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Mo's sneaky fantasy football draft sleepers that are potential league-winners. Target these fantasy football sleepers and draft values in the later rounds.
Draft season is almost in full swing! Whether you’re gearing up for a redraft league, a dynasty league, or a best ball league, you’re looking to find value in every single format, and that’s what we're here to help you with.
The term “league winner” doesn’t always come from production alone. A league winner is a player who provides elite-level production but at a much more favorable price than the guys at the top, giving managers that extra value in that they didn’t have to use their early draft capital for them. The most extreme example from last season is Puka Nacua, who was drafted as the 100th (!) WR off the board and finished as the WR5 on the season. Another example is Sam LaPorta, who was taken in drafts as TE18 but finished as TE1 in the season.
So, who are some potential league winners for this fantasy football season? Let's take a look and find out!
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Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
ADP: TE23
Bucs TE Cade Otton is gearing up for his third professional season, all of which he’s played for Tampa Bay. Most recently, he’s coming off a season in which he reeled in 47 catches for 455 yards and four touchdowns, as the Bucs completely outperformed expectations with a 9-8 record and an NFC South title.
Despite a lackluster fantasy campaign in 2023, Otton sees some of the highest usage among all NFL tight ends. In 2023, he ran the second-most routes with 568, had the highest snap share at 95.9%, and held a 100% (!) route participation rate. He also nearly cracked the top 10 in red-zone targets with 11 total.
On top of that, Otton’s two best games of last season came during the Bucs' playoff run, grabbing eight balls for 89 yards in the team’s Wild Card win against the Eagles, following it up with five catches for 65 yards and a touchdown in the Divisional Round against the Lions.
Don't look now, but Mr. @CadeOtton has been on 🔥👀 pic.twitter.com/2ytPYIgw7D
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) August 7, 2024
It doesn’t appear that Otton’s usage is trending downward, as Tampa made no additions at the position this offseason and will be rolling out the same TE unit in 2024.
The fact that Baker Mayfield and the Bucs leaned on Otton when it mattered most, combined with his incredibly high-end usage at such a low price, makes Otton a high-value fantasy play in 2024.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks
ADP: WR46
JSN is coming off a rookie campaign in which he showcased his skill set but fell behind DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett in the pecking order in terms of volume, leaving him pretty firmly off the fantasy radar. He reeled in just 63 catches for 628 yards and four touchdowns in his first season in the PNW.
He now gears up for a sophomore campaign with a revamped coaching staff, including former University of Washington OC Ryan Grubb as his play-caller, and a year of chemistry built up with Geno Smith.
He’s already getting some rave reviews from his new coaches, with HC Mike Macdonald noting his ability to “run the entire route tree, incredible ways of tracking the ball, body control, explosiveness in and out of his cuts.”
Jaxon Smith-Njigba second-year breakout on the way 👀🚀😤
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) July 29, 2024
While it’s likely he will remain behind Metcalf in terms of volume, Smith-Njigba has a real shot to surpass Lockett in terms of targets, which Lockett is now entering his age-31 season.
JSN operated primarily out of the slot in 2023, racking up 433 snaps there for a 64.3% rate. He must make that jump to other parts of the field for him to fully break out for fantasy, and all signs suggest that is what’s to come.
Expect the former Ohio State Buckeye to jump promptly into the No. 2 spot in Seattle’s offense and outperform his ADP accordingly. Smith-Njigba is a sneaky value play for fantasy football this season.
Rico Dowdle, Dallas Cowboys
ADP: RB52
This one’s a long shot, but hear me out. The Cowboys made some interesting moves in their RB room this offseason, letting Tony Pollard walk to the Titans and reuniting with Ezekiel Elliott in free agency.
The only remaining piece from the position from last year is Rico Dowdle, now entering his third professional season. Dowdle played a complementary role to Pollard last year, carrying the ball 89 times for 361 yards and two touchdowns.
Elliott, now entering his ninth NFL season, is coming off a season in New England where he toted the ball 184 times for 642 yards and three touchdowns, all career lows for the former Ohio State Buckeye.
It’s right in front of us and getting harder to ignore that Rico Dowdle gonna fill in the Tony Pollard role for Dallas & is being drafted as RB46 👀 pic.twitter.com/Ra6lAvTu76 https://t.co/jxlyCTaCYh
— Dynasty Dad (@DynastyDadFF) August 4, 2024
While he’ll now be behind a much better offensive line again in Dallas, it’s fair not to expect the type of production we saw from him in those 2016-2019 seasons.
In addition, this Cowboys offense was once able to bolster both Zeke and Tony Pollard into fantasy relevance despite the shared backfield. In 2022, Pollard finished as the RB7 on the season, with Zeke as the RB19. The two combined for almost 1,900 yards on the ground and 21 rushing touchdowns.
Dowdle will play off Zeke as the more elusive back, similar to how Pollard did all those years. If that is how this backfield works out in 2024, Dowdle is a smart bet to surpass his ADP and provide a strong value add to fantasy squads this season.
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