5 WR Sleepers to Target in Your Fantasy Football Draft

Gone are the days when the first round of your fantasy draft is dominated by running backs. After Christian McCaffrey, the consensus 1.01 for 2024, the next five players off the board are wide receivers, according to current average draft position data . In total, eight of the top 12 picks are receivers compared with four running backs.

Wide receiver scoring is booming and even rookies — Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Puka Nacua — are getting in on the action. Given the high cost to draft a vaunted pass catcher, the value of finding a sleeper at the position is on the rise.

That said, here are five sleeper wide receivers worth calling your shot on in your fantasy football draft(s).

( Average draft position data from FantasyPros as of July 28 .)

Terry McLaurin, Commanders

ADP: WR32

McLaurin is currently coming off the board three spots later than his worst finish ever (WR29), which was back in 2019 when he was a rookie. Washington has had a revolving door at quarterback almost every year of McLaurin’s career, and he’s still never finished outside the top 30 players at his position. He also has a WR14 finish under his belt from 2022 and four straight seasons with 1,000-plus yards despite those quarterback woes.

It won’t take much for No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels to be the best quarterback McLaurin has played with as a pro. The former Heisman Trophy winner threw for over 3,800 yards and 40 touchdowns in his final year at LSU and his 11.7 yards per attempt led the FBS.

Rookie quarterbacks typically struggle to support fantasy relevant pass catchers, but it feels like McLaurin, who hasn’t missed a game since 2020, is being drafted at his floor. An uptick in touchdown production — he matched a career-low four scores in 2023 — could also see that he over-delivers on his draft cost.

Calvin Ridley, Titans

ADP: WR33

Ridley has never finished worse than WR27 in the four seasons in which he’s played at least 13 games. Of course, he was suspended for all of 2022 and only played five games the year prior, but he finished as a WR2 with the Jaguars in his first full season in three years. Ridley led the team in yards (1,016) and touchdowns (eight) despite finishing second in targets and receptions.

The significant investment Tennessee made to sign Ridley in free agency should help quell concerns about the downgrade at quarterback from Trevor Lawrence to Will Levis. As a rookie, Levis supported a WR22 season for DeAndre Hopkins and the Titans added around their second-year signal caller by signing Ridley, Tyler Boyd and center Lloyd Cushenberry III.

Tennessee is intent on finding out what it has in Levis, and part of that process will include peppering his top option with targets. Ridley has a nose for the end zone with at least seven touchdowns in his four full seasons. New coach and former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan saying Ridley will be used like Ja’Marr Chase is an encouraging sign for what’s to come for the 29-year-old.

Jayden Reed, Packers

ADP: WR36

Reed finished just outside the top 24 receivers as a rookie with a relatively inexperienced quarterback taking over under center. Heading into his sophomore season, he’s a screaming value in the fifth round as Jordan Love’s top target. Reed led Green Bay in receptions (64) and receiving yards (793) and tied for the team lead in touchdowns (eight).

From Week 10-18 Reed was the WR10 in total points with four top-12 finishes and only one outside the top 25. The Packers didn’t add any receiver depth to compete with the young trio of Reed, Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. Though Watson shined as a rookie in 2022, that was with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and before Reed had arrived. He’s also missed 11 games in two years while Reed appeared in all but one in 2023.

The only real concern for Reed is touchdown regression, which is a setback he could counter with an increase in volume as he and Love build on their budding connection.

Ladd McConkey, Chargers

ADP: WR44

In four years as a starter, Justin Herbert supported stable fantasy production at wide receiver. Keenan Allen finished as the WR14 in 2020, WR10 in 2021 and WR8 in 2023 while Mike Williams was the WR12 in 2021. Allen, Williams and running back Austin Ekeler, who accounted for a hefty share of targets himself, are no longer with the Chargers. As the old adage goes, those available targets — of which there are an NFL-high 395 — have to go somewhere.

Enter McConkey, a sure handed second-round pick out of Georgia. He battled injuries in 2023 but he finished second on the Bulldogs in catches (58) and receiving yards (762) behind first-round tight end Brock Bowers. There are ample opportunities available and McConkey might have a bigger role than expected with little competition in the receiver room.

Joshua Palmer has never had a top-36 WR finish in his career and Quentin Johnston is coming off a disastrous rookie year. None of L.A.’s running backs or tight ends profile as big receiver threats. And while some are worried that with Jim Harbaugh the Chargers will commit to the run like his national championship-winning team at Michigan did, Herbert is too good a talent to take the ball out of his hands. McConkey might not make an impact Week 1, but he seems destined to outperform his ADP in this offense.

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Jakobi Meyers, Raiders

ADP: WR54

Much of the league is better situated under center than Las Vegas, which brought in Gardner Minshew to compete with Aidan O’Connell. The Raiders also have a target magnet in Davante Adams, one of the highest-paid and still one of the best wide receivers in the game. But we’re quick to forget that Meyers finished as a WR2 last season. Now, for some reason, he’s being drafted outside of the 10th round.

Meyers is coming off perhaps the best season of his career in his first year in Sin City: 71 catches, 807 yards and, most importantly, eight touchdowns. After Meyers and Adams, Las Vegas doesn’t have much at receiver. And though the Raiders drafted Bowers in Round 1, that shouldn’t be a huge concern for Meyers’ volume.

This team has one of the lowest win totals in the NFL. They’re going to be losing a lot and forced to throw often. That means more targets for Meyers, who coach Antonio Pierce talked up in the offseason. Meyers hasn’t finished as low as he’s being drafted since his rookie season in 2019. This is a low-cost, late-rou

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