Late-Round NFL Draft Sleepers: Rookie Fantasy Football Steals for 2025

March 12, 2025

John's 2025 NFL Draft sleepers who will be fantasy football draft steals in 2025. Read about his fantasy football rookies to target as 2025 draft values.

It's time to cover some late-round 2025 NFL Draft players that could end up as steals for fantasy football as if I haven't already covered them at length. Mostly. Every time a new article comes out, though, there will be new information that can help you secure players that will end up outperforming their ADPs.

Take it from the guy who begged you to pick up running back Bucky Irving and wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. after Week 3 of the 2024-2025 season. Both of them ended up being league-winners and smashing their ADP's so hard that they elevated many fantasy teams to the championship.

There is no shortage of steals this year. I've identified several deficiencies in NFL scouting processes and developed a keen eye for evaluating rookies. Thankfully, that led me to draft Thomas and Irving in nearly all my fantasy leagues in 2024. It paid off. Let's dive in.

Tez Johnson, WR, NFL Draft Rookie

The weird thing about Johnson is that he looks eerily similar to another rookie WR who looked to be a league-winner before injuries derailed his campaign. Yet he's ranked stupidly low in Dynasty rookie rankings, and not projected as likely to be picked inside the first three rounds.

Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell burst onto the scene in 2023 with elite production before breaking his leg. And Johnson compares very closely to Dell, yet it's as if the broader community hasn't learned their lesson. Strange stuff. Johnson is a fantastic separator.

Tez Johnson has been unguardable thus far in Mobile. Electric ballplayer. pic.twitter.com/CLfmu7PSpj

— Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) January 29, 2025

Unguardable, yet not worthy of a pick in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft and not even inside the top-20 of the Dynasty rookie rankings? The number one skill a WR should possess in the NFL is the ability to get away from defenders. Johnson is a wizard at that.

And Dell was supposed to quiet the concerns about smaller receivers not being strong or physical enough to stand up to athletic NFL DBs. Funny concern to have if the defender isn't able to get his hands on him. Exactly how much tape of him displaying filthy releases and great long speed do we need to be convinced?

TEZ JOHNSON’S ROUTES ARE NASTY.

😱😱😱

UNSTOPPABLE.

Looks a lot like Tank Dell’s route-running ability.
pic.twitter.com/jv0ORMUEvO

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 29, 2025

We basically have the blueprint for Johnson already. And yes, Dell has had horrible injury luck, but we shouldn't hold that against him. He had an offensive lineman fall on his leg in 2023, got shot in the leg in the offseason, and then had his own teammate dive directly into his knee at full speed. Not really his fault, or due to his small stature.

Johnson will be a good separator in the league from his first game, and people will wonder how they whiffed on him. I won't, because I'm drafting him in every redraft league.

Jayden Higgins, WR, NFL Draft Rookie

He's one inch shorter than Arizona Wildcats WR Tetairoa McMillan, and he didn't get eleventy trillion yards and 1,000 touchdowns against some Division III college in his first game of the season. This means former Iowa State Cyclones wide receiver Jayden Higgins isn't that good, right? Well, no.

Jayden Higgins is 6’4, 220lbs and moving like this…

This angle shows his INSANE movement ability 🤯 pic.twitter.com/dfd6JKivUC

— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) January 30, 2025

He has better releases, is more explosive out of his breaks, has better agility and change-of-direction skills, and is more consistent overall than McMillan. Is the one inch really that big of a deal? I can't see why. TMac was crowned as the WR1 after a game against the University of New Mexico. In the next game, he caught two passes for 11 yards.

It's the Dalton Kincaid vs. Sam LaPorta argument all over again. With some hand-waving and babbling, scouts claimed that Kincaid had a higher ceiling, though LaPorta was by far the more polished route-runner. That ceiling never materialized, and now it's obvious which one was the better player.

Iowa St. WR Jayden Higgins - size (6'3+, 215) ✅ and the contested catch ability to match

But even more impressive at that size is his short area quickness pre/post catch

60 1st downs and 9 TDs this season (per PFF) pic.twitter.com/8MknQQLzj4

— Connor Rogers (@ConnorJRogers) December 5, 2024

That's not to say that McMillan is a bad player, but that Higgins is a massive steal, and the fact that he laps TMac in a few categories yet is significantly cheaper in both Redraft and Dynasty is very telling. Rankings are extremely inflexible, and no analysts are bold enough to put Higgins over McMillan in their rankings.

