2026 Fantasy Football Draft Sleepers List (QB, RB, WR, TE)

July 27, 2026

Nick Mariano's 2026 fantasy football draft sleepers and ADP values. NFL draft value picks at RB, WR, TE, and QB to target in the later rounds of your drafts.

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The word "sleeper" has come to mean many different things across all popular fantasy sites, and even then between writers on said sites. For you as the reader, it'll depend on your format, league experience, and roster size. Right now, we're going to talk about guys who should be available to 10-, 12-, and 14-teamers alike, with plenty of appeal for anyone to make a sneaky splash. As such, I'll move past the top-12 QB/TE choices, as well as the top 50 at both RB and WR.

Give us those late picks who can return excellent value at ADP. Those of you seeking kicker or defense sleepers, feel free to try me on X, but I'd push you to use the extra bench slots on late-round lotto tickets at RB/WR and defer the K/DST calls. All ADP data used for this article is from aggregate ADP data for half-PPR drafts through July 25.

Quarterback Fantasy Football Draft Sleepers

Baker Mayfield (TB), QB19

Do you remember that Mayfield was the QB4 in 2024 (and actually tied with Joe Burrow for QB3 honors in standard formats)? Yes, it was Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Burrow, Mayfield, and Jayden Daniels as the top five.

And this season, Jackson, Allen, Burrow, and Daniels are once again in the top five (joined by Drake Maye). Yet Mayfield is all the way down at QB19, being taken as a lowly backup by those weirdos who draft a second QB way too early in your home league, despite their early selection of an aforementioned top signal-caller.

So what gives? Well, it turns out that the 31-year-old’s middling QB12 finish in ‘25 (QB16 on a PPG basis, min. 10 games) came through battling across nearly the entire 2025 season with injuries.

He sprained an MCL and PCL, as well as suffering a bone bruise in Week 2, the latter of which got reaggravated in Week 7. Week 3 brought on a bicep injury, and he was on the injury report with knee and oblique issues in Weeks 8 and 10. He pushed through an illness in Week 12, even though he probably shouldn’t have (only 41 passing yards as the Rams smoked Tampa).

And these are just his injuries. Star receiver Mike Evans missed over half of the year, Chris Godwin Jr. was limited to nine games, Jalen McMillan didn’t play until Week 15, and Bucky Irving only made it a month before going on the IR. And that’s to say nothing of the hits that the offensive line took, with Tristan Wirfs out five games, Cody Mauch’s year being done in Week 2, and so on.

So before you go on a rant about how the team will be lost without Evans, let’s just take a step back and recognize that an extremely beaten-up Mayfield still dragged himself to a decent finish without Evans and many others. Emeka Egbuka will light the way, and Kenneth Gainwell’s robust receiving chops out of the backfield won’t hurt either. Another top-five show, perhaps?

Tyler Shough (NO), QB20

Did you know that Shough averaged 17.6 points per game from Week 9 on last year, which was good for a QB12 tally? He was the QB9 on total points, with a healthy range of 17-23 points in all six of his games between Weeks 13-18. He steadied many wavering ships during the playoff storms.

Going into 2026, the Saints have surrounded him with Travis Etienne Jr. at RB, Jordyn Tyson on the perimeter with Chris Olave at receiver, and they spent a third-round pick on Oscar Delp to hang with Juwan Johnson. This may mean more passing compared to the 45 rushes he put up in the abbreviated season, but he should still tuck it frequently enough to push the needle.

Now that Kellen Moore has a full offseason to commit around Shough as his starter, rather than the Spencer Rattler days of ‘25, I think we see another level. And frankly, even if Shough doesn’t grow that much, we’re still in a good spot to flirt with top-10 production based on what he flashed last year.

Running Back Fantasy Football Draft Sleepers

Jonah Coleman (DEN), RB52

With everyone running around sweating J.K. Dobbins’ lengthy medical history and now RJ Harvey’s offseason labrum surgery, Coleman is gaining some traction in the draft streets. He was taken in the fourth round of the 2026 Draft in a weak RB class after putting up a 156-758-15 rushing line at Washington.

