The NFL Draft gives teams a unique opportunity to reinforce their rosters with loads of rookie talent. Over the three days in Detroit this year, teams picked 257 players who will now get their shots to make NFL rosters. Not only can the right rookie in the right spot be a key to building a franchise for years to come, but they can also have a huge impact in fantasy football.
Over the last few seasons, we’ve seen rookies bring instant production from all levels of the draft. Last year, Puka Nacua rewrote the history books for rookie receivers. Nacua was a fifth-round pick who landed in just the right spot to have a monster year. It’s not just a receiver thing either, as QB C.J. Stroud and TE Sam LaPorta each had huge fantasy years as well. Even some running backs, whose value is sinking overall, had impactful rookie years led by Jahmyr Gibbs and De’Von Achane.
In fantasy football drafts, both season-long and especially best ball, rookie rankings can be a great source of value, and that value is not limited to only the big names who were drafted early. I covered my Top 3 Sleepers from Round 1 after Day 1 of the draft already, but in this post, I’m diving deeper to find some sleepers to watch for late in your drafts this season.
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Fantasy Football Summer is Here
As you get ready for your upcoming fantasy football season. Be sure to stay tuned to FantasyLabs for all the rankings, sleepers and content you need to find success in a variety of formats. If you love the process of drafting your fantasy football team but don’t love the season-long management, Best Ball is the perfect format for you. In this format, entrants draft a team of players in a snake draft on best ball sites like Underdog and Drafters.
Throughout the season, there are no waivers, substitutions, or trades. Each week your top scorers at each position automatically become your starting lineup. It’s a “set it and forget it” style of play that gives you plenty of enjoyment all season long if you get the right players on your squad.
As in all fantasy formats, getting players at the right value is critical to success. The ADP (average draft position) of players is key to monitor throughout the draft season, and where they’re normally going depends on if a player is a good sleeper or a reach at that point in the draft.
After seeing where all the rookies landed, here are my top late-round sleepers, who I think will outperform their current ADP value in 2024.
Best Ball Fantasy Sleepers — 2024 Rookies
WR Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills
After the Bills traded star WR Stefon Diggs, fans were waiting for them to grab a replacement in the NFL Draft. While they traded back twice before making their selection, they still grabbed a great receiver with the No. 33 overall pick, the first pick in the second round.
Coleman started his college career at Michigan State where he had 58 catches, 798 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2022 before transferring to Florida State. As a Seminole, he had 50 receptions for 658 yards and led the ACC with 11 touchdown catches in 2023. His production dropped off sharply in the second half of the season, but part of that was due to QB Jordan Travis’s season-ending injury. The lackluster finish and a sub-par 40-yard dash at the combine caused him to slip into the second round.
He couldn’t have asked for a better landing spot, though. Josh Allen will be looking for a go-to option after the trade of Diggs, and the All-Pro QB has vocally supported Coleman as the choice he endorsed. Coleman has the size, play speed, and spectacular catch ability to step right in as the No. 1 receiver in a very good offense.
In early best ball drafts, Coleman is coming off the board after 60 other receivers, according to ADP, which is crazy given his potential upside. I’m a big fan of Khalil Shakir, but Coleman’s 6’4″ frame makes him a complementary skill set that gives Allen a big target to go with Shakir’s shiftiness. Coleman should be a great down-field threat while also being a top target in the red zone. He could end up a steal as a depth option at WR.
For more fantasy football insights on 2024 wide receivers, check out Sean Koerner’s Underdog Fantasy Best Ball WR values.
RB Kimani Vidal, Los Angeles Chargers
While Trey Benson and Jonathan Brooks are the top rookie running backs going off the board, each of those two players is typically going in the top 30-to-35 ADP of running backs. Their asking price is steep for me, so I’d rather wait until later to venture into the rookie running back pool to take some long shots on depth options that I think could go off and return great value.
Vidal is one of my top options who I think is being drafted too late, lasting until over 70 other running backs have been drafted, according to his early ADP. In the NFL Draft, Vidal sunk to the sixth round but landed in a great spot with the Chargers, who could be more run-heavy under Coach Jim Harbaugh after losing so much receiver talent (more on that later). They also lost Austin Ekeler, so the backfield looks to be a mix of former Ravens Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins along with Vidal.
