Identifying fantasy football sleepers and under-the-radar players is one of the most fun parts of our fake game, but the process has changed over the last few years with so much information now at our disposal.

With a fresh new crop of rookies comes the opportunity to find draft-day bargains. When it comes to dynasty drafts and rookie sleepers for redraft/early best ball leagues, we have to dig pretty deep. That’s why I’ve embarked on a search for what I like to call “true sleepers” — small school and late third-round or Day 3 draft picks who could surprise early in the NFL.

• 2025 NFL Draft Guide
• 2025 NFL Draft Scouting Reports
• 2025 NFL Mock Drafts

2025 NFL Draft Prospects: Dynasty Rookie WR Sleepers

After researching and putting the final touches on my 2025 rookie dynasty rankings, I’ve identified a handful of wide receivers who could generate fantasy value like Jalen Coker, Jalen McMillan (my one hit last season), Jordan Whittington, Puka Nacua, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Darnell Mooney, Khalil Shakir and Rashid Shaheed did as rookies.

Remember that those Day 3 wide receivers seldom do what Nacua or St. Brown did in their rookie seasons, as I addressed in my pre-draft approach on how to value rookies in 2025 fantasy football.

Finding the Next Sleeper

Like my approach with running backs, I wanted to dive back into the prospect profiles of the Day 3 rookie wide receivers who popped in recent years. What, if anything, stood out?

Darnell Mooney not only posted a 33% career dominator rating at Tulane, but he also broke out during his freshman year at age 19. Gabriel Davis‘ 24% career dominator rating was less impressive, but he also posted an early breakout at the same age.

Mooney and Davis also showed that we want to chase big-play upside with late-round picks. We can find that upside in players who create chunk gains. For example, Mooney averaged over 20 yards per reception in a collegiate season. Davis finished fifth in deep-ball receptions in his final year at UCF.

And although St. Brown doesn’t fit the big-play threat archetype, he still has a top-tier breakout age at 19 to go along with overall middling production and athletics.

However, guys who flashed and accrued dynasty value as their rookie seasons progressed, like Joshua Palmer and Ihmir Smith-Marsette, entered the NFL with vertical-threat prowess on their resumes.

Khalil Shakir and Romeo Doubs both broke out at age 19. Shakir was highlighted as one of my favorite Day 3 rookie receiver sleepers in 2022 after he posted an extremely high dominator rating (46%) in his final year at Boise State. Doubs wasn’t quite as productive at Nevada, but he still posted a top-10 dominator rating in the 2022 wide receiver class. He also thrived as a downfield threat, with 55 targets of 20+ air yards in his last two college seasons.

Shakir and Doubs have seen their values increase compared to starting as Day 3 rookies. Especially Shakir, who has emerged as one of Josh Allen‘s favorite targets.

Rashid Shaheed was an undrafted free agent in 2022. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints and didn’t make the active roster until October. But the team knew they had something in him based on his electric kick-returning profile from college. He broke out at 20 years old and averaged nearly 18 yards per catch in his final year at Weber State.

Shaheed was also targeted on throws of 20+ air yards on 33% of his targets. His ascendance has continued over the last two seasons, with him emerging as the Saints’ No. 2 WR. Last year, he was outproducing Chris Olave before his injury.

As for the 2023 rookie class, should we have seen the Nacua breakout coming? I know I was extremely high on Jayden Reed given his early breakout age, special teams ability and sheer production at 18 years old. Although the NFL wasn’t sleeping on Reed, given that he was drafted in the second round.

Nacua also had an early breakout (19) and produced immediately in his first season at BYU. He commanded a bonkers target share (38%) and was heavily used downfield. Nobody could have projected Nacua for a record-breaking rookie campaign, but there were clear signs of sleeper appeal with his prospect profile.

Rashee Rice also had a 19-year-old breakout season. Tank Dell didn’t have an early breakout age but entered with one of the highest career dominator ratings in the 2023 receiver class.

