Five Early Best Ball Sleepers For 2025 Fantasy Football - Wide Receiver Draft Targets

April 28, 2025

Dan's five top fantasy football best ball sleepers at wide receiver for 2025 fantasy drafts. His top wide receiver (WR) sleepers for 2025 best ball leagues.

 Training camps are less than three months away. This means the 2025 NFL season will be here before we know it.

For the diehard fantasy managers, best ball drafts have been going since the 2024 regular season ended. There is a considerable risk in drafting this early. Still, the value rewards can be massive if you hit on a player who survives the offseason without competition or a rookie who drops into a prime landing spot.

All the players listed below can be considered sleeper wide receivers at their current ADP on Underdog Fantasy. For this article, a “sleeper” will be regarded as any player being selected outside the top 36 wide receivers. Check them out below.

Jakobi Meyers, Las Vegas Raiders

ADP: 73.6, WR41

Jakobi Meyers is perpetually underrated as a fantasy wide receiver.

In two seasons with the Raiders, he’s averaged 118 targets, 79 receptions, 917 receiving yards, and six touchdowns per season. Meyers finished as the WR26 in fantasy points per game in 2024 (11.6) and was the WR23 in overall scoring (174.5) in .5-PPR formats.

He was more productive as a weekly scorer than in 2024 (11.4 PPG) despite competing with Brock Bowers and half a season of Davante Adams in 2024.

Meyers was 11th in targets per game (8.6) among wide receivers, but was a modest producer due to subpar quarterback play from Gardner Minshew II and Aidan O'Connell. Meyers was WR50 in catchable ball rate (71.3 percent) and 12th in contested catches last season (27).

Jakobi Meyers is such an underrated FLEX Buy

WR20, WR24, WR29 in PPG the last 3 seasons

2024 career highs: 129 targets, 87 recs, 1,027 yards w/ Minshew, O’Connell, and Ridder

Geno Smith is a clear upgrade for LV who supported a JSN breakout

KTC value: WR49 pic.twitter.com/jJgJ18KOtE

— Skrip (@P2WFantasy) March 20, 2025

Meyers will rarely put up big numbers (just six weeks with 14+ fantasy points in 2024), but he’s shown that he is a borderline WR2 during his tenure with the Raiders. He will also benefit from a quarterback upgrade in the form of Geno Smith next season.

Meyers won’t be the top target earner in Las Vegas as long as Bowers is around, but he should be able to establish himself as the clear secondary target in Las Vegas again in 2025. Additionally, the 2025 wide receiver class lacks a clear target earner, so even if the Raiders upgrade their depth chart, Meyers should have no problem maintaining a consistent weekly role.

Travis Hunter, Jacksonville Jaguars

ADP: 96.1, WR50

The most important aspect of best ball formats is finding players who can consistently exceed expectations, delivering big scoring weeks throughout the season (and especially in the playoffs). No player better exemplifies the boom-or-bust dynamic than rookie Travis Hunter.

We often throw around the term “generational” to describe prospects, but Hunter may genuinely be a 1-of-talent in this draft class. He’s regarded not only as the top cornerback in this class, but many also see him as the top receiver prospect after he played both ways throughout his entire collegiate career.

The 2024 Heisman winner also won the Bednarik Award last season for the nation’s top receiver after catching 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns in his final collegiate season. The issue is that most people believe that Hunter will primarily play cornerback at the NFL level with occasional plays as a wide receiver. Drafting Hunter is a risk, considering we don’t know how much he will be able to play both ways at the NFL level. 

To Hunter's credit, the Jaguars stated that they would be viewing him as a wide receiver first who will work in defense. However, a player with this skillset is unprecedented at the NFL level and we just don't know what that will look like.

That uncertainty has and will continue to keep Hunter’s ADP suppressed throughout the season. People will also cite the presence of 2024 rookie sensation Brian Thomas Jr. as a roadblock to a strong fantasy season at receiver for Hunter. However, it is equally unlikely that Jacksonville gave up a haul of draft picks (including a future first) to not utilize Hunter's prowess at wide receiver.

As a receiver, Hunter displays exceptional route running, hands, and the ability to generate plays after the catch. He’s got the best ability to contort his body and win contested catches in this class. If he were to commit to being a wide receiver, he has all of the tools to become one of the better wide receivers in the NFL.

I will sound like a broken drum over the next couple weeks: Travis Hunter has in-game speed you cannot teach. Has the potential to be a generational star (and that word gets thrown around a lot!)

