Fantasy football 2025: 6 late-round sleepers to target

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Winning a fantasy football championship is no easy feat. Hitting on your earlier picks can ensure you have a solid squad, but if you select a player late in the draft who ends up breaking out, that could be the difference between simply reaching the playoffs and capturing a title.

With that in mind, I identified six high-upside players, including three rookie wide receivers, who could be available in the final stretch of your drafts (based on their average draft positions in 12-team PPR leagues, per Fantasy Pros). I believe these sleepers will greatly outperform expectations.

This essentially will be the rookie season for the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, who missed all of last year after suffering a knee injury in the preseason opener. McCarthy is in a great situation, getting to play with the best wide receiver in the NFL (            Justin Jefferson            ) and one of the best play-callers in the league (Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell).

O’Connell has proven time and time again that he is a quarterback whisperer. With the masterful schemer guiding him in 2024,            Sam Darnold            had 35 passing touchdowns, topping his previous single-season high by 16, and finished as the QB9 in fantasy points, breaking into the top 25 for the first time in his career. Under O’Connell in 2023,            Kirk Cousins            was the QB8 in average points per game through Week 8, putting him well on his way to a career year at age 35 until a torn Achilles abruptly ended his season. And in 2021,            Matthew Stafford            recorded the second-best fantasy season of his career (behind only his 2011 campaign with the Lions) with O’Connell as the Rams’ offensive coordinator.

Instead of taking            Bo Nix            in the sixth round of fantasy football drafts, wait and grab McCarthy six rounds later. I do not expect their production to be all that different, either passing or rushing, in 2025.

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