What’s that outdated saying? You possibly can’t win your league within the first spherical of fantasy drafts however you possibly can actually lose it? If that’s the case, would the inverse even be true in regards to the closing few rounds of fantasy drafts, the place you possibly can’t actually lose your league however can vastly improve your probabilities of victory?
The ultimate 3-4 rounds of fantasy soccer leagues are the place the stakes are low, and the place the thrill of creating an excellent decide is magnified. That is the place most gamers take their kicker and/or protection, and the place darts are thrown with out a lot stress to hit a bullseye.
In these rounds, coming away with a participant who proves to be helpful at any level within the fantasy season — whether or not that be as an each week starter, commerce bait, and even simply as a bye week fill in — is a boon to at least one’s fantasy squad and places that workforce a step forward of others.
Final week, I wrote an article detailing some huge receiver sleepers to contemplate in primarily the seventh spherical and later of fantasy drafts. Now, we’ll take it a step additional, detailing some huge receivers whom you may get on the very tail finish of your drafts or perhaps even free of charge off the waiver wire.
Under are 4 deep sleepers to contemplate, with the assistance of a software from Fantasypros.com which takes the typical ADP (common draft place) of three completely different platforms — Yahoo, Sleeper and RealTime Fantasy Sports activities — and compiles them into one checklist.
Each identify on this train might be exterior the highest 55 in Fantasy Professionals’ compiled positional ADP checklist for huge receivers within the half-PPR format, and all can be found on common within the thirteenth spherical or later of 12-team fantasy drafts. Yow will discover that total ADP checklist right here.
Mike Williams – New York Jets
Positional ADP: 59th; Total ADP: 159th
A standard philosophy I like following when taking a look at sleepers is the idea of “following the cash.” That is the concept that if a participant was given a hefty contract by a workforce within the offseason (or was acquired for hefty commerce compensation), that workforce might be extra more likely to make the most of and have him of their offense, in any other case that cash might be going to waste. This isn’t foolproof after all, as we’ve got seen wasteful common managers prior to now, however the thought has some logical legs.
Mike Williams was given a $10 million payday by the New York Jets this previous offseason, together with 4 void years to reduce the 2024 cap hit, that means that he might be on their books in some form or kind via 2028. Williams is coming off of a season ending torn ACL in Week 3 of 2023, however with studies that he’s already getting workforce reps in at observe together with the truth that he was not placed on the “Bodily Unable to Carry out” (PUP) checklist, the expectation is that he might be on the soccer very early on within the common season.
When wholesome, Williams was a weapon for Justin Herbert within the Los Angeles Chargers offense, along with his greatest season coming in 2021, when he had 1,146 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns earlier than main the Chargers workforce with 895 receiving yards in a 2022 marketing campaign the place he missed 4 video games.
The thought in New York is that the 6’4 Williams might be Aaron Rodgers’ quantity two receiving possibility, and his main purple zone weapon. Rodgers is recovering from his personal season ending damage however final we bear in mind of him, he was all the time a prolific thrower of the soccer inside the purple zone. The four-time MVP completed within the prime 10 in landing passes from contained in the 10-yard-line in every of the final three seasons we noticed from him.
Williams received’t break the financial institution, and with this choice you’re getting a confirmed commodity with a confirmed quarterback, who’s important concern (accidents) is baked closely into his ADP.
Ja’Lynn Polk – New England Patriots
Positional ADP: 66th; Total ADP: 176th
Given his price (virtually free), Ja’Lynn Polk is one in every of my favourite rookie huge receivers to focus on in fantasy drafts this season. Coming off of a season on the College of Washington the place he flourished with 1,159 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns, Polk confirmed the Patriots sufficient to warrant a variety with the fifth decide within the 2nd spherical of the 2024 draft.
The largest purpose for my pleasure behind Polk exterior of price is his uninspiring goal competitors in New England. The primary gamers within the Patriots’ WR room include second 12 months man Demario Douglas, who had 561 receiving yards final 12 months and was a 2023 sixth spherical compensatory choice, Okay.J. Osborn, who has by no means had greater than 655 yards in a single season, Javon Baker, who went two rounds after Polk in the identical draft class and Kendrick Bourne, who’s coming off of a torn ACL which has landed him on the PUP checklist.
Polk has the rapid draft pedigree to be thought of the favourite for the WR1 job, and he’s anticipated to be a Week 1 starter. One other participant in New England anticipated to begin, if not instantly then finally, is quarterback and second total decide Drake Maye, whom Polk performed with quite a bit within the preseason, operating a route on 34 of Maye’s 38 dropbacks.
Polk has regularly been working with the starters in observe, and has been getting paired with Maye quite a bit in preseason motion. If he does win out that prime huge receiver job, he would be the most cost-effective main WR you’ll find in fantasy drafts.
Darnell Mooney – Atlanta Falcons
Positional ADP: 69th; Total ADP: 2 hundredth
Final season, there have been 5 groups who had two huge receivers within the prime 15 in proportion of snaps performed (when wholesome) within the league — the Philadelphia Eagles, Las Vegas Raiders, Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams had Cooper Kupp on the sphere 91% of the time (in video games the place he was not injured) and Puka Nacua enjoying 87% of the time, and this quantity would have been larger had he not been pulled early in Week 18 and had he not suffered an damage which knocked him out early in Week 13.
Now, what does any of this should do with Darnell Mooney? Effectively, Atlanta’s new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson simply came to visit from the Rams, the place he labored below Sean McVay since 2019. He probably mirrors a lot of McVay’s philosophies, one in every of which is that the 2 greatest huge receivers nearly by no means go away the sphere. Behind Drake London, Mooney is firmly Atlanta’s WR2 and he was paid prefer it this offseason, signing a 3 12 months, $39 million ($26 million assured) contract very quickly after free company opened up (we’re following the cash once more).
Mooney’s magnum opus season got here in 2021, when he led the Chicago Bears with 1,055 receiving yards and 4 receiving touchdowns. He’s since been mired with subpar quarterback play and elevated competitors since, failing to achieve 500 yards in every of the previous two seasons. The Falcons have nonetheless trusted him with a giant payday, and he might be catching passes from the very best quarterback of his profession to this point in Kirk Cousins.
Whereas London would be the alpha huge receiver in Atlanta, Cousins’ observe document of distribution is promising for Mooney’s prospects. In every of Cousins’ final three full seasons in Minnesota (this isn’t counting final season, when an achilles tear ended his 12 months prematurely), he focused his quantity two huge receiver (Adam Thielen) not less than 95 instances, regardless of the presence of the nice Justin Jefferson in all three of these years. Thielen truly had triple digit targets in two of these three seasons and the one purpose he had 95 in 2021 was as a result of he missed 4 video games to damage.
Mooney just isn’t even being drafted in most leagues, even if he might be on the sphere quite a bit, with a quarterback who traditionally will get his second huge receiver concerned, in what is anticipated to be an explosive offense.
