9 Fantasy Football Rookie Draft Sleepers: Undervalued Targets and Staff Picks

May 20, 2025

RotoBaller's dynasty fantasy football rookie sleepers. Top rookie draft values and targets from RotoBaller's staff. Read the expert rookie analysis and draft advice.

The 2025 NFL Draft is far behind us, but dynasty fantasy football rookie drafts will take place all offseason long. Everyone knows about the top studs like Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, Travis Hunter, and Tyler Warren, but identifying later-round sleepers is key to crushing your rookie selections.

If you're looking for the best sleepers for your upcoming rookie draft, you have come to the right place. Each of these players is relatively easy to target and obtain, so if you want them, you can probably get them.

These nine rookie sleepers are courtesy of RotoBaller staff writers John Johnson, Dave Ventresca, and Brant Henson. Let's dive in!

Rookie Quarterback Sleepers

Jaxson Dart, Giants - Johnson

Dart has been my QB1 in this class for quite some time. He's not like the other two quarterbacks that were hyped the most in the pre-draft process, Tennessee Titans QB Cam Ward and Cleveland Browns signal-caller Shedeur Sanders. His play doesn't completely collapse under pressure, which is obviously a great thing.

Dart was always more highly thought of than Sanders, apparently. It was interesting to insist that Dart was easily better than Sanders in the pre-draft process, though I can understand why the Titans picked Ward over him—they were desperate for a quarterback and didn't know how to draft quarterbacks, and Ward has a little more athleticism, barely.

Jaxson Dart When Blitzed:

➖12 TD’s
➖2 INT’s
➖66.2%

Jaxson Dart Not Blitzed:

➖17 TD’s
➖4 INT’s
➖70.9%

His Turnover Worthy Play Rate When Blitzed (1.1%) AND Not Blitzed (2.8%) were both BETTER than Cam Wards..

..and Jaxson Darts Average Depth of Target was HIGHER (11.9) pic.twitter.com/hqjlnjc79C

— Austin Abbott (@AustinAbbottFF) April 2, 2025

One of Dart's best qualities is that when defenses turn up the heat, he doesn't waver. He sticks with his game plan, doesn't lose his accuracy, doesn't panic, and delivers catchable balls all over the field. One of the biggest issues with talented quarterbacks not working out in the league is their inability to face the heat.

Dart is also accurate, an underrated athlete, has sufficient arm strength, and is very young right now. He'll have plenty of time to develop, as he just turned 22. There's much trepidation about his prospects of starting this season, but I have little doubt that it will happen within nine weeks of the start of play.

One nuance I’ve seen from Jaxson Dart on tape this yr (and here to Jack Bech) is recognition of defenders with their back turned to the ball (typically man cvg). He’s become extremely comfortable placing throws like this, putting his target in great shape to make play on ball. pic.twitter.com/8c2RpzejTI

— Todd McShay (@McShay13) February 1, 2025

The impressive intricacies of Dart's game are largely overlooked, which I don't think is fair to his skill. In dynasty superflex and 2QB leagues, he has absolutely massive value as a player who's going much later than he should and will probably start in 2025.

Jalen Milroe, Seahawks -Ventresca

The former Alabama quarterback was a polarizing prospect in the lead-up to the NFL Draft. Milroe displayed big-time athleticism and play-making ability on the ground. He ran for over 1,200 rushing yards and scored 32 rushing touchdowns in the last two seasons as the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback.

That kind of rushing upside gives him the highest fantasy football ceiling among all the quarterbacks in this class.

NOT ONE, NOT TWO, NOT THREE BUT FOUR RUSHING TDS FOR JALEN MILROE 😱

ABSOLUTELY TERRORIZING THE LSU DEFENSE 😳 pic.twitter.com/XuXOsCkLLC

— ESPN (@espn) November 10, 2024

Quarterbacks who score points on the ground have long been fantasy football cheat codes. More and more of the top fantasy quarterbacks are built in this mold. This makes Milroe such a tantalizing pick for dynasty gamers, particularly those who play in superflex leagues.

However, a major area of concern for Milroe is his accuracy and ability to play from the pocket. He struggled with accuracy during his collegiate career, and this caused him to fall to the third round of the NFL Draft. It’s worth pointing out, though, that concerns regarding his passing may have been overblown.

Just for fun ...

