4 Fantasy Football WR Sleepers: Late-Round Draft Targets (2026)

July 16, 2026

Andrew Ball's four late-round fantasy football wide receiver sleepers for 2026 leagues. Target these sleepers at the end of fantasy football drafts.

Finding league-winning value at wide receiver is all about identifying talented players before the rest of your league catches on. Half of this year's ADP top four -- Puka Nacua and Amon-Ra St. Brown -- were once considered deep sleepers.

Are the sleeper names on this list going to become All-Pro wide receivers and recurring first-round picks? That's asking way too much. They could, however, become staples in flex spots across the fantasy football landscape.

Every wide receiver listed below has an ADP at 130 or lower. At best, they should be your WR5 after the draft. Don't go crazy.

Rashid Shaheed, Seattle Seahawks

Mastering an offense as a wide receiver isn't easy. Doing that in a condensed window while developing a rapport with a new quarterback after a midseason trade is extremely difficult.

For every Jakobi Meyers midseason trade, there are far more of the Chase Claypool, Amari Cooper, and Diontae Johnson variety. While Seattle got its money's worth out of Rashid Shaheed on special teams, there wasn't much in the receiving production to get excited about.

44 of his 59 receptions came in New Orleans. And that was with a familiarity with the offense, as offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak coached him the year prior. There wasn't any synergy with Sam Darnold yet.

.@JFowlerESPN on Rashid Shaheed:

“Rashid Shaheed had a major spring. He and Sam Darnold are hitting it off… They’re going to give more short and intermediate stuff to him. He’s going to be a big time player for Seattle.” pic.twitter.com/A7Mbj8nSTX

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) June 28, 2026

There's a new play-caller, new money, and potentially new opportunities for Shaheed in 2026. We'll start with the offensive coordinator. Brian Fleury brings a similar system, coaching under Kubiak in San Francisco at the same time Darnold was backing up Brock Purdy.

In his introductory news conference, the first-time play-caller noted the offense will look "very similar to the one that just won the Super Bowl."

That's a good thing for Shaheed, who can further integrate his game-breaking speed into the offense. He's a big part of Seattle's plans, too, with a freshly signed three-year, $51 million contract.

Further opportunities would come at the expense of the aging Cooper Kupp. Of course, Jaxon Smith-Njigba landing inside the top-5 target earners for the second consecutive season is well within the range of possibilities. But there is a spot for a reliable two on this roster, especially one with big-play upside.

The Seahawks were one of the most run-heavy offenses in the NFL last season. While I don't expect them to completely abandon the philosophy, it could be a far more balanced approach this time around.

Kenneth Walker III is gone, and Zach Charbonnet (torn ACL) will almost certainly open the season in street clothes. The run game, led by rookie Jadarian Price, will be utilized to open up the play-action game for Darnold, an area he excelled in, but it may not be the engine of seasons past.

Jalen Nailor, Las Vegas Raiders

Jalen Nailor showed flashes in Minnesota, 10 touchdowns on 57 catches in his final two seasons, but was never part of the team's long-term plans at the position, stuck behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. That's certainly not the case now. New Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak handpicked the former sixth-round pick to lead his wide receiver room.

The target competition is really just Brock Bowers, which could actually help the new Raider. Defensive attention on the All-Pro tight end should lead to single coverage for Nailor. As opposed to last season, Nailor won't be limited to the slot (11th-most snap slots in the league). When lined up out wide, Nailor had the fourth-best separation score in the league, per Fantasy Points Data.

Nailor saw five or more targets in four games last season. On two of those occasions, he finished as a WR1. The touchdown equity certainly helps, but it wasn't by coincidence. 22.6% of his targets came inside the 20-yard line. It was a purposeful effort to utilize the 27-year-old in that area of the field.

Kirk Cousins or Fernando Mendoza, it doesn't matter to start the year. With Kubiak calling plays, it's already a marked improvement over the Las Vegas offense last year. As the No. 2 option through the air, Nailor is one of my easiest and favorite clicks during drafts this year.

Jalen McMillan, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In what was essentially a lost season, Jalen McMillan gave the fantasy football community a quick efficiency reminder.

McMillan fractured three vertebrae during the preseason and suited up for a total of four games in 2025. He played just a hair over half of the snaps in that stretch. 74 snaps isn't a large sample size, but he did lead the team with 2.41 yards per route run and 11.87 yards per target.

It was a continuation of his rookie season, when he tallied 1.33 yards per route run and 8.09 yards per target. While he failed to score in his shortened sophomore season, the touchdown rate was there in Year 1. Half of his eight touchdowns (on 37 catches) came on end-zone targets.

There's now a Mike Evans-sized hole in the Tampa Bay offense. That's 27.8% of the team's first-read and designed targets and over seven targets per game. The natural assumption is that Emeka Egbuka takes the reins as the team's alpha.

He already led the team in target share last season. There's room to boost that number, sure, but there are plenty of opportunities for others. Chris Godwin Jr. is on the wrong side of 30 and has suffered major injuries in his career.

McMillan was reportedly a standout at OTAs this spring, and a leapfrog past Godwin wouldn't be a surprise.

Baker moves in the pocket and delivers a dot to Jalen McMillan for the TD!

📺: #TBvsDAL on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/bMUjTBpSYr

— NFL (@NFL) December 23, 2024

Rashod Bateman, Baltimore Ravens

I know what you're thinking: "Ew. Rashod Bateman? Really?"

There's a distinct stink around first-round wide receivers who don't, at the very least, meet the expectations placed on them. Bateman has definitely underperformed, with season averages of 31.4 receptions, 429.4 yards, and three touchdowns, and an average finish of WR81.

Really, the 26-year-old has been fantasy-relevant once: the 2024 season, when he set career-high marks in yards (756) and touchdowns (nine). Then, there was zero consistency. Often saddled with fantasy points in the low single digits, Bateman also scored 20+ on three occasions.

So, there was value to be mined; it was just on a watered-down Jameson Williams scale, if such a thing exists. Even so, you may view the 2024 campaign as a complete anomaly. After all, that was his only 17-game season, and it accounted for more than half of his career scores.

The Baltimore front office saw enough potential in Bateman to reward him with a $12.25M-per-year extension after his quasi-breakout season. Injuries to Lamar Jackson and a middling Baltimore offensive output after several seasons atop the list led to a regime change.

The new offensive coordinator is Declan Doyle, a disciple of Sean Payton and, most recently, Ben Johnson. Jackson recently told Baltimore media members how excited he was for the offense this upcoming season.

"I feel like there's going to be a lot of explosiveness this year. The way [offensive coordinator] Declan [Doyle] calls plays and his creativity with his mind — how detailed he is — it's mind-blowing," Jackson said, via the Ravens' website.

It's not easy to gauge Doyle's tendencies, as he's never actually called plays on the professional level. But he was an architect of a Chicago offense with a respectable run-pass balance and a vertical passing attack. Caleb Williams finished second in deep-ball attempts last season.

The Ravens drafted two wide receivers this offseason, Ja'Kobi Lane in the third round and Elijah Sarratt in the fourth round. Yet, third-year pro Devontez Walker, who has seven career catches to his name, projects to be the third wide receiver on the depth chart. Bateman will be on the field often.

I like to believe there's a glimmer of hope for a weekly flex consideration, even if Bateman will be of the boom-or-bust variety. He averaged 16.8 yards per reception in 2024, third among qualified wide receivers. Why can't he be a Rome Odunze-lite in this new "explosive" offensive scheme? With an ADP in the 100s at his position alone, it's a free bet.

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