The back half of your draft should be loaded with dart throws at wide receiver, because it's the deepest position, one where you don't necessarily need safe, low-end production to round out your lineup. You can find that on the waiver wire at any point.
What you want is upside. Young guys with the chance to make a leap, or veterans in new situations with a big opportunity in front of them. That's what we're looking for as we put together our sleeper lists for wide receiver, and that's what you've got right here in front of you.
Our staff has put together a list of our favorite sleepers to target late in your drafts. If you're looking for potential difference makers, this is the place to start.
Here's who you'll be hearing from:
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- Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Fantasy Senior Writer
- Dave Richard, CBS Fantasy Senior Writer
- Heath Cummings, CBS Fantasy Senior Writer
- Ben Gretch, CBS Fantasy Editor
- Chris Towers, CBS Fantasy Senior Editor
Wide Receiver Preview
Sleepers
Jamey's Sleepers
Dave's Sleepers
Heath's Sleepers
Ben's Sleepers
Chris' Sleepers
Jamey Eisenberg's sleepers
Projections powered by
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Through the early part of training camp, Moncrief has pulled ahead of James Washington in the competition to replace Antonio Brown as the starter opposite JuJu Smith-Schuster. And that makes Moncrief someone to covet on Draft Day. The Steelers have a lot of production to replace with Brown gone (104 catches for 1,297 yards and 15 touchdowns on 168 targets last year). Moncrief clearly isn't going to do that, and the combination of Moncrief, Washington and Diontae Johnson will all get targets in this offense. But Moncrief is the senior member of this group, and that probably means something to Ben Roethlisberger. It should mean something to you also, and Moncrief is worth a late-round pick in all leagues.
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We're supposed to avoid the Dolphins, right? That might make for a good strategy in most leagues, but I like getting Stills with a late-round pick wherever possible. I really like it now that Ryan Fitzpatrick is expected to start for the Dolphins. Fitzpatrick will take chances with his receivers. He will throw guys open. And Stills should bounce back from last year's down campaign when he had three-year lows in targets (64), receptions (37) and receiving yards (553), although he scored at least six touchdowns for the third season in a row. You can also put Albert Wilson and even DeVante Parker in this spot. The Dolphins will likely be bad as a team, but that doesn't mean they won't have good Fantasy options. And this receiving corps could be a surprise, with Stills at the top.
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There's a lot to like about Quinn this season, and Washington coach Jay Gruden continues to talk him up every chance he gets. The receiving corps in Washington is potentially awful. The top guys are Josh Doctson and Paul Richardson, with Quinn playing in the slot. He could easily lead Washington in targets, including tight end Jordan Reed and running back Chris Thompson. Those two also have a hard time staying healthy. And Case Keenum could open the season as the starting quarterback, and Keenum loves his slot receivers going back to Minnesota (Adam Thielen) and Denver (Emmanuel Sanders/DaeSean Hamilton). Quinn is free on Draft Day, but he's a great stash candidate.
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Dave Richard's sleepers
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The Eagles brought Jackson back to add a deep-ball element to their offense. He should deliver -- according to Pro Football Focus, Jackson had 10 catchable deep targets in 2018 and caught nine of them for 374 yards and four touchdowns. Paired with Carson Wentz, D-Jax will be on the other end of beautiful lobs from a top-12 quarterback in deep passing, according to PFF. Not every game will be a winner, but Jackson is exactly the kind of bench receiver to keep for bye weeks, injury replacements, high-upside dart throws ... and maybe even a low-end No. 2 receiver if things break his way.
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I'm not sure if there's a receiver with an ADP as late as Coutee's (135th overall) who I'd want more. In my mind, he's a top-100 Fantasy pick who should see wide open spaces as the Texans' slot guy. He had 12-plus PPR points in each of three games last season with five-plus receptions. For a late-round pick, that's not too shabby. If Lamar Miller gets tripped up and the Texans can't run efffectively behind their rag-tag O-line, Coutee could be asked to help pick up the slack as a short-area target. Even Deshaun Watson noticed how much faster Coutee's been playing now that he's healthy and has a half-year of experience.
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I can't wait to see this rookie on the field once his hamstring feels good. The only other Colts receiver who matches up to Campbell in terms of speed and quickness is T.Y. Hilton, and he's gaining ground on others in terms of route-running. Campbell is a small, shifty slot guy who could nab over five catches per game as Andrew Luck aims to get him in the open field. You'll need some patience with him but drafting him late should lead to good things.
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Heath Cummings' sleepers
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No, we don't have any reason to believe Josh Gordon is playing this season. Unless you count the Patriots tendering him to a one-year offer and Tom Brady training with him this summer. This is a risk/reward equation, and the risk is almost nothing. Gordon is available in the last round of most any redraft league with an ADP outside of the top 200. So what's the reward? He was Tom Brady's most efficient receiver last year, averaging 10.6 yards per target. In his final eight games with the Patriots he caught 31 passes for 596 yards. If you told me Gordon was reinstated tomorrow, I'd rank him as a top-25 receiver. That's definitely worth a pick in the final rounds.