Comparing Anthony Richardson and Jalen Milroe: pic.twitter.com/L3AeBWXnaN

— Jared Smola (@SmolaDS) February 17, 2025

If Richardson hadn’t gone down the road he’s currently on, Milroe would have been viewed more favorably by NFL teams. Either way, he fell in the draft for these concerns, but landed in an interesting situation when the Seattle Seahawks selected him in the third round.

Seattle signed Sam Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract this offseason. While that seems like a strong commitment, the specifics of the contract say otherwise. Seattle has an out in Darnold’s contract following the 2025 season. If his play in 2025 resembles anything close to what we saw in the final two games of 2024, it’s very possible he won’t get another year as the starter.

That’s where things could get interesting with Milroe. In the weeks following the NFL Draft, the Seahawks have discussed his intangibles and work ethic. They have also signaled they are committed to developing him as a passer. Milroe is already doing his part and has reportedly begun improving his mechanics.

Jalen Milroe Working On Lower-Half Mechanics To Improve Accuracy https://t.co/sGw43ZYo0X

— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) May 5, 2025

It’s also possible Seattle struggles to begin the 2025 season and decides to give Milroe an extended look as a starter to see if they need to draft a quarterback from the loaded 2026 class. Given his rushing upside, Milroe should immediately return fantasy results in this scenario, and it could also present a good sell-high opportunity for dynasty gamers who wish to cash out.

Drafting Milroe carries risk, but he’s certainly worth a selection at the top of the third round in superflex rookie drafts. You get all the upside of an Anthony Richardson-type prospect but carry nowhere near the risk, given Milroe's cost in drafts. The hit rate for picks in this area of rookie drafts is extremely low. Why not swing for the fences and take a chance on Milroe?

Will Howard, Steelers - Henson

As it stands right now, Aaron Rodgers is not on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster. While that could change, Rodgers is still undetermined on whether or not he wants to play in the 2025 season.

The only other quarterbacks on Pittsburgh’s roster at this time are Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson. While Will Howard was a sixth-round pick, he offers traits that many sixth-rounders do not offer. Howard stands 6-foot-4 and 236 pounds, has a bigger arm than most think, can run the ball well, and made several NFL-level throws throughout Ohio State’s dominant run to the College Football Playoff title.

Howard flashed a lot of upside while at Kansas State and finally put it all together at Ohio State this past season while surrounded by elite personnel. I find it hard to believe he does not get a shot at the NFL level, and Pittsburgh was the perfect landing spot for him to compete. You can grab him right now in the late third or fourth round of rookie drafts. Low risk, high reward, as he could wind up being a starting quarterback long-term.

Rookie Running Back Sleepers

Brashard Smith, RB, Kansas City Chiefs - Johnson

Smith is already the best pass-catching back on his team. He is also a highly explosive athlete -- he ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the 2025 NFL Combine, and his tape shows many examples of great speed, acceleration, and burst.

Besides being drafted with very high draft capital (and thus not being a sleeper anymore), the best thing a player can do to put up big numbers and earn more playing time is to make big plays. It's likely that Smith will excel at that from early in his career.

Brashard Smith, please last to us. His homerun ability and receiving ability would be unreal out of the backfield.#ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/2QZ9pXc2XF

— Chief Concerns (@ConcernsChief) April 26, 2025

The reigning wisdom is that RB Isiah Pacheco is clearly the lead workhorse of this backfield. Then again, the speed with which huge roles for late-round running backs fade can be pretty startling. After Pacheco's leg injury last season, his return was pretty disappointing, and he never took over his previously huge role.

Additionally, he's not a good pass-catcher. Neither is Kareem Hunt, and neither is Elijah Mitchell, the other two RBs in the backfield. Smith is easily at least the second-most talented back on the Chiefs roster right now, and it's possible he could be the clear RB1B by the middle of the year.

How explosive Brashard Smith is off balance with his first-step plant foot in a non-ideal position is huge here. It allows him to quickly change his angle of attack. Freezes the DB at the top left. Smith has enough juice to take this outside for a big gain. pic.twitter.com/KREQO8BHr2

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) March 22, 2025

Smith is remarkably nimble in the open field. I imagine Kansas City head coach Andy Reid is already drawing up plays for him. The Chiefs have lacked a true open-field threat for a few seasons now. Pacheco is a plodder with impressive speed, but isn't particularly elusive, and his method for gaining extra yards is to bash his head into defenders.

Smith is a weapon with the ball in his hands and is the best receiving back in this year's loaded 2025 NFL Draft class. He thus has very intriguing upside in PPR leagues. He got an incredible landing spot in a backfield full of questions for a player drafted so late.

