2026 Early Fantasy Football Sleepers
By: Andrew Ferguson
With just baseball occupying the sports world, I get a little sleepy. So what better time to start talking about fantasy football sleepers 2 months before your drafts? Every year, each position has someone that highly exceeds their ADP (average draft position), or even explodes out of
nowhere as the steal of the draft. I’m still riding the high of those Raheem Mostert days in 2023 where I took him in the 14th round. I vividly remember watching him run all over the Broncos to win 70-20 and put up over 40 fantasy points for me that day with 4 TDs. I remember because I was quarantining myself while having COVID for the 2nd time. It made me feel much better!
When it comes to sleepers, there is a common misconception with these players. I’m not saying to hold out and to draft any of these players as your number 1 position because they’re due for a massive breakout. I’ve already written an article on value and that is still one of my favorite variables when considering these types of players to draft in mid to late rounds. Hopefully, you already have your starters drafted at the point of considering many of these players. But if you go heavy on one position and need someone to plug in as a number 2, these are the types of players that can make a difference. Or these are guys that sit on your bench and you plug and play when the time is right and if you draft properly. There is also a lull in the middle of the draft where you start having to make big decisions. “Do I add depth at a certain position? Do I start getting bench pieces? Do I take my QB now? Do I take a TE this early?” Everyone’s draft shakes out differently but let’s get right into it.
QB Sleeper- New Orleans Saints - Tyler Shough
Gross, I know. But what he did last year to end the season was very impressive. The Saints gave him a little time before rolling him out in week 8. It took a couple of weeks to get comfortable, but once he did, he saved a lot of people’s rear ends last year that were scrambling for QBs on the waiver wire. From week 10 on, he averaged 18.55 points per game. This put him in the top 12 ranked fantasy QBs during that stretch. And when it mattered most (weeks 13-18), he averaged closer to 20 points per game and was ranked the number 5 QB in fantasy during that stretch. The Saints have gone all in with surrounding Shough with more weapons by drafting 2 WRs in this year’s draft (including Jordyn Tyson with the 8th overall pick), a TE and bringing in Travis Etienne at RB. Etienne should help the run game that was abysmal last year which will take some pressure off the young QB. Kamara is also still around as a dump off receiver. He proved to have a strong connection with Chris Olave and the passing game should benefit by the fact they shouldn’t be in the lead a lot this year. Shough also has rushing upside which is always a plus in fantasy. He was able to get loose and score 3 TDs and those numbers should improve even more.
Shough is currently going off the boards as QB21 in early drafts. Depending on how your draft goes, land your starter and you can get him with one of your last picks as a solid backup. And if you know my QB theory by now, and if you do decide to take any of these players in this article as your number 1, you can do a lot worse than Shough. I like him better than QBs like Kyler Murray and Jordan Love who are all projected to be drafted before him.
RB Sleeper- Pittsburgh Steelers - Rico Dowdle
Right now, Rico Dowdle is coming off the board at RB35. His teammate, Jaylen Warren, is being drafted at RB29. So they aren’t too far apart. But why do I like Dowdle? Truth is, I like them both so you can’t go wrong, but when looking at the data, the value of Dowdle is fantastic in my eyes. I honestly see this as a 1A and 1B or 50/50 timeshare in Pittsburgh this year. The Steelers
brought Kennith Gainwell in last year and he put up pretty big numbers finishing as RB20. Gainwell got a ton of receiving work and goal line touches. Trust me, I watched every single one because I drafted Jaylen Warren with pretty high expectations last year and nothing is more infuriating than watching your fantasy TDs constantly vultured. Dowdle has proven he can take on a big workload and put up monster weeks. He’s an upgrade to gainwell in the sense he’s a more pure in-between-the-tackles runner so his volume of carries can lead to big games while still also getting receiving work. Mike McCarthy is also back in the picture who is a big fan of Dowdle who in 2024, ran for over 1,000 yards with the Cowboys. Then even when signed to a 1 year deal to Chuba Hubbard’s backup role in Carolina, Dowdle put up another 1,000 yard season. So with back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons, I think this is a great landing spot for Dowdle and could even push to take snaps away from Warren depending how the season goes.
