4 Dynasty Fantasy Football Sleepers to Buy Before They Break Out: Sneaky Trade Targets

Aidin Ebrahimi's fantasy football breakout candidates to trade for in dynasty leagues. His top undervalued players and sneaky trade targets for 2025.

We all love dynasty fantasy football. Sure, it takes a lot of effort to manage a team, but that's part of the fun. It's like managing a real football team, and seeing one of the young players you drafted become a star is so rewarding.

Of course, it's fairly obvious that the biggest names have the highest chance of succeeding, but what about the overlooked players? The players who might not necessarily break out this season, but could become real fantasy football assets in the years to come.

Without further ado, let's look at four players (QB, RB, WR, TE) to buy in dynasty leagues before they break out in the next few seasons. All player rankings are from our dynasty rankings as of July 9, 2025.

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
• Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
• Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
• Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
• NFL rookie fantasy football rankings
• Best ball fantasy football rankings
• Superflex fantasy football rankings
• Dynasty fantasy football rankings

Joe Milton III - QB, Dallas Cowboys

Despite drafting sensational QB prospect Drake Maye with the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots still felt like they needed an insurance policy, and drafted Milton in the sixth round.

Joe Milton, Dak Prescott, and Will Grier enjoying the G7 Celebrity Golf Classic last weekend. pic.twitter.com/541uyDFR7k

— Tucker Harlin (@TuckerHarlin) June 26, 2025

Milton only became a full-time starter in his sixth and final season of collegiate football, but he shone when he was given the chance. Milton had 20 passing and seven rushing touchdowns in the 2023 season with Tennessee, as scouts realised his dual-threat abilities.

His height and measurables were a huge talking point, and Milton quickly became a fan favorite in preseason, despite his accuracy issues. However, veteran Jacoby Brissett was named the starter, and Maye took his place from Week 6 onwards.

Maye was very impressive, and he made it quite apparent that he'd be the Pats' QB of the future, so Milton didn't get a chance until Week 18. But he made the most of his only chance.

Milton impressed NFL fans with a performance that saw him throw a touchdown, post a 111.4 passer rating, and score a TD on the ground. That game showed teams that he could develop into something special in the future, which caused the Cowboys to trade a fifth-round pick for him.

Milton won't take Dak Prescott's job anytime soon. But he's the QB2, and can get some playing time whenever Prescott goes down. Prescott has missed 26 games in his last five seasons, which is over five games per year.

And there's always the potential of Milton replacing Prescott after a few years of learning from him. Milton is different from Trey Lance; Lance was a high pick who the Cowboys didn't even trust as their QB2, while Milton is a late-round pick who is currently facing no significant competition for the backup job. He's currently ranked as the QB35 in our rankings, which makes him a cheap and intriguing stash option.

Jordan Mason - RB, Minnesota Vikings

Out of everyone on this list, Mason is the one who can make the biggest immediate impact. Mason, who is currently ranked as our RB42, was the RB10 from Week 1 to 7, and was on track to rush for 1456 yards and six touchdowns before Christian McCaffrey returned.

Unfortunately, his role diminished, and he couldn't even take advantage of CMC's season-ending injury in Week 13, as Mason also suffered a season-ending injury in the same game.

Now, Mason finds himself on the Vikings, and the good news for him is that he no longer has McCaffrey and Isaac Guerendo to compete with.

Aaron Jones is a tremendous player who just had one of the best seasons of his career, but he's no CMC. Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell wants to maximize Jones now that he's in his 30s, and claims a 1A-1B-type duo works best for him.

"When he has historically had that 1-A, 1-B backfield structure, he could be a total game-changer every time he touches the ball," O'Connell said. "I do think Jordan's going to bring something to the table in those short-yardage situations."

Jones has scored just two touchdowns from inside the 10 in the last two seasons, while Mason scored all three of his TDs in 2024 from that area. Mason has the chance to become a goal-line TD monster in Minnesota and eventually take over the reins from Jones in a few years.

Xavier Legette - WR, Carolina Panthers

After struggling to establish himself in his first four seasons at South Carolina, Legette exploded in year five, racking up 1255 yards and scoring seven touchdowns.

His breakout season and athletic ability shot him up the draft boards, and he was taken with the 32nd overall pick in last year's draft.

Legette started the year off slowly, but got better once Bryce Young was reinstated as the starter. He recorded 255 yards and scored two touchdowns in the six games after Young's return before suffering groin and hip injuries that limited his involvement in the final few weeks.

In addition to those injuries, Legette also suffered from wrist and foot injuries and underwent foot surgery in the offseason. However, he's now back and training with the team.

"I know he's in a good space," said Panthers HC Dave Canales when asked about Legette during OTAs. "And he really has just been enjoying this offseason working hard."

Legette knew his main problem last year was his high number of drops, as he was one of the 22 WRs last year with at least seven drops. He has reviewed the film of every one of his 84 targets from last season, and is working alongside WR coach Rob Moore and OC Brad Idzik to fix this issue.

Now that the team has drafted Tetairoa McMillan, they are fully focused on developing Bryce Young and ensuring he has a breakout season. And if Young breaks out, Legette will also break out and become a solid fantasy option, which is a bargain considering his WR63 ranking.

Theo Johnson - TE, New York Giants

Most of us have heard that Russell Wilson doesn't throw to his TEs all that often, but is that a Wilson issue or a personnel issue? From 2015 to 2017 on Wilson's Seahawks, only Doug Baldwin (344) had more targets than then-superstar TE Jimmy Graham (265).

Theo Johnson, student of Tight End University pic.twitter.com/5dFxRfvXui

— Giants Nation Show (@GiantsNationPod) June 25, 2025

And in 2024, only George Pickens (59) had more targets than Pat Freiermuth (52) with Wilson as the starting quarterback. So, Wilson likes throwing to his TEs if they're a solid pass-catching threat, and current dynasty TE30 Theo Johnson could become just that in the not-too-distant future.

The fourth-round pick caught 18 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown in his final five games of the season before suffering a season-ending injury, and is claiming that he has taken a big leap from his rookie season, saying that he has felt "a huge difference."

The Giants don't have too many outstanding receivers apart from Malik Nabers, and Johnson could quickly become one of Wilson's favorite targets.

And when Wilson and/or Jameis Winston step away, he could build a solid connection with Jaxson Dart, whose TEs caught a total of 97 passes (19% of his completions) in his last two seasons at Ole Miss.

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