Wide receiver is a power position in fantasy football, and the ability to find late-round production is necessary when constructing a winning team. Here are our top sleepers at wide receiver for the upcoming season.
Fantasy football has grown into competitive sport, aside from the sport of football itself. Leagues have become sacred. Friendships both built and broken simply because one man knows more or less about football. And I love it every year.
Wide receivers are drafted in the highest quantity in most leagues. However, they are also the most volatile and risky picks. Outside of the top 10 to 15 wide receivers, there are really no guarantees on level of production.
It is important to not only chose right in the first two rounds, but later in drafts as well. Finding two or three sleepers in the later rounds is a necessity, because chances have it that one or two of those players will be in your starting lineup at some point.
So here are some of the potential candidates to fill out the wide receiver position on your fantasy roster.
Honorable Mention: Adam Thielen (MIN)
Adam Thielen quietly had a great fantasy football season last year for the Minnesota Vikings.
Thielen went undrafted in just about every league in 2016. Yet he finished the season with nearly 1,000 yards and 69 catches, which is incredible for someone who could’ve been had off waivers to start the season.
With Sam Bradford at quarterback and while playing in an offense that loves to run the ball, Thielen flourished.
However, this year he will have a healthy Stefon Diggs taking away some targets. He will also be garnering more respect and coverage after such a breakout year.
That is why Thielen falls just outside of my top ten sleepers at wide receiver. He could very well put up big numbers again and with him being drafted near the bottom of most drafts, he is worth the pick.
Now let’s get started with our top 10.
10. Robby Anderson (NYJ)
The New York Jets do not have much to look forward to this season, but Robby Anderson could provide a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dark season in New York. Most casual football fans don’t know who Anderson is, but every fantasy football player should.
Anderson isn’t going to come out and catch 100 balls and go for 1,500 yards, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be productive on a bad offense.
Who is the quarterback for the Jets again? Bryce Petty? Josh McCown? Christian Hackenberg? To be honest, it doesn’t matter a ton for Anderson’s fantasy value.
With the season ending injury to Quincy Enunwa early in training camp, Anderson became the Jets’ top target. When is the last time you heard of a number one receiver on any team sliding in fantasy football drafts to almost the last round?
Even the Browns wide receivers get the respect of middle-round picks and yet Anderson is forgotten.
The great thing about fantasy football is that the score of the actual game doesn’t matter. The Jets are going to get blown out a lot. This means they are going to be forced to throw early and often in games to try to come back from large deficits.
Anderson yards and touchdowns may not mean much in the outcome of the real games, but they do help determine the outcome of your fantasy football games.
Like I said, a top target on a team that throws a lot shouldn’t be forgotten, even if the team isn’t winning games.
9. Kendall Wright (CHI)
Kendall Wright was a solid fantasy wide receiver in Tennessee with some questionable quarterbacks, and he is in the same spot again in Chicago. The Chicago Bears are starting rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and aren’t expected to contend this season, but just like Robby Anderson, that can equal late-round fantasy gold with Kendall Wright.
Much like the Jets, the Bears also received news this preseason that their top wide receiver Cameron Meredith is out for the season due to injury. This leaves Chicago really hurting for receivers that can make plays. Wright has proven he can do that when given the opportunity.
Wright was pushed out of Tennessee because they were looking forward to the future, not because of a talent issue. Last year in a limited role, Wright caught 29 passes for over 400 yards on a run-heavy offense.
Given a normal workload for a top-two receiver this season in Chicago, Wright could easily catch 50 passes and score five to eight touchdowns. Right now he is listed as the 64th-best wide receiver in fantasy football around players who are unreliable in fantasy, like J.J. Nelson and Kenny Stills.
Sleeper picks need to be getting reliable playing time and be consistent and, throughout his career, Wright has been both. Playing as a short route receiver to help Trubisky develop will lead to steady numbers for your fantasy football team.
8. Ted Ginn Jr. (NO)
SideLion Report
Ted Ginn Jr. is still really fast.
Last season with Carolina, he was getting behind defensive backs with relative ease. Ginn’s problem his entire career was converting that speed into catches and touchdowns, and last year he started to do that.
Carolina has, and will be, a run-based, quick-throw offense. That didn’t really fit Ginn’s skill set, but his new home in New Orleans does.
Drew Brees and Sean Payton love to air it out and throw the ball deep. Brees has made players of lesser skill than Ginn into viable fantasy football options. A few names like Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem come to mind.
