Later-Round Fantasy Football RB, WR Sleepers: Ryan's Must-Have Picks With Upside

August 31, 2025

Ryan's favorite later-round fantasy football sleepers for 2025 drafts -- high-upside value picks with breakout potential that can help win your fantasy leagues.

We are officially deep into draft season with the NFL kickoff ~1 week away. While the first two weeks of March Madness will always be untouchable for me, the end of August -> early September span is somewhere in the top five. It's really hard to beat non-stop fantasy draft action. Undoubtedly one of the best times of the year. 3WR, 2 flex? 18-man, 20-round guillotine? Vampire league? Whatever the format, now is the time to buckle down, find the value picks, and call your shots.

Everyone is undefeated. Possibilities are endless. Who says Bryce Young can't throw for 35 touchdowns this season? Well, I do, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. No one truly knows what the ensuing fantasy season will entail, and that uncertainty is part of the magic of fantasy football. The mystery and intrigue of draft season is why it's so special.

Hundreds of thousands of leagues have already been drafted thus far, but if you are one of those smart individuals who waited until now to draft, this article is for you. The preseason has officially wrapped up, 53-man rosters finalized, and Rashee Rice's suspension decision has been settled. The best time to draft is now. Here are some high-upside later-round targets for your 2025 fantasy football drafts.

Cedric Tillman, WR, Cleveland Browns

It's no secret that the Cleveland Browns are an absolute mess right now, consistently making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The saying "all press is good press" certainly does not apply here.

Is one man's trash another man's treasure, though? It couldn't be truer for the situation that third-year wideout Tillman finds himself in. Many will write off this Browns offense immediately, and that would be a mistake, especially when it comes to Tillman. The Tennessee product has shown flashes of being a great NFL wide receiver during his first two campaigns. Terrible quarterback play and injuries have limited his potential, but he now has some stability in the former, with journeyman gunslinger Joe Flacco tossing him the rock.

The former Super Bowl MVP has enjoyed a career resurgence in the past few years. He was somehow able to lead this Browns franchise to a surprise playoff berth in 2023 after throwing for over 300 yards and almost three touchdowns per game when taking over as the starter in early December.

Flacco, 40, is not the future in Cleveland, but he has proven that he can create immense fantasy value with his cannon of an arm. During that five-game stretch to close out the fantasy season in 2023, Amari Cooper was the WR5, and David Njoku the TE1. Yes, the Browns offense, led by then 38-year-old Joe Flacco, won a lot of people's fantasy titles two seasons ago. Fantasy football can be a funny thing.

Tillman is a field-stretching vertical threat, with a true X receiver frame at 6'3", 215 lbs. He flashed his potential during a three-week stretch last season when Jameis Winston was quarterbacking the team, putting up averages of 10.6 targets, 7 receptions, and 85 yards per game, while finding the endzone three times. Flacco operates the quarterback position very similarly to Jaboo, in that they are both wholly unafraid to let the ball fly. Let it rip, ask questions last. That seems to be the motto with these two.

The Browns also possess an uninspiring run game, with Jerome Ford and fourth-round rookie Dylan Sampson leading the charge. 2025 second-round pick Quinshon Judkins remains unsigned after being arrested for domestic violence back in July. This should lead to an even higher volume of passing work from Flacco, which would give all Browns receivers a boost.

It will be a small miracle if this team is able to win even seven games this season. Their current line is set at 4.5, which means the Browns will find themselves trailing. Constantly. This will force them to pass the ball even more than they already plan to. With Flacco under center, both Njoku and Tillman are being overlooked in drafts, with Tillman in particular standing out as an exceptional late-round target. He is currently going as the WR66 in PPR formats, but is a great dark horse candidate to finish as a top-30 wideout.

People forget Cedric Tillman goes 110 picks later and won’t be suspended pic.twitter.com/fDEUo439pA

— Justin Macmahan (@JustinMacmahan) August 12, 2025

Tank Bigsby, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

It's been tough to evaluate the Jags backfield this offseason, with three legitimate options with unique skillsets vying for time, but I am a firm believer that the most valuable player amongst them will be third-year pro Tank Bigsby.

The incumbent Travis Etienne was a fantasy disaster for Jacksonville in 2024, finishing as the RB39 against an RB7 ADP. The former first-round pick out of Clemson was the RB3 only two seasons ago, after piling up 12 total touchdowns and almost 1,500 yards from scrimmage, but has seen his fantasy stock plummet after the catastrophe that was last season.

Bigsby, on the other hand, appeared to be the clearly superior runner last year, piling up nearly 200 more rushing yards while averaging almost a full yard per carry more than Etienne. The former Auburn Tiger might not have the top-end speed of Etienne, but he is a punishing runner who can shed tacklers and pick up the tough yards, while also showcasing some explosiveness along the way. He was tied for the league lead in yards after contact per rush with future Hall-of-Famer Derrick Henry.

The big knock on Bigsby is his lack of pass-catching work, which is a legitimate concern. His passing volume was among the lowest of all running backs who rushed for over 500 yards. However, this wasn’t a major concern for Bigsby as a college prospect, given that he hauled in 51 catches over his final two seasons at Auburn. This volume will almost surely increase heading into this third season.

Rookie Bayshul Tuten was also taken in the fourth round of this year's draft, the first hand-selected RB by this new coaching staff and front office. While many are tantalized by Tuten's 4.32 speed, he doesn’t match Bigsby as a pure runner, and won't be a factor at the goal line - a role that should belong exclusively to Bigsby.