The Chargers developed Ekeler from Western Colorado as an undrafted free agent, so they have a history of finding and developing running backs. Vidal was a workhorse the past few seasons for Troy, where he was a three-year starter and set pretty much all the school records while scoring 34 touchdowns. Last year, he had seven games with at least 100 yards and totaled 1,661 yards on 297 carries, fnihsing with the second-most rushing yards in the country.
Dobbins and Edwards haven’t been bastions of health the last few years, and Vidal would be a great plug-and-play sleeper in a good offense if he earns a role with a big training camp.
WR Javon Baker, New England Patriots
The Patriots took a pair of receivers in Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, and both could end up playing significant roles in the Patriots’ offense which was badly in need of a skill infusion at receiver. Polk was drafted first and has a higher ADP, but Baker has great flier potential going as a depth option after over 80 receivers are off the board.
Baker starred for UCF after transferring from Alabama and finished with a career-high 1,139 yards and seven touchdowns on 52 catches in 13 games last season. Baker has good size and hauls in contested catches with a catch radius that could quickly make him a go-to option for rookie QB Drake Maye or Jacoby Brissett.
He should have the immediate opportunity to contribute and has the acrobatic skills to give him a high ceiling. He’ll have to clean up his route-running and drops that caused him to slide to the fourth round, but his ceiling is much higher than the other receivers in his ADP range.
RB Tyrone Tracy Jr., New York Giants
The Giants have to replace the production and usage of Saquon Barkley, who signed with the Eagles this offseason. In an offense and a backfield looking for playmakers, Tracy could force his way into the mix after the Giants snagged him in the fifth round.
Tracy is a converted wide receiver who moved to running back last year for Purdue. He excelled as a pass catcher and pass protector, so he should at least be able to carve out a third-down role in a timeshare with Devin Singletary. Singletary was excellent with the Texans last year, but if “The Motor” sputters in New York, Tracy could even work his way into a three-down role in the Giants’ offense.
He has elite athleticism and play-making abilities, and he should continue to grow as a rusher as he adjusts to his new position. There’s enough room for growth that he makes a lot of sense as a late-round depth pick given his potential opportunity with the Giants.
WR Cornelius Johnson, Los Angeles Chargers
Maybe more than any other team in the draft, the Chargers needed receivers. They traded Keenan Allen and had to cut Mike Williams for cap reasons while Ekeler and Gerald Everett left as a free agent, meaning four of their top five pass-catchers from last season will be playing for other teams in 2024. While the biggest thing the Chargers did to address that need was snagging Ladd McConkey in the second round, they also added two sixth-round receivers.
One of those two receivers will get plenty of attention since his dad is Jerry Rice, but for the other selection, Coach Jim Harbaugh went with a player he knew and drafted Johnson. Johnson was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honoree last season, finishing with 47 catches for 604 yards and a touchdown. The 23-year-old has a good catch radius and is a strong route-runner, although he doesn’t have huge after-the-catch potential. As a depth pick and late-round flier, he makes some sense though since Harbaugh thinks he has the skills to help the team.
It’s suddenly a crowded receiver room for the Bolts, but Corn Johnson has the potential to emerge as a regular contributor in a productive offense. He’s going undrafted except in the deepest formats, but as an end-of-the-draft flier, I like his ceiling.
TE Cade Stover, Houston Texans
There probably won’t be a rookie tight end in this year’s class as productive as Sam LaPorta, but Ja’Tavion Sanders and Ben Sinnott are in a position to step into significant roles right away. If you’re looking for an even deeper option, though, check out Cade Stover, who landed in a great spot with the Texans.
The Texans liked Stover enough to trade up using a fifth-round pick from next year’s draft to jump four spots higher in the fourth round. Stover joins one of the rising offenses in the NFL, and he’ll also join his college QB from 2021 and 2022, C.J. Stroud. In 2022, he caught 36 passes from Stroud at Ohio State for 406 yards and five touchdowns. While Stroud was lighting the NFL on fire last year, Stover had 41 catches for 576 yards and five more touchdown catches for the Buckeyes.
Stover will likely start the year behind Dalton Schultz, but he’s just a Schultz injury from making an instant fantasy impact. Stroud and Stover are close, so there’s definitely a level of trust that gives Stover some attractive sleeper upside for a rookie tight end largely going undrafted. There’s no need to reach for Stover, but as a final-round depth pick, he has nice sleeper potential.