While he secured 25 total TDs in his two seasons at Wash, his yards per carry dropped from 5.5 to 4.9, with Adam Mohammed mixing in more. But at least he retained the prime touches and converted plenty of goal-line punches, and perhaps the biggest piece, only lost one fumble across four collegiate campaigns.

I believe that most know how talented Dobbins is when upright, but we’re talking more about Harvey vs. Coleman at this point. Harvey stepped into a healthy receiving role for Sean Payton’s offense, but when it became time to be THE rusher, he flopped to a 3.7 YPC tally. The 2.7% explosive rush rate was 42nd out of 49 RBs with 100 or more attempts.

Not only was he lacking that top-end breakout, but he wasn’t able to push through trouble at the line either. His Stuff rate sat at 52.1%, the fourth-highest (bad) among the same rushing group. Per Fantasy Points Data, stuffs do not result in a first down or touchdown, or gain fewer than four yards on first down and fewer than three on other downs. It’s bad, okay?

This writer sees Coleman as the more complete back, with a healthy foundation for the valuable short-yardage work, ball protection, and a strong reputation for pass blocking to build on. Of course, the man isn't content with his college rep, and he's hungry to show the NFL what he can do.

Jonah Coleman says he has to have a "growth mindset" when it comes to working on his pass protection now, even though he excelled at it in college. "Yeah, I did a lot of pass pro in college. But I'm not in college no more. I'm in the NFL. This is a lot of guys who've been playing… pic.twitter.com/Z12UdwhwCn

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) May 9, 2026

Ray Davis (BUF), RB58

Davis was allowed to run wild in a “meaningless” Week 18, ramping up to a 64% snap share while Ty Johnson stayed at his usual ~30% clip. The Kentucky alum bowled the Jets over to the tune of 174 total yards on 23 touches, scoring a receiving TD in the rout. And when James Cook III missed Week 6 of 2024 against the Jets, Davis again saw 23 touches, this time gaining 152 yards.

An annual crushing of the Jets doesn’t mean much to some of you, but it’s the touch distribution that we’re looking at. It seems like too many drafters, and therefore the ADP, paint Davis as more of a committee back contingency rather than a pure handcuff in a top-flight rushing offense.

Ty Johnson is not going to drive the bus. Josh Allen is a beast, but Cook has managed to do just dandy alongside him. Perhaps Davis would struggle against better opponents, but all we can speak confidently on at this time is that he’s likely to get starting reps if Cook gets hurt, and that he can smash in good matchups.

Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Draft Sleepers

Jalen McMillan (TB), WR58

McMillan overcame a career-threatening neck injury that amounted to three fractured vertebrae and herniated discs to play in the final four games. He wound up with 12 catches for 178 yards, going for 7-114-0 in Week 17 at Miami. Some of that was due to his return mirroring that of Mike Evans, so McMillan was more of a rotational WR4 with Tez Johnson behind Evans, Chris Godwin Jr., and Emeka Egbuka.

Evans is out, and Ted Hurst III is in. Godwin is another year older, and Cade Otton is still a relative non-factor at TE, which is a net win for McMillan. Otton’s last two years yielding 5.5 and 5.1 aDOTs reflect the career 5.5 mark, and make this Bucs fan rather sad, but we press on. Kenneth Gainwell steps into the Rachaad White receiving work, but McMillan’s value isn’t built on the short-yardage.

His extremely small sample size of 15 targets in ‘25 still netted an 11.9 aDOT, which aligns with the 12.2 mark seen over 58 targets as a rookie the year before. All of that aforementioned Mayfield love has to spread out to his WRs, yes? I know Egbuka is awesome. He and McMillan can flourish downfield with a healthy Baker, while Godwin, who hasn’t posted an aDOT higher than 9.1 since 2020 and was at 7.0 last year (5.7 in ‘24), can be steady in the intermediate.

