5 Deep Sleepers for 2025 Fantasy Football Drafts

Some of us fantasy football zealots are in weird leagues, man.

Whether it be a 25-deep draft in best ball, a 16-to-24-man league, or just a ridiculous amount of bench spots, the difference in your season can come from after most drafts end. Think of key contributors outside of last year's top 150 in average draft position (ADP) like Adam Thielen, Jordan Mason, Tyrone Tracy Jr. -- among others. Those picks won crucial matchups for their managers.

So, I wanted to challenge myself. Who could be this year's undrafted darlings? Which players might be underrated candidates for that last pick of drafts? Here are five names that I think can finish with fantasy-relevant seasons from outside this year's top-175 guys in ADP.

Note: A player's ADP data comes from FantasyPros' half-PPR data. The basis for rounds used in this piece is from 12-player leagues.

Deep Fantasy Football Sleepers for 2025

Anthony Richardson, QB, Indianapolis Colts

ADP: 180.3 (QB28)

"Opportunity" is an obstacle for most of the players on this list, but Anthony Richardson's is right in front of him.

The Colts would love if the former top-five pick was playing well enough to put to bed any controversy about being on the field, but he hasn't. Shane Steichen appears in line to decide if Richardson or Daniel Jones will be named the starter soon.

That's really the only obstacle to Richardson's fantasy relevance. In games where he played at least 50% of the snaps last year, AR5 posted 17.2 fantasy points per game (FPPG). That number was 24.8 FPPG in 2023. When he's on the field without risk of replacement, his rushing has led to QB1 production.

In most normal redraft leagues, Richardson is fine on waivers for now. Superflex formats are where the conversation becomes interesting; you could conceivably take Jones and Richardson together to harness this upside with some security.

Woody Marks, RB, Houston Texans

ADP: 194.0 (RB62)

I don't know what it is about Woody Marks that most people want to see to believe he could be relevant right away.

When you consider the 2026 third-round pick that Houston traded for the spot to select him, Marks actually has the fifth-highest draft capital among incoming rookies. That's ahead of even Kaleb Johnson. The Texans wanted him.

It's easy to see why. Marks' advanced age (24) is his lone drawback. Other than that, he posted the fourth-most rushing yards in the Big Ten last year (1,133) after a previous reputation as a "receiving back". Don't worry as he still did that well, too. Marks caught 47 balls on what was still his lowest target share in three seasons (11.8%).

Joe Mixon is somewhat seriously injured to begin the year, and Nick Chubb has never been an elite pass-catcher as he looks to fend off the "washed" allegations himself. If the Texans' rushing attack is poor, or Mixon misses time, Marks is in line for plenty of playing time in an offense universally considered pretty good.

Romeo Doubs, WR, Green Bay Packers

ADP: 198.0 (WR72)

I understand the groans with this one. Romeo Doubs has had two years to break out with more opportunity than he'll conceivably have this year.

When it comes to individual performance, Doubs is already sort of doing his part. According to FantasyPros' Derek Brown, Doubs was a top-five receiver in separation across all route types in the entire NFL last season. He also had a 23.6% first-read target share.

So, where did it go wrong? Well, the Packers' 30th-ranked pass rate over expectation (-8.3% PROE) was never going to help anyone except Josh Jacobs score fantasy points. Plus, in addition to Jordan Love's 2024 injuries, Doubs dealt with an early disciplinary issue and suffered a concussion around the fantasy playoffs.

Early indications are that Green Bay is putting their circus at receiver to the side. Doubs and Matthew Golden are the primary outside receivers with Jayden Reed in the slot. There's enough talent in this offense to wonder what the upside truly is if they decide (or are forced to) not lean on Jacobs as much in 2025.

Tahj Brooks, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

ADP: 224.5 (RB69)

The "injury away" handcuff is dominating late-round running backs this year. Look at where Zach Charbonnet, Tyjae Spears, Ray Davis, and Trey Benson go in drafts relative to their early opportunity.

I don't know if it's because the Chase Brown hype train has careened beyond its potential paths to failure, but we're all forgetting one.

Tahj Brooks is going to be a fantasy monster if (or potentially when) something happens to the 5'9" Brown, who seems poised to dominate the Cincinnati backfield. Brown already was injured to miss Week 18 last year. Some might call it a fluke, but it's tough to touch the rock that often in the NFL at his size and not get banged up.

Sharing the same draft capital as Brown, there aren't really talent concerns with Brooks. He is the Texas Tech Red Raiders' all-time leading rusher with over 1,500 rushing yards each of his last two collegiate season. He also caught 57 passes in this time, yet it's likely he'd cede some work to Samaje Perine in that department if something were to happen to Brown.

After the Bengals cut Zack Moss earlier this month, the room is quite literally empty beyond Brooks and Perine. If your bench is deep enough, stashing Brooks now could beat the mad dash of spending FAAB to add the tailback later in the season.

Theo Johnson, TE, New York Giants

ADP: 280.5 (TE35)

What if I told you there was a tight end with elite athleticism and a path to be his team's No. 2 option that was going undrafted basically everywhere?

That's technically not an incorrect evaluation of Theo Johnson despite the mammoth leaps of generic phrasing to get there. The sophomore tight end from Penn State will look to put last year's season-ending foot injury behind him and compete for targets behind Malik Nabers.

Johnson was starting to piece things together before the setback. In his final five weeks after Week 9, he was the TE14 in FPPG (7.9) on a 19.2% target share. That share would have been 10th in the NFL at the position extrapolated across the whole season.

He's atop the depth chart this season to pick up where he left off. However, the next tight end that Russell Wilson helps delivers a TE1 season will be the first, so this might be a better dart if Jameis Winston or Jaxson Dart eventually takes Big Blue's quarterback job.

I think his best consideration comes in two-TE or TE-premium formats where even a little upside goes a long way.

Futures Day is coming August 26th. Learn more here.

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.