Franchise-altering talent #Browns

🎥: @RAanalytics pic.twitter.com/ke8uV0qxW6

— SleeperBrowns (@SleeperBrowns) April 9, 2025

Drafting Hunter as your WR1 or WR2 in an early running back build does carry considerable risk, but having Hunter as a WR4 or WR5 on a team with solid options in a best-ball build could prove to be ideal. Now that we know he is with a team that has a thin receiving corps outside of Brian Thomas Jr., you should feel confident pushing the button on Hunter even if we don't know what his role will look like on a week-to-week basis.

It is a risk worth taking in the right builds.

Darnell Mooney, Atlanta Falcons

ADP: 96.5, WR51

Darnell Mooney’s signing with the Atlanta Falcons went under the radar, but the veteran receiver delivered a strong first season with the team. Mooney caught 64 of 106 targets for 992 yards and five touchdowns and finished as the WR36 in .5 PPR points per game (10.1). He also logged five games of 16.0 fantasy points.

Mooney was also the WR21 in expected points added (EPA) (39.04) and trailed only Justin Jefferson in receptions that gained 20 or more yards (21). He was 10th in yards per reception (15.5). There is even more room for growth. Mooney was 17th in the NFL in air yards in 2024 (1,318), but only 808 of them were deemed catchable.

Darnell Mooney winning the deep out route

↗️ Angles the stem to work outside

🦶💥 Uses an “influence” step to re-angle vertically to sell the GO ball

🛑 Sudden brake slam to change direction and win the out route pic.twitter.com/6JVGCkNxBo

— Receiver School (@ReceiverSchool) March 26, 2025

The Falcons’ passing attack is expected to improve with Michael Penix Jr. under center instead of Kirk Cousins, who struggled throughout 2024. Penix was regarded as the best deep ball thrower in the 2024 draft class and will hopefully establish a strong connection with Mooney down the field.

Regardless, Mooney proved in 2024 that he isn’t seen as a deep-shot merchant in his first year with the Falcons. He should have no problem beating his WR51 price tag if the offense takes a step with a big-armed quarterback under center. 

Rashod Bateman, Baltimore Ravens

ADP: 111.0, WR56

Rashod Bateman stayed healthy in 2024 and showed the promise that made the fantasy community tout him during the first three seasons of his career.

The veteran receiver set career-highs in targets (72), yards (756), and touchdowns (nine) while emerging as a legitimate secondary threat to Zay Flowers. He also added another six receptions on seven targets for 90 yards and two touchdowns, giving him six touchdowns over his final six games of the 2024 season.

Not only did Bateman establish himself as a big play receiver (16.8 yards per reception, fourth most in the NFL), but he also showed himself to be a reliable red zone target (seven receptions on 10 targets). Bateman finished as the WR34 in fantasy points per game (8.9) and had four games with over 14.0 fantasy points.

According to @FTNFantasy Statshub, Rashod Bateman led the NFL in TD catches on throws outside the pocket (4)

He was always helping Lamar Jackson extend plays and his ability to run routes is still a strength. pic.twitter.com/O7BsDa4nAx

— Adam Pfeifer (@APfeifer24) February 25, 2025

Bateman was able to establish himself as a reliable WR2 to Flowers in Baltimore’s potent passing attack. The team’s acquisition of DeAndre Hopkins may cut down some of his work in the red zone, but it won’t impact his growing role to close the season.

The injury risk with Bateman is overblown (he’s played 33 of 34 games the past two seasons), and his role in Baltimore’s potent passing attack grew significantly in 2024. He is a very cheap way to access the upside of this offense in 2025.

Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans

ADP: 144.7, WR65

Jayden Higgins is a size/speed specimen (6-4, 217 pounds with a 4.47 40-yard dash) who was extremely productive in his two seasons with Iowa State (140 receptions for 2,166 yards and 15 touchdowns). Higgins offers the size and physicality to beat press coverage or the top-end speed to challenge secondaries down the field.

Jayden Higgins is incredibly smooth for someone whose 6’4, 215lbs.

Slot twitch in an X frame. https://t.co/mECTNuhibw pic.twitter.com/Oxsw16mmQK

— SCOUTD (@scoutdnfl) April 2, 2025

The NFL draft showed that at least one team (Houston) agreed that Higgins's skillset would play at the NFL level. The Iowa State product was drafted with the 34th pick, instantly putting him on the fantasy radar working across from Nico Collins. Higgins should benefit greatly from teams focusing on Collins in the passing attack, allowing Higgins to capitalize on one-on-one situations as a rookie.

Houston let Stefon Diggs hit free agency after he tore his ACL in 2024. It feels like we may never see Tank Dell play football again after he suffered a catastrophic knee injury at the end of the season. Higgins will immediately step into a starting role tethered to a young quarterback (C.J. Stroud) that we all feel can elevate his playmakers.

Expect his ADP to climb now that we know he was viewed as an early day 2 selection.

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