Later-Round Fantasy Football Sleepers and Draft Values to Outperform ADP

Andy looks at undervalued fantasy football sleepers for 2025 at from each position who will outperform their ADP. These sleepers could be sneaky draft picks.

Hello RotoBallers! Fantasy football draft season is in full swing. While many managers put much of their attention on the opening rounds, the final rounds could be just as important.

While you cannot lose your league with your final picks, you can win them. Just look at Bucky Irving and Jayden Daniels from last season.

In this piece, I will look at five of my favorite late-round targets who are set to smash their current ADP. For reference, all players in this piece are being selected after picking 120.0 on Yahoo! Let's dive in!

• 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
• FLEX fantasy football rankings
• Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
• Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
• Dynasty fantasy football rankings

Late-Round Fantasy Football Sleepers - Quarterback

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Yahoo ADP - 128.4

Trevor Lawrence has been a difficult quarterback to trust throughout his career. During his rookie season, he struggled, posting a 12:17 TD:INT with just 3,641 yards.

However, in 2022 and 2023, Lawrence posted back-to-back 4,000-yard campaigns but struggled with his decision-making, holding a cumulative 46:22 TD:INT over this stretch.

In 2025, Lawrence battled numerous injuries and was only able to appear in 10 games. During this stretch, the former first overall pick threw just 2,045 yards with 11 passing scores and a hefty seven interceptions.

Despite the rough showing last season, if I were to draft my QB1 in the final rounds, I would target Lawrence. Lawrence has seen his offensive situation improve drastically during the offseason. The Jaguars hired former Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen and, more importantly, added one of the best wide receiver prospects of all time, Travis Hunter, with the second overall pick.

In fact, the Jaguars traded up to acquire Hunter, suggesting that they not only view Hunter as a generational talent but also believe this team is capable of winning with their current QB1.

Coen played a significant role in leading Baker Mayfield's career resurgence. Mayfield enjoyed a solid debut season with Tampa Bay in 2023, but took the next step with Coen as his OC in 2024. This past fall, Mayfield threw for a career-best 4,500 passing yards with 41 touchdowns. While he threw 16 interceptions, Mayfield was the leader of the sport's No. 3 offense in terms of yards per game.

Lawrence could be poised to enjoy a similar resurgence with Coen in Duval County. However, one can argue that Lawrence's passing weapons are more talented than Mayfield's. Lawrence will have breakout star Brian Thomas Jr. as his WR1, and Hunter slides in as his No. 2.

Given his low investment cost in drafts, the former Clemson standout is in a perfect situation to smash at his ADP and carry top-12 QB upside during the season. If you opt to wait on drafting your QB1, Lawrence is a top late-round pick with immense upside.

TREVOR LAWRENCE HITS BRIAN THOMAS JR. IN STRIDE FOR THE 85-YARD SCORE 🔥

(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/m6MlENXvGO

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 6, 2024

Late-Round Fantasy Football Sleepers - Running Backs

Dylan Sampson, Cleveland Browns

Yahoo ADP - 129.5

The fourth round rookie out of Tennessee was not viewed as possessing much upside in the fantasy community following the NFL Draft, as the Browns selected their RB1 of the future in Quinshon Judkins earlier in the second round. However, with Judkins still unsigned following his arrest for domestic assault, Sampson has a clear path to take over the RB1 job in Cleveland.

In his final season in Tennessee, Sampson was highly effective, earning him the SEC Offensive Player of the Year award. Sampson led the conference in rushing yards (1,491) and rushing touchdowns (22).

Throughout the preseason, Sampson was typically deployed as the starting option alongside veteran Jerome Ford. While Ford could be given a slightly larger workload earlier in his experience with the team, Sampson has much higher upside as a pure rusher.

In fact, during their final preseason contest, Sampson was given the first carry with the first team instead of Ford, which is a telling sign. While the 20-year-old is expected to be the 1A in a committee to open the season, he has the path to quickly take over the starting job, given the immense success he enjoyed during his final collegiate season.

Securing an RB1 at this cost is unlikely, but if there is anyone with the situation to do so, it would be Sampson. The longer Judkins remains away from the team, the more the coaching staff will grow in favor of Sampson.

Sampson is still being selected after running backs with much less favorable situations, such as Rico Dowdle, Kareem Hunt, and Najee Harris.

