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The time before free agency and the NFL Draft can be really fun for dynasty managers.
It's a chance to take a bet on a cheap, upside player and then cross your fingers, hoping for free agency and the draft to work exactly your way so that those players end up in good roles going forward.
Below are five sleepers to target this offseason in fantasy football leagues. Each is outside of the top-100 in our most recent rankings.
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Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots
After rushing for 107 yards in Week 17, Stevenson had just four carries against the Dolphins in the season finale, followed by eight carries in the playoff loss to Buffalo. There were some real highs for Stevenson this year, but the inconsistency means he enters this offseason without as much hype as he could have. Our current dynasty rankings have him as the RB34, behind teammate Damien Harris and guys like Michael Carter and Sony Michel.
I think his spot behind Harris in the rankings is probably fine, but I do like Stevenson's upside more. Harris is entering his fourth season and while he had 15 touchdowns this year, he also only had three games with a snap rate of at least 50%, and the last time was in Week 8. Stevenson had the same number of weeks with that high of a snap rate, but his all came after Week 8.
What this suggests to me: we have no idea who will be the lead(ish) back in New England, but the idea that Harris is locked into that role is incorrect. Stevenson has just as good of a shot and is under contract through 2024 at a really good price point.
Kadarius Toney, WR, New York Giants
If you're looking at the overall numbers, you might think Toney's rookie year was mediocre, and that's fair! A first-round pick finishing with 39 catches for 420 yards and no touchdowns isn't great.
But injuries really, really hurt Toney's numbers. He played 10 games. In two of those games, he played under 10 snaps, and in another, he played 19 snaps and had no catches.
Having a healthy Toney was rare, but when he was good to go, he looked special. In Week 5, he had 10 catches for 189 yards, looking like a breakout star before he got hurt early in Week 6, after catching three passes for 36 yards in just six snaps.
The Giants should make some change at QB this year, but even if they don't, the addition of head coach Brian Daboll means that Daniel Jones can at least be serviceable, which is better than he has been. A healthy Toney can be really, really effective in a Daboll offense. Get him while his value is down this offseason.
Brevin Jordan, TE, Houston Texans
Jordan racked up a lot of inactive designations early in the season and first played in Week 8. From there on out, he was targeted at least three times in six of the next seven games he played before fading down the stretch, with one target in the last two games.
But those two games were two of his three top games by snap rate. He wasn't getting the targets then, but he was getting on the field more.
Houston fired its head coach, but the offense should still look mostly the same after it retained a lot of offensive personnel, which suggests that Jordan's increasing snap rate down the stretch is a trend that should continue if the team doesn't bring in another tight end.
Jordan had a good career in college and can make things happen after the catch. He has a lot of wideout skills, which is good news for a team that needs weapons for...whoever the QB is. Davis Mills, probably.
Josh Palmer, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
It sounds like Mike Williams won't be back in LA, which opens up room for someone else to take over the No. 2 role across from Keenan Allen.
That could be a huge role on a team that was tied for second in the NFL in passing yards this past season with 4,800 yards.
In Palmer's first season, he caught 33 passes for 353 yards and four touchdowns while only playing 38% of the team's offensive snaps.
Also of note, Palmer saw at least five targets in four of the team's last five games. In the two games where he played 80-plus percent of the snaps, he had five catches for 66 yards and a touchdown in one and then five for 43 and a score in the other.
Kyle Trask, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs will almost certainly bring in a veteran passer, but "almost certainly" is different than "certainly." Trask is someone who you can get for a super cheap price right now and while you might end up not wanting him after free agency, why not take a swing on him just in case things shake out in Tampa in a way that gives him a shot to start?
Trask will be 24 this upcoming season. He's never thrown an NFL pass, but in his final season at Florida, he completed 68.9% of his passes for 4,283 yards and 43 touchdowns.
Like Tom Brady, Trask isn't someone who'll hurt you with his legs. But what he'd bring Tampa is a big quarterback who throws an accurate ball at every level. He could be a solid QB2 option with upside in a Bruce Arians offense if he got the starting role and he can be had at QB3 prices right now.
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