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With the addition of Antonio Brown, it makes sense that people are sleeping on Tyrell Williams. It's also a mistake. The Raiders have 361 targets to replace from last year's team, and the lion's share of those should go to Brown and Williams. We've only seen Williams receive more than 100 targets once in his career, in 2016 when he caught 69 passes for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns. I've projected Williams for 108 targets this season (120 is well within range) at 8.9 yards per target, and it might be conservative. That's the same average he posted in 2016 but nearly a full yard below his career average. It also puts him in line for 961 yards. He's scored once every 15 targets in his career, which would set an expectation of seven touchdowns this year. If you want to drop that one due to Derek Carr, you're still looking at a high-end No. 3 receiver with upside. I can only assume Williams' consensus rank is going to climb as we get closer to the start of the season.
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If you really like Lamar Jackson in Fantasy, and he's really not going to run as much, you're going to find one of his receivers a value. That's because none of them are being drafted.In theory, Marquise Brown is the perfect fit for Jackson. He doesn't necessarily have to have high volume because of his big-play ability. He also has the speed to create enough separation for Jackson to feel comfortable throwing him the ball. I expect the Ravens to be creative with their first-round pick and use him in a variety of ways. If Jackson improves as much as some recent sophomore quarterbacks, Brown could be an absolute star. If you're worried about Brown's health or lack of reps with Jackson, Boykin is off to a very good start to camp and is even cheaper on Draft Day.
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Ben Gretch's sleepers
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Sportsline
The Dolphins are stock-piling wide receiver depth, and that may be part of the reason drafters are hesitant with Stills. But if Ryan Fitzpatrick wins the job, as is expected, Stills could get off to a fast start as his best deep threat. Even with middling quarterback play, Stills has been fairly productive since coming to Miami. We know the Dolphins will likely trail and need to throw, and we know Fitzpatrick is willing to force the issue. He won't be a league-winner, but Stills is a solid late-round target as a weekly boom-or-bust guy.
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Health is a concern for Lee as he returns from a significant knee injury that cost him his 2018 season, but he played 30 games across 2016 and 2017 and posted a 16-game pace of over 100 targets and 800 yards in run-heavy offenses. Reports all offseason have suggested he'd return late in the preseason, but camp excitement on the teams' other receivers have seemed to create some panic. I still think Lee will start, and if Nick Foles proves to be an upgrade over Blake Bortles, Lee will be a solid value pick late.
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The Saints' passing game is highly concentrated between Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara, and Smith now has to contend with Jared Cook as well as Ted Ginn and Keith Kirkwood. There's a reason there's not much hype, but as far as true sleepers, there might not be a better option. An early breakout in college, Smith posted 9.7 yards per target and five touchdowns at 22 years old last year. Much of that production came in two games, but there's enough in his profile to suggest the former third-round pick is worth a look in deeper leagues.
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Chris Towers' sleepers
Projections powered by
Sportsline
Opportunity matters, and from the sounds of it, John Brown is about to get a lot of opportunity. He has been drawing rave reviews in training camp, and his skill set might mesh really well with Josh Allen's. Don't forget, Brown got off to a great start in 2018, picking up 558 yards and four touchdowns as the big-play threat for another big-armed quarterback, Joe Flacco. Injuries will always be a concern for Brown, but his ability to get free down the field could make a big impact for the Bills, who saw a mini-breakout from the similarly-skilled Robert Foster at the end of 2018.
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I did not expect myself to come into his rookie season interested in D.K. Metcalf but reports out of Seahawks' camp have mostly been glowing, and his cost is a lot more reasonable than I had initially feared it might be. He has been working as one of the top-two wide receivers in the offense and could find himself in a 75-to 80-target role as a rookie. In Best Ball leagues or as a bye week fill-in, you could do worse than a physically dominant receiver playing with one of the most efficient quarterbacks of all time.
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The Steelers have a ton of targets to replace, and it looks like Donte Moncrief is going to be the starter opposite JuJu Smith-Schuster, making him a favorite to pick up a chunk of them. Moncrief hasn't been a particularly impressive statistically contributor in his career, but he did show a nose for the end zone when Andrew Luck was healthy early in his career, and came close to leading the Jaguars in receiving last season, averaging more yards per target (7.5) than Dede Westbrook (7.1) or the team as a whole (6.4). That's a bit of damning with faint praise, but the situation in Pittsburgh figures to be a lot better. It's not out of the question that Moncrief could do something like what the expectation is for Mike Williams, at a much cheaper cost.
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So which Fantasy Football sleepers should you snatch in your draft? And which RB2 can you wait on until late? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy Football cheat sheets from the model that called Andrew Luck's huge season, and find out.