And even though Marvin Mims Jr. didn’t quite fire as some had hoped in Year 1 — although he did make the Pro Bowl — his value has stayed at least stagnant into Year 2 and even increased heading into Year 3 after a strong second-half for Denver. He entered the NFL super young with a strong special-teams background. But his career college dominator rating was a bit lackluster.

A.T. Perry had some glimpses in the 2023 season and was somebody I highlighted. He ranked highly in touchdowns of 20+ air yards. The same can be said for Dontayvion Wicks, who had spells of production in the Packers’ offense. Again, I highlighted him before his rookie season as an honorable mention because of his big-play ability and vertical game. Wicks didn’t take the massive leap most hoped in Year 2, but he still has dynasty value.

Trey Palmer didn’t produce in Year 1 but made his way onto the field despite being a sixth-round pick. Again, another prospect who commanded an extremely high target share to go along with a deep threat and special-teams skill set.

DeMario Douglas was someone I was very late on as a rookie, given I was much higher on Kayshon Boutte. That was an error on my part. Douglas broke out at 20 years old and posted a top-five target share in the 2023 class at 32%. Like many sleepers that “hit” in the later rounds, Douglas also offered value as a special-teams returner and posted a strong dominator rating (60th percentile).

The rookie wide receiver busts from 2023 that were drafted later — Cedric Tillman, Jonathan Mingo, Jalin Hyatt — all had breakouts at age 21 or older. There were way more hits at 20 or younger (especially at 19). There were more underwhelming rookie wide receivers ranked near the bottom in college career dominator ratings than at the top.

As for best season versus final season dominator ratings — when the final season was much worse than the best — it was a negative outcome in Year 1. The rookies had much better results when the final season/best season were the same.

As for the 2024 class, we had a lot more wide receiver sleeper busts compared to breakouts. A lot of the highly drafted guys delivered.

The mega busts — Ja’Lynn Polk, Adonai Mitchell, Malachi Corley, Jermaine Burton, Roman Wilson, etc — had a lot in common with other busts.

Breakout ages of 20 years or more. We want to see these rookie breakouts before age 20 at the college level. That matters more to me than their actual age entering the NFL. Especially with guys staying in school longer due to NIL deals. And production matters (with the right context applied). Most of the busts were not on the higher end of the production spectrum.

If a prospect is missing both high-end production and an early breakout age, it’s a red flag. But if they have both, it’s a reason to target them in rookie dynasty drafts.

What was the common theme between the three hits of Jalen Coker, Jalen McMillan (my one hit last season) and Jordan Whittington?

Coker was beloved by the film grinders (bravo, DBro) and checked off the analytical boxes with a dominant college profile and sub-19-year-old breakout age. The knock was his competition at Holy Cross, but that was more than factored into his free average draft position (ADP), and likely why he was undrafted in 2024.

I noted last season that rookies had much better results when the final season/best season were the same.

But interestingly enough, this wasn’t true for either Whittington or McMillan, both of whom had better 2022 seasons than 2023 seasons.

But, hello, context. McMillan was battling top-tier NFL wide receiver competition in the Washington Huskies’ offense and got hurt in 2023.

Whittington was a bit harder to be bullish on given his anemic production profile and non-existent breakout age. He did play at Texas for five seasons, so he was competing with top-tier talent (similarly to McMillan).

Unearthing incoming rookies with high-end college production, a solid breakout age, kick/punt return ability and/or a vertical element to their game is a great way to scoop up sleeper value late in rookie dynasty drafts. As the NFL continues to experiment with new kick-off rules, NFL teams might value special teams ability even more in upcoming drafts.

But be sure to keep in mind the context of the other wideouts these guys play with. If you are playing on a college offense with another NFL-caliber receiver, your numbers will likely take a hit. But it doesn’t mean talent isn’t there.

Now that we’ve outlined the parameters of the ideal “sleepers” at wide receiver, let’s look at the 2025 class to see who best fits the archetype. Breakout ages provided by PlayerProfiler.com.

