Sleeping wide receivers for 2024

Curtis Samuel is more than a lock receiver: Samuel should have a more extensive role in the Buffalo Bills compared to recent seasons, along with the best quarterback play of his career.

Brandin is cooking remains in great offence: It took some time for Cooks to get used to the Dallas Cowboys offense, but by the end of the season he was a consistent fantasy starter again.

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Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

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These sleepers are five players with an ADP outside of 120 according to consensus boards that I have ranked significantly higher than their ADP. Some of these players will have an ADP inside the top 120 on other sources where a higher percentage of users are experts, but several players were chosen, so at least some players could be considered sleepers on any site.

Last updated: 07:15 am Wednesday, July 3

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Curtis Samuel, Buffalo Bills (ADP: 11.05, From consensus ADP)

Samuel has played seven seasons in the NFL, but is only 28 years old this season and in the best situation of his career.

Samuel played his first two seasons as a reserve for the Carolina Panthers until he became a regular starter in 2019, where he was the second option behind DJ MooreIn 2020, the Panthers added Chosen Andersonwhich sent Samuel to the castle. Samuel signed with the Washington Commanders in 2021, where he was their slot receiver.

Samuel has consistently had good numbers. None of his stats really stand out, but they all range from OK to good. The situations he's been in have never been great. In Carolina, his quarterbacks have usually been Comb Newton, Teddy Brugwater And Kyle AllenIn Washington it is Taylor Heinicke, Sam Although And Carson WentzHe never had a quarterback with a PFF passing grade above 60 in Washington, and his best quarterback in Carolina was Newton with a passing grade of 70.0 in 2018. Josh Allen will be a huge step up from anything Samuel has experienced in the NFL.

Samuel has a chance to be the best wide receiver option in Buffalo. His main competition comes from Khalil Shakir and second round rookie Keon Coleman. All three have similar ADPs. While Samuel is known as a slot receiver, he performs better outside (74.8 vs. 66.6), has more yards per route run (1.47 vs. 1.26) and a higher target rate (20.1% vs. 17.2%). The Bills also had a tendency to move their wide receivers around last season, so Samuel should be anywhere in the Bills' lineup.

Any one of the three wide receivers is definitely going to be a steal, and given the quality of the Bills offense in the past, possibly two. I'd favor Samuel over Shakir based on his production without Allen compared to Shakir's production with Allen, and Coleman is simply harder to draft than most rookies. This makes Samuel my top sleeper of the group.

Brandin is cooking, Dallas Cowboys (ADP: 13.05)

Cooks was a top-20 fantasy wide receiver six times in a seven-season span from 2015 to 2021. He was often helped by his quarterback play from Drew Brees to Tom Brady Unpleasant Jared Goff Unpleasant Deshaun Watson. Even in 2021 with Davis Mills, He finished in the top 20, but injuries took their toll in 2022 and he failed to score touchdowns in the second-worst offense.

He joined the Cowboys last season, but it took him a while to really get going on offense. He was inactive in Week 2 and had 50 or fewer receiving yards in every game in the first half of the season. Then he broke out with a nine-catch, 173-yard performance. From that point on, he consistently played at least 70% of Dallas' offensive snaps. He was WR14 from Week 10 through the end of the season, while his teammate CeeDee Lam was WR1 by a wide margin.

Cooks has remained a wide receiver who is fairly good on everything but shorter routes, and the Cowboys will likely need Cooks more this season than they did last season. Dallas allowed Tony Pollard And Michael Gallup to leave as a free agent and not bring in any notable pass catchers.

It's unlikely he'll finish as a top-10 fantasy receiver given Lamb's target share and some of his fantasy production coming from touchdown luck, but there's a strong case for him to be a fantasy starter if he builds on what he did at the end of last season. He caught at least five passes in each of his last three games, including the playoffs, after doing so just once through the first 16 weeks.

