Fantasy Football: 5 Players Undervalued on Sleeper

You shouldn't go into a fantasy football draft with just players you like and players you don't at certain draft positions.

Which site you draft on also matters.

A vast majority of fantasy football managers aren't diehard zealots with their own individual rankings and in-depth knowledge of where a player should be valued on any platform. When on the clock, the masses are likely to peruse the top of the site-generated draft rankings. I do that exact thing a lot of the time when it's my turn to pick -- even as someone who does this for a living. It's hard for most of us to reach all the way down 15 spots lower than the pre-draft rankings on a given website, especially if there's not much time given to pick.

That's why knowing a player is vastly under-ranked on a given platform can be such a huge advantage. At any point in a round, you can scoop up a player most of your leaguemates won't consider for another 10 picks. It's easy value to find, which is the name of the game in fantasy football.

In a three-part series, I'm going to take a look at the predraft rankings of three of globe's largest fantasy football platforms and see where their consensus rankings differ the most compared to the rest of the fantasy football community.

This piece will focus on Sleeper's fantasy football platform. ESPN's undervalued players and Yahoo's undervalued players are also available.

Note: A player's expert consensus ranking (ECR) comes from FantasyPros' expert consensus rankings data. The ECR used for Sleeper Ranking and FantasyPros is for half-PPR scoring.

Undervalued Players on Sleeper's Fantasy Football Platform

Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Sleeper Ranking: 29th (WR14)
ECR: 22nd (WR13)

Across all three sites studied, you'll roughly see the top-30 picks in line with consensus. After all, these are the rounds in which we obsess over value.

However, Mike Evans' slight dip among wide receivers is significantly impacted with a pair of quarterbacks (Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts), running backs (Isiah Pacheco and Josh Jacobs), and tight ends (Sam LaPorta and Travis Kelce) slipping ahead of him in this range. He's going at least a half of a round later on Sleeper than other sites.

I'm not sure if this reduction in draft cost can help make up for a player who I'm not really into in fantasy football this year. While Evans is a 1,000-yard machine who has shown great durability as well as chemistry with Baker Mayfield, Evans' 13 receiving touchdowns (tied for the highest in the NFL) -- plus one in the playoffs -- was a perfect example of an outlier season in terms of finding the end zone.

Last year's Bucs offensive coordinator, Dave Canales, has departed, Chris Godwin is returning to the slot role for the Bucs, and rookie Jalen McMillan has been turning heads at training camp. I see a lot of obstacles in Evans' way to a consecutive top-15 season at the position, but Sleeper is the best place to get him if you feel differently.

Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams

Sleeper Ranking: 40th (WR21)
ECR: 32nd (WR18)

It'll be interesting to see how long Cooper Kupp stays buried here on this platform.

Kupp was one of my colleague Skyler Carlin's five players to target in fantasy football. He was also one of Kenyatta Storin's buy-low fantasy football options. Wherever you might turn for fantasy analysis, chances are the individuals at that site are high on Kupp with reports of a return to form for the guy who won the triple crown in 2021 with 145 catches, 1,947 receiving yards, and 16 receiving touchdowns in a WR1 season.

This sort of buzz could result in a rise up the rankings soon, but for now, he's still behind Stefon Diggs, D.K. Metcalf, and Malik Nabers in Sleeper's pre-draft rankings. Even with me believing Nabers is a league-winner in fantasy football, it would be tough for me in the fourth round if the known quantity, Kupp, were still available next to him. That's usually not the case.

Either way, this site's rankings make it even harder to invest a first-round pick into Puka Nacua.

Diontae Johnson, Carolina Panthers

Sleeper Ranking: 93rd (WR42)
ECR: 69th (WR34)

If you're buying the aforementioned Canales' new club, their offensive pieces are significantly more appealing than they were for most of 2023. Diontae Johnson is going so low on Sleeper that it might not even matter if there's no improvement in this offense.

Johnson figures to step into Carolina's top receiving role after a trade before the 2024 NFL Draft. The former third-rounder from the Toledo Rockets broke out in 2021 with a WR9 season (in terms of total half-PPR points) in Ben Roethlisberger's final campaign yet has battled both injuries and the Pittsburgh Steelers' dreadful quarterback play in two subsequent seasons.

How low is this bar on Sleeper? Bryce Young has already supported a WR31 on a points-per-game basis in half PPR last year, which was Adam Thielen in his age-32 season. Thielen, Johnson, and first-round rookie Xavier Legette will certainly create more competition for targets in 2024, but it should help the offense overall.

Getting Johnson in the neighborhood of the 100th pick is bananas after Canales just turned in such an elite season for Evans with another slight-of-frame former first overall pick at QB.

Brian Robinson, Washington Commanders

Sleeper Ranking: 111th (RB36)
ECR: 83rd (RB28)

Amari Cooper's ranking on ESPN is far too low, yet I'm sharing his gold medal for platform-based value with Brian Robinson's inexplicable draft ranking on Sleeper.

On this platform, Robinson is going at least two -- sometimes three -- rounds below where he's going on other sites. Consensus rankings elsewhere put Robinson around Tony Pollard and Javonte Williams as talented backs with a path to clear top roles. At Sleeper, he's being drafted around backups like Tyjae Spears and Trey Benson. It's fairly inexplicable other than Sleeper -- which ranks teammate Austin Ekeler 95th -- thinks Robinson is the backup.

Robinson led this backfield in snaps -- albeit slightly -- in the latest Washington exhibition contest, and there's not much doubt about the efficiency. In 2023, Robinson posted 0.21 rushing yards over expectation per carry (RYOE/c) to Ekeler's -0.27. Ekeler's best work in the NFL has come as a pass-catcher, so he could see third-down work, but Robinson should eat on early downs and at the goal line.

The Commanders are a spicy team in fantasy football as Kliff Kingsbury should drastically elevate the pace and pass rate of this offense. That's before even accounting for the upgrade Jayden Daniels should present at quarterback.

All three of Daniels, Robinson, and Terry McLaurin are being drafted lower than expectation on Sleeper, so it's possible the platform just hasn't accounted for Kingsbury's arrival as much as other sites have.

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Sleeper Ranking: 126th (QB17)
ECR: 106th (QB16)

As a fan of Trevor Lawrence's fantasy football outlook, Sleeper is my favorite place to secure the Jaguars' franchise quarterback.

Lawrence usually goes around pick 100 on other sites, but he drops comfortably below both Jared Goff and Justin Herbert on this platform. With Larwence usually in a near-identical draft spot to Goff, that's ostensibly two positions lower in the QB tier, a drop that doesn't make much sense.

While Goff's Detroit Lions should be a significantly better offense, Goff's lack of rushing upside hurts. T-Law actually has decent upside to score on the ground if a 22.6% red zone rush share last season (eighth among NFL qualifiers) was any indication. Despite being an extremely talented QB, Herbert seems to be a total avoid as new coach Jim Harbaugh brings his notorious slow-paced, rush-heavy attack from the Michigan Wolverines to Herbert's offense in 2024. Michigan was 17th in FBS in rush rate (59.6%) a year ago.

The QB8 in 2022, Lawrence allows you to wait a long time for a decent quarterback on this platform.

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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.