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Tommy's sneaky fantasy football sleepers and bench stashes for 2025 leagues. Target these NFL players as late-round fantasy football draft value picks.
There are seemingly a million different ways to describe the search for productive late-round draft picks in fantasy football every year. Whether you call them sleepers, stashes, league-winners, or diamonds in the rough, the premise is always the same. We are all looking for those players left over in the double-digit rounds that will end up playing a massive role for your fantasy football playoff run come December.
While some may choose to take a "handcuff" approach with their later picks, and there are certainly situations when that makes sense, the biggest reward comes when a fantasy manager is able to nail a bold call on a "back-up" with little perceived value. If things break right for that pick, it can really elevate a fantasy football team from good to great. Typically, those players are either running backs or wide receivers.
Below, I'll highlight five late-round "stashes" that may not get your leaguemates' attention out of the gate, but if the dominoes fall correctly, you may look like a genius by season's end. I'll be using our RotoBaller Staff Average Draft Position, looking for players who are typically taken after pick 120, and we'll spend just a little time laying out what needs to happen for each stash to turn to gold. Let's jump in!
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Ray Davis, RB, Buffalo Bills
Fantasy Football ADP: 153
James Cook ended a potentially dramatic contract situation early by reporting to training camp in mid-July for the Bills, but there's still plenty to like about the second-year man who sits behind him on the Buffalo depth chart.
Davis looked great in spurts during his rookie season, and he only received double-digit carries in three games as the Bills' primary backup. However, in those three games, he averaged 4.9, 5.7, and 4.3 yards per carry while also commanding seven targets combined in those contests. His three receiving touchdowns to match his three rushing scores just begin to scratch the surface of his versatility in a very good offensive environment.
The easiest path to the former Kentucky Wildcat becoming a league-winner would be a Cook injury, of course, but it's also not out of the realm of possibility that Davis starts getting even more first-team reps regardless of Cook's status. With his bowling ball frame, hard running style, ability to make plays as a receiver, and willingness to block when needed, he's a tremendous asset for a Josh Allen-led offense that likes to spread the ball around.
Davis is the perfect selection in round 12 or 13 that could be used in a pinch without a Cook injury, but he would become a must-start running back if Cook were to leave the picture at any point.
Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens
Fantasy Football ADP: 160
The Ravens' addition of DeAndre Hopkins was ideal for Bateman's average draft position, as the more casual fan will see the 25-year-old as the third wide receiver option in an offense that includes a running quarterback, a top running back, and two solid tight ends as well. However, some solid signs from Bateman last season suggest he may be ready to break out in 2025.
Baltimore fans and fantasy managers have been waiting for the Bateman breakout for four years now, but the Zay Flowers rise to fame only further delayed that project. However, the 2021 first-round pick out of Minnesota quietly doubled his yardage from 2023 to 2024 and posted nine touchdowns last season. That doesn't include the two playoff touchdowns either.
Bateman is clearly becoming a weapon for Lamar Jackson when he scrambles out of the pocket and in the red zone, which is fantastic, because Flowers seems to eat up a lot of the middle-of-the-field production early in drives. There is no reason why Hopkins should immediately come in and take that growing outside role away from a younger player coming off the best season of his career.
Rashod Bateman earned that contract extension 😤@R_bateman2 | @Ravens pic.twitter.com/YRO23rjffh
— NFL (@NFL) June 5, 2025
Even with Flowers and Hopkins healthy, Bateman has plenty of value at this point in the draft in one of the best offenses in the league. However, if either were to get injured, especially Flowers, Bateman would see his targets jump a tier, making him an easy WR2 or Flex on a weekly basis. That makes him a great late-round stash in 2025.
Braelon Allen, RB, New York Jets
Fantasy Football ADP: 167
Allen is in a fairly similar situation to Davis above, but there are a few factors to consider that make him more of a final pick as opposed to Davis' status as a pick a round or two earlier. Even still, there's a path to the second-year man from Wisconsin becoming an anchor for a playoff fantasy team come December.
First off, Breece Hall is one year removed from being one of the best running backs in the league. That's going to make it a bit harder for Allen to have value without an injury to his starter. Secondly, the Jets' offense is not expected to have anywhere close to the success that Buffalo will. Even with Justin Fields replacing Aaron Rodgers and the offensive line remaining in PFF's top 10, there is work to be done in New York.
