6 Fantasy Football Draft Targets, Sleepers for Deep Leagues (2025)

Dave's top six deep-league sleepers. His top targets for 2025 fantasy football drafts including Ricky Pearsall, DeMario Douglas, Tank Bigsby, and more.

The 2025 Hall of Fame Game is in the books. That means the preseason has begun and football is officially back. As NFL fans prepare for the start of another season, fantasy football players are preparing for their annual fantasy football draft. Any experienced gamer knows that if you want to crush your competition, you have to enter your draft fully prepared.

One way to do so is by identifying potential sleepers available in the later rounds of drafts. There is a contingent of fantasy managers who believe late-round picks are nothing but dart throws and therefore do not require significant research. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The late rounds are full of high-upside players. If you correctly identify even one sleeper, it could be all you need to win your league. For our exercise today, we will examine several players going outside the top 100 picks of current Yahoo fantasy football drafts.

Make sure you’re following RotoBaller on X and check out RotoBaller.com for all your fantasy football needs. Here are six deep-league sleepers that you should target in your 2025 fantasy football draft.

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Ricky Pearsall - WR, San Francisco 49ers

Current Yahoo ADP: 115.5 Overall

With Brandon Aiyuk recovering from a significant knee injury and Deebo Samuel Sr. no longer on the team, there’s a big opening in the 49ers' receiving room this year. Pearsall could be the man to fill that void.

First NFL TD for Ricky Pearsall ‼️

📺 #SFvsTB on FOX pic.twitter.com/J8kjN1jYLB

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) November 10, 2024

San Francisco drafted him in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft and did so with an eye toward 2025. Pearsall came on strong to close the 2024 season and has a big opportunity in front of him this year. He still has target competition in the form of George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, and Christian McCaffrey. However, there is a world where Pearsall emerges as the team’s leading receiver.

San Francisco still has Brock Purdy at quarterback, and Kyle Shanahan remains one of the best play designers and play-callers in the league. If Pearsall receives a bigger role in this offense, then he will smash this ADP.

Consider Pearsall a priority late-round pick with significant upside.

J.K. Dobbins - RB, Denver Broncos

Current Yahoo ADP: 121.8 Overall

Dobbins signed a one-year contract with the Denver Broncos following a career year with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024.

JK DOBBINS. GO-AHEAD TD WITH 18 SECONDS LEFT.

📺: #CINvsLAC on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/ou4r33q38K

— NFL (@NFL) November 18, 2024

He ran for a career-high 905 rushing yards last year. Dobbins tied a career high with nine rushing touchdowns and caught a career-high 32 receptions last season as well. Considering the fact that Dobbins was fresh off tearing his Achilles tendon, this was a remarkable season.

Fast forward to 2025, and Dobbins is set to have a major role in Denver’s backfield. He will have to compete for touches with explosive rookie R.J. Harvey, but head coach Sean Payton has always deployed multiple running backs in his offense. Dobbins also has the benefit of playing behind one of the best run-blocking offensive lines in the league.

While he cooled off down the stretch last season following a hot start, Dobbins proved he is not completely washed following a rash of unfortunate injuries. He should see plenty of touches in this offense and is a good bet to outperform his current ADP.

Tank Bigsby - RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

Current Yahoo ADP: 130.9 Overall

Bigsby is a name to watch in Jacksonville’s backfield. He outperformed Travis Etienne Jr. last year and finished higher in several advanced metrics, too. Bigsby finished higher than Etienne in Next Gen Stats rush yards over expected (RYOE), PFF's rushing grade, and PFF elusive rating.

Etienne has also struggled with efficiency each of the last two years. The new Jacksonville regime may not hesitate to try someone else at running back if he continues to struggle in 2025. Incoming rookie Bhayshul Tuten has issues in pass protection as well as holding onto the football. While he has a lot of talent, Tuten has to fix these problems before he sees consistent playing time. There is a scenario where Bigsby emerges as Jacksonville’s lead back in 2025.

It’s unclear who new head coach Liam Coen will choose to lead this backfield. Fortunately, all three of these backs are priced very reasonably in drafts this year. Tuten is also a good target in the later rounds of drafts. He is a high upside player who could hit in a big way if he puts it all together. But don’t forget about Bigsby either.

He’s certainly worth a pick in this range of drafts and will be in line for a career year if he emerges as the team’s top back.

Dylan Sampson - RB, Cleveland Browns

Current Yahoo ADP: 134 Overall

Cleveland selected Sampson in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. This pick was overshadowed by Cleveland's selection of former Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins in Round 2 of the NFL Draft. However, after Judkins' arrest for domestic violence, his role with the team is up in the air.

