3 Fantasy Football Draft Targets for Deep Leagues (2025)

Lords and Ladies, welcome to the 2025 fantasy football season. After several excruciating months without football, we have finally entered the beginning of the preseason, with opening kick-off just a few weeks away. Teams will begin to whittle down their rosters and make essential decisions on positional battles, injuries will make fantasy managers lose their collective minds and we will start to hear of how many “shares” of a particular player you’ve invested in.

Here are a few players I consider upside stashes worth adding in deeper formats, who have the potential to be league-winners if they catch lightning in a bottle.

Fantasy Football Deep-League Targets

Ben Sinnott (TE – WSH)

Am I going to include a player who barely saw the field in his rookie season, catching just five passes for 28 yards and a score? You bet. Fans who watched Ben Sinnott during his time at Kansas State constantly compared his skillset to George Kittle or Sam LaPorta — an outstanding athlete who isn’t afraid of getting dirty in pass protection, with upside as a receiving threat down the seam.

Yes, the presence of veteran Zach Ertz looms large ahead of him on the depth chart, but Ertz is now 34 years old, and I refuse to believe he will duplicate his 66/654/7 statline from last year. Ertz provided a security blanket for then-rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, but I foresee the Commanders getting Sinnott, the former 53rd overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, involved early and often this season. I’m willing to add pieces of this potent Washington offense in the hopes that things break correctly.

Cedric Tillman (WR – CLE)

Cedric Tillman appeared to be on his way to a breakout season last year before a concussion derailed his sophomore campaign. The primary beneficiary of the trade that sent Amari Cooper to Buffalo, Tillman’s sharp uptick in snaps resulted in three consecutive weeks of at least six receptions and 75 yards, making him a popular waiver wire add during the bye weeks for fantasy managers.

Tillman’s ability to work all over the field, coupled with the Browns needing to claw back during “garbage time” constantly (thanks to a porous defense), led to him averaging nearly 10 targets per game from Weeks 7-11. The quarterback situation for Cleveland is uninspiring, at best, with journeyman Joe Flacco the presumed Week 1 starter.

Say what you will about Flacco, but he can still sling the ball downfield (he threw multiple touchdowns in 10 of his 12 starts last season). Tillman will compete with Diontae Johnson for the No. 2 WR duties, and I expect him to win this camp battle in short order.

Will Shipley (RB – PHI)

Is there a more valuable handcuff running back than Will Shipley in 2025? Call me crazy, but I was dumbfounded to see his rostership percentage sitting at 3% in ESPN leagues. Why? What? Look, though it pains me to say this as a diehard New York Giants fan, Saquon Barkley is an absolute stud. But even studs break down.

Barkley is coming off a season where he led the league in carries (despite sitting all of Week 18) and totaled 482 touches last year (including the playoffs). That amount of wear and tear is unsustainable, and Barkley has a track record of dealing with lower-body soft-tissue injuries that force him off the field.

Shipley is a former fourth-round selection out of Clemson, capable of holding his own if afforded the opportunity. He runs behind the league’s best offensive line, capable of opening up massive running lanes to exploit at will. Shipley started the Eagles’ first preseason game against Cincinnati, dominating touches on the first two drives of the game. He appears to have locked down the backup role over A.J. Dillon, and he would be an immediate RB2 if an untimely injury popped up.