If you go into 2024 looking for Puka Nacua, you're probably going to be disappointed. This is true both if you are looking for the next record-breaking rookie wide receiver and if you're looking for the next undrafted Fantasy Football top 10 wide receiver. But one place you did find Nacua was in this article in this magazine one year ago. So if you were going to look, this would be the place to look. At this point, we should manage expectations, because while the names Nacua, Rashee Rice, Gardner Minshew and Zack Moss all appeared in this article last year so did a lot of other names you've already forgotten. We're talking about players who are not in the FFT consensus top 200 and may not even get drafted in a standard Fantasy draft. These are the guys that deep league Fantasy managers should target late in their drafts and regular Fantasy managers should target on the waiver wire. Hopefully, a couple will also be the guys that help you win a league. These types of deep sleepers are generally either rookies, surprising QB starters, or backup running backs. Those are the three major categories. Let's start with the rookies.
Rookies who could surprise
Javon Baker, WR, Patriots
There are few wide receiver rooms more ambiguous than New England's, with Baker battling Kendrick Bourne, Demario Douglas, JuJu Smith-Schuster, K.J. Osborn and fellow rookie Ja'Lynn Polk for snaps. Baker's team-leading 1,139 receiving yards in 2023 looks even more impressive when you realize he was responsible for 33.9% of UCF's receiving yards on the season. He also scored 29% of their touchdowns. It's a crowded room but none of the veterans have enough juice to stand in Baker's room if he hits his upside.
Devontez Walker, WR, Ravens
Walker has good size and athleticism and blazing speed. While he's probably not going to be a number one wide receiver in the NFL, he doesn't have to be in Baltimore with Zay Flowers and Mark Andews there. That makes his path to Fantasy relevance pretty easy to see, he needs one of those low-volume, high-efficiency seasons that we all say wasn't sustainable after it's over. Thankfully, he has both the skillset and the quarterback to make that happen. Last year in this offense, Odell Beckham averaged 16.1 yards per catch and 8.8 yards per target, his highest marks since he was in New York. Walker could match that or better if he impresses this summer.
Jatavion Sanders, TE, Panthers
We expect Dave Canales to greatly improve this offense in his first season there and Sanders has a great chance to earn the TE1 role immediately. Sanders struggled with consistency at Texas but there are times on film where he looks like a surefire Fantasy starter at the next level. We've seen more success from rookie tight ends recently than we're accustomed to and Sanders has the opportunity to continue that.
Honorable Mention: Michael Penix, Ben Sinnott, Theo Johnson
QBs who could start
Justin Fields, QB, Steelers
The rest of the quarterbacks in this section are unlikely to matter in anything other than two-quarterback leagues. But if Fields was named the Steelers' starter tomorrow he would vault into our top 12 Fantasy QBs. For now, he's expected to start the season behind Russell Wilson with no guarantee he'll receive even one start. He's averaged at least 20 FPPG each of the past two seasons and would be amongst the favorites to lead QBs in rushing yards if he gets a shot. Leave him on the waiver wire in one-QB leagues, but he's worth a stash anywhere you can start two. If Wilson gets benched or hurt, be prepared to pay up to add Fields in all formats.
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Sam Darnold, QB, Vikings
Darnold will open camp as the QB1 ahead of 21-year-old J.J. McCarthy, but we're unsure of how long he can hold on to the job. What we should feel pretty good about is that Darnold is going to be a starter in leagues that start more than one quarterback for as long as he's the starter in Minnesota. That's due to Kevin O'Connell's pass-heavy scheme and the presence of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. We saw both Joshua Dobbs and Nick Mullens look competent in this system at times in 2023.
Jacoby Brissett, QB, Patriots
Brissett is in a similar spot as Darnold in that he will have a chance to hold off rookie Drake Maye for a Week 1 starting job. But we're less certain Brissett would be a top-24 QB when he is starting. The Patriots' receiving corps is one of the worst in the league and Brissett hasn't exactly lit the Fantasy landscape on fire when he's been active. It's best to draft him alongside Maye because he could lose his job before your starting QB's bye week.
Honorable Mention: Aidan O'Connell, Jarrett Stidham, Drew Lock, Sam Howell
Backup RBs we may be overlooking
Justice Hill, RB, Ravens
Hill currently sits second on the depth chart behind 30-year-old Derrick Henry and ahead of Keaton Mitchell, who tore his ACL in December. Hill is probably just a deep stash, but if Henry misses time before Mitchell is healthy there's a very good chance we're seeing double-digit touches every week for Hill. Rookie Rasheen Ali could have something to say about that as well, but for now, we'd expect Hill to open the season as the team's RB2 and potentially as their third down back. Hill saw five or more targets in three of the Ravens' final four games including the playoffs last year.
Tyrone Tracy has done well since joining the Giants in the NFL Draft, but the former wide receiver profiles as someone who will help more in the passing game than on the ground. Gray has far more experience as a rusher and was drafted in the same round a year earlier. If Devin Singletary fails to hold on to the starting job, Gray should have an excellent chance to snatch early downs from the rookie. He's just a year removed from producing 1,595 yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns at Oklahoma.
Miles Sanders, RB, Panthers
Sanders was beaten out by Chuba Hubbard last year and then the team drafted Jonathon Brooks in Round 2. There's a reason we've almost completely given up on Sanders, he had a very bad year. But there is a new coaching staff in Carolina, Sanders is technically still in his prime, and Brooks may not be ready for the start of training camp. If the Panthers slow play it with their rookie, we shouldn't take it as a foregone conclusion that Hubbard will win the competition this year as well.
Honorable Mention: Cordarrelle Patterson, Trey Sermon, D'Ernest Johnson
Best of the Rest
Michael Thomas, WR, Free Agent
Yes, as of the time of this writing, Michael Thomas is still a free agent. Yes, that Michael Thomas. While he may not have much left, he did earn 7.6 targets per game in his first eight games of 2023, playing alongside Chris Olave. If he finds his way to a roster by the time training camp starts, I'll be interested in throwing a late-round dart at him just in case. My top three landing spots for him as of early July would be the Chargers, Broncos, and Steelers.
Tyler Boyd, WR, Titans
Boyd comes over from Cincinnati with Head Coach Brian Callahan, which gets him a nice head start on the competition. While it is a crowded receiver room, DeAndre Hopkins and Calvin Ridley are probably less target competition at this stage of their careers than Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. If something happens to Hopkins or Ridley, Boyd could earn seven-plus targets per week.
A.T. Perry, WR, Saints
Thomas' potential replacement is Perry, the second-year WR out of Wake Forest. Perry was very efficient on his targets, but never earned more than four targets per game. He did finish with a flurry with three touchdowns in his last three games. He probably needs an injury ahead of him to truly matter in Fantasy, but there is a new offensive coordinator in New Orleans, so there is at least a little ambiguity in that receiver room.
