2024 Fantasy Football Sleeper WR Draft Picks

By: Christian Newell

Sleepers are a mix of players who recently had a down year and thus fall under the radar after, those in crowded rooms with a chance to emerge as the top dog, rookies with a safe floor despite being unlikely to become their team's top target, and many other situations.

Every year there are receivers who are projected to step up fail expectations, and vice versa, hence actually predicting a breakout player so difficult.

The following list is four of my top wide receiver sleeper picks in this year's fantasy draft, who all fall under the top 100 ADP but could win leagues at an extremely low beginning price.

• Brian Thomas Jr.

  • With the departures of Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones, the Jaguars are looking for a stud to pair alongside their highly paid WR1 Christian Kirk. The team did sign Gabe Davis this offseason, but the former Bill has been unable to establish himself as a guaranteed week-to-week weapon, eclipsing just over 700 yards in a fully healthy season last year with an elite QB in Josh Allen and a down season for Stefon Diggs.

  
  

  • Evan Engram and Travis Etienne are of course still in the mix, but this didn't stop an even peppering of targets last season. Overtaking the WR1 role is a tall task for a rookie receiver, but with another likely 4,000-yard season coming for Trevor Lawrence, look for BTJ to garner 8+ targets a game...and an eye-popping 17 touchdowns last season at LSU alongside Malik Nabers could be a sign of plenty of redzone targets.

  
  

  • Projection: 915 yards 7 TDs

• Josh Downs

  • There is certainly a lot of competition for targets in this Indianapolis wide receiver room: Michael Pittman Jr. will likely remain the top dog with his $70 million extension, Adonai Mitchell will be a key piece despite falling in the draft, Alec Pierce is in the mix, Jelani Woods will look to remain healthy and break out.

  
  

  • However, in the three games that Anthony Richardson was healthy, Downs saw a respectable 24 targets, just second behind MPJ with 34. This number is very impressive when factoring in that Downs was a third-round draft pick and gained incredible chemistry with a fellow rookie at quarterback.

  
  

  • There were also high hopes for Alec Pierce after a respectable rookie season, but Downs overtook him in target share immediately in the slot role. Despite cooling down in the second half of the season, Downs amassed nearly 800 yards receiving and 100 targets. If the red zone targets increase and Richardson throws enough, a Tyler Lockett-esque season could be in the works.

  
  

  • Projection: 930 yards 6 TDs

• Dontayvion Wicks

  • There is no clear-cut alpha in the Packers even-yet-respectable receiving room. According to numerous reports, the mystery behind Christian Watson's career-long hamstring problem has finally been solved, and a potential healthy season would likely make him Jordan Love's top target.

    
    

  • However, there are plenty of weeks when Watson vanishes, and other receivers like Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs stepped up. Dontayvion Wicks' upside intrigues me the most however, as there is equal potential for him to be a 1,000-yard receiver as there is for him to be 4th on the team's depth chart. Wicks should still certainly be drafted behind Watson, Reed, and Doubs, but the upside is there for a last round or waiver wire hero.

  
  

  • Projection: 840 yards 8 TDs

Other notable names: Luke McCaffrey, Cedric Tillman, Malachi Corley