Breakout Ages for the 2025 Draft Class

Kyle Williams (WR – Washington State)

Kyle Williams has been one of the biggest risers in the NFL Draft since the start of the last college football season. He had a monster season in 2024 with a 34% dominator rating — over 1,200 receiving yards, 14 touchdowns and 70 receptions while leading the class in total yards after the catch (YAC). He was also third in YAC/reception (8.7).

The 5-foot-11 and 190-pound receiver finished his college career having made at least one reception in all 50 college games he appeared in. He also broke out in his first season (albeit in a shortened season due to the pandemic).

Williams checks off all the boxes of a rookie wide receiver we want to target in fantasy football.

He finished third in the class in deep-ball catches (14). According to the Athletic’s Dane Brugler, Williams posted an outstanding success rate (58.3%) on throws of more than 20 yards in 2024.

The film is great. He has one route against Travis Hunter where he cooks the projected top-three NFL Draft pick.

After watching Williams in full, I compare him to Tyler Lockett. For what it’s worth… Williams played under current Titans offensive coordinator Nick Holz at UNLV and with Cam Ward at Washington State in 2023. Not saying he will be the Titans’ pick at the top of round two, but I think it’s very much in play.

Tory Horton (WR – Colorado State)

Colorado State’s Tory Horton is coming off a season-ending knee injury after back-to-back dominant seasons from 2022-2023.

In 2022, he trailed only Rashee Rice in catches of 20+ air yards. Horton also posted an eye-popping 57% dominator rating, accounting for nearly 50% of the team’s total receiving yards.

There’s an injury discount with Horton, but high-end draft capital would suppress concerns about his recovery. He seems back to full health now. An NFL team would be getting a steal with him after just one year removed from a nearly 100-catch, 1,200-yard season.

Before his injury, he Horton fourth in the nation in yards per route run.

According to Sports Info Solutions, Horton posted the No. 1 target rate over expectation (+22.2%) in this year’s class. Players who have posted a 15% or higher target rate over expectation the last three seasons: Horton, Rashee Rice and Puka Nacua.

I referenced this same metric last year with Brenden Rice. That didn’t work out. But in my defense, it was only 10.5% for the former USC wideout.

Horton also possesses dynamism with his abilities on punt returns. On four returns this past season, Horton averaged 26.3 yards per return with a touchdown. He has scored a punt return touchdown in all three years at Colorado State.

The 6-foot-2 and 196-pound receiver has been productive at virtually every stop during his college career, including his earlier years at Nevada. Although he didn’t officially post a true breakout, Horton was still posting solid numbers despite playing alongside a future NFL wideout with a three-year age difference in Romeo Doubs.

Isaac TeSlaa (WR – Arkansas)

This is where context comes into play. Isaac TeSlaa posted bonkers numbers during his college career at Hillsdale, highlighted by an insane 66% dominator rating in 2022.

Production took a major hit when he made the move to Arkansas and the SEC in 2023. But the quarterback play was very questionable, and there was another solid wide receiver in the offense in this year’s class: Andrew Armstrong (36% career dominator rating).

Note that in the Arkansas bowl game in which Armstrong did not play, TeSlaa had his second 100-yard game of the season against Texas Tech.

Even so, TeSlaa’s age-adjusted production is worth chasing, especially with his athletic profile.

TeSlaa is nearly 6-foot-4 and 214 pounds with 4.43 wheels and 88th percentile or better testing in the vertical jump, broad jump and 20-yard shuttle.

And although his counting stats in the SEC don’t jump off the page, he was very efficient. He had the fourth-highest passer rating generated when targeted in the FBS last season (145.5) and a perfect passer rating on targets of 20+ air yards (eye emojis).

Jack Bech (WR – TCU)

Jack Bech had a monster 2024 campaign, posting a 28% dominator rating. He also led all receivers in the class in expected points added (EPA)/target. Simply put, good things happened at TCU when Bech got the rock. That, along with his strong Senior Bowl showing, hasn’t gone unnoticed by NFL teams.