Yes, Lynn Polk, New England Patriots (ADP: 16.01)

Polk was the 10th wide receiver selected during the NFL draft, 11th on our big board prior to the draft, but 13th by consensus ADP, behind receivers like Roman Wilson And Jermaine BurtonUnlike Wilson and Burton, and many others before him, Polk has a chance to become his team's best wide receiver.

The Patriots had seven different receivers with at least 100 snaps last season and no one with more than 600. The only difference is The Vante Parker, who led the group in snaps last season, while adding KJ Osborn in free agency and Javon Bakker in the fourth round.

The earlyindication Osborn is atop the depth chart and Douglas will likely hold down the slot job, with Polk the other current favorite to start. Douglas has played very well considering he was a sixth-round rookie last season, but at 5-foot-8 it’s unlikely he’ll see as many snaps in 12 personnel as he did last season now that the team has better options.

The Patriots offense isn't expected to be great next season, but if you have the chance to draft someone who should be the team's best wide receiver by midseason, it's worth the pick.

Michael Wilson, Arizona Cardinals (ADP: 16.08)

Wilson was a third round pick by the Cardinals last season and was immediately inserted as their Z receiver. He had a slow start in Week 1, which led to a decrease in playing time, but he bounced back in Week 2, leading to his playing time being restored and was WR40 from Weeks 2-8. He accomplished this despite being Joshua Dobbs as his quarterback.

Wilson suffered a shoulder injury that caused him to miss Week 9, and then re-aggravated the injury in Week 11. He also suffered a neck injury. He returned for the final four weeks of the regular season and was held without a catch in his first two games back. Not only was he coming back from injury, but this was his first chance to play with Kyler Murray. Things clicked for Murray in the final two weeks of the season and he was WR16 in Weeks 17-18.

The Cardinals replaced Hollywood Brown of Marvin Harrison Jr.traded lock receiver Rondale Mooreand added veteran Zay Jones, who Harrison, Wilson and Greg Dortch in the slot. This means Wilson's role in the Cardinals offense should remain similar to last season.

The exciting thing about Wilson this season, other than his health, is that he's been more of a deep threat. His average depth of target of 14.1 yards ranked among the top 10 wide receivers who ran 400 routes last season. With Brown out of the mix, he could see even more deep targets. Murray has the third-highest accuracy rate among quarterbacks on deep passes over the past four seasons among those with 50 or more deep attempts. He's also been the most consistent on accurate-plus throws, or throws where the pass is perfectly accurate or out of coverage.

Any indication is Marvin Harrison Jr. is the safest wide receiver taken in a long time, but there's a chance he doesn't work out right away or suffers an injury. That chance alone makes Wilson an interesting option this late in the draft, but even if that doesn't happen, Wilson should still be above his ADP.

Devonte Walker, Baltimore Ravens (ADP: 23.07)

Twenty-nine of the 32 receivers projected to be the X on their team have an ADP in the top 175 using consensus ADP. One exception is the New England Patriots, where the depth map is completely in motion, and another is the Los Angeles Rams, Where Demarcus Robinson is a very clear third receiver in the team. This shows the Baltimore Ravens.

In Baltimore, Zay Flowers will retain the role of Z-receiver while Nelson Agholor is the slot. Rashad Bateman turned with Odell Beckham Jr. last season as an X-receiver. Todd Monken was one of the top five play callers at keeping wide receivers in their typical roles, with Bateman or Beckham often on the field, and rarely both. If their fantasy production had been combined last season, they would have been WR35.

Bateman received a contract extension with high expectations for him this season. Given his three years of disappointing fantasy results and PFF grades, it would be understandable that some would not be as excited about Bateman given his history. In that case, Devonte Walker could be worth a late-round flier in deeper leagues. The fourth-round rookie has the measurables to be more of an X-receiver. Our draft guide noted that Walker isn’t a polished player in 2022 or 2023, but if he develops significantly over the next two months, he could step into the X-receiver role and be a great late-round steal.