There has been no signs of Ginn slowing down these past few years in Carolina either. Over the past two seasons, he has 98 catches for nearly 1,500 yards.
The Panthers offense only allowed Ginn to try for the big play once or twice a game, and he still managed great numbers. In New Orleans, that once or twice a game turns into five or six times a game, and he could be seeing a serious boost in production with his new team.
Ginn has finally found a team that will utilize his speed correctly. New Orleans is looking to replace speedy wide receiver Brandin Cooks, who was traded to the Patriots, and Ginn fits that opening perfectly.
7. Corey Coleman (CLE)
DeShone Kizer to Corey Coleman for the touchdown. That’s a sentence that fans in Cleveland are desperately hoping to hear a lot of over the next few seasons.
And Coleman is going to do everything in his power to make that a reality.
Coming into fantasy football drafts last year, Coleman was one of the most drafted rookies at wide receiver. Unfortunately, injuries really hurt his ability to live up to the hype for fantasy owners. This has forced many fantasy players to sour on Coleman.
While learning the NFL game, a new offense and battling injury, Coleman had a decent rookie season. He only got to play in 10 games last year and, with questionable quarterback play, he caught 33 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns for the Browns.
He has the same type of quarterback play this season, but I expect much better health and results in 2017. Coleman is a big target with great speed, and Cleveland is going to need to utilize that in order to keep up with teams on offense this season.
Coleman is ranked far below his new wide receiver teammate, Kenny Britt, but I think Coleman has a much better chance at cracking the top 25 for fantasy football wide receivers in 2017. He is younger, faster and has had a full offseason to learn the Cleveland offense.
Coleman is the one player with real big-play potential on the Browns offense. He seems like the forgotten man this season in fantasy circles, and you should take advantage of that. He is a big-time sleeper for 2017.
6. Martavis Bryant (PIT)
Don’t get suspended again. That’s all Martavis Bryant has to do, and he will be a steal wherever you take him in your drafts.
However, with Bryant’s recent history in the league, this is far from a sure thing.
When Bryant is on the field he is dynamic. He replaced Mike Wallace as the Steelers deep-ball target and, in his rookie year, looked incredible doing it. In the 2014 and 2015 seasons he averaged over seventeen yards per reception. Every time he caught a pass in his first two seasons, fantasy owners were getting 2.7 fantasy points and that is not including touchdowns.
The reason he isn’t being drafted higher in most fantasy football drafts is because he is a wild card in every extent of the word. Not only is there a chance he gets himself suspended again, but he hasn’t played football since 2015.
Every report from the Steelers players and coaches indicate he is still in great shape and is a changed man.
Who am I to disagree? With Antonio Brown drawing a double team every time he touches the field, Bryant should be one on one most of the time. I’ll take Martavis Bryant’s speed verses any number two conerback in the league.
Just please, don’t get suspended!
5. Eric Decker (TEN)
Eric Decker is on my sleepers list it seems like every year. He is just generally undervalued in fantasy football. In his time with the New York Jets, Decker stabilized an offense that was in flux for years before he got there.
Decker is moving on from the Jets this season and is now a member of the Tennessee Titans. The Titans spent a lot of money making sure their young franchise quarterback, Marcus Mariota, had a great group of receivers to throw to in 2017.
Unfortunately for them, one of those weapons is already out for the season in Tajae Sharpe. This is bad news for the Titans, but great news for fantasy fans of Decker.
Decker was already solidified as a key contributor, and the injury to Sharpe can only mean more targets. He is coming off of an injury-plagued year in New York, but all indications point toward Decker being ready to play Week 1.
Decker is also playing with who is arguably the best quarterback of his career in Mariota. He has three seasons with more than 1,000 yards and one that falls just short over the last four healthy years.
With a strong running game to draw less attention his way and a better quarterback, Decker is in store for another great season.
4. Tyrell Williams (LAC)
Tyrell Williams went from fifth-string wide receiver to the Chargers’ top target last season. The Chargers receivers were decimated by injuries, but that gave Williams an opportunity to step up and play.
Williams is a perfect example of a waiver-wire sleeper paying off in a big way. This year, you are going to have to use a draft choice on him, but he is still worth it.
If you didn’t pay attention to Williams’ monster season last year, you need to know about it before you overlook him on fantasy draft day. Williams entered 2017 as an unknown and ended the season with over 1,000 yards and 69 catches for the Chargers.