Jayden Higgins

- So silky for a 6'4 215 guy. pic.twitter.com/1EsXPQXY6I

— Jacob Morley (@JacobMorley) January 31, 2025

That's a route that McMillan can't run with that kind of fluidity. Yet we're certain that he's the better prospect, and he's remarkable for his size. One inch really makes a huge difference to them, I guess. Not to me. Higgins is the more complete and versatile player. Zero chance I'm keeping the No. 1 pick in rookie drafts in any league. Trade down, get players and picks, pick up Higgins, and profit.

Dylan Sampson, RB, NFL Draft Rookie

A track athlete in a football uniform that crushed an SEC team's school single-season rushing records, put up a dominant stat line, and carried his team's offense on his back in one of the hardest conferences to play for in college football should be rated a little higher than he is.

Yet former Tennessee Volunteers running back Dylan Sampson is also seen as a 4th-rounder or worse by many mock draft makers right now. And he'll likely be a late-round pick in redraft in fantasy football and a late 2nd-round pick in rookie drafts.

As I've said many times, this year's running back class is beyond stacked. Sampson rushed 258 times for 1,491 yards and 22 touchdowns and caught 20 passes for 143 yards. And the team around him was not good. Great players carrying bad teams are usually dynamite in the NFL. It's not an easy thing to do.

Dylan Sampson - TOUCHDOWN pic.twitter.com/8xVbZJGixw

— gmannVOLS (@gmannVOLS) November 3, 2024

A review of Sampson's tape may leave many asking why he's not ranked higher. Yet the iron curtain of consensus rankings warps the opinions of many analysts into criticizing players for things that aren't their fault or simply putting falsehoods in draft profiles to fit the agenda of the rankings.

Living under the tyranny of those rankings isn't fun. It lost me in multiple fantasy football leagues in the past. And you shouldn't do it either. Sampson is elite. He has track star speed, great agility, and is a fantastic tackle-breaker.

Dylan Sampson next Saturday in Columbus pic.twitter.com/Jo5KVtwQJx

— More Important Issues (@More_Issues) December 10, 2024

Significantly less athletic backs are ranked well above him. Let Ashton Jeanty continue to take all the attention away, and the weird infatuation with mediocre athlete Kaleb Johnson further cements your ability to pick up Sampson. Then, when he breaks away for his first massive 50+ yard run, let them regret their decisions.

Last season, San Francisco 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo crushed it when given the opportunity in his rookie season. Yet before the draft, talk of him as an elite prospect was laughed at and even met with derision. Yet a lot of people shut up after his first huge run. Sampson will have one of those this season. The cycle will always repeat itself.

RB Bhayshul Tuten

Ironically, despite the final paragraph of Sampson's write-up being about Guerendo, former Virginia Tech Hokies running back Bhayshul Tuten profiles more similarly to the 49ers stud back. Tuten is 209 pounds, so Guerendo has a decent size advantage, but Tuten outweighs Sampson by around 10 pounds.

And he can fly, just like Sampson. And he went to a less popular college, just like Guerendo. And he has elite, game-breaking speed. And he's flying way, way under the radar in a stacked class because it was decreed that everyone should collectively ignore a Virginia Tech player.

Pretty cool to see @bhayshul Tuten make some #HokieHistory last night! #Hokies pic.twitter.com/o7CzpWZRSa

— Clark Ruhland (@Hokie20) October 18, 2024

There isn't anything about his tape that suggests that he won't be a breakout star at some point. He has no lack of speed (in fact, he probably will run a sub-4.40 second 40-yard dash), he can break and avoid tackles at an elite rate, he has incredible burst, he has excellent vision, and he's very agile.

Jeanty, Skattebo, Harvey, Tuten solid here pic.twitter.com/m6xs8KWQi9

— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) January 29, 2025

Obviously, Jeanty is seen as the best back in this class, and that's hard to argue with. And former Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo has been picking up more hype as the offseason wears on. Yet Tuten isn't even rated in the top-30 in most Dynasty rookie rankings. As if the tape isn't good enough? It's ridiculous.

An attitude many in the community have is resistance to players they haven't heard much talk about. But that doesn't boost a player's eventual production on the field. And the logo on his helmet won't stop him from running with the ball. His highly translatable skillset will find him quick success on the field, as long as he's not in a horrible situation or doesn't get enough opportunities.

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