Working on a film review of #Chiefs rookie RB Brashard Smith for @KCChiefsOnSI.

This could be a fun change-of-pace runner with excellent agility and creativity, plus the burst and explosive capacity to generate big plays on the ground. pic.twitter.com/b4KvFJQWkX

— Jared Feinberg (@JRodNFLDraft) May 8, 2025

Leaning into backfields with lots of uncertainty on offenses that are proven to be good is always a good idea. You should do so with Smith, who's been written off by most of the fantasy community for his lack of size and his low draft capital. This is despite the fact that he's a great back who can pass-protect well.

DJ Giddens, RB, Indianapolis Colts - Johnson

It's worth noting immediately that he doesn't have a ton of value other than as a handcuff. It's likely that the Colts drafted him to have a better insurance policy for lead back Jonathan Taylor, who seems to constantly be injured. Indeed, he's missed 16 games over the past three seasons.

Studies show that watching DJ Giddens highlights daily significantly boosts your lifespan. Science doesn’t lie.
pic.twitter.com/jGkoNsAfC9

— SleeperColts (@SleeperColts) May 4, 2025

Giddens is in a class of running backs that always seem to be playing on their tiptoes. He's very good at diagnosing lanes to cut through, very shifty with the ball in his hands, and adept at making defenders miss when he can set up his moves properly.

This makes it dangerous for defenses to give him much space. Indy has benefited from pretty solid run-blocking for much of its last few seasons. This has allowed Taylor to thrive, especially in 2021, when he put up a monster RB1 overall season.

I really like DJ Giddens as a pass-game complement for Jonathan Taylor on the Colts. He has real speed.

Full breakdown: https://t.co/XPfDhX3iuB pic.twitter.com/6bvqNTo07M

— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) April 26, 2025

In addition, Taylor has never been a great pass-catcher. He rarely gets targeted, with the Colts instead opting to get the ball to their dedicated pass-catchers as much as possible. If Giddens takes over the RB1 role in case of a Taylor injury, he could have a bit of a nice production boost from check-downs and dump-off passes.

In 14 games, Taylor was targeted just 31 times in 2024. He'll likely handle much of the rushing workload, but it's possible Giddens could spell him and get a few catches per game, and have more value in extremely deep leagues than people think. It would make sense for the Colts to dial back Taylor's touches, too. He can't stay healthy.

Give elite burst and explosiveness to a 212 pound frame, and you get a damn missile.

DJ Giddens ranked second in the #NFLDraft2025 RB class in rushing success rate on short-yardage runs behind only Damien Martinez.

Arm tackles simply do not work. He's moving too damn fast. pic.twitter.com/RSZiNmUnWk

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) April 9, 2025

He's going lower in dynasty drafts than he should because—surprise!! -- People love to scout players. Kansas State is an unsexy school to go to, but Giddens in the later rounds of rookie drafts is a pretty sexy pick, and with good reason.

Rookie Wide Receiver Sleepers

Elic Ayomanor, WR, Tennessee Titans - Henson

After adding its quarterback of the future, Cam Ward, Tennessee needed to add weapons, given that its receiver room was very thin behind veterans Calvin Ridley and Tyler Lockett.

In the fourth round, the Titans selected Chimere Dike out of Florida and Elic Ayomanor out of Stanford. Ayomanor is younger, was more productive in college, and has more physical tools than Dike, although Dike was selected before him, leading me to lean toward Ayomanor as my preferred option between the two.

The #Titans select Standford WR Elic Ayomanor with Pick No. 136

This is him against Jaguars No. 2 Pick, Travis Hunterpic.twitter.com/QAiYbfAczN

— SleeperTitans (@SleeperTitanUp) April 26, 2025

Ayomanor recorded 1,844 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns over the past two seasons at Stanford, emerging as the go-to receiver while dealing with a poor quarterback situation. While he is tall and profiles as a possession receiver, his 4.44 40-yard dash cannot be slept on. He has all of the traits a WR1 needs, and just so happens to be joining an elite quarterback prospect in a room that lacks weapons. 

If you can grab Ayomanor in the early third round or even late second round of rookie drafts, do not hesitate to do so. There is legitimate 1,000-yard, 10-touchdown potential here.

Jalen Royals, WR, Kansas City Chiefs - Henson

At a glance, Kansas City’s receiver room is loaded, and opportunities may be tough to come by for the fourth-round rookie. But don’t forget that Rashee Rice destroyed his knee last season and has a potential suspension looming. If he misses time, which is likely, that leaves Xavier Worthy, Marquise Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Skyy Moore, and an aging Travis Kelce to compete with for targets.

