There’s nothing better than knowing enough ball to nail a couple of fantasy football sleepers. Today’s column looks at players currently drafted outside the top 100 overall picks on Yahoo who can and should be drafted in every single 10- and 12-team league. I’ll eventually do a deep, deep sleepers column for the true sickos out there, but this is a list of players I’m actively targeting in every league.
Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2026 NFL season
Advertisement
The Packers are my most-drafted team after nearly 200 drafts, and it’s not even close. Christian Watson is a Round 5/6 WR target. Tucker Kraft is an option depending on the price. Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden are priorities. And MarShawn Lloyd (more on him below) has been one of the best clicks available for months.
It’s rare when the fantasy landscape drafts all three WRs and the starting TE ahead of the starting QB, but that’s what is happening with Love right now. Love needs more pass attempts to get home. That’s it. Since 2022, Love is second in EPA per dropback, so efficiency or skill talent around him is not the issue. Well, this offseason, the coaching staff has prioritized playing with more tempo, and I watched them break the huddle and immediately snap the ball multiple times in preseason actions. I think it’s happening.
Advertisement
I also think the Josh Jacobs news could incentivize the Packers to throw more, rather than being 25th in neutral pass rate and 32nd in neutral pace like they’ve been since 2022.
MarShawn Lloyd, RB, Packers (131)
To date, Lloyd has been drafted in 10% of Yahoo drafts. That’s not nearly enough, especially after today’s news with Jacobs. He is being charged with two misdemeanors after the district attorney’s office found video of the alleged altercation between Jacobs and his girlfriend. If this video is released, the NFL will feel even more pressure to expedite a suspension or a visit on the paid-suspension Commissioner’s Exempt List. Jacobs could be suspended for six games based on the personal conduct policy, and that could come in 2026 if video is released, even if the court case doesn’t happen until later on.
That alone makes Lloyd a great insurance option. Beyond that, Lloyd was a very real prospect with bellcow ability. He is still a bit jumpy on tape, but he can catch the ball, has the size to run between tackles and has the athleticism for perimeter runs. It’s an exciting profile for a team projected for the ninth most points.
Advertisement
Mike Washington Jr., RB, Raiders (123)
Like Lloyd, Washington has a chance to be a starter early on because the starter ahead of him could be out. Ashton Jeanty dodged the most serious injuries, yet could still miss the first section of the season with an ankle sprain that occurred about three weeks from kickoff. Washington as the clear-cut starter in Week 1 would be worth a flex start in half PPR. He ranked 74th overall by the consensus NFL Draft board and went in the fourth round to the Raiders. He was an explosive rusher at Arkansas and caught 28 passes in his final season.
Subscribe to Fantasy Ultra to unlock our Strategy Lab, 150+ page Draft Playbook and more!
His NFL Combine performance was unbelievable, comparing closest to Adrian Peterson. Washington has also had a good camp according to their team beat reporters, and his preseason tape has been the best of any running back in the NFL. Both of his explosive runs were entirely because he looked like a freak. Even if Jeanty returns early, his injury risk would be amongst the highest in the NFL based on this current ailment and his projected intense workload.
Advertisement
He’s been fantasy relevant multiple seasons, yet Addison counts as a “sleeper” this year due to his lowly ADP. Addison was the WR22 as a rookie in half PPR points per game, then followed it up with a WR23 season. Sure, he ran pure with touchdowns in those seasons, but that tends to happen in explosive, downfield passing offenses like the ones coach Kevin O’Connell dials up. J.J. McCarthy couldn’t play the guitar, but every other QB has been able to put up top-10 fantasy QB numbers in an offense that’s quietly top-five in neutral pass rate.
Kyler Murray clears the bar of QB play to execute this offense, and it’s easy to say this is the best OL, skill group, coaching staff, cafeteria, locker room and stadium Murray has played in. For that reason, this Addison-to-Murray connection is my most drafted teammate stack this year. That’s mainly a best ball take, but Addison could be a boom-bust WR3/4 this season even if Justin Jefferson is healthy. He’d be a must-start if Jefferson ever missed.
