The most fun sleepers in Fantasy Football are the ones no one saw coming. But you don't actually have to be that cute to make a profit in this game. Because there are sleepers every year, that should be pretty obvious based on past performance and average draft position. These are the guys that no one gets excited about and everyone underrates. Sometimes they are the same guys in back-to-back years. Often, they are quarterbacks. It does not look like 2026 will be any different in that regard. Once again, Jared Goff and Brock Purdy look like two of the most obvious sleepers in Fantasy Football. And their current ADP makes it easier than ever to wait on quarterback.
Goff is pretty clearly the best value. He's currently sitting at QB16 in CBS PPR ADP, and being drafted at the end of Round 12 in one QB leagues. In the past three seasons, he has finished as QB10, QB8, and QB13 on a per-game basis. He has not missed one game in that stretch, so he's been even better in full-season scoring. He has at least 30 touchdowns and 4,500 yards passing in all three seasons as well. With Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams, and Sam LaPorta all coming back, there is no reason to expect that will change in 2026. In fact, with the offseason turmoil for the Lions defense, it is possible Goff throws even more than he has the past three seasons. He also plays just one true outdoor game in the last eight weeks of the Fantasy Football season.
The rub against Goff is that he doesn't run and so he doesn't have enough upside. That simply isn't true for Purdy. The 49ers QB has 470 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in his last 24 games. Adding that on top of the fact that he has been arguably the most efficient passer in the NFL since he came into the league, and you have yourself a surefire QB1 with top-five upside. Sound like hyperbole? Since Purdy's rookie season, 30 QBs have thrown at least 1,000 passes. Purdy ranks first in yards per attempt (8.6) and success rate (52.4%). He ranks second in touchdown rate (6.2%) and passer rating (104.0). He also ranks fourth in Fantasy points per game (22.18). He isn't quite as good a value as Goff, but his ADP is in Round 11, and he's not being drafted as a top 10 QB. If Mike Evans, George Kittle, Ricky Pearsall, and Christian McCaffrey all stay healthy, Purdy could absolutely be a top-four QB this year.
The best thing about Goff and Purdy is what they allow you to do at the other positions. They are potential top six QBs that you can draft after you draft all of your offensive starters and multiple backups. There's a good chance they'll outscore about half the QBs drafted ahead of them while they are at it.
Here are the rest of my sleepers for 2026:
Our consensus rankings have Addison about a round and a half above his current ADP of late Round 9. The 24-year-old struggled like most everyone else in the second half of 2025, but he has shown flashes of his first-round pedigree as recently as early last year. In a 17-game stretch from Week 4 of the 2024 season through Week 7 of the 2025 season, he caught 78 passes for 1,123 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was WR25 on a per-game basis in 2024 and we expect this season to look more like that one for the Vikings. It may seem strange that I had Justin Jefferson on my bust list and Addison as a sleeper, since they'll both catch passes from Kyler Murray, but there is an eight-round difference in their ADP, and Addison's high career touchdown rate makes him the kind of guy who can produce WR3 numbers on low volume. Like many of the guys on this list, I expect Addison to beat ADP without an injury, but he has top 12 wide receiver upside if Jefferson misses time.
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I recently wrote about Worthy as a Dynasty buy, so I suppose it makes sense I would call him a sleeper in redraft in Round 10. The Chiefs have been adamant that Worthy was never quite the same after his Week 1 injury last year, and they have every expectation that he will break out in Year 3. He is still just 23 years old and he is still tied to Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes has played his best football with Eric Bieniemy at offensive coordinator, and Bieniemy is back in that role, replacing Matt Nagy. Expect more short area targets, and Worthy has the speed to turn short slants into big gains if he can get on the same page as Mahomes.
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In my first version of sleepers, I listed both Tre Tucker and Jalen Nailor as sleepers. Both still qualify as neither is being drafted in the first 10 rounds of Fantasy Football drafts. Head Coach Klint Kubiak is going to run the ball often out of multiple tight end sets, which generally leads to high efficiency for the wide receivers that are on the field. We expect those receivers to be Tucker and Nailor and I slightly prefer Tucker as the team's WR1. He posted career bests across the board in 2025, and I expect him to improve on his counting stats and efficiency in 2026. If you want to lock up the Raiders' WR1, you can take Tucker in Round 10 and Nailor in Round 11. No team is cheaper in this regard.
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When you are talking about running backs drafted outside of the top 100, you are almost always talking about backup running backs. That's what we are expecting for Marks, though he could have a significant role in the passing game even when David Montgomery is healthy. Montgomery is a 29-year-old running back who hasn't had more than 235 touches in a season since 2021. Either the Texans will manage his workload, or he'll be a candidate to miss time with more work than he's had since he left Chicago. Marks could be very good in a part-time role and prove flexworthy if this turns into a committee backfield, and he could be an RB2 if Montgomery misses time.
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It is seeming less likely by the day that Brandon Aiyuk is a Commander in 2026. That's excellent news for Williams, who will compete with Treylon Burks, Luke McCaffrey, Jaylin Lane, and Dyami Brown to be the WR2 next to Terry McLaurin. We expect Williams to win that battle and he has a chance to see 100-plus targets in Year 1 in Washington. Williams missed some time in 2025, but he scored 11 touchdowns as a 20-year-old at Clemson in 2024. If Jayden Daniels has the bounce-back season we expect, Williams has a chance to be a high-end flex or borderline WR3 as a rookie.
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Robinson is as clear of a handcuff running back in Atlanta as any backup running back in the NFL. So there is no reason for him to last until Round 15. We don't expect him to matter much for as long as Bijan Robinson stays healthy, but he would vault into weekly starter consideration if Bijan misses time. He had a higher success rate and a higher yards per carry than Christian McCaffrey in San Francisco and there is plenty of reason to believe he can be a serviceable RB2 if given the opportunity this year.
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Yeah, we're in dart throw territory. Claiborne is undersized, but electric, and very fundamentally sound for a rookie. He probably needs an Aaron Jones injury to be Fantasy relevant, but Jones has missed 11 games over the last three seasons, wasn't as effective last year, and turns 32 years old in December. You may end up cutting Claiborne when the bye weeks hit, but he could also be one of the surprising rookies of the 2026 season if Jones misses time. The Vikings have raved about how good their rookie back looked this offseason and will find ways to get the ball in his hands.
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It is kind of funny that the cheapest guy in the breakouts column is one of the most likely to have a big Week 1 role. The Dolphins have no established wide receivers and it currently looks like Malik Washington could be their Week 1 WR1. Dulcich ranked second amongst all tight ends in yards per route run in 2025 and has the potential to be one of the top two targets for Malik Willis this year. Most often, the surprise sleeper tight ends that hit are the guys who finish top two on their team in targets. Right now, especially after Willis and Dulcich hit it off at OTAs, that seems more like the expectation than a possibility. He's a great guy to pair with George Kittle if you are worried Kittle won't be ready for Week 1.
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