The lack of early age production can also be easily explained. He started his career at LSU in 2021 alongside Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. Even so, he led the team in receptions.

While he didn’t have an official breakout by threshold standards until 2024, the context suggests Bech isn’t just a one-year wonder. And that’s why he is expected to be drafted between rounds two and three.

Single Season Dominator Rating

Elic Ayomanor (WR – Stanford)

The Stanford wide receiver was expected to test well at the NFL Scouting Combine and delivered, running in the 4.4s. Elic Ayomanor jumped out of the building with 82nd percentile jumps, very impressive for a wideout listed at 6-foot-2 and 206 pounds with massive hands to boot. Combine that testing with a dominant production profile (39% career dominator rating) and highlights against Travis Hunter, and how can you not be interested?

The only concern is that he took a “slight” step back last season, with freshman phenom and newly-acquired Texas receiver Emmett Mosley eating into a big part of his production after the first month of the season.

But even so, that might just be an indication of how good Mosely might be. Ayomanor has done nothing but produce since stepping onto the college football field.

In two seasons at Stanford after redshirting, Ayomanor had 125 receptions for 1,844 yards and 12 touchdowns. That gives him the highest career dominator rating in the class, according to my data.

Jalen Royals (WR – Utah State)

Jalen Royals finished sixth in the nation during the 2023 season in deep receptions (14). The other receivers in last year’s class to have at least 14? Marvin Harrison Jr., Rome Odunze, Brian Thomas Jr., Malik Nabers, Ja’Lynn Polk and Troy Franklin.

The 2023 season was the best year of Royals’ college career with a 38% dominator rating.

It fell to 24% in 2024 — as he scored nine fewer touchdowns — but the Utah State wideout was limited to just eight games played because of a foot injury.

When healthy, he was very productive this past fall and was well on his way to another supremely dominant campaign. Per Sports Info Solutions, Royals posted a 30% target share while ranking seventh in yards after the catch per reception and fourth in forced broken tackle rate (35%).

Through the first eight weeks of the college football season, Royals was third in the nation in receiving yards and sixth in catches. When you prorate Royals’ dominator rating, it spits out a 38% mark, identical to his 2022 number. Very impressive for the 6-foot-1 and 205-pound receiver who ran a 4.42 at the combine, with a 93rd percentile 10-yard split.

Tai Felton (WR – Maryland)

Tai Felton finished second among wide receivers in this class in total targets last season (149) and had a 31% target share. According to Tony Pauline, Felton will be a Day 2 draft selection after another strong showing at Maryland’s Pro Day.

The 6-foot-1 and 183-pound receiver truly saved his best for last with an eye-popping senior season that culminated with a 38% dominator rating.

The quintessential definition of a late bloomer, saving his best for last, might end up not being the worst thing to happen for Felton, given his supporters on several NFL coaching staffs. His 4.37 wheels with jumps at the 89th percentile or better are going to get you noticed.

It also works in his favor that he offers a bit as a special-teams returner.

KeAndre Lambert-Smith (WR – Auburn)

It took until his final season at Auburn for KeAndre Lambert-Smith to fully break out. He had a 31% dominator rating during his senior year — 50-981-8 — after spending four years at Penn State.

Not quite often do you see a relatively unproven player make the jump to the SEC and immediately produce, but that’s how things shook out for Lambert-Smith.

The 6-foot-1 and 190-pound receiver finished in the top five in the SEC in total receiving yards, averaging nearly 20 yards per reception.

And saying he didn’t produce at Penn State probably isn’t fair. He led the Nittany Lions in receiving yards in 2023, ahead of tight ends Tyler Warren and Theo Johnson.

Lambert-Smith was also posting decent numbers back in 2021, despite being the youngest in an offense littered with NFL talents.

Therefore, take Lambert-Smith’s breakout age with a grain of salt. His teammate competition was elite.

Combine that with his strong testing — 4.37 40-yard dash — and Lambert-Smith seems like he is being supremely slept on in this rookie class.