Lastly, Allen didn't have nearly the success that Davis did in his 2024 cameos, scoring just three total touchdowns and failing to string big runs together at any point. That being said, coaches and analysts alike raved about his ability from training camp to season's end last year, and there's no reason why we should back off of that hype in year two.
Allen most definitely needs Hall to fall out of favor in New York, likely due to injury, which we'd never wish on such an electric player. However, third-string running back Isaiah Davis does not pose much of a threat should Hall go down. Allen's combination of goalline ability, pass-catching prowess, and between-the-tackle power would be a great complement to a Fields-led offense. He belongs on benches, not on waivers.
Jaylen Wright, RB, Miami Dolphins
Fantasy Football ADP: 171
Let's keep the love coming for second-year backup running backs in the AFC East. This was most definitely not a purposeful trend. Even still, Wright provides upside in the Round 15 range that you don't usually find.
The reasoning here is simple, so we'll keep it short and sweet: Head Coach Mike McDaniel has a type. Wright appears to be that type. So, if De'Von Achane were to go down, Wright should get the first crack and take over most of that role in an offense that's due for some positive regression this year.
Alexander Mattison and Ollie Gordon II are more traditional runners who could find minor roles from week to week, but the real value in the Dolphins offense lies in a role as a pass-catching back that just needs to find space. That's what McDaniel will continue to do with Wright, whether that's three to five times a game behind Achane, or 12-15 times a game in place of him.
Jaylen Wright
Raheem Mostert on Raiders Now…
Vacates 8+ RB Opportunities/Game
Wright Flashed with Very Limited Touches in 2024…
McDaniel Typically Involves At Least 2 RBs in MIA Scheme…
Will Get Work in Elite Offense + Priority Achane Handcuff!pic.twitter.com/1H6MARQtAp
— Joe Orrico (@JoeOrricoFF) June 27, 2025
Achane's explosiveness, matched with a quarterback who gets the ball out quickly to his skill players and a coach who likes to call "space" plays for his playmakers, is what makes him a top-5 pick this year. If Wright got a sniff of that role, he would be a must-start option with the upside to be the top scorer each week. The Tennessee man should be on the bench at least until the bye weeks begin in Week 5.
Xavier Legette, WR, Carolina Panthers
Fantasy Football ADP: 178
Legette had a perfectly fine rookie season, missing just two games, and having at least three catches in every other week but one. He even spiked in Week 4 with a 10-target, six-catch effort for 66 yards and a touchdown while rushing twice for 10 yards as well.
Fortunately for his draft stock, Adam Thielen and Jalen Coker took some of the attention away during Bryce Young's second-half resurgence, and then the Panthers went and drafted Tetairoa McMillan with the eighth overall pick.
As a result, Legette's fine start to his career is being dismissed, and the "too many mouths to feed" argument is pushing him down draft boards to basically the undrafted range. But I'll happily take a shot on a player with his frame and athletic ability in an offense moving in the right direction in 2025.
With the core returning in Carolina, Legette will have a leg up (no pun intended) on McMillan from the start. He also has a better pedigree than Coker, and he's a much more dynamic player than 34-year-old Thielen. There's a world in which the former Gamecock is leading the team in targets by a considerable amount in three months.
Have seen quite a bit clips and tweets completing deep crossers coming out of #Panthers camp
Seeing plays like this with Xavier Legette catching in stride + making something happen is a welcomed sight for a team who was last in the league in YAC/reception in 2023 & 2024 pic.twitter.com/MGavCVcGyr
— UnnecessaryBluntness (@UBSportsTalk) July 28, 2025
If we're drafting for upside, then why not take a chance on a second-year player with D.K. Metcalf-like measurables in the final round, and see if he's ready to take the sophomore leap early in 2025? Legette has the upside to be a unique player in this league, which is exactly the kind of player that should be on your fantasy football bench in September.
Update - Coker has been placed on the injured reserve due to a quadriceps injury and will miss at least the first four games of the regular season. In addition, Thielen has been traded to the Minnesota Vikings, which will open up even more early-season targets for Legette.
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