First Look: 2025 Sleeper WRs
Who are some of the top names at the WR position to circle as sleepers for 2025 redraft fantasy football?
Sleepers are what make fantasy football just so fun. The ability to locate and find a game-changing player later on in your draft to help boost your roster is something that every fantasy football manager dreams of each year!
With that in mind, here are my top sleeper WRs to target in early ADP heading into the summer months.
2025 Sleeper WRs
It’s important to note that ADP - Average Draft Position - is incredibly fluid and unreliable at this point in the game. Data is being collected by a very small subset of people holding mock drafts and these players will shift and change dramatically around the draft queue by the time that we get to late August.
For the purposes of this exercise, I am determining a sleeper to be a player listed outside the top 120 in FantasyPros’ latest ADP.
Matthew Golden, Green Bay Packers
When the Green Bay Packers draft a WR in the first round, we should probably pay attention to that player for fantasy football.
The Packers have notoriously forsaken the position - from an investment standpoint - over the past two decades, even though the roster could certainly have used an infusion of top-tier talent at the position.
The last time the Packers selected a first-round wideout was in 2002 with Javon Walker out of Florida State. This is why the addition of Matthew Golden with the 23rd overall selection should have fantasy managers at least intrigued with the role that he could play in this dynamic offense.
Golden’s a smooth route runner that has the ability to be a three-level threat in the NFL. With a 4.29 40-yard dash at the Combine, Golden has the speed to threaten vertically routinely, all while being able to create separation in small windows underneath.
It is a crowded WR room with players like Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Dontayvion Wicks, Savion Williams, and Mecole Hardman all vying for targets.
However, the investment in Golden signals that he’ll be a top priority for this offense and he should have no problem paying off his WR54 price tag at the time of writing.
Rashod Bateman, Baltimore Ravens
It’s a bit odd for me to see the presumed WR2 for one of the league’s best offenses, who just totaled nine receiving touchdowns in 2024, being drafted outside the top 55 WRs this year.
I do acknowledge that Bateman is certainly not the most consistent fantasy asset and that there are going to be some weeks - like Week 13 last season - where he gives you absolutely nothing.
However, he’s not being drafted or valued as an asset that needs to deliver top-tier performances week in and week out. As fantasy drafts move farther along down the board, I'm hunting for players that have a solid mixture of opportunity and good infrastructure.
The opportunity may look a bit more cloudy this season than last with DeAndre Hopkins being added to the mix, but I’m not concerned much with that addition.
Hopkins is now 32 years old and we’ve seen a drop off in his play over the past few years. Additionally, the veteran wideout signed with the team for just $5,000,000 on a one-year deal.
He’ll play a very specific role as a red zone threat due to his size, but Bateman and Zay Flowers should remain the top-two wideouts for this prolific offense. As a boom-or-bust Flex option, Bateman’s a solid target in the later rounds.
Cedric Tillman, Cleveland Browns
Cedric Tillman battled injury last season, but when he was fully healthy we saw just what he could be for fantasy football once he got his opportunity.
After Amari Cooper was traded to the Buffalo Bills, Tillman burst onto the scene in a big way with a dominant four-week stretch. From Week 7 through Week 11, Tillman was the WR9 in fantasy football.
Unfortunately, a concussion derailed his season and he didn’t suit up again past Week 12, which is causing fantasy managers to forget about just how good he was when he was on the field.
Heading into 2025, Tillman is reportedly fully healthy and he’ll easily have one of the starting WR jobs on this depth chart alongside Jerry Jeudy. Add in the fact that Joe Flacco is likely to start the majority of the season for Cleveland and Tillman could be a target machine.
He’s currently being drafted as the WR64.
Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans
The rookie WR discount is huge in fantasy football. Every single year, we see a new wave of rookie wideouts come into the NFL and make an impact right out of the gate.
And yet every year, they are undervalued in drafts due to the fact that the vast majority of the public does not know just what they can do.
Jayden Higgins is a big-bodied presence that has the potential to be a key part of this Houston Texans’ passing game right away. Yes, Nico Collins is the unquestioned No. 1 WR and Higgins won’t eat into his workload…
However, there’s the opportunity for Higgins to benefit from the attention that NFL defenses spend on shutting down Collins, leaving the rookie WR in some advantageous one-on-one situations.
He has the draft capital to signal that he’s going to be a key part of the offense right away - 34th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft - and the depth chart is wide open outside of Collins currently.
As a player that you can get in the 12th round or later, he’s a solid bet to make.
Kyle Williams, New England Patriots
The New England Patriots took a big swing and missed in the second round of last year’s NFL Draft with Ja’Lynn Polk, which means that there is a wide open depth chart spot up for grabs in 2025.
Demario Douglas will occupy the slot role, but after that, there are two starting roles available between a veteran Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, Polk, and rookie WR Kyle Williams.
Williams is a smooth route runner with solid athleticism that provides a boost to this offense that other players at the position simply don’t have. With his draft capital - the 69th overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft - he should be given the chance to compete for a starting job right away.
If he gets onto the field, Williams has the opportunity to make a splash for fantasy right away with his skill set.
Joshua Palmer, Buffalo Bills
The days of touting Joshua Palmer as a top 36 WR for fantasy are well behind us. However, there is absolutely a path for Palmer to be a relevant Flex play week in and week out this year in Buffalo.
In free agency, Palmer signed a surprising three-year, $29 million contract with arguably the best offense in football. While he has his limitations as an athlete, he’s a reliable receiving option and he provides this offense with something that they don’t necessarily have right now.
Given the financial investment, he should be one of the starting wideouts on the field in Week 1 and he’ll be on the field for nearly ever snap due to his role as an outside WR.
If there’s the opportunity for me to snag one of Josh Allen’s starting WRs, who will never come off the field, in the final round of my fantasy draft…why wouldn’t I take that dart throw?