Five sleepers to target right now in dynasty league fantasy football

When someone tells you they have good news and bad news, which do you prefer to hear first?

I always prefer to get the bad news out of the way. That’s why, earlier this week, I provided my top five dynasty sells — including one for each type of dynasty team. That means it’s time to move onto the good news: my favorite dynasty sleepers.

Each of the five players featured below has an ADP outside the top-100 overall in Superflex dynasty startups, and is someone I have ranked significantly higher.

Note: The ADP cited throughout this piece is courtesy of the FantasyPoints Front Office, and all statistics are sourced from the FantasyPoints Data Suite unless otherwise stated.

Josh Downs, IND (WR49)

It’s hard to find a combination of floor, ceiling, youth and cost efficiency in dynasty. But Downs provides each of these elements.

The fourth-year Colts receiver out of North Carolina was an under-drafted prospect with immense upside, posting 3.7 receiving yards per team pass attempt (YPTPA) as a 20-year-old true sophomore. To put that in context, that’s a higher peak-season YPTPA than any of the receivers selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. College production, especially early college production, is a major signal of upside in the professional ranks — even multiple years into a player’s career.

Downs has yet to reach his true ceiling in the NFL thus far, due to a mix of poor quarterback play, inconsistent route participation and nagging injuries. However, he’s flashed high-end upside, especially in his second season when he posted 30% TPRR and 2.28 YPRR, fifth and 20th, respectively, among all receivers with at least 200 routes.

Now Downs is being discounted in the market following a less productive third year as the Colts emphasized more heavy-personnel packages. This took Downs off the field in favor of veterans Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman — primarily for blocking reasons. Downs has always posted elite success rates on routes versus man coverage, per Matt Harmon’s reception perception, which indicates an ability to succeed on the outside as a receiver.

Pittman has now been traded to Pittsburgh and replaced with Keenan Allen, who projects as a part-time player at his age (34). Head coach Shane Steichen has consistently expressed a desire to play Downs in two-receiver sets in 2026. I wrote earlier this offseason in my newsletter about the overlap in Downs and Pittman’s roles as a feature players in pure drop-back situations. This makes Downs the prime candidate to benefit more from Pittman’s departure than Pierce or Tyler Warren.

At the very least, Downs is a quality Flex option who is quite affordable. At best, he’s a breakout WR2 or better who just turned 25 years old two weeks ago. This makes him a strong bet to exceed his cost this year and beyond for any team build.

Tre’ Harris, LAC (WR68)

If Josh Downs is a sleeper, Harris is in active hibernation. The latter posted one of the most ridiculously productive college seasons in recent memory at Ole Miss in 2024, earning 5.12 YPRR (per Pro Football Focus).

While very productive, Harris’ college profile requires some important context. He was an older prospect, beginning his career at a lower-tier program (Louisiana Tech) before peaking with Ole Miss as a redshirt senior. He also racked up a lot of his production against weaker opponents, and in a fairly small sample of games before suffering a season-ending injury. Also, the Ole Miss offense is markedly different from what we see in the NFL, and players can struggle to translate production or skills from college air raid systems into the pros.

Despite those caveats, Harris was drafted in Round 2 by the Los Angeles Chargers. Perhaps unsurprisingly given his reputation as a raw prospect, Harris struggled to see consistent playing time or production in Year 1. I’m just not certain how much we could have reasonably expected from him as the WR4 on a veteran, contending team. Harris also saw the majority of his playing time late in the year when the Chargers’ offensive line had devolved into a completely non-viable unit, and the team failed to generate efficient production from any of its pass catchers.

Fantasy drafters are assuming the Chargers’ pass-catcher group has a clear hierarchy this season under new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel — 1.) Ladd McConkey, 2.) Quentin Johnston, 3.) Tre Harris. I’m not quite that certain about how things will play out.

McDaniel has historically rotated receivers from a routes perspective, and Harris is the best blocking receiver on the team, which could give him a chance to run as many or more routes than his more highly-valued teammates. Johnston has always been a heavily-flawed player who I think Harris has a legitimate chance of beating out for the WR2 role over the course of the season. Harris is the most natural fit to play an “X-WR” role of anyone on the roster, and provides a better deep threat complement to Ladd McConkey due to his superior ball skills.