Austin Ekeler, Washington Commanders

Yahoo ADP - 125.0

While Austin Ekeler does not have as much upside as Sampson, he is still in a great position to smash at his current price. Earlier in the offseason, the Commanders traded presumed starter Brian Robinson Jr. to the San Francisco 49ers. That leaves Ekeler, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Jeremy McNichols, and seventh-round rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt as his competition.

While Croskey-Merritt has been one of the biggest risers in terms of potential opportunity share during the preseason, do not count out Ekeler to lead the running back room in offensive snaps. In 2024, Ekeler averaged 34.1 offensive snaps per game, just two behind Robinson's 36.1 mark.

Through his first 10 games of the season, Ekeler surpassed the double-digit PPR mark in all but two games, averaging a strong 12.3 PPR points per game, which would make him a solid RB3/flex option.

During this time, he averaged 3.6 targets per game and 77.7 total scrimmage yards per game. The 30-year-old was still very efficient with the ball in his hands, despite his age, posting a strong 4.8 YPC (third-highest mark of his career) and averaging 12.3 yards after the catch, which was among the highest marks at his position.

The seventh-round rookie may have stolen the headlines, but do not let the veteran slip too far in your draft. Ekeler should be in a prime position to lead the depth chart in offensive snaps, which could provide him an excellent opportunity to post RB2 numbers playing in a high-octane offense in a pass-catching role.

.@AustinEkeler goes 24 yards for the TD!

📺: #WASvsCIN on ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/CVzFptP3Ko

— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2024

Late-Round Fantasy Football Sleepers - Wide Receiver

Christian Kirk, Houston Texans

Yahoo ADP - 130.5

The 28-year-old was not a flashy offseason acquisition by the Texans, but he appears to be poised for a lead role at the start of the season. In the offseason, the Texans opted not to re-sign veteran Stefon Diggs and will be without wideout Tank Dell (knee) for the majority of the season.

While the Texans selected Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel in the second and third rounds of the NFL Draft, Kirk appears to have settled as the No. 2 option in the offense alongside Nico Collins.

During the preseason, Kirk was deployed exclusively alongside Collins and quarterback C.J. Stroud, while both rookies were given opportunities to work with other offensive players. While Higgins and Noel should eventually earn a role on the offense, for the time being, Kirk appears to be poised to take on a starting role.

More importantly, the Texans will be without their top running back, Joe Mixon (foot), for the foreseeable future, which will likely cause their rushing attack to take a step back, with veteran Nick Chubb leading the charge. Chubb is coming off the most inefficient season of his career and will face an uphill battle to return to form.

Fantasy managers should expect Stroud to push the ball downfield more often than usual, which will put Kirk in a prime spot to bounce back. He is a strong target as a WR4/WR5 in deeper PPR leagues at his ADP.

Late-Round Fantasy Football Sleepers - Tight End

Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars

Yahoo ADP - 132.5

My final late-round sleeper to consider targeting is Brenton Strange, a teammate of Lawrence. After catching only five passes as a rookie, Strange was given a substantial role in 2024, essentially filling in for the often-injured Evan Engram.

In the game in which Strange played at least 48 offensive snaps, he averaged an impressive 12.5 PPR points per game. During this stretch, the tight end averaged a strong 6.3 targets per game, which suggests Lawrence looked his way quite often when on the field.

Strange was targeted on 20.9% of his total routes, which was above the average marks at the position. With Engram now off the roster, Strange is poised to open the season as the team's clear TE1 and could be in store for a massive breakout season.

Last season in Tampa Bay, Coen helped tight end Cade Otton reach new heights as he caught a career-best 59 receptions for 600 yards. While he benefited from several Tampa wideouts missing time, Coen was able to create a well-designed scheme for the tight end to be involved in the passing attack.

While it would not be ideal to draft Strange as your "TE1," he is a top TE2 target of mine, especially at cost. Currently, several tight ends that will have a much tougher time finding consistent targets, like Isaiah Likely, Mike Gesicki, and Pat Freiermuth, are going ahead of him in Yahoo leagues. If you are looking for a TE2 that has the upside to emerge as a strong streaming option, make sure to target Strange in the final rounds of your draft.

Brenton Strange might be a sneaky producer if Liam Coen elevates the Jacksonville Jaguars offense

▪️Round 2 pick entering Year 3
▪️TE14 in yards per route run in 2024 (out of 37 qualifiers) https://t.co/S5wgXPYFxx

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) August 5, 2025

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