Career College Dominator Rating

Jaylin Noel (WR – Iowa State)

There are two types of people in this world. Those who love Iowa State wide receiver Jaylin Noel and liars.

The 5-foot-10, 194-pound wideout produced at an extremely high level despite sharing the field with fellow 2025 draft prospect Jayden Higgins the last two seasons. He recorded a 33% dominator rating in his final year.

Noel also tested off the charts at the NFL Scouting Combine and is ready-made to produce from the slot at the next level. He finished second in the class in total air yards as a vertical downfield threat and first in yards on passes of 20+ air yards.

Had Noel gotten better quarterback play, there’s a chance he would be going much higher in the NFL Draft. He had one of the lowest traditional passer ratings on throws when targeted (Sports Info Solutions).

Noel can also return punts. He was used as a returner in all four years in college.

Jaylin Lane (WR – Virginia Tech)

Jaylin Lane served as a punt returner in 2023 and 2024. He finished in the top 25 in the conference in career punt return yards. Has over 100 career punt/kick-off returns on his resume.

As a wide receiver, he broke out in 2022 at Middle Tennessee before transferring to Virginia Tech for 2023-2024.

His 18% career dominator rating isn’t elite by any means, nor is his 21-year-old breakout age.

However, like with Da’Quan Felton, the Virginia Tech quarterback play was shoddy and didn’t help Lane’s overall numbers.

Even so, Lane led the team in receptions the past two seasons despite playing alongside another NFL-caliber wide receiver. He was fourth in the class in yards after the catch per reception (8.5).

Lane also has insane testing at the NFL Scouting Combine. According to NFL.com, Jaylin Noel and Lane both jumped at least 11’0″ in the broad jump and at least 40″ in the vertical jump, while also running a sub-4.4 40-yard dash. They are just two out of eight wide receivers to meet all three criteria since 2003.

Honorable Mentions:

Da’Quan Felton (WR – Virginia Tech)

The 2022 campaign was Da’Quan Felton’s best season, with a 39% dominator rating at Norfolk.

He transferred to Virginia Tech in 2023 and commanded a lot of deep targets that helped him achieve a 30% dominator rating (24% career dominator rating).

Alas, the 2024 production did not continue on the upward trajectory. Part of this stems from a lack of chemistry with his quarterback. Per Dane Brugler of The Athletic, he caught just four out of 25 targets of 10+ yards.

The long speed is also somewhat suspect for Felton, given he ran just a 4.5 at nearly 6-foot-6 and 213 pounds. Although I think I might be too harsh here, given his size-speed score, per PlayerProfiler, is in the 91st percentile. His 4.50 speed for someone at 6-foot-6 is fast.

Elijhah Badger (WR – Florida)

Elijhah Badger led the class in deep route percentage (44% per Sports Info Solutions) and had zero drops despite a 16.1 average depth of target (aDOT). Badger led the Gators in receiving yards, but it was hardly his career highlight.

In 2022, he posted a 70-866-7 state line at Arizona State, good for a 34% dominator rating. He followed that up with another strong 2023 campaign.

Badger also returned kicks in 2023 at Arizona State.

Ja’Corey Brooks (WR – Louisville)

Ja’Corey Brooks started his career at Alabama, breaking out in 2022 with 674 receiving yards and eight touchdowns despite tough competition from future third-round pick Jermaine Burton.

After three years with the Crimson Tide, he transferred to Louisville as a senior, where he erupted with quarterback Tyler Shough — 43% dominator rating in 2024 while operating as a primary deep threat (42% deep route run rate, per Sports Info Solutions).

Brooks is also an experienced punt returner (three years in Alabama). He was the fifth-highest graded punt returner, per Pro Football Focus (PFF), in 2024. The 6-foot-2, 204-pound receiver also blocked multiple punts during his tenure in Tuscaloosa.

Efton Chism III (WR – Eastern Michigan)

Efton Chism is your prototypical shifty slot receiver, and probably the best bet to be this year’s Jalen Coker. Striking resemblance to Cooper Kupp in more ways than one, given they both went to Eastern Washington.