Isaac TeSlaa (DET), WR67

TeSlaa got more work from Week 13 on, when he logged a 92% snap rate when Jameson Williams went down, and then TeSlaa never dipped below 50% again. Everyone is rightfully caught up on the absurd TD rate, with six scores on 16 total receptions, but that’s what being a 6-foot-4 guy with strong hands and body control gets you!

A select few will dream of double-digit TDs based on wayward extrapolation, but most will blindly assume regression makes him a dud. The only fact we have around this is that TeSlaa was shown to be involved in goal-line looks, had the trust of the offense and Jared Goff, and converted on several chances.

Dan Campbell said of the emerging WR: "I almost wish we could have gotten TeSlaa some more touches than he did get (last year)...he feels like a veteran right now." And beat reporters haven't been shy about coverage regarding TeSlaa's job as the No. 3 WR on a team that isn't leaning into the multiple-TE sets. Even something seemingly small like Kalif Raymond leaving should provide plenty of chances.

There’s also the not-so-small matter that this modern era of football, and therefore fantasy football, is a bit more TD-reliant thanks to the modified kickoff rules. More drives are starting downfield, by roughly five yards since 2023, so there are fewer yardage points to go around, and better scoring opportunities. Find those with Rudolph the Red-Zone-Nosed Reindeer skill sets.

Throw a rock on social media, and you'll probably find a 2025 TeSlaa highlight. Let's add some more to the set in '26!

OK THEN ISAAC!!!#MIAvsDET | 📺 Lions TV Network pic.twitter.com/87msJ88uIN

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) August 16, 2025

Tight End Fantasy Football Draft Sleepers

Chig Okonkwo (WAS), TE16

For the third straight year, Okonkwo turned in a modest seasonal line right at that 50-catch, 500-yard range with a couple of TDs. The 56-560-2 line was a far cry from the hopes surrounding him going into the Cam Ward Era, and then Gunnar Helm really became a thorn in the playing time.

For now, Okonkwo has the inside track to be Jayden Daniels’ No. 2 downfield receiving option. Even if they sign a free agent WR to provide more oomph behind Terry McLaurin compared to just Antonio Williams and Treylon Burks, there’s plenty of room for Okonkwo to be on the field. Only a Zach Ertz reunion would be a true wet blanket.

It’s difficult to understate how vast an upgrade going from the 2025 Titans to the 2026 Commanders should be. Amongst other general environmental boosts, Okonkwo only saw five red-zone targets all year, and just one of those was an actual end-zone look.

But he doesn’t need to simply fall into EZ targets to be good. No, the man is athletic and can generate on his own in space. Fantasy Points Data Suite charted him with 10 missed tackles forced, for an MTF/reception rate of 0.18, which (barely) trailed Harold Fannin Jr. for best by a TE with at least 50 catches.

Get this man into the open field and watch him fly. There aren't many TEs with this kind of burst.

Chig Okonkwo gets in open space for a 70-yard TD!

📺: #TENvsHOU on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/98scOwfisp

— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2024

Michael Mayer (LV), TE38

Mayer could wind up being the quietest winner in Vegas after the Raiders didn’t make a splashy WR addition next to the arrival of Klint Kubiak. He comes from Seattle, where he ran 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE) nearly 30% of the time, the eighth-most in the NFL. Mayer should enjoy some more creative usage here as a result.

Whether that means leaking out as a play-action target from his inline role, or adapting to more jumbo packages wide, we know Mayer can make things happen when given a chance. He held a snap rate between 92-95% in all four games where he was active, and Brock Bowers was out in ‘25, tallying 18 catches for 196 yards and a TD in the face of poor QB play.

We’re not saying you only take Mayer as deep insurance for Bowers going down, but it’s nice to have some proven concepts of a rough 75-800-5 seasonal pace on a bad team anyway. That’s not to say you shouldn’t get excited about Jalen Nailor or Jack Bech, but this offense should revolve around Ashton Jeanty and the TEs.

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