Must-Target Rookie WR Sleepers

With rookie drafts well underway or approaching soon, you need smart picks in every round of fantasy football. That’s easier accomplished in the first, where you recognize names like “Ashton Jeanty” and “Travis Hunter,” but gets tougher into the later rounds. After running backs last week, I’ve wide receivers for you this week: here’s a list of six rookie sleepers to target after the second round of your draft.

Potential 2025 Impact

Kyle Williams, New England Patriots

Since he was drafted 69th overall by the Patriots back in April, Kyle Williams has steadily gained momentum as a dynasty target. The primary cause? His landing spot — I even highlighted the pick in my Best Landing Spots just after the draft. Williams had been a draft process riser after a strong senior year at Washington State and an impressive Senior Bowl, an event that has slingshotted several “sleepers” into relevance in recent years. As I noted, Williams posted 1,198 yards, 14 touchdowns, 17.1 yards per reception and 2.71 yards per route run last season, an arsenal of production thresholds that just two receivers drafted last year hit in 2023: Marvin Harrison Jr. and Brian Thomas Jr. He’s doesn’t have prototypical size — 5-foot-11, 190 pounds — but he’s a speedy separator and dynamic with the ball in his hands, both important strengths for slighter receivers.

Most importantly, though, Williams lands on a New England roster with very little competition for targets. Stefon Diggs is the only real threat, and he’s 31 years old and still recovering from a torn ACL. You might argue he’s more valuable as a mentor to Williams than he is dangerous as a target hog. After that, the depth chart is littered with WR4s who should offer no resistance in Williams’ pursuit of WR1 opportunity. I drafted Williams at the 2.12 in our superflex rookie mock last week, and noted that he “fits the chain-moving, tough-over-the-middle, route-running slot role that was a staple of Josh McDaniels offenses back in the Brady era … except that he’s much faster than Julian Edelman or Wes Welker.” If Williams can earn the trust of young Drake Maye as early as this offseason, he could be a surprise target-earner in 2025 and a massive value in rookie drafts.

Pat Bryant, Denver Broncos

As with hype train extraordinaire RJ Harvey, former Illinois wideout Pat Bryant is drawing significantly more interest from the dynasty community after the Broncos drafted him well above projection. Despite mostly Day 3 draft grades, Denver snagged Bryant in Round 3, making him an instant contender for the WR2 role behind Courtland Sutton Currently, Marvin Mims Jr. and Devaughn Vele are also contenders for that role, but Mims is a much different receiver and Vele is a seventh-round pick. Plus, Sutton is hardly a “true WR1” himself — before earning 135 targets as essentially the only option last year, he’d typically been right around 100 per season. And Bryant has some similar skills: big, physical, great ball skills, tough in contested catch situations.

Much of Bryant’s ceiling will be determined by Bo Nix. If Nix becomes a productive QB1 and can push for 4,500-plus yards or 40-plus touchdowns — or both — there will be room in this offense for multiple fantasy studs (a la prime Keenan Allen and Mike Williams under breakout Justin Herbert and now-Denver-OC Joe Lombardi). And Bryant could have an inside track to one of those spots. But even if Nix is more of a mid-range passer, Bryant could have WR2 upside, assuming he steps up and justifies Denver’s draft investment. Either way, he’s going in the third round of rookie drafts and well into the double-digit rounds in redraft. Few players in that range have his draft capital, his year one opportunity, his level of quarterback play, and his offensive coaching staff. That’s a perfect sleeper recipe.

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