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Dave's fantasy football sneaky bench stashes, sleepers, and late-round draft targets for 2026. Potential league-winners, including Xavier Worthy and Josh Downs.
As we inch closer to the start of another NFL season, now is a good time to ramp up preparations for your annual fantasy football draft. Ideally, you would have started preparing months ago by doing mock drafts and checking out rankings/articles here on RotoBaller. But hey, if you’re the type that likes to cram the night before a test, we’ve got you covered too.
If you’re looking for a nice hack to get ahead of your leaguemates, targeting good bench stashes with your final picks is a great way to do so. Sure, the odds of finding a stud at this stage of drafts are slim. However, if you hit on just one of your late-round picks, it can go a long way toward winning a fantasy championship. So today, we’ll identify several bench stashes who could morph into major contributors for your team this year.
Make sure you’re following RotoBaller on X and download the RotoBaller app for all your fantasy football needs. Here are five bench sleepers to stash in your 2026 fantasy football drafts.
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Rachaad White - RB, Washington Commanders
White flamed out as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB1 and signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Washington Commanders this offseason. While Jacory Croskey-Merritt had a solid rookie season for Washington last year, it was an up-and-down affair that saw him eventually supplanted as the team’s RB1 by Chris Rodriguez Jr., only to regain the role once the latter was injured.
While White has not been an efficient rusher since entering the league, he does have a leg up on Croskey-Merritt in terms of pass-catching ability. White has caught at least 40 passes in all four of his professional seasons to date.
Baker dishes it to Rachaad White, and he does the rest for a 43-yard TD!
📺: #TENvsTB on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/kECSNGc6Bj pic.twitter.com/yxJ9NGW7lh— NFL (@NFL) November 12, 2023
Recent reports do suggest that Croskey-Merritt has made strides as a pass catcher. This is potentially troublesome for White and good news for my RotoBaller colleague Andy Smith, who likes Croskey-Merritt as a potential league-winning running back this year.
However, White appears to be the superior pass protector. Among 134 eligible backs, White was PFF's 50th-best pass-blocking running back in 2026. Croskey-Merritt only ranked 84th in the same metric.
We should probably expect Croskey-Merritt to begin the year as Washington’s RB1. He is a talented player and could run away with the gig if he builds upon a solid rookie year.
However, there’s also a world where he struggles with fumbles, pass-catching, and pass blocking, and cedes touches to an experienced veteran in White. Playing alongside a rushing quarterback like Jayden Daniels could help improve White's efficiency, and he could eventually emerge as a solid RB2 play.
If that happens, White would be a great stash for gamers who take a hero RB or zero RB approach in their draft.
Chris Rodriguez Jr. - RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
I recently wrote an article highlighting Bhayshul Tuten as one of my breakout picks for 2026. While I stand by that take, I am also leaving the light on for Rodriguez to possibly carve out a role for himself in Jacksonville’s offense.
He may not be as explosive or possess the same theoretical upside as Tuten, but Rodriguez is a fine player in his own right.
Among 49 backs with 100+ carries in 2025, Rodriguez ranked:
- Second in yards after contact per attempt per Fantasy Points Data Suite
- Fourth in rushing success rate per Fantasy Points Data Suite
- 10th in PFF elusive rating
- 12th in missed tackles forced per attempt per Fantasy Points Data Suite
- 18th in rush yards over expected per attempt per Next Gen Stats
Recently, it's been reported that Rodriguez has started earning work with the Jaguars’ first-team offense and has been splitting reps with Tuten. That could indicate the team plans on giving Rodriguez a decent share of the rushing work.
Also working in Rodriguez's favor is that he has experience playing in head coach Liam Coen’s offense. Coen was the offensive coordinator for the University of Kentucky for the 2021 season. Rodriguez had the best season of his collegiate career that year, running for 1,379 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
Even though this was at the collegiate level, it stands to reason that Rodriguez could have similar success in Coen’s offense should he get the necessary workload.
Rodriguez also carries contingent upside. If Tuten were to suffer some kind of injury during the year, that would also pave the way for Rodriguez to handle the majority of work in this backfield.
It all makes Rodriguez an intriguing late-round flier as well as a good $1-$2 buy in auction formats.
Xavier Worthy - WR, Kansas City Chiefs
The first two years of Worthy’s career have been very disappointing to say the least. He’s failed to eclipse 60 receptions or 650 receiving yards in a season. That’s not the production you want from a former first-round pick, and it hasn’t led to much fantasy production either.
