What’s that outdated saying? You’ll be able to’t win your league within the first spherical of fantasy drafts however you may actually lose it? If that’s the case, would the inverse even be true concerning the remaining few rounds of fantasy drafts, the place you may’t actually lose your league however can significantly improve your probabilities of victory?
The ultimate 3-4 rounds of fantasy soccer leagues are the place the stakes are low, and the place the thrill of constructing an amazing choose is magnified. That is the place most gamers take their kicker and/or protection, and the place darts are thrown with out a lot strain to hit a bullseye.
In these rounds, coming away with a participant who proves to be helpful at any level within the fantasy season — whether or not that be as an each week starter, commerce bait, and even simply as a bye week fill in — is a boon to at least one’s fantasy squad and places that workforce a step forward of others.
Final week, I wrote an article detailing some vast receiver sleepers to contemplate in primarily the seventh spherical and later of fantasy drafts. Now, we’ll take it a step additional, detailing some vast receivers whom you will get on the very tail finish of your drafts or possibly even without spending a dime off the waiver wire.
Beneath are 4 deep sleepers to contemplate, with the assistance of a device from Fantasypros.com which takes the typical ADP (common draft place) of three totally different platforms — Yahoo, Sleeper and RealTime Fantasy Sports activities — and compiles them into one listing.
Each title on this train can be exterior the highest 55 in Fantasy Execs’ compiled positional ADP listing for vast receivers within the half-PPR format, and all can be found on common within the thirteenth spherical or later of 12-team fantasy drafts. You’ll find that complete ADP listing right here.
Mike Williams – New York Jets
Positional ADP: 59th; Total ADP: 159th
A standard philosophy I like following when sleepers is the idea of “following the cash.” That is the concept if a participant was given a hefty contract by a workforce within the offseason (or was acquired for hefty commerce compensation), that workforce can be extra prone to make the most of and have him of their offense, in any other case that cash can be going to waste. This isn’t foolproof in fact, as we’ve seen wasteful normal managers prior to now, however the concept has some logical legs.
Mike Williams was given a $10 million payday by the New York Jets this previous offseason, together with 4 void years to reduce the 2024 cap hit, which means that he can be on their books in some form or kind by way of 2028. Williams is coming off of a season ending torn ACL in Week 3 of 2023, however with stories that he’s already getting workforce reps in at apply together with the truth that he was not placed on the “Bodily Unable to Carry out” (PUP) listing, the expectation is that he can be on the soccer very early on within the common season.
When wholesome, Williams was a weapon for Justin Herbert within the Los Angeles Chargers offense, together with his greatest season coming in 2021, when he had 1,146 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns earlier than main the Chargers workforce with 895 receiving yards in a 2022 marketing campaign the place he missed 4 video games.
The concept in New York is that the 6’4 Williams can be Aaron Rodgers’ quantity two receiving choice, and his major purple zone weapon. Rodgers is recovering from his personal season ending damage however final we keep in mind of him, he was all the time a prolific thrower of the soccer inside the purple zone. The four-time MVP completed within the high 10 in landing passes from contained in the 10-yard-line in every of the final three seasons we noticed from him.
Williams gained’t break the financial institution, and with this choice you’re getting a confirmed commodity with a confirmed quarterback, who’s fundamental concern (accidents) is baked closely into his ADP.
Ja’Lynn Polk – New England Patriots
Positional ADP: 66th; Total ADP: 176th
Given his price (virtually free), Ja’Lynn Polk is one in every of my favourite rookie vast receivers to focus on in fantasy drafts this season. Coming off of a season on the College of Washington the place he flourished with 1,159 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns, Polk confirmed the Patriots sufficient to warrant a range with the fifth choose within the 2nd spherical of the 2024 draft.
The largest motive for my pleasure behind Polk exterior of price is his uninspiring goal competitors in New England. The principle gamers within the Patriots’ WR room include second yr man Demario Douglas, who had 561 receiving yards final yr and was a 2023 sixth spherical compensatory choice, Okay.J. Osborn, who has by no means had greater than 655 yards in a single season, Javon Baker, who went two rounds after Polk in the identical draft class and Kendrick Bourne, who’s coming off of a torn ACL which has landed him on the PUP listing.
Polk has the rapid draft pedigree to be thought-about the favourite for the WR1 job, and he’s anticipated to be a Week 1 starter. One other participant in New England anticipated to start out, if not immediately then finally, is quarterback and second total choose Drake Maye, whom Polk performed with quite a bit within the preseason, operating a route on 34 of Maye’s 38 dropbacks.
Polk has ceaselessly been working with the starters in apply, and has been getting paired with Maye quite a bit in preseason motion. If he does win out that high vast receiver job, he would be the most cost-effective major WR you will discover in fantasy drafts.
Darnell Mooney – Atlanta Falcons
Positional ADP: 69th; Total ADP: 2 hundredth
Final season, there have been 5 groups who had two vast receivers within the high 15 in proportion of snaps performed (when wholesome) within the league — the Philadelphia Eagles, Las Vegas Raiders, Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams had Cooper Kupp on the sector 91% of the time (in video games the place he was not injured) and Puka Nacua enjoying 87% of the time, and this quantity would have been increased had he not been pulled early in Week 18 and had he not suffered an damage which knocked him out early in Week 13.
Now, what does any of this must do with Darnell Mooney? Effectively, Atlanta’s new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson simply came visiting from the Rams, the place he labored beneath Sean McVay since 2019. He doubtless mirrors a lot of McVay’s philosophies, one in every of which is that the 2 greatest vast receivers virtually by no means depart the sector. Behind Drake London, Mooney is firmly Atlanta’s WR2 and he was paid prefer it this offseason, signing a 3 yr, $39 million ($26 million assured) contract very quickly after free company opened up (we’re following the cash once more).
Mooney’s magnum opus season got here in 2021, when he led the Chicago Bears with 1,055 receiving yards and 4 receiving touchdowns. He’s since been mired with subpar quarterback play and elevated competitors since, failing to succeed in 500 yards in every of the previous two seasons. The Falcons have nonetheless trusted him with a giant payday, and he can be catching passes from the most effective quarterback of his profession to this point in Kirk Cousins.
Whereas London would be the alpha vast receiver in Atlanta, Cousins’ monitor file of distribution is promising for Mooney’s prospects. In every of Cousins’ final three full seasons in Minnesota (this isn’t counting final season, when an achilles tear ended his yr prematurely), he focused his quantity two vast receiver (Adam Thielen) no less than 95 instances, regardless of the presence of the good Justin Jefferson in all three of these years. Thielen truly had triple digit targets in two of these three seasons and the one motive he had 95 in 2021 was as a result of he missed 4 video games to damage.
Mooney just isn’t even being drafted in most leagues, even if he can be on the sector quite a bit, with a quarterback who traditionally will get his second vast receiver concerned, in what is anticipated to be an explosive offense.