While he looks to be the fifth option at best on paper with everyone healthy, Royals could work his way into the starting lineup with injuries, and it may be impossible to take him off the field once he gets on it. The Utah State product put up 834 yards and six touchdowns in just seven games with former Iowa castaway Spencer Petras throwing him the football this past season.

Royals is a dynamic playmaker with the ball in his hands, but also a great route runner. He stands 6-feet tall and weighs 205 pounds, offering legitimate NFL size. His game has few holes and he could really thrive being tied to Patrick Mahomes in an offense that was clearly lacking additional weapons in 2024. In the late second round or early third round of rookie drafts, he is a great value.

Kyle Williams - WR, New England Patriots - Ventresca

Williams was drafted 69th overall by the New England Patriots in the 2025 NFL Draft.

With the No. 69 overall pick in the 2025 @NFLDraft, the @Patriots select Kyle Williams.

📺: #NFLDraft on NFLN/ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/wnA9NLzQbs

— NFL (@NFL) April 26, 2025

His selection was noteworthy as New England is searching for playmakers for second-year quarterback Drake Maye, and the team has few options behind WR1 Stefon Diggs. Williams is an underrated route runner and separates well against all coverages. He could be a sneaky long-term bet to emerge as Maye’s WR1.

2+ minutes of Kyle Williams absolutely torching guys on All-22:

• Patriots fans, meet your WR1… pic.twitter.com/NhPscB5NGS

— SCOUTD (@scoutdnfl) April 26, 2025

What makes Williams a fun sleeper candidate is the role that slot receivers have played in the Patriots' new offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels', system for years now. Wes Welker and Julian Edelman famously had great success operating in this role. Jakobi Meyers also had a degree of success playing under McDaniels in New England and Las Vegas.

Williams profiles best as a slot receiver with the ability to play a bit of flanker in the NFL. However, we should expect him to work primarily out of the slot. Third-round draft capital doesn’t automatically guarantee anything, even for a team like New England that desperately needs pass-catchers. Still, it’s telling that they were willing to use an early round pick on a player who nicely fits into the slot role of McDaniels’ offense.

We probably won’t see any gaudy Year 1 numbers from Williams, but if he can consistently work his way onto the field as a rookie and show some signs of life, he could quickly rise in dynasty rankings. Williams has been a consistent pick in the third round of superflex leagues. His talent is real, and you could do a lot worse at this stage of the draft than using a late-round rookie pick on a player like Williams. There's also nothing wrong with reaching a bit to acquire him. The upside is real.

Tory Horton - WR, Seattle Seahawks -Ventresca

Another Seahawks rookie makes our list. Horton played at a smaller school at Colorado State. The big knock on Horton is the level of competition that he faced. This partially explains why Horton fell to the fifth round of the NFL Draft. While concerns about his competition are valid, Horton does have some savvy route-running chops and is an overlooked prospect in this class.

Tory Horton joins Michael Gallup and Rashard Higgins as the only three players in CSU history to record multiple games with 3 touchdown receptions. pic.twitter.com/Jnh00u3vl8

— Matt L. Stephens (@MattStephens) October 1, 2023

Horton’s final season at Colorado State was cut short due to injury. Perhaps he would have been higher on teams' draft boards had he not been injured, but Seattle found a potential gem late in the draft. Per PFF, among 422 collegiate receivers with at least 30 targets, Horton ranked seventh in yards per route run (YPRR) in 2024. This is a handy stat when predicting success at the next level, so it’s good to see Horton rank so high despite missing time last year.

The target sample from 2024 is a bit small and less than ideal, but things still look good even when we go back to 2023. Among 35 collegiate receivers with at least 100 targets, Horton finished 11th with a strong 2.74 yprr. This is the data you want to see from a small school receiver.

None of this guarantees success for Horton, and he will need to make changes to his game and hone his craft if he wants to be an impact receiver in the NFL. But we’ve seen late-round draft picks (cough cough Puka Nacua) emerge out of nowhere to become household names before.

Seattle needs more weapons behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba. While they signed Cooper Kupp this offseason, he turns 32 in June and is clearly on the downside of his career. Horton could eventually fill the WR2 role in Seattle, and if his skills do translate to the NFL, he could function very well in tandem with Smith-Njigba.

Horton is far from a guarantee, but he’s certainly worth taking a flyer on with one of your last picks in rookie drafts.

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