However, head coach Andy Reid revealed this offseason that Worthy never really recovered from a shoulder injury that occurred in Week 1 last year. Reid also noted that Kansas City had big plans for Worthy but were forced to alter his usage following that injury.
Unfortunately, that shoulder injury may not have been the only thing that slowed Worthy down, as his route running still left a lot to be desired. Among 146 receivers with 100+ routes run, Worthy only ranked 117th in Fantasy Points Data Suite’s average separation score.
However, it is noteworthy that Kansas City altered Worthy's role last year following his injury. It indicates they could have big things planned for him this year.
Perhaps Worthy's injury impacted his play more than we realized. We’ll see if that’s the case, but Worthy is one of the fastest players in the league who’s capable of delivering a splash play at any moment.
XAVIER WORTHY HAS ARRIVED.
📺: #Kickoff2024 on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/0612BrVxlJ— NFL (@NFL) September 6, 2024
Worthy is almost forgotten about in drafts this year as he’s currently going outside the top 45 wide receivers in FFPC leagues. That’s a pretty good price to take a shot on Worthy having an unexpected Year 3 breakout.
Josh Downs - WR, Indianapolis Colts
Downs has been a popular fantasy football sleeper for several years now. He is a talented player and one of the more underrated route runners in the NFL.
First NFL TD for @JoshDowns.
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/IgxPXEpPzU
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) October 15, 2023
Unfortunately, he has been relegated to a slot receiver role and has rarely been on the field in two-wide receiver sets. This has left him largely useless for fantasy football purposes.
However, things could finally change this year. The Colts traded Michael Pittman Jr. to the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason. That has opened the door for Downs to finally see the field on a more consistent basis.
For whatever it's worth, Colts head coach Shane Steichen appears very bullish on Downs and seems poised to grant him a larger role on offense.
Josh Downs to See an Expanded Role and More Targets in 2026 https://t.co/P2zWsYSlJ3
— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) June 22, 2026
Indianapolis’ WR1, Alec Pierce, is currently dealing with an ankle injury that required offseason surgery. General manager Chris Ballard recently stated that Pierce would be ready for the regular season opener in a few weeks. However, it could take him a few games to get up to speed. This means Downs might get off to a hot start, and he could be a very useful piece to begin the season.
If you’re eyeing a robust running back approach in your draft and want to take a shot on a receiver with major sleeper appeal, Downs is one of your best bets.
Jayden Reed/Matthew Golden - WRs, Green Bay Packers
We’ll sneak in two players for the price of one to close things out. With the offseason departures of Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay finally seems ready to consolidate their wide receiver targets. That means one of either Golden or Reed could be in line for a larger role this year.
Head coach Matt LaFleur has confirmed Golden will take over the X-receiver role in Green Bay’s offense. That means he will be on the field at an extremely high clip and probably makes him the preferred bench stash. Plus, Golden is a former first-round pick (and the first wide receiver selected by Green Bay in Round 1 in over 20 years), so there is a lot of motivation for the team to prove he was a good pick.
However, Golden is still raw in terms of his route-running. If that area of his game has not improved, he may fall into more of a sacrificial X receiver role with Green Bay using his 4.29 40-yard dash speed to open things up for other players on offense.
If that’s the case, then Reed would be the preferred pick late in drafts. We already know Reed is a talented player and can deliver as both a rusher and a receiver. He just needs more touches to produce a strong fantasy campaign.
Jordan Love. JAYDEN REED.
PACKERS LEAD BY TWO POSSESSIONS
GBvsCHI on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/wpt4U6Xwtu— NFL (@NFL) January 11, 2026
Still scoring TDs... Jayden Reed takes it 34 yards to the house! @Packers
📺: #GBvsPHI on Peacock pic.twitter.com/rDhTef9Jm7
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2024
Whether or not he can work his way into more two-wide receiver sets remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, though; with Christian Watson’s injury history, it feels likely that one of either Reed or Golden will emerge as a more consistent fantasy contributor this year.
Jordan Love is arguably the most underrated quarterback in the NFL and a lot of data points to him having a monster outlier touchdown season one day. If that happens in 2026, then you'll want pieces of this offense on your fantasy team. Pick your poison here and make sure you leave your draft with one of either Reed or Golden on your bench.
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