Last season was not a fluke. Williams is big, fast and developed a real chemistry with starting quarterback Philip Rivers. This season he will be partnering up with Keenan Allen catching passes. Allen was hurt early on in 2016 but that actually helped the Chargers in seeing Williams’ talent on the field.
That being said, the addition of Allen will help Williams. Rivers loves to spread the ball around and has his entire career. Allen and Williams should have no problem sharing targets in the pass-happy Charger offense.
Williams was 17th in the NFL in receiving yards in 2016. That doesn’t happen by accident.
He is the real deal and is going in drafts as late as the 10th round. Phillip Rivers is still going to throw the ball a ton, and the way that connection of Rivers to Williams looked last season makes a 10th-round pick more than worth it.
3. Chris Hogan (NE)
Patriots receiver Chis Hogan is next on out list of sleepers. I was high on Hogan before Julian Edelman injury, but he is almost a must own for me now. I don’t trust Danny Amendola can fill the shoes of Edelman. That job will be done by Chris Hogan instead.
Even with Edelman healthy last season, Hogan played extremely well in his first year in New England. As the third option at receiver, Hogan still managed 680 yards and over 17 yards per reception.
His role was already going to expand with it being his second year in the Patriots offense. We can expect even more from him now with the increase in playing time.
Tom Brady will find a way to replace Edelman’s production. It’s not going to be one receiver, but that doesn’t mean that Hogan won’t take most of those chances. He has played very well in the preseason and has earned Brady’s trust. That will go a long way once the season begins.
Bill Belichick got to watch what Hogan could do in the AFC East when he was a member of the Buffalo Bills.
After facing Hogan twice a year, Belichick and the Patriots believed in the Bills backup receiver enough to give him a three-year deal worth $12 million dollars. This is the year where Hogan proves that money was well spent and becomes a top-25 fantasy football wide receiver.
2. DeVante Parker (MIA)
Ryan Tannehill getting hurt may derail the Miami Dolphins season, but it is a blessing in disguise for fantasy football players.
More from Niner Noise
- 49ers 2023 NFL Draft tracker: Pick-by-pick news and analysis
- Predicting 49ers NFL Draft picks by looking at final mocks
- DraftKings NFL Draft Promo – Win $150 Guaranteed on Any $5 Bet
- 2023 NFL Draft: EDGE Byron Young could be impact player for 49ers
- 5 low-key NFL Draft options for 49ers who are flying under the radar
DeVante Parker didn’t get much of a chance to show what he could do in his rookie season, but the Tannehill injury brings in the perfect quarterback for Parker, Jay Cutler. Parker likes running deep routes and Cutler loves throwing them.
It’s a match made in fantasy heaven.
Parker came out of Louisville last season and everyone expected him to be great in year one. He was not a perfect fit into the Dolphins’ quick passing game, and that hurt his production. Well, this year that philosophy changes with Cutler under center.
Cutler was quick to sing the praises of Parker, calling him, “a faster Alshon Jeffrey.” Cutler’s entire career has been spent chucking balls deep to big targets like Jeffrey and Brandon Marshall. DaVante Parker is the next beneficiary of this trend.
There was a reason the Dolphins selected Parker in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. His talent is undeniable. He just never gained the right chemistry with Tannehill.
It sounds like he and Cutler are already seeing eye to eye early on. This means big plays and big numbers from the third-year wide receiver, making fantasy football owners very happy.
1. Jamison Crowder (WAS)
The top spot on this sleepers list of wide receivers for 2017 goes to Jamison Crowder of the Washington Redskins.
Crowder is now the top receiver in Washington after the departures of DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon via free agency. He will be taking full advantage of the extra opportunities this season.
Crowder only got to start in nine games in 2016 and still managed 847 yards and seven touchdowns. This type of production from a third wide receiver is great, and now he has a chance to take that level of play into the top spot on an offense.
Kirk Cousins looked to Crowder often when under pressure, and there will be more of that this season. The Redskins play against some very tough defensive lines in the NFC East in the Giants and Eagles. The quick passing game is what Crowder excels at most, and that puts him over the top, fantasy-wise, this season.
Next: Fantasy football: Which 49ers should you target in your 2017 draft?
Crowder is going a little higher in fantasy drafts than most of the other players on this list, but he has the potential to be a top-15 receiver. What separates Crowder from most other wide receivers is that he catches nearly everything thrown his way.
In his first two seasons, he has caught 75 and 67 percent of the passes thrown his way, respectively.
Translate those numbers into the role as a top option on a good Redskins offense, and you get fantasy football gold.