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With such a high emphasis on the passing game in today’s NFL, you can pretty much find a potential fantasy sleeper on nearly every NFL roster. The key is to choose which ones have the highest chance of succeeding based on their talent, role, and quality of offense, and also how high their ADPs are. When drafting a breakout candidate, you want to select a player whose value is warranted. A true “steal” isn’t someone you reach for, but rather someone you acquire at a bargain. The wide receivers listed have a solid chance of falling into that category.
2014 Fantasy Football Draft Values & Sleepers
In this article, we look around the NFL and provide analysis on some 2014 fantasy football sleeper wide receivers. As we make our way through the first three weeks of NFL preseason play, this piece will attempt to identify some solid wide receiver sleepers to consider on fantasy football draft day. We’ve considered these WRs because of their potential fantasy return, based on your draft-day investment and their current ADPs.
Kendall Wright, WR - Tennessee Titans
It seems as if Kendall Wright has been a breakout candidate since he came into the league in 2012, and with good reason. Wright possesses some serious talent, and if he had better quarterback play or was on a better team there’d be no question about his ability to consistently produce on a high level from week to week.
Currently going in the 9th round of drafts, I believe Wright possesses even more upside than some of his peers like Emmanuel Sanders, Eric Decker, and Golden Tate. Wright’s 140 targets last year came with some shoddy quarterback play at best, and now that Ken Wisenhunt is the head coach the offense as a whole should be improved.
Whisenhunt has a proven track record of utilizing a team’s number one receiver to the best of their ability, seen as recently as last year in San Diego. Whisenhunt helped develop Philip Rivers’ favorite target Keenan Allen into a fantasy darling, so I would expect the same to happen with Kendall Wright.
Markus Wheaton, WR - Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers have quietly redone their entire receiving corps with the exception of last year’s breakout star Antonio Brown. That leaves a role wide open for their number two pass catcher, with second year player Markus Wheaton the likeliest candidate to claim that spot.
If you take out the touchdown totals for both Emmanuel Sanders (now in Denver) and Jericho Cotchery (now in Carolina), that leaves 16 touchdowns unaccounted for heading into the 2014 season. Both Cotchery and Sanders were viable bye-week fill-ins and even flex plays at one point or another last year.
Now, you can’t just automatically attribute all 16 touchdowns to Wheaton - but it does make way for a huge opportunity for someone to step up. With Markus Wheaton going as late as the 14th round in fantasy football drafts, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be targeted as a potential breakout candidate.
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Reggie Wayne, WR - Indianapolis Colts
This may be viewed as cheating given Reggie Wayne’s track record as a proven number one receiver, but in looking at his current ADP as an 8th round pick I had to include him on this list. Reports out of Colts camp suggest that Wayne is way ahead of schedule recovering from his torn ACL in 2013, and that he should be back to his old self in time for week one of the fantasy football season.
For whatever reason, this news continues to be overlooked, but I believe Wayne should be targeted over the likes of Jeremy Maclin, Torrey Smith, and even Wayne’s own teammate T.Y. Hilton. Wayne should once again be the number one receiver on a team that will have to throw, mostly due to their inability to run the football. It’s a non-traditional interpretation of the phrase “breakout” for sure, but Reggie Wayne is poised for a big bounce back year and can be considered a 2014 fantasy football sleeper and draft value at the wide receiver position.
Kenny Stills, WR New Orleans Saints
With Brandin Cooks being the more attractive name on the Saints roster, Kenny Stills seems to be completely forgotten. It was just around this time last year when everyone was hyping up Kenny Stills in the same way they are currently talking up Brandon Cooks. Stills didn’t exactly blow anyone away during his rookie campaign, but when he’s going as late as the 14th round in fantasy draft he’s hard to pass up. After all, the Saints are still one of the more high-powered offenses in the league.
The problem with that however, is that it’s hard predicting which Saints wide receiver is going to have a big week at any given time. With a year under his belt, the departure of Lance Moore, and an aging Marques Colston - it’s possible that Kenny Stills takes that next step into being a bigger part of the Saints offense, even if Brandin Cooks turns out to be all he’s cracked up to be.
Marqise Lee, WR - Jacksonville Jaguars
Marqise Lee is one of the least talked about rookie wide receivers on a team that nobody considers to be a high-powered offense. While all of that is true, the play of both fellow rookie Blake Bortles and veteran Chad Henne has actually been serviceable throughout the pre-season thus far. With Justin Blackmon suspended indefinitely and Cecil Shorts having a history of injury problems, Lee could step up into being the number one receiving option for the Jaguars.
Admittedly, it is a long shot for Lee to end up being a household name in fantasy football this year, but so are a whole host of other players and wide receivers that are currently going in the 15th round. When I look for late round bench players, I’m looking for some upside and that’s exactly what Lee possesses. I don’t think it will matter all that much if the Jaguars decide to sit Blake Bortles for the whole year, as Henne has had moderate success as a starter in the NFL. With new signee Toby Gerhart running the ball, the Jacksonville offense might boactually not be as abysmal as it has been in recent years.
Every fantasy football owner alive has their own breakout candidates, draft vlues and sleepers - so there’s a chance I’m missing one of your favorites. The thing to remember about breakout candidates is that they can usually be found in the mid to late rounds of a draft so don’t be afraid about grabbing two or three of them.