Key Rookie WRs
I’ve written and podcasted about these relentlessly, but KC Concepcion (Browns), Makai Lemon (Eagles) and De’Zhaun Stribling (49ers) are targets. Concepcion and Lemon were the 14th and 15th overall players on my 2026 NFL Top 100 Big Board and have already won starting jobs in camp. Stribling was an acquired taste, one that may even need a turtleneck and herringbone tweed suit under the brightest of lights to fully grasp. He was a big-play threat in college who offers athleticism after the catch and size at the catch point and in the blocking game. Think of him as a better version of Jauan Jennings with the long-term potential to do a Brandon Aiyuk impression.
Advertisement
Last year without Rashid Shaeed, Johnson operated as the Saints’ No. 2 target. He was the TE5 in yards per game and TE8 in receptions per game from Week 8 on in that role. What’s changed to open the season? The Saints won’t have first-round WR Jordyn Tyson until Week 9 most likely, unless you think he’s going to return on MetLife turf (Week 6) or in France (Week 7). That’s seven weeks of low-end TE1 projections. The timing of that is especially important this year if you’re targeting Tucker Kraft (ACL) or George Kittle (Achilles). He’s the perfect chaperone in September and October.
If you want the most terminally online deep sleeper, Ferguson is your guy. The 2025 second-round pick played in the most absurd role in tight end history last year under coach Sean McVay. He largely played a vertical receiving role in 2- and 3-TE sets as a downfield receiver in disguise. His average depth of target was 17.9 yards downfield. Only Tyquan Thornton, Alec Pierce and Kyle Williams were targeted more downfield!!! That will boggle the mind.
Advertisement
Fast-forward to this year, the Rams need better talent at “WR,” and Ferguson could be the answer based on what he provided last year. Davante Adams was dangled in trade discussions open to the public after a down season beyond the goal line, and trading for TuTu Atwell on August 27 is never a great sign for the rest of the room. There’s a chance (25%) that Ferguson is viewed as the team’s WR3 this season. McVay’s done crazy things like this before with Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, Kyren Williams, Blake Corum and 3-TE sets before.
The Jaguars needed a goal-line thumper to complement their explosive runner (Bhayshul Tuten) and pass protector (LeQuint Allen). Rodriguez graded well in that role last season on the Commanders, and he was more of a true bellcow under coach Liam Coen when they were together at Kentucky a few years ago. Coen clearly values Rodriguez’s consistent, powerful style, and the way he’s explained the backfield has me perking my ears up. At one point this offseason, Coen said he’s looking for “efficiency” for his running back room, and in the follow up to that, he called Rodriguez “efficient” and the type of guy to churn out those four, six, eight, 10-yard runs.
Tuten is faster in a straight line, which makes his ADP sit in Round 5, while Rodriguez gets drafted in just 45% of Yahoo leagues. That gap is too wide in half PPR. If Tuten misses time or is proven to be too unworthy to give touches to, then Rodriguez can do a “This Year’s Javonte Williams” impression. Perhaps a fairer upside comparison was when Jamaal Williams was gyrating those hips in the Lions’ end zone. That was a lot of fun.
Advertisement
Mike McDaniel curated the most explosive rushing offense of the decade with a bad OL and QB. We’ll see what he can do with better OT and QB play this year, but there’s a lot of reason to be excited about Mitchell fitting into the mix. McDaniel put Mitchell on a “WANTED” poster this free agency, as his pure speed is built for this perimeter and misdirection scheme. Mitchell is the RB1 in rush yards over expected (+47%), RB1 in EPA per carry (+0.12) and RB2 in YPC (6.3) among RBs with 100+ carries since 2023. Huge efficiency numbers are the expectation, not the ceiling.
If he eats into Omarion Hampton’s workload, Mitchell could sneak into the flex radar. If Hampton misses time, Mitchell would be very fun. I’ve enjoyed watching Mitchell be experimented with as a receiver, too. They’ve been sending him on wheel routes and swing passes throughout camp and the preseason.
Read the full article here