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Late-Round Fantasy Sleepers - Deep Finds

We’ve already hit you with our main list of 2023 Fantasy Football Sleepers.

But we know a lot of you are diehards. True fantasy sickos. (And we love you.)

Deep Sleepers Fantasy Football

So we’re digging deep for some late-round sleepers that could help your fantasy team in 2023. 

The seven deep sleepers listed below are all likely to be available in Round 15 or later of your fantasy draft – but have the upside to emerge as contributors to your team.

Sam Howell, QB, Washington Commanders

Is Howell good? 

We’re not sure yet.

He opened his North Carolina career with strong freshman and sophomore seasons. But he took a step back as a junior and then sunk to the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Howell threw just 19 regular-season passes as a rookie last year.

He turned in a strong 2023 preseason, throwing for 265 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs on a 75.7% completion rate and 7.2 yards per attempt.

But it’s still too early to know whether Howell will hit as a real-life QB.

From a fantasy perspective? There are three reasons he can deliver as a late-round sleeper:

1. Howell has strong weapons

Terry McLaurin is the reliable veteran of the WR corps. He has tallied three straight 1,000-yard seasons, in spite of shaky QB play in Washington. 

Jahan Dotson is the ascending, second-year wideout. He closed last season with 344 yards and 3 TDs over his final five games and is set to take another leap forward in 2023.

Curtis Samuel is a quality slot receiver. And Antonio Gibson has racked up the 10th most catches among RBs over the past three seasons.

2. Howell has a quality OC

New OC Eric Bieniemy spent the last five seasons in Kansas City, helping the Chiefs to top-6 finishes in total yards and points every year.

Having QB Patrick Mahomes obviously helped. But Bieniemy is widely regarded as one of the top offensive minds in the game in league circles. And reports on his offense have been glowing all offseason.

3. Howell can run

Howell ran for 1,696 yards over three college seasons, including 1,106 in 2021.

He clocked a 4.73-second adjusted 40 time at his pro day – 74th percentile among QBs.

And he ran five times for 35 yards and a score in his one start as a rookie.

We’re projecting Howell for 18.3 rushing yards per game this year, which would have been a top-12 mark among QBs with at least six starts last season.

Tyjae Spears, RB, Tennessee Titans

Preseason star

Spears make this list mostly because he has looked awesome this preseason.

The rookie ran 22 times for 117 yards, good for 5.3 yards per rush. He picked up 104 of those 117 yards after contact, per Pro Football Focus. And he has forced five missed tackles on his 22 carries.

The strong showing doesn’t come as a surprise if you watched Spears dominate college defenses over the past two seasons.

An exciting prospect

Spears ripped off 863 yards and 9 TDs on 6.7 yards per attempt back in 2021. And then he exploded for 1,581 yards and 19 TDs this past year. Spears ranked 16th among 168 qualifiers in Pro Football Focus’ 2022 rushing grades.

Despite long-term concerns over his right knee, the Titans made Spears the fifth RB off the board with the 81st overall pick of this spring’s draft.

High-value handcuff

If Spears didn’t already have Tennessee’s No. 2 RB job locked up, his preseason performance should seal that.

We’re not necessarily expecting him to have standalone fantasy value behind a healthy Derrick Henry. But a Henry injury could turn Spears into a difference maker.

Our Sports Injury Predictor gives Henry a 56% chance of missing at least two quarters this season.

Ty Chandler, RB, Minnesota Vikings

We hit August with no idea who the Vikings’ No. 2 RB would be this season.

It now looks like Chandler will be that dude.

Trending up

RB Kene Nwangwu was sidelined for most of August and landed on IR. Rookie RB DeWayne McBride was released at final cuts. The Vikings only added RB Myles Gaskin to the backfield.

Chandler, meanwhile, operated as the first-team, three-down back this preseason (with Alexander Mattison sitting).

Although he averaged just 3.0 yards per carry, Chandler ranked 11th among 64 qualifying RBs in PFF rushing grades. He also ranked 9th among 80 qualifiers in PFF receiving grades, catching all four of his targets for 29 yards.

Handcuff+

At minimum, Chandler looks like the Mattison handcuff.

And there’s a chance he turns into more.

Mattison simply hasn’t been very effective the past two years, averaging 3.7 and then 3.8 yards per carry. He’ll certainly get the first crack at the lead job, but he’s not a lock to hang on to it all season.

Chandler dropped to the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but there are some intriguing aspects to his resume.

Interesting Prospect

Chandler broke out for 1,092 rushing yards on 6.0 yards per carry in his final college season. He forced a missed tackle on 26% of his carries that year and ranked 17th among 173 qualifiers in breakaway rate (% of runs to go for 15+ yards).

Chandler backed up that big-play ability with a 4.38-second 40 time at the Combine.

If he takes over as the lead back on a strong Vikings offense at some point this season, Chandler will be an easy fantasy starter.

Marvin Mims, WR, Denver Broncos

We love him ... and so do the Broncos

Mims is one of our favorite prospects in the 2023 WR class.

He broke out as a true freshman at Oklahoma and led the Sooners in receiving yards all three years on campus. He left school with a huge 19.5 career yards per catch.

Mims confirmed his top-end speed with a 4.38-second 40 time at the Combine. He also posted 89th-percentile marks in the vertical and broad jumps.

