With the 2020 NFL season getting ready for kickoff I offer up a deep fantasy sleeper to consider from each of the 32 teams. All players currently have a ADP of 9th or later.
Let’s take a team-by-team look by conference:
AFC
Baltimore – Miles Boykin (Undrafted): Expecting him to take a step forward during his second season and his big frame (6-4, 220) could prove useful in the red zone.
Buffalo – John Brown (WR53 / 12.03): With Stefon Diggs now in the mix in Buffalo many owners are sleeping on Brown, but don’t let him fall too far down the board. He scored 11 times over the last two years, averaging 20+ yards per.
Cincinnati – Joe Burrow (QB17 / 12.06): Rookie quarterbacks are hard to trust, especially with this wacky offseason, but Burrow is something special and the Bengals have the weapons at the skill positions to help get off to a fast start.
Cleveland – Rashard Higgins (Undrafted): More of a waiver wire watch, Higgins is the clear No. 3 wideout for the Browns and if Beckham or Landry get dinged he’ll see his stock go up quickly.
Denver – Drew Lock (QB24 / 14.10): The Broncos added a ton of weapons for their second-year starter and now it’s time to see if Lock can take a big step forward.
Houston – Duke Johnson (RB55 / 12.02): If you’re not in on David Johnson, and I am not, then this Johnson should strike your fancy.
Indianapolis – Michael Pittman Jr. (WR63 / 14.06): Someone has to step up opposite of T.Y. Hilton and this rookie looks the part. It could take him a while to get into his flow, but I expect him to make a 2020 splash at some point in the Colts’ passing attack.
Kansas City – Darrell Williams (RB60 / 13.08): With the Chiefs cutting DeAndre Washington, Williams appears to be locked into the team’s plans with Clyde Edwards-Helaire as they move on with Damien Williams opting out this season due to COVID-19.
Las Vegas – Bryan Edwards (Undrafted WR): The Raiders lack a true No. 1 wideout and even though they drafted Henry Ruggs before Edwards, this rookie is going off the board much later and in some cases not at all. Both should make 2020 impacts.
L.A. Chargers – Joshua Kelley (RB61 / 13.09): Expect him to have a bigger role for the Chargers out of the gate than most expected.
Jacksonville – Gardner Minshew (QB21 / 14.05): If nothing else the guy has the best mustache of any quarterback in the league. He also should see more garbage time than any other signal caller. That should lead to plenty of fantasy scoring chances.
Miami – Preston Williams (WR50 / 11.05): My favorite sleeper on this whole list, Williams has an extremely high ceiling playing in a Miami offense that I expect to take a step forward in 2020. If he proves to be 100% following November’s ACL tear big things could await.
New England – Damien Harris (RB44 / 9.01): It’s not a matter of if, rather when, Harris gets his crack to be the lead ball carrier out of the Patriots’ backfield.
N.Y. Jets – Chris Herndon (TE17 / 13.11): Easily one of 2020’s best post-hype sleepers. If Herndon can stay healthy, something that escaped him a year ago, he could approach TE1 numbers.
Pittsburgh – Benny Snell Jr (RB63 / 13.10): Snell appears to be the front-runner to back up James Conner. He lost some weight and added some muscle this offseason and beat writers took notice in the weeks leading up to the season.
Tennessee – Jonnu Smith (TE18 / 13.06): With Delaine Walker no longer in the picture Smith is poised to take a major step forward this year. He should flirt with TE1 numbers if he lives up to my expectations.
NFC
Arizona – Chase Edmonds (RB44 / 9.06): A nice handcuff for Drake owners for sure, but could also have some nice stand alone value. He produced some highlight reel runs in limited action a year ago.
Atlanta – Russell Gage (Undrafted): He averaged five catches per contest in nine games after the Falcons dealt Mohamed Sanu to New England. Gage isn’t going to put many big plays, but could be a useful bench piece in deeper PPR formats.
Carolina – Robby Anderson (WR61 / 14.03): The Panthers paid Anderson $20 million over two years. That tells me that Matt Ruhle and company have some plans to integrate him in the offense.
Chicago – Anthony Miller (WR52 / 11.10): Miller is a third-year wideout and if the Bears can get anything close to competent play at quarterback expect him to deliver a breakout campaign.
Dallas – Blake Jarwin (TE18 / 14.05): With Jason Witten out of the picture, Jarwin is rising up my tight end board quickly. He’s big, fast and athletic and caught 76 percent of the passes thrown his way last season.
Detroit – Matthew Stafford (QB13 / 10.03): Before going down last year, Stafford was having a career season and the weapons are there for him to pick up right where he left off now that he’s healthy.
Green Bay – Allen Lazard (WR51 / 11.08): Not thrilled about the Packers’ offense much after the frontliners, so Lazard makes this list by default. He’s likely to be the WR2 for Green Bay that speaks more about the front office’s mishaps than Lazard’s ability.
L.A. Rams – Jared Goff (QB19 / 13.04): Going with Goff as your fantasy quarterback is like taking the FREE space on the bingo board. You don’t have to pay anything for him and he has the potential to help you hit while you have flexibility to build up at other roster positions.
Minnesota – Irv Smith Jr (Undrafted): Smith Jr should see an increased role in the offense in Year 2 and the Vikings begin to phase the aging Kyle Rudolph out.
New Orleans – Emmanuel Sanders (WR42 / 9.04): The Saints finally have a proven commodity opposite of Michael Thomas. Sanders is now 33, so he’s not the same player he once was but he should be able to at least draw some attention to his side of the field.
N.Y. Giants – Sterling Shepard (WR47 / 10.07): He’s my favorite of the Giants’ receiver and if he stays healthy offers WR3 upside and he’s going in double digits rounds in most drafts right now.
Philadelphia – Dallas Goedert (Undrafted): Even if with Zach Ertz healthy, Goddert has shown his ability to produce in the Eagles’ passing attack and with all of the injuries Philadelphia is coping with at wideout the team is going to have to lean on both tight ends.
San Francisco – Jerick McKinnon (RB58 / 13.02): Who knows what is going to shake out in the 49ers’ backfield? What is a known fact is that McKinnon is going off the board much later than his backfield counterparts, Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman, making him worth a late-round dart.
Seattle – Carlos Hyde (RB61 / 13.12): Hyde is worth a grab as a RB5 in 12-team leagues. Chris Carson is definitely the guy in Seattle, but he isn’t known for his durability. If he goes down Hyde would instantly become a high-floor, low-ceiling RB2 play.
Tampa Bay – O.J. Howard (Undrafted): Gronk is my dude and one my favorite players over, but he’s offering no value at his current ADP. Howard has failed to deliver on his massive potential to this point of his career, but Tom Brady is about to change that.
Washington – Steven Sims (Undrafted): Expect Sims to be right behind Terry McLaurin on the WR depth chart in D.C. He’s an easy grab in the last few rounds of a fantasy draft as WR5 option in any format.
*ADP from last week of 12-team O.5 PPR drafts at FantasyFootballCalculator.com
