The 2021 football season has arrived and that means millions of fantasy football fans are preparing for what is often the best day of the year: fantasy football draft day.
One of the best ways to make that occasion even better is to walk away from your draft with the best roster. Targeting this season’s coveted sleepers and undervalued players is integral towards accomplishing that goal and dominating your draft.
Here are some of the top 2021 fantasy football deep sleepers to keep in mind as you finalize your draft day preparations. We’re talking stash and cash.
Ryan Fitzpatrick (QB) Washington Football Team
With great risk comes great reward and few quarterbacks embody the boom-or-bust mantra quite like Fitzmagic. You can rarely draft a quarterback as the QB24 and roster a player who can easily win you a week, and over the past few seasons has done just that more often than not. In six starts last season, three times he threw posted at least three touchdowns, and three times topped 340 total yards. That’s following a 2019 campaign in which he finished as a high-end QB2.
However, his upside does not come without risk. Much like in 2020 he could lose his starting job to a significantly younger Taylor Heinicke and he is also prone to untimely turnovers throughout his career which can sink his Fantasy value any given week.
Despite these concerns, he is well worth the risk at his current ADP of 212.83. If he’s sitting there at the bottom of your draft he’s a great backup to grab who can win you a week if needed. Something other quarterbacks like Taysom Hill and Daniel Jones going in the same range as him haven’t proved they are capable of doing with any sort of consistency.
Latavius Murray (RB) New Orleans Saints
The Saints offense looks like a shell of its former self from Week 1 2020. Drew Brees has retired and Michael Thomas will miss a significant portion of the season. Last season Murray handled 146 carries for 656 yards and added 23 receptions for an additional 176 yards while scoring five touchdowns. That volume should only increase this season as the Saints will presumably look to rely heavily on the rushing attack.
Murray holds value with Alvin Kamara healthy, but is a home run pick should he get injured. Last season with a healthy Kamara, Murray still managed double-digit touches in 10 of 15 games. His value is unbelievable with his current ADP making him the 45th running back off the board. You should smash the draft button every time he’s sitting there for you and even reach for him a bit making him a bit. It’s worth drafting him as a top 40 back.
Updated: Look out for Tony Jones who’s been flashing well this pre-season. The Saints signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame. He has secured a spot on this roster and can be had in the 15th round on draft day.
Giovani Bernard (RB) Cincinnati Bengals
Tom Brady has shown us he loves having a running back as a dump-off option out of the backfield. We’ve seen him make James White Fantasy relevant, in his last 16-game season catching 87 of his 123 targets for 751 yards and seven touchdowns. The Bucs offense missed this type of back last season as both Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette failed to impress in the passing attack or even prove to be competent.
Gio is among the best pass-catching backs in the league and is a significantly better runner than White giving him even more upside. He’s proven he can handle upwards of 150 carries and still play a full 16-game season. Something that White wasn’t capable of. This backfield could very well be a cluttered mess, but the potential upside Bernard brings being drafted as the RB50 is undeniable.
Phillip Lindsay (RB) Houston Texans
Depth charts this time of year don’t mean everything, nevertheless, Lindsay currently sits atop the Texans. Combine that with the fact Lindsay ran with the starters and out-snapped David Johnson 8-to-2 in the preseason opener and there may be something brewing in Houston.
Lindsay was banged up in 2020 but has proven to be a more than capable back during his time in Denver. With a career average of 4.8 yards per carry, Lindsay topped 1,000 rushing yards in both his first two seasons, with 35 receptions each year and 17 touchdowns during that span. Currently being drafted as the RB52, Lindsay could be a legitimate starting running back with three-down capabilities. Don’t expect him to be a full-blown workhorse, but we have seen 250-plus touches out of him before and he has a lot more left in the tank than David Johnson or Mark Ingram.
Jakobi Meyers (WR) New England Patriots
After a sneaky good sophomore campaign in 2020, Meyers has been the talk of camp for the Patriots this summer. In 12 games last season he caught 59 of 81 targets for 729 yards. All reports out of New England are stating that he looks to be in line for a big jump and is likely to lead the team in targets this season as the WR1.
If you are looking for the next Julian Edleman for the Pats, this is the most likely candidate. He’s a guy being drafted as the WR72 who can often see double-digit targets and be a strong PPR contributor. If he can start finding the end zone, don’t be shocked if he becomes a weekly Fantasy start by the end of the season.
Albert Wilson (WR) Miami Dolphins
After injury issues in 2019 and sitting out 2020 with Covid concerns, Wilson has returned to Miami with a vengeance. He has been the best offensive player in camp bar none. Once considered to be on the wrong side of the roster bubble entering camp, expectations are now that he will be a Week 1 starter for the Phins.
Wilson is essentially free in drafts going as the WR83. He’s a guy that should be drafted at the end of all best-ball drafts and is now creeping into redraft relevancy as a deep stash with upside in WR corps still with undefined roles. With all the talk being about Jaylen Waddle, DeVante Parker, and Will Fuller, there is a legitimate shot Wilson emerges as one of the top targets for the Dolphins.
Gabriel Davis (WR) Buffalo Bills
Davis was a boom-or-bust rookie last season with a chance to take a big leap forward in 2021. Last year he averaged 17.1 yards per reception, posting 35 receptions for 599 yards and seven touchdowns. With Josh Allen as his quarterback, there will be plenty of deep balls to come his way. While I do expect his Fantasy numbers to improve, he will still likely be inconsistent week-to-week.
He will be an outstanding player to roster in best-ball drafts. In redrafts, he’s a swing for the fences play, who may put you over the top any given week, but could also have you sitting there looking at a goose egg on Sunday night.
Mo-Alie Cox (TE) Indianapolis Colts
Big Mo is an unreasonably large human being. Standing six-foot-five and 267 pounds, how can he not be a red zone mismatch for anyone in the league? With Jack Doyle now 31-years old and dealing with some serious injuries the past few seasons, the Colts will look to transition to the younger Alie-Cox as the TE1 in a dual-TE system.
Regardless of who’s starting at quarterback for Indy, we know Carson Wentz loves big-bodied tight ends and young quarterbacks use them like security blankets. Nonetheless, my analysis comes down to something very simple. Mo Alie-Cox is much bigger than the guy covering him, he’s going undrafted and I’m willing to go out on a limb and say he’ll have a breakout year in regards to touchdowns. If you are drafting a tight end at the bottom of the draft, a guy who can score touchdowns is the best you can realistically hope for.
2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFT KIT
Consider the 2021 Fantasy Football Draft Kit (Powered by FullTime Fantasy) a go-to source for all of our Fantasy Football content — for both free & premium members. Rankings, articles, projections, cheat sheets, tools, Advanced ADP, Preseason Pro, Expert Draft Reviews, tools, contests & more… It’s all here!
