2025 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Later-Career Breakout Candidates

John Johnson breaks down some of 2025's sneakiest sleepers for fantasy football with his list of late-career breakout candidates. It could be worth taking a chance on them.

Typically, most NFL players break out in the early parts of their careers. Between the ages of 20 and 25 is when you expect to see the majority of players have their first big season. Some waste no time and put together excellent years while they're rookies, while some need more time to develop.

These could happen for a variety of reasons. It could take time for their teams to get their stuff together and put them in better situations. Perhaps they start their careers buried on depth charts, or they simply need some time to learn the position and develop the mental aspect of the game.

But there are always players who don't see their golden years (no pun intended) until they're past the quarter-century mark. And while they may not be as exciting as fresh rookies, they can still present serious value in both dynasty and redraft leagues, so they should be pursued. Let's break down my biggest late-career breakout candidates for fantasy football in 2025.

Rashid Shaheed, WR, New Orleans Saints

While Shaheed will be entering just his fourth season in the league, he'll be 27 years old when the 2025 season starts. That counts as later in the career of a wide receiver because it's only three or four years shy of when the inevitable athletic decline begins to occur.

Last season, there were clear signs that Shaheed was likely the Saints WR1, at least before he went down with a season-ending meniscus injury. Shaheed was targeted more than his fellow Saints WR, Chris Olave, through the first six games of the season. He also made the biggest plays, especially during the first two weeks, before offensive line injuries greatly disrupted the passing game.

We forget how ELECTRIC Rashid Shaheed was at the beginning of last season... Target him in a trade! pic.twitter.com/0VUs3jG3Mr

— Dynasty Nerds (@DynastyNerds) February 13, 2025

Shaheed exceeded Olave in targets, target share (the percentage of total team passes that are thrown players' way), first-read target share (the "first set of options the QB checks after taking the snap," according to Fantasy Points' explanation), yards, and touchdowns. The only area in which Olave edged Shaheed was catches, which matters for PPR leagues, of course.

Rashid Shaheed THRIVING in Klint Kubiak's scheme.

After two games:

18.6 fantasy points per game
81% route participation
23% target share
46% air yards

Moves into WR3 w/ WR2 upside territory.

— Dwain McFarland (@dwainmcfarland) September 15, 2024

He also was on the field for the majority of the passing plays and dominated in air yards share, which is important because he was getting a lot of high-value looks. Shaheed should occupy a similar role this season, even though former offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is gone and new head coach Kellen Moore will lead the offense.

This is more of a thing with quarterback Derek Carr than it was with Kubiak, anyway. Carr clearly showed us who he preferred to get the ball to. Though Olave was drafted with much higher draft capital, his career has been marked as much by inconsistency and injury issues as it has been by flashing talent.

Shaheed is a gem whose 2024 breakout season was unfortunately cut short by his injury. But the signs were there, and they told us that Shaheed could have finished as a WR2 or WR1 in 2024. Should he and Carr both stay healthy in 2025, that should happen. He presents great value in both dynasty and redraft leagues.

Darnell Mooney, WR, Atlanta Falcons

For a few games this past season, it looked like Mooney was a great fantasy option and one of the steals of fantasy drafts. But quarterback Kirk Cousins faltered in every game that wasn't against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and rookie QB Michael Penix Jr. was thrust into the starting position after most of the games had already been played.

It also looks like tight end Kyle Pitts is a complete bust, though many surmised that after his second season. This makes Mooney the clear No. 2 option behind WR1 Drake London. If Penix pans out and becomes worthy of his early selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, Mooney could finally put together a season better than his 81-catch, 1,005-yard, six-touchdown season with the Chicago Bears, which was not a breakout, at least not in our eyes.

DARNELL MOONEY FRONT FLIPS INTO THE END ZONE FOR SIX 🔥 pic.twitter.com/C3Qqrx1YuT

— ESPN (@espn) September 17, 2024

Penix was punished heavily for trusting his beleaguered tight end, who dropped a crucial pass and batted it up into the air for an interception on what looked like it could be a touchdown, or at least a play to get very close to the goal line. The signal-caller probably knows now that he's much better off not trying to get the ball to players who can't catch it.

Darnell Mooney Route Cut-Ups (2024)

No particular order pic.twitter.com/gwEYgyriq7

— Mike Vannucci (@WRCoachVannucci) February 15, 2025

Mooney gave us a taste of what an ideal season for him could look like. It's up to MPJr. and the Falcons offensive staff to make that a consistent reality throughout 2025. And it's possible. It helps that Atlanta plays in arguably the worst division in football, too.

Chig Okonkwo, TE, Tennessee Titans

While Okonkwo has only played three seasons in the NFL so far, he'll turn 27 in early September, so youth isn't exactly on his side. But he's played in a few bad offenses now and has flashed great potential. His stat line hasn't been anything to get excited about yet, but if the Titans draft a good quarterback, he could have an excellent season.

Okonkwo has yet to surpass 550 receiving yards or three receiving touchdowns in a season, but getting the tail end of quarterback Ryan Tannehill's career and the rocky tenure of QB Will Levis didn't do anything good for his production. It's very difficult to succeed as a tight end with poor quarterback play, if not borderline impossible.

Will Levis to Chigoziem Okonkwo for a @Titans TD!

📺: #TENvsCHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/s4qQzaBXgL

— NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2024

Yet, his highlight reel is populated with a lot of great plays. Okonkwo is a bit undersized for a tight end, weighing just 238 pounds, but that lends him extra mobility. And he's a fantastic athlete. He has fantastic strength, is great after the catch, and can break tackles well, for starters.

August 17 reminder that Chigoziem Okonkwo is good at football pic.twitter.com/JSFfiTmKjX

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) August 17, 2023

He fits the prototype of a player you should consistently feed screens and easy targets to, so it's been strange not to see him involved in the game plan more. It's not like Tennessee has a bunch of elite receivers to get the ball to. Okonkwo is a nice chess piece because he's surprisingly nimble and has quick feet for his size.

He's, thus, an excellent mismatch machine for opposing linebackers. Utilizing him more out of the slot on a team that lacks a good slot wide receiver option makes a ton of sense. Of course, it's hard to do anything consistently when you have a quarterback with poor accuracy and instincts like Levis.

There are a lot of options for how he can be used. He's a weapon on short crossing routes that get him into space and allow him to build up steam. In the red zone, he has the size to win jump balls, and out of the backfield, he's excellent for flare-out routes.

Since 2006, there have only been 6 ROOKIE TEs to post 2.00 YPRR or higher (min. 150 routes run), per @PFF.

Rob Gronkowski (2010)- 2.00
Jimmy Graham (2010)- 2.23
Jordan Reed (2013)- 2.17
Mark Andrews (2018)- 2.01
Kyle Pitts (2021)- 2.02
💪

👀 Chigoziem Okonkwo (2022)- 2.61 pic.twitter.com/px9TVsHWZ7

— Jon Macri (@PFF_Macri) July 4, 2023

Efficiency metrics are usually a good indicator that an improvement in situation could lead to a highly productive season. Okonkwo was massively efficient in 2022, breaking the record for yards per route run by a rookie tight end, a mark that wasn't even surpassed by Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers in 2024.

So, IF Tennessee ends up with a signal-caller worth its salt in 2025, Okonkwo should easily have the best season of his career after turning 27 years old.

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