5 Veteran Fantasy Football Sleepers and Value Picks to Target in Drafts: Later-Career Risers (2025)

Tommy Bell's fantasy football veterans to target and draft in 2025. His top later-career risers and value picks, including Calvin Ridley, D'Andre Swift, and more.

It's no secret that first and second-year NFL players are becoming more prominent in fantasy football each year. Not only are these players exciting, but their unlimited upside and nonexistent body of work make them glamorous "sleeper" targets for analysts and managers alike.

However, let's not forget about the veterans. Each year, there are many late-career players that the fantasy industry undervalues or even writes off completely due to a poor showing in the previous season(s). Hitting on those bounce-back candidates can quickly take a fantasy team from good to great.

Let's dive into five potential late-career league winners for the 2025 fantasy football season.

Dak Prescott (QB) - Dallas Cowboys

Sure, Prescott's gruesome hamstring injury in Week 9 derailed any chance at a fantasy-relevant season in 2024. But even before the injury, the 31-year-old was on pace to match his career-low in touchdown passes and surpass his career-high in interceptions. His 45.3 QBR at the time of his injury speaks for itself. Without a consistent run game to lean on, many thought Prescott was primed to put up huge volume numbers through the air last year, but that could not have been further from the truth.

Fast forward to 2025, and it feels like we're at a real "do-or-die" moment in the nine-year pro's career. Dallas has acquired George Pickens, which should hopefully free up CeeDee Lamb a bit more, and Prescott says he's healthy and ready for a bounce-back year.

There still isn't a reliable run game in sight, so with an extra weapon in the passing game paired with some added offensive line help through the draft, we could be overlooking a top-five quarterback again, just as we were when Lamb and Jake Ferguson took their big leaps in 2023. If you miss on your first choice in the middle rounds, Prescott could be a fantastic flier in the later rounds.

D'Andre Swift (RB) - Chicago Bears

Swift's first season in Chicago was one he and fantasy managers hope to soon forget. Despite getting 24 more carries than his previous career-high, and playing in every single game for the Bears, the 26-year-old logged his lowest yards per attempt ever at just 3.8, scoring just six touchdowns in the process.

The good news is that things can't possibly get much worse for the Chicago offense, especially with offensive guru Ben Johnson taking the reins. There's still not much in terms of competition behind Swift, and the former Georgia star displayed burst at times in 2024, especially later in the season.

Forgot how exciting D’Andre Swift’s first rushing touchdown as a Chicago Bear was.

That jump and explosive burst though. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/4c3muBYswh

— Bearsszn (@bearssznn) May 13, 2025

Caleb Williams should be better this year, which would lead to lighter boxes for Swift to take advantage of as well as more red zone opportunities for him to set a new career high in touchdowns (nine would do the trick). You should be able to target Swift in the fifth or sixth round. What a tremendous RB2 he could be for a fantasy manager who went with studs early at wide receiver or tight end.

Calvin Ridley (WR) - Tennessee Titans

Ridley may be washed up. It's certainly possible that 65-75 catches with a handful of touchdowns and just shy of 10 carries is the new normal for the once game-breaking talent. But I'm willing to take one more stab here at what should be a nice draft day price.

The first factor working in the 30-year-old's favor is the additions of Cam Ward and Tyler Lockett. Ward can only help, simply because Ridley dealt with awful quarterback play last season, evidenced by his career-low 53.3% catch rate. Lockett could be a big deal because it frees up Ridley to do more work in the slot, which could get him more chances in space rather than contested catches on the outside.

“Cam Ward to Calvin Ridley for a TD”

Get used to hearing that this season 🤝 pic.twitter.com/rZ4Y5pfxnb

— SleeperTitans (@SleeperTitanUp) June 1, 2025

It's not outlandish to make the argument that Ridley was never going to bounce back coming off a nearly two-year absence in the train wreck that was Jacksonville. He then dealt with some of the worst quarterback play in the league last year, with no one on his team to take defensive attention away. Could we be close to a Terry McLaurin-type success story from an uber-talented wide receiver that finally gets his star quarterback? In the seventh or eighth round, I will be happily paying to find out!

Deebo Samuel Sr. (WR) - Washington Commanders

Speaking of McLaurin, making the case for his new Commanders teammate might be the easiest of all on this list. Nearly 60 rushing attempts and 14 total touchdowns (2021 stats) are probably not in the cards for Samuel at the ripe age of 29, but he should have every opportunity to catch more balls than each of his past three seasons in San Francisco. Can he still turn those catches into house calls?

Commanders GM Adam Peters was part of the draft team that selected Samuel back in 2019, and he's surely salivating at the idea of pairing the running back/wide receiver hybrid with one of the game's best deep ball receivers. Jayden Daniels turned heads while throwing to McLaurin, the corpse of Zach Ertz, part-time player Austin Ekeler, and a bunch of bench fodder. In year two with Kliff Kingsbury, there should be some very fun plays designed for a player of Samuel's caliber.

Sure, health is a factor here, but that's baked into the draft price. The upside for Deebo is way too high to pass up as a WR3 or FLEX in fantasy football drafts this year. Hail to the Commanders!

T.J. Hockenson (TE) - Minnesota Vikings

Hockenson failed to reel in a touchdown in the second half of 2025 after missing the first seven games with his knee injury from the end of 2023. But don't let that distract you from the fact that the 27-year-old still posted a very respectable 7.3 yards-per-target and was on pace for about 900 yards despite his late start and while easing back into full speed.

With J.J. McCarthy taking over in 2025, there should be plenty of chances for Hockenson to find space over the middle of the field. If Jordan Addison stays out of trouble, that's a nightmare for opposing pass defenses. If Addison finds himself suspended again, you can add three or more targets to Hock's plate each week.

Can’t wait to have a fully healthy TJ Hockenson in 2025. pic.twitter.com/UAoEN8R3Fe

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) June 9, 2025

There's plenty of juice left in this tank, and you can probably get Hockenson in the fifth or sixth round, after you've already loaded up on studs at the RB and WR positions. It's early, but there seems to be a tier drop right after the man from Iowa. Pencil him in if nothing else on the board is calling your name in those middle rounds.

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