McConkey is the only player on the roster with a legitimately elite season on record, and I think he’s easily the best bet for consistent production. But he’s coming off a year in which his catch rate and yards per reception both plummeted while running more routes than he ever had as a rookie or in college. There are outstanding questions with his profile.

Finally, I wrote up TE Oronde Gadsden as a sell in my last column based on his lack of expected playing time. If the Chargers truly plan to start Charlie Kolar at tight end, we should expect a higher share for the receiver position as a whole in relation to the team’s tight ends.

Is it likely Harris is a fantasy starter this year? No. But there’s upside for value growth or production in a very exciting offense at a very low cost.

Juwan Johnson, NO (TE21)

I’ve talked throughout my recent articles here about the imperative to compete whenever you have the roster value to do so. Johnson is the type of player who can provide cost-efficient production and improve the near-term outlook of a dynasty team around the margins — especially in TE-premium scoring formats.

Last season, Johnson elevated from a part-time receiving specialist at the position to an every-down player, and he took a major step forward as a fantasy asset. He posted the third-most receiving yards among all tight ends, and finished as the TE12 in fantasy points per game (FPPG). In TE-premium scoring, he posted 12.9 FPPG, which was equal to Jameson Williams, the WR21 overall.

One of the easiest ways to punch above your weight in TE-premium dynasty leagues is to fill your Flex with tight ends who carry very little trade value but score comparably to vastly more expensive wide receivers or running backs.

Johnson was especially productive last season after Rashid Shaheed was traded away midseason. When rookie Jordyn Tyson was added to the team, I was concerned about Johnson’s upside as the clear third option. I was also concerned by the addition of third-round rookie Oscar Delp, who may develop into a superior blocker than Johnson — a converted receiver.

However, with Tyson now missing a large chunk of the season, the Saints will need receiving production from the tight end spot, and Johnson is their best bet for it. I expect him to score as a top-10 option for at least the first half of the year. He’s an excellent target as a cheap TE1 in any dynasty league, or as a cost-effective Flex in TE-premium.

Eli Raridon, NE (TE32)

If you’re looking more for value growth than immediate points at the tight end position, I recommend moving even further down the ADP landscape until you find Patriots third-round rookie Eli Raridon.

Raridon was the prospect I was most ahead of the market on in the 2026 draft class. He had muted total production, but the closer you look under the hood the more intriguing he gets. First of all, Raridon tore his ACL twice in college which limited his playing time before his senior season. In that season, Raridon posted 2.23 YPRR, a surprisingly impressive mark given he tallied just 32 catches. That disconnect exists because Raridon was held in to pass block on 91 of 295 passing snaps, a bizarre wrinkle of the Notre Dame system that’s unlikely to translate to the NFL. In fact, I actually view it as a positive.

Raridon offers a rare combination of a downfield-receiving profile (15.1 YPR) with commendable blocking skills. The latter can get you playing time early in your career and keep you on the field in all situations. The former indicates some potential fantasy upside if Raridon is eventually able to wrest the TE1 job away from Hunter Henry.

Raridon has had an excellent training camp, to the point that he was rested with the starters in the Patriots’ second preseason game. He should see the field plenty as the team’s No. 2 tight end and will have a chance to show the coaching staff and dynasty managers that he can be the long-term answer as Drake Maye’s TE1.

Mac Jones, SF (QB37) (Superflex only)

This one doesn’t require a deep statistical analysis. In Superflex dynasty, starting quarterbacks are constantly sought after, but managers can lose patience when it comes to non-starters who are likely to be starters in the future.

Jones was remarkably impressive while filling in for Brock Purdy last season, and he’d be a plug-and-play QB2 option in the event Purdy misses any time this season. More importantly, Jones is likely to be offered a job when he hits free agency next season, joining a long line of rehabilitation projects (see: Darnold, Sam or Willis, Malik).

Whether you believe in Jones to sustain his recent success at his next stop is a decision you can make in the summer of 2027. For now, add Jones as an extra piece in a trade and let him sit on your roster until you can collect a very likely value spike next March.