4 Best Fantasy Football Sleepers for the 2025 NFL Season

You can't win your fantasy football league without rostering a league-winner, and one of the best ways to accomplish that is hitting on a sleeper.

Last season we saw players such as Brian Thomas Jr., Ladd McConkey, Chase Brown, Bucky Irving, and Jonnu Smith massively outperform their average draft position (ADP) after being selected outside the top 100 in 2024 fantasy football drafts.

Let's try to identify some of the diamonds in the rough for this season. We'll focus on only players with an ADP outside the top-100 picks, per FantasyPros' half-PPR ADP data.

Sleeper Fantasy Football Targets

Marvin Mims, WR, Denver Broncos

ADP: 158.0 Overall (WR57)

Marvin Mims had a puny 107 scrimmage yards and zero scores to his name through the first 10 games of the 2024 season before setting off on a mini-breakout.

Mims totaled an eye-popping 434 receiving yards and six touchdowns in the final seven games of the regular season, earning an overall WR24 finish and WR21 standing in half-PPR points per game after Week 10. He churned out bold weekly finishes in this stretch, including Week 13 (WR9), Week 17 (WR4), and Week 18 (WR6). If his full 2025 campaign looks anything like last year's second half, we may be drafting Mims far too late at his current ADP.

Coming off a playoff-clinching campaign, Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos will return with more weapons than before. They picked up tight end Evan Engram and running back J.K. Dobbins this offseason and nabbed skill players RJ Harvey and Pat Bryant in the 2025 NFL Draft. These new faces shouldn't stop us from going after Mims, for he may have already won himself a key role.

Mims ran just 22.3% of routes through the first ten games last season before running 48.3% of routes in the final four games, including a season-high 63.0% route rate in the AFC Wild Card game. Denver called on him when it mattered most, and Mims did his job by netting a mammoth 4.43 yards per route run across the final seven regular-season contests. FanDuel Research's Jim Sannes dished out some fantasy football takeaways from the NFL preseason and noted that Mims' role has seemingly expanded after he played 16 of 19 snaps with the first-team offense. After seeing what Mims did with a limited role a season ago, we should be excited about this development.

Christian Kirk, WR, Houston Texans

ADP: 164.3 Overall (WR60)

Christian Kirk comeback season?

At the very real risk of calling out the wrong Houston Texans WR sleeper -- rookie Jayden Higgins is a popular unpopular play at his current ADP of WR53 at pick 142 -- I want to give some love to Kirk.

The 28-year-old finished as the WR11 in 2022 but has played just 20 games across his last two campaigns. Kirk was the WR32 from Weeks 3 to 8 last season before sustaining a season-ending collarbone injury. Now, he joins the Texans in a contract year.

Can C.J. Stroud's bounce back season collide with Kirk's?

Even with Tank Dell out of the fold, Stroud still has plenty of mouths to feed with Nico Collins, Higgins, Kirk, and third-rounder Jaylin Noel. However, rookies Higgins and Noel are still unproven, and I at least think there's a world where new OC Nick Caley is able to revive this Stroud-led offense with Kirk commanding a key role.

We're talking about someone who was on pace to total 3,000-plus receiving yards across his last three seasons if his averages were extrapolated to a full 17-game season, and his most recent collarbone injury likely won't be what inhibits his effectiveness.

Xavier Legette, WR, Carolina Panthers

ADP: 175.5 Overall (WR67)

Xavier Legette might not be the second-year breakout we expect, but could he be the one we get?

Tetairoa McMillan has plenty of hype after being selected by the Carolina Panthers with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. His talent paired with Bryce Young's redemption arc has Tet's ADP currently sitting at WR28 at pick 64. Meanwhile, Carolina's first-round draft pick from just a season ago has practically zero steam.

Now, a lot of this has to do with Legette's tough rookie campaign, which is an admittedly decent line of thinking. He totaled 497 receiving yards and four touchdowns through 16 games, was meh in the efficiency department, and amassed an eye-popping seven drops.

But, a glass half full approach would contend that rookie mistakes are a thing for a reason while also noting that Legette dealt with poor and inconsistent quarterback play. With a real threat in McMillan now in the fold, the Panthers can place Legette in a better position for success. I'd rather utilize my total dart throw on Legette than the other receivers going in his range.

Hunter Henry, TE, New England Patriots

ADP: 153.3 Overall (TE18)

We shouted out Hunter Henry in our sleeper tight ends to target for fantasy football piece, so I'll partially repeat myself here.

Understandably, the 30-year-old Henry doesn't carry much steam after what feels like years on end of middling production. But across Drake Maye's 10 starts last season, Henry commanded a 21.8% target share, 30.8% red zone target share, and netted 1.64 yards per route run. The New England Patriots added Stefon Diggs this offseason, but there's still a glaring lack of competition in this room.

Henry finished as the overall TE12 in 2024 and earned the fifth-most targets at his position. That volume could sustain itself if Maye continues to rely on the veteran, and scores could be forthcoming after Henry punched in just two touchdowns on 97 targets a season ago. Notably, Josh McDaniels helmed Henry's nine-touchdown campaign in 2021.

I think Henry has far more top-10 potential at his position than his ADP implies.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.