignored, and the Ravens have been generous to opposing TEs this season.
Colby Parkinson – LA Rams (18%)
Parkinson is on a bye week, but he’s trending up. He’s been targeted 20 times in the past two games combined and has a chance to finish as a low-end TE1.
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