Browns owner, Jimmy Haslam, recently stated he is “cautiously optimistic” that Judkins will be available to play for the 2025 season. However, that is not a given, as we never know exactly how the NFL will handle these kinds of situations.

For his part, Sampson was one of the more underrated running backs in this year’s draft class and posted some strong advanced metrics. Among 163 collegiate backs with 100+ attempts, Sampson finished seventh in missed tackles forced, seventh in PFF rushing grade, and 31st in PFF elusive rating.

Veteran Jerome Ford is still in the mix. It looks like he’ll open the season as the team’s starting back. Outside of his ability to occasionally rip off a long run, he hasn’t been a particularly good player. Depending on what happens with Judkins' legal situation, there could be an opening for Sampson to emerge as the team’s lead back.

Even with Cleveland’s dreadful quarterback situation, Sampson could be a useful flex option, particularly in PPR leagues. Until we get official word on Judkins’ status, gamers can feel comfortable selecting Sampson as a bench stash with one of their last picks.

DeMario Douglas - WR, New England Patriots

Current Yahoo ADP: Undrafted

Early reports from the Patriots' training camp have insinuated that Douglas has been the team’s best receiver so far this summer.

“DeMario Douglas has been the Patriots’ best pass-catcher, and it isn’t close,” per @tkyles39

“He looks more comfortable than ever under Josh McDaniels, consistently getting open, catching everything thrown his way, and quickly becoming Drake Maye’s top target.”

POP SZN 📈📈📈 pic.twitter.com/cjTIVa5ODo

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) July 26, 2025

Last year, Douglas improved upon a surprising 2023 rookie season. He posted a 66-621-3 line on 87 targets in 2024. Douglas tied tight end Hunter Henry for the team lead in receptions, and his three touchdown receptions also tied for the most on the team. Admittedly, those figures do not say much, and despite his statistical improvements, Douglas only finished 2024 as the overall PPR WR47.

With Josh McDaniels calling plays this year, New England’s offense should be significantly better than it was under last year’s play-caller, Alex Van Pelt. It’s also unclear who will emerge as the team’s leading receiver. New England did sign veteran Stefon Diggs this offseason, but he is 31 years old and coming off a major knee injury. Rookie Kyle Williams is also in the mix. However, early reports suggest the team may have pegged him as its new X receiver, and that may not be the best use of his skills.

Douglas has flashed talent during his two years in the league and already has established chemistry with second-year quarterback Drake Maye. That makes Douglas a potentially sneaky third-year breakout candidate.

Exactly who emerges from this receiving room is unknown, but gamers shouldn’t be all that surprised if Douglas ends up as the team's best receiver.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt - RB, Washington Commanders

Current Yahoo ADP: Undrafted

Despite receiving several top-30 predraft visits from NFL teams, Croskey-Merritt fell to the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Eligibility issues limited him to just one game this past season. However, he is a highly talented player who snuck under the radar.

The #Commanders are getting a tremendous value in the explosive, creative, & unpredictable RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt (@JacoryMerritt15)!

Crosky-Merritt displays nimble footwork, strong leg drive to finish, & breakaway speed!#NFLDraft #RaiseHail @raj_manjrekar pic.twitter.com/f8tyRXojqX

— Noah K.M. Chang (@NoahKMChang) April 26, 2025

Croskey-Merritt has reportedly turned multiple heads at the Commanders’ camp so far this summer. There is an explosive element to his game that Washington’s backfield is sorely lacking. While Croskey-Merritt still has some work ahead of him, a recent report stated that he has been receiving reps with the first-team offense.

According to multiple reports, Jacory Croskey Merritt got first team reps today and looked solid 🔥#RaiseHail pic.twitter.com/1Jj3dLNaTI

— SleeperCommanders (@SleeperWSH) July 29, 2025

The only players standing in Croskey-Merritt’s way of playing time are Austin Ekeler and Brian Robinson Jr. Ekeler is a former fantasy football stud, but injuries have slowed him down in recent years. Robinson is a good player, but doesn’t offer much in the way of explosive plays. That is where Croskey-Merritt has a chance to make a difference in this offense.

Croskey-Merritt is available for free and has gone undrafted in the majority of Yahoo drafts so far this summer. There’s a very realistic scenario where he climbs the team’s depth chart this summer and eventually carves out a role in the offense. If he does, he could become a viable flex play with upside for more thanks to his big-play ability.

Gamers can feel confident taking a flyer on Croskey-Merritt with one of their last picks. If you’d rather sit and watch from afar once the season begins, that’s fine too. Just keep in mind that if Croskey-Merritt does pop during the season, you’ll have considerably more competition to acquire him on waivers than you currently do in fantasy drafts.

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