Dowdle to me is a great value as your RB2 if you go WR heavy or take a TE early. Or if your team seems to be balanced, a no brainer RB3. For those doing the ‘0 RB strategy,’ Dowdle needs to be on everyone’s target list.
RB Sleeper- Minnesota Vikings- Jordan Mason
Here is another situation of 2 RBs from the same team being drafted near each other. The only difference is, Aaron Jones belongs on my hate list, and Jordan Mason is on my…’like him a lot list.” He’s just short of making my love list. I honestly think the days of Aaron Jones are over. He’s dealt with a few injuries over the last 3 years, he’s getting older and he looks like he’s lost a step. But for some reason, he’s being drafted ahead of Mason at RB34 while Mason is going at RB39. Mason is the better runner and averaged 4.8 YPC last year and is entering only his 5th season. Mason lacks receiving volume, but makes up for it in goal line opportunities. If you’re banking on Aaron Jones at the age of 31 to stay healthy, break big plays and put up high receiving volume like his old days, it’s just not going to happen. Mason has a shot to completely take the starting job over especially if Jones were to miss any time, which happened last year. The Vikings have the same depth at RB as they did last year so there is no new competition coming in to sneak up on Mason’s playing time.
Let one of your league mates take Jones, then you can take Mason right after for the steal. I see Mason being a legit RB3 with RB2 upside during bye weeks or injury plug-ins.
WR Sleeper- New York Giants- Wan’Dale Robinson
This one doesn’t come to a surprise to a lot of people given where he finished last year. I’ve seen him on a lot of other fantasy scout’s radars but at the end of the day, I have to agree with him and I won’t even claim this was some grand discovery of mine. The Giants goal for 2026 is to stay healthy. If that happens, this offense could be a very fun one to watch. Especially with the Crayon eating combo of Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo. Dart has his ace with Malik Nabers, but there are a lot of questions surrounding that knee. With Dart at the helm, there is plenty of passing volume to go around and Wan’Dale gets his share. Over the past 2 years, he’s gotten 90+ catches and broke 1,000 yards in 2025. They’ve proven they just want to get him the ball and he can make a play, which leads to guaranteed volume. If Robinson can find the endzone more, I can see him having his 3rd straight 90+ catch season and getting a huge return on investment.
Wan’Dale is currently going as WR55. The guy just had 1,000 yards! He finished as WR16! It might not look like the sexiest pick but the dude gets targets and produces points. A solid WR4 for any roster.
WR Sleeper- Las Vegas Raiders- Jalen Nailor
Nailor was one of the many WRs who fell victim to QB play in Minnesota. Don’t get me started on JJ McCarthy. This article only has room for one dummy named McCarthy and I already used it during the Steelers portion. Nailor is probably the deepest sleeper on this list, but I think he should be drafted in almost every league. Even sitting behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, and the worst QB situation in the league, Nailor finished as WR60. Doesn’t sound like much but when you’re scrolling names you’ve hardly heard of with one of your last picks, this one has great upside. Nailor has great playmaking ability and we’ve seen him sprinkle in some big weeks in fantasy. Las Vegas has one of the worst WR corps in the league and Nailor could easily be their number one for week 1. They paid him a decent amount of money so as your WR5, you could do a lot worse. Take him with one of your last picks with a low risk, high reward mentality.
TE Sleeper- Los Angeles Chargers- Oronde Gadsden
Usually, half of the league locks down their TE early, and the other half say “F it, I’ll just get whoever later.” Gadsden could be that whoever! As a rookie, he put up 2 weeks as a top 5 player at the position. He finished with 664 yards and 3 TDs and I think that’s his absolute floor. He’s going to have a full offseason under his belt and could be a TE that takes a big step forward. I also think with Mike McDaniel coming coming in to run the offense is going to give Justin Herbert a lot more open looks to get his tight ends involved. I expect Herbert’s numbers to rise with more passing opportunities. Harbaugh is a true running coach, but I expect Gadsden to get his share of red zone looks and able to make plays down the field.
Gadsden is currently being drafted at TE15. If you decide to wait, he could be your guy to start the season, or I’ll typically draft 2 to see who ends up better. I like him better than guys like Dalton Kincaid or Isaiah Likely being drafted right around him.