The production at the FCS level is insane, given his 51% dominator rating during his final season — 120 receptions for over 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Between the FCS and FBS, Chism finished as PFF’s second-highest graded wideout in 2024.

Konata Mumpfield (WR – Pittsburgh)

Konata Mumpfield’s profile is intriguing given that he had arguably his best statistical season in his first year with a 33% dominator rating at Akron.

He transferred to Pitt immediately after that and continued to produce at a high level, especially over the last two seasons, averaging a 23% dominator rating.

There are plenty of examples of guys breaking out a small schools and then seeing their production nose dive in this year’s class. This is important to note because with the way the transfer portal works now, NFL evaluators don’t have to guess anymore how certain prospects will do with a jump in competition. We are seeing it first at the college level with so many players transferring.

The 5-foot-11, 186-pound wideout is undersized, but he’s a good route runner. A true sleeper in this class after proving he could still produce with a level-up in competition. He out-produced future fifth-round wideout Bub Means in the two years they played together at Pitt, despite Mumpfield being the younger player.

Dont’e Thornton Jr. (WR – Tennessee)

Dont’e Thornton Jr. averaged nearly 19 yards per target while leading the class in EPA/target.

LaJohntay Wester (WR – Colorado)

LaJohntay Wester was a top-three graded punt returner in 2023, per PFF. He led the American Athletic Conference in yards per punt return.

Extremely undersized at 5-foot-9 and 163 pounds, but his 2023 44% dominator rating at FAU is impressive (along with his top-10 dominator rating in the class).

The size is a major red flag, likely pigeon-holing him to the slot. But with the route running savviness and elusiveness in the open field, maybe he has a chance to be the next Tank Dell (if that title isn’t already claimed by Tez Johnson).

Final Notes

Looking back at previous articles, I found the biggest misses were receivers from small school football programs.

Jalen Tolbert, Dai’Jean Dixon, Grant DuBose, etc., were my sleepers from those aforementioned programs and failed to fire, which is something to keep in mind when it comes to some of these late Day 2 and Day 3 prospects. Skyy Moore has been a colossal bust out of small-school Western Michigan, for example.

The wideouts with the highest projected draft capital from smaller programs last season were Ryan Flournoy and Jalen Coker from Southeast Missouri State and College of the Holy Cross, respectively.

Coker hit in a big way for a former UDFA, as I mentioned in the intro, with Flournoy having some glimpses in Dallas. This year, Eastern Washington’s Efton Chism will bear that honor of a small school prospect looking to make a major jump at the next level.

But like I laid out earlier, we are seeing so many transfers that NFL teams are getting more exposure to these college kids at bigger programs.

That being said, you still need to be wary of some of these small school transfers before their senior/final seasons for similar reasons. We didn’t have any prime examples of this from 2023’s class, given Jayden Reed only played one year at Western Michigan before transferring. Puca Nacaua transferred from Washington to BYU but didn’t produce until his BYU career.

But players who “compiled” small school stats in this 2024 class that did virtually nothing as rookies included Jamari Thrash and Devontez Walker.

One last thing I want to note: As I explained in my how to value rookies pre-draft article, the wide receiver talent/production pool can fall off a cliff after round two.

Especially in a less talented receiver class (specifically at the top), NFL coaches and general managers should sniff out most, if not all, the top producers in the first two rounds. I do think that this year, in a less top-heavy class, more talent trickles into round three, but not likely into Day 3.

In a sense, nobody aside from John Brown and Martavis Bryant in recent years has slipped through the cracks. Don’t go overboard with these sleepers if they fall very far in the draft. Pinpoint one or two you like.

Dial in on the rookies with projected round one or round two draft capital and reap the rewards. Especially in the late rounds. Grabbing these late-round wide receivers allows you to stockpile running backs, quarterbacks and tight ends earlier in best ball or 2025 redraft leagues.

Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Podcast Addict | TuneIn