All the news out of camp points to Bigsby taking over the lead role in the backfield, but if we've learned anything from new head coach Liam Cohen, it's that he will utilize multiple backs. This shouldn't scare you away from Bigsby, though, because Cohen has proven he can make multiple RBs fantasy relevant. Both Rachaad White and Bucky Irving finished in the top 20 of the position in 2024 while Cohen was the offensive coordinator.

There have been reports about the Jaguars exploring trade options for Etienne. If he's gone, Bigsby will skyrocket in drafts. However, if Jacksonville elects to keep him, there is a world in which both are top-30 options at the position this season. Bigsby should be a target for all teams in the 10th and 11th rounds of drafts, currently going as the RB41.

Marvin Mims Jr., WR, Denver Broncos

Potentially the biggest dart throw of the players included here, but also maybe the most exciting one, given the player makeup. Mims has been primarily used as a gadget player / kick returner over the course of his two NFL seasons, but he has been generating some legitimate buzz heading into year three.

The Oklahoma product has only played more than 50% of snaps in a game two times in two years. That number is astonishingly low given his second-round draft capital in 2023. However, his utilization in the preseason could signal a potential shift in favor of Mims.

Preseason Week 3 ...

Bo Nix dropbacks: 15

Marvin Mims routes: 15

That's a 92% route rate for Mims with Nix this preseason 👀 https://t.co/JxCAEM6ruO

— Jared Smola (@SmolaDS) August 23, 2025

Mims has been getting reps in two and three-WR sets for this team, suggesting a surge in snap percentage this upcoming season. He won't be fantasy relevant if he continues to only see the field 20-30% of the time, but this usage so far is incredibly promising for his 2025 fantasy prospects.

Quarterback Bo Nix will also have another offseason under his belt after a stellar rookie year. The former No. 12 overall pick was among the league leaders in deep passing volume, and while he has room to improve on completion percentage, this proves that head coach Sean Payton wants to air it out and trusts his young QB to do so. A significant number of these high-value opportunities will likely go to Mims, further boosting his stock for this year.

The speedster's boom-bust profile projects as a better option for best ball, but if he can get on the field more often, there's absolutely a path to weekly fantasy relevance for Mims. He's worth a late-round flier.

2024 WR Leaders in Fantasy Points per Route Run [+Route Share in parentheses]

1. Puka Nacua, 0.75 (72%)
2. Marvin Mims, 0.72 (28%) 🚀🚀🚀
3. AJ Brown, 0.65 (89%)
4. Mike Evans, 0.64 (71%)
5. Amon-Ra St. Brown, 0.63 (84%)

Marvin Mims earned an 82% route share with Denver's… pic.twitter.com/yaI27R8nkY

— Fantasy Points Data (@FantasyPtsData) August 11, 2025

Ricky Pearsall, WR, San Francisco 49ers

Perhaps no team has been more ravaged by the injury bug than San Francisco. It's not even really appropriate to call it a "bug." A plague or virus may be a more apt description.

Someone who has been able to dodge this plague (at least on the field) is second-year wideout Ricky Pearsall, who very well could start the season as Brock Purdy's top option at the wide receiver position. Deebo Samuel Sr. is gone, Brandon Aiyuk is still hurt, and last year's breakout Jauan Jennings is uncertain for Week 1. That puts Pearsall in a great spot to produce early and often.

The 2025 first-round pick out of Florida didn't see a ton of action last season, as he spent the first couple of months of the season recovering from a gunshot wound he sustained from an attempted robbery mere days before kick-off. He played more than 60% of snaps in only six games, but in those contests, he averaged over 13 fantasy points in half-PPR scoring. That would have put him at WR9, just ahead of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is currently going in the third round of drafts. This doesn’t mean fantasy managers should take Pearsall ahead of JSN, but it does highlight that Pearsall’s ceiling is far higher than many people realize.

This offense does have a lot of mouths to feed. George Kittle is, of course, the clear-cut #1 pass-catching option for this team, and if Christian McCaffrey can stay on the field, he will command 15-20% of the targets. Also, when Jennings is healthy, he may remain the top wide receiver on the roster. However, the door is fully ajar for Pearsall to take over that top wideout spot this season, with Jennings hobbling into the season with a calf injury. Even if Pearsall is unable to usurp Jennings in the pecking order, the WR2 in this offense has proven to be extremely lucrative for fantasy. In 2023, Samuel and Aiyuk finished as the WR9 and WR12, respectively. Jennings and Pearsall are highly unlikely to touch those marks, but a top-20 finish is squarely in the realm of possibilities for the latter.

Camp news has also been glowing, as Pearsall reportedly has developed a great rapport with Purdy this offseason. Throw in the fact that SF has the 2nd easiest schedule for WRs heading into the 2025 season, and you have an almost perfect formula for a later round breakout. He's currently going as the WR37 in the 7th/8th round, which is almost two rounds too late. Grab Pearsall a round early and reap the benefits.

WR3s in fantasy football this year….who could realistically finish as WR1s 👀:

-Tetairoa McMillan
-Deebo Samuel
-Ricky Pearsall
-Jakobi Meyers
-Stefon Diggspic.twitter.com/T4Ux6X0P8R

— Moody (@EricNMoody) August 25, 2025

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