This is an explosive athlete.

New Broncos HC Sean Payton is also a big fan. He made Mims his first draft pick with Denver – and traded up five spots to do so.

“The one thing that I think we found that was different was lot of these receivers you felt were in rush-hour traffic — Monday through Friday,” Payton said shortly after drafting Mims. “This was one that looked like he was driving on Saturday and Sunday. He was open, and it was cleaner. That’s because of his speed.”

Instant opportunity

That speed will be on the field for Denver immediately. WR Tim Patrick’s season-ending torn Achilles clears the way for Mims to open the year as the Broncos’ No. 3 WR. He ran a route on nine of QB Russell Wilson’s 13 dropbacks (69%) in the second preseason game.

That role probably isn’t enough to make Mims a fantasy starter. But if he climbs just one spot up the depth chart – via injury or performance – this rookie could be a major 2023 factor.

Jerry Jeudy, of course, is already sidelined with a hamstring injury that has him in doubt for Week 1.

Mims' 200.5 PPR-point ceiling would have made him a top-25 WR last year.

Rashee Rice, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

Promising preseason

The Chiefs WR corps remains murky as we approach Week 1. But it’s been a good preseason for Rice.

The raw numbers through 2 weeks of preseason action: 11 catches for 126 yards.

More importantly, Rice is excelling in underlying metrics. 

He has earned a target on 38% of his routes and averaged 3.71 yards per route. 

Both marks lead all Chiefs WRs who are vying for a significant role this season.

And check out how they stack up among all notable rookie WRs:

Opportunity in Kansas City

Rice won’t be someone we can trust in early-season fantasy lineups. But he’s capable of eventually earning a top-3 role and becoming a fantasy asset.

Rice posted a huge 96-1,355-10 line last year. Then he registered a 95th-percentile Relative Athletic Score at 6’1 and 204 pounds. It earned him Round 2 draft capital from the Chiefs.

GM Brett Veach suggested in May that the team views Rice as a potential replacement for WR JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Like Smith-Schuster last year, Rice has been position-versatile this preseason, playing 55% of his snaps in the slot and 45% out wide.

JuJu averaged 6.7 targets in 14 healthy games last year. Rice would be an absolute smash if he comes anywhere close to that type of volume at any point this season.

Michael Wilson, WR, Arizona Cardinals

Not exciting

No. The Cardinals offense is not exciting. Especially for however long QB Kyler Murray is out.

And Wilson isn’t the most exciting prospect. He spent five years at Stanford and never reached 700 receiving yards in a season. He averaged just 12.4 yards per catch. And he missed a ton of time with injuries.

But …

Wilson got third-round draft capital. 

And a lot of the film experts we trust like his game: a combination of physicality, plus route running, and strong ball skills. We saw some JuJu Smith-Schuster in his game.

Most importantly, Wilson already has an every-down role locked up.

That’s what we heard out of Cardinals camp. And it’s been confirmed this preseason, with Wilson running a route on 13 of 14 first-team pass plays through two preseason games.

Arizona could certainly use Wilson’s 6’1, 213-pound frame. The other two WRs at the top of the depth chart (Marquise Brown and Rondale Moore) check in at 180 pounds. That could particularly make Wilson a preferred target near the end zone.

But, mostly, Wilson makes this list because any WR – no matter how unexciting – that’s in for an every-down role is worth a pick at the end of fantasy drafts.

Irv Smith, TE, Cincinnati Bengals

We’re a little surprised “Bengals starting TE” isn’t getting more love in fantasy drafts.

I guess people are just sick of Irv Smith already.

Don’t give up yet

Smith has been in the NFL for only four seasons and is still just 25.

He had plenty of fanfare coming into the league. He went for 710 yards and 7 TDs on 16.1 yards per catch as a junior at Alabama. He clocked an 85th-percentile, 4.63-second 40 time at the Combine. And then went 50th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Smith’s pro career has been marred by injuries. But he caught 36 balls as a rookie, playing behind veteran Kyle Rudolph. And he improved his per-game numbers across the board in 2020, while ranking 12th among 34 qualifying TEs in PFF receiving grade.

We’re not ready to declare Smith a bust just yet.

A golden opportunity

But you don’t even need to buy into the player. You just need to buy into the situation.

The Bengals let TE Hayden Hurst walk in free agency and signed Smith to a one-year deal.

The others in Cincinnati’s TE room:

• Drew Sample
• Devin Asiasi
• Mitchell Wilcox
• Tanner Hudson

So Smith is a strong bet to be the lead pass-catching TE on an offense that’s finished top 7 in passing yards and TDs each of the last two seasons.

Hurst just parlayed this role into a TE19 finish in PPR points per game – despite scoring just twice. Hurst ranked 16th among TEs in targets per game and 10th in catches per game.

Those are attainable levels for Smith, who’s TE21 in recent ADP.

Land the Late-Round Fantasy Sleepers in Your Draft

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The Draft War Room is ready to make sure you don't miss a thing, including these late-round sleepers.

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Get serious about winning your fantasy league:

Jared Smola, Lead Analyst

Jared has been with Draft Sharks since 2007. He’s now Lead Analyst, heading up the preseason and weekly projections that fuel your Draft War Room and My Team tools. He currently ranks 1st among 133 analysts in draft rankings accuracy.