Fantasy football experts Chris Raybon and Sean Koerner are bringing their rankings to FantasyLabs this summer. Get a sneak peek as Raybon breaks down his top wide receiver sleepers based on their current ADP at Underdog Fantasy. Claim up to a $250 bonus with our Underdog promo code and start drafting best ball teams today!
The field tends to be bullish on rookie wide receivers, and rightfully so, as an average of 6.3 rookies have finished inside the top 50 WRs over the past three seasons. However, the hyper-drafting of rookie receivers makes it more difficult for them to outproduce their ADPs and qualify as slept-on assets, which is why my 2024 WR sleepers – while including a couple of rookies – skew more toward veterans who are currently being drafted at or below their projected fantasy football floor for the upcoming season.
WR Sleepers for Underdog Fantasy Best Ball
Diontae Johnson (ADP WR40)
As the Panthers’ No. 1 wide receiver last year, Adam Thielen caught 103 passes for 1,014 yards and 4 touchdowns. However, Thielen hit a wall over the final seven games of his age-33 campaign, averaging just 3.9 catches for 41.1 yards with zero touchdowns while drawing a target on 17.8% of his routes. Given Theilen’s late-season dip in production and advanced age, Johnson, who has been targeted on 24.3% of career routes, should be expected to assume WR1 duties and post similar volume to what we saw from Thielen last season – but likely with more efficiency, as Johnson is squarely in his prime entering at 28 years old. New Panthers head coach Dave Canales has coaxed career-bests out of Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield in back-to-back seasons, so being Bryce Young’s WR1 could be worth more fantasy-wise in 2024 than it was for Theilen a year ago.
Gabe Davis (ADP WR58)
In cases of uncertainty, I’m a big proponent of taking what the board gives you. With the release of Zay Jones, Davis and rookie Brian Thomas Jr. are both in contention to be Jacksonville’s second-most targeted wide receiver after Christian Kirk. But Thomas’ ADP is WR44 while Davis’ is WR58. Firstly, Davis has beaten this ADP every year of his career, finishing WR54 in 2020 and 2021, WR28 in 2022, and WR39 in 2023. Secondly, Davis is the prototypical best-ball WR because his main strengths are the deep ball (16.7 career yards per catch on 163 catches) and the red zone (31.3% career red-zone touchdown rate on 51 targets). Last season, Davis had six top-15 finishes – one fewer than Stefon Diggs, who was targeted 79 more times than Davis and finished as the fantasy WR9. Thirdly, the Jags have taught us we should follow the money when it comes to predicting targets. Two years ago, some analysts scoffed at the Jags giving Christian Kirk $37 million guaranteed, and he went on to post career-highs in targets (133), receptions (84), receiving yards, (1,108), and touchdowns (8). While Davis didn’t receive as much guaranteed money as Kirk, $24 million is still a hefty sum, and his career-best number of receptions (48), yards (836), and touchdowns (7) are within striking distance even if he ends up as the fourth-most targeted pass-catchers after Kirk, Thomas, and tight end Evan Engram.
Rashid Shaheed, Saints (ADP WR60)
Shaheed finished as a top-50 fantasy WR last season, and Michael Thomas is now out of the picture. Across 15 games, Shaheed posted at least 65 yards and a touchdown five times, leading to five top-20 finishes, including three inside the top 10. Shaheed was the rare starting wide receiver who also served as his team’s primary kickoff and punt returner and is the favorite for that role again in 2024, which would give him a few extra cracks per game at a touchdown.
Joshua Palmer, Chargers (ADP WR61)
Palmer averaged 4.3 receptions for 70.5 yards and 0.25 touchdowns on 6.9 targets per game over his final eight games. With both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams gone, the only players standing between Palmer and WR1 duties are a rookie (Ladd McConkey) and a second-year man who was a bust as a rookie (Quentin Johnston).
Keon Coleman, Bills (ADP WR62)
Given the current state of the Bills wide receiver depth chart (Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, Mack Hollins, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Chase Claypool, Justin Shorter, KJ Hamler, Andy Isabella), the 33rd overall pick in this year’s draft has a chance to be Josh Allen’s No. 1 receiver after Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis vacated a combined 241 targets, 152 catches, 1,929 yards, and 15 TDs from 2023.
Roman Wilson (ADP WR73)
Wilson averaged 16.4 yards per reception and scored on 12 of his 48 receptions in his senior season at Michigan before running a 4.39 forty at the combine. With Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin III, Quez Watkins, and Scotty Miller as the top wide receivers on the depth chart behind George Pickens, Wilson faces minimal resistance for a Week 1 starting role. The Russell Wilson-Justin Fields quarterback carousel is far from ideal, but Pickens’ route tree makes him more inconsistent than the typical WR1, increasing the value of the WR2 role.
Demarcus Robinson, Rams (ADP WR88)
Robinson averaged 3.8 catches for 55.3 yards and 0.67 TDs on 6.0 targets per game in the six games he played over 50% of the snaps. In the final five of those instances, he finished no worse than WR25, meaning he posted a top-25 finish in 83.3% of his games as the Rams WR3. His combination of pass-catching and run-blocking prowess allowed him to swipe the WR3 role away from Tutu Atwell and become an every-down player down the stretch, and he is slated to open 2024 as the Rams WR3. With tight end Tyler Higbee (ACL) unlikely to be ready for Week 1 and the Rams targeting running backs a league-low 69 times in 2023, Robinson is a good bet to be Matthew Stafford’s No. 3 target after Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp.
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