Wide receiver is one of the most high-variance positions in the fantasy football landscape. While the elite players consistently earn targets and yards, most players are subject to boom and bust weeks. While just about all of the known commodities and sure things are gone in the later rounds of your fantasy football drafts, these five players have a chance to outplay their ADP and turn into solid options in your lineup.
As always, it’s important to clarify that these players are values relative to their current draft positioning. It’s highly unlikely any of these players finish as WR1’s, but they should be a good return on investment. All, all ADP information is sourced from FantasyPros Average Draft Position.
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Top 5 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Sleepers
1. Odell Beckham (WR50, 121st Overall)
By the time you’re in the double-digit rounds, any player you select is far more likely to fail than succeed. So, if you’re going to go down, you might as well go down swinging for the fences. After missing the entirety of the 2022 season while recovering from a torn ACL, nobody knows what Odell Beckham has left in his tank. Obviously, he’s not going to play like his 2015 self, but if he recaptures his 2021 form, then the wide receiver will be a great value for fantasy football.
During the Los Angeles Rams four-game run to the Super Bowl, Beckham recorded 21 receptions for 288 yards and two touchdowns on 26 targets. He did all this despite tearing his ACL midway through the Super Bowl and while having to learn the offense on the fly. That version of Beckham should be able to earn targets on this wide-open depth chart and establish himself as a solid play in fantasy football.
2. Rondale Moore (WR58, 146th Overall)
The 2023 Arizona Cardinals are not going to be fun for fantasy football, but wide receiver Rondale Moore could turn into a steal. The former second-round pick struggled to stay healthy last year, but he actually showed some signs of life when on the field. In the seven games he started and finished, Moore was on pace to record 100 receptions for 1,005 yards and two touchdowns on 136 targets.
With DeAndre Hopkins out of the picture, Moore has a real chance to step up as the WR2 in this offense opposite Marquise Brown. Additionally, Colt McCoy will probably start a decent chunk of the season, and McCoy’s penchant for working the short part of the field should pair well with Moore’s impressive ability after the catch.
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3. Nico Collins (WR63, 161st Overall)
Wide receiver Nico Collins was one of the few reasons to watch an otherwise-forgettable Houston Texans team in 2022. While injuries limited him to just 10 games, he was on a 17-game pace of 63 receptions for 818 yards and three touchdowns on an impressive 112 targets. With Brandin Cooks in Dallas and C.J. Stroud taking over for Davis Mills, the wide receiver has a real chance to establish himself as a reliable flex play in fantasy football.
4. Justyn Ross (WR100, 277th Overall)
The Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver depth chart is wide open, and anybody catching passes from Patrick Mahomes is going to have some kind of fantasy football value. Normally, you wouldn’t want to bet on a former undrafted free agent that missed their entire rookie season, but Justyn Ross is not your regular undrafted free agent. The Clemson product has phenomenal tape and pre-draft metrics, but injuries prevented him from hearing his name in the 2022 NFL Draft. He’s finally healthy and back on the field, and Ross is reportedly impressing players and coaches alike. If he can steal targets from Tee Higgins as an 18-year-old, then he can steal targets from Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore as a professional.
5. Terrace Marshall (WR94, 206th Overall)
After a rookie season to forget, Carolina Panthers wide receiver Terrace Marshall started to show signs of life down the stretch in 2022. For the first time in his career, the former second-round wide receiver has a real head coach, real quarterback, and a wide-open depth chart. Marshall has reportedly stolen the show throughout offseason workouts and boasts an impressive ability to make plays down the field. He might not provide too much week-to-week consistency, but he could be the type of guy that only needs one or two catches per game to give you a big week.
Main Photo: Denny Medley – USA Today Sports
