Fantasy football, like most everything in this world, evolves and with it, so does its terminology. Thirty years ago, a sleeper article was riddled with little-known, under-the-radar names of players you would draft late and hope would perform at a much higher level. The ability to out-produce your draft position remains the criteria, but with the growth in football coverage, both in reality and fantasy, there are very few, if any, stones left unturned. One day, we will all agree upon a new word to replace ‘sleeper,’ but considering you found this article simply by typing “2020 fantasy football sleepers” into your search engine, we’ll leave it alone for now.
In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of those players who we believe will significantly out-perform their draft position and become strong starters for your 2020 fantasy football teams.
Ben Roethlisberger , QB PIT – We all know Big Ben has the tendency to be a little dramatic and can sometimes exaggerate his injuries, but coming off elbow surgery last September is no small feat. His road to recovery has seemingly been successful as Roethlisberger declared himself ready for NFL action following throwing sessions with both JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner and he is walking into training camp ready to roll. Yes, he misses a few games here and there, but prior to last year, he was averaging just over 4,000 passing yards and 25 touchdowns per season over an 11-year span. Not bad for a guy who, right now, is the 18th quarterback off the board in most drafts. With JuJu, Diontae Johnson, James Washington and Vance McDonald being joined by rookie wideout Chase Claypool and veteran tight end Eric Ebron , Big Ben’s got some big weapons.
Daniel Jones, QB NYG – This is one of those weird situations where everyone seems to love Sterling Shepard , Golden Tate , Darius Slay ton, Evan Engram and Saquon Barkley , but they don’t like Jones as a fantasy quarterback? Yes, the fumbles were aggravating during his rookie year, but that is something which can be fixed and reports of that being a focal point of his during the offseason should not be dismissed as lip service. Joe Judge brought in Jason Garrett as the new OC and while folks can complain about his vanilla offense in Dallas, it ranked in the top 5 last season and he was a big part of Dak Prescott ’s development. He is likely to perform at a QB1 level for the price of a QB2, given his 115 ADP mark.
Leonard Fournette , RB JAC – Fournette’s relationship with Doug Marrone and the Jaguars brass is contentious, at best, and it didn’t exactly help the situation when they declined to pick up his fifth-year option. So why is he listed here among the sleepers? It’s all about the volume, people. It’s all about the volume. The team doesn’t care if they over-work him this season and since the only running back they brought in was pass-catcher Chris Thompson , you can expect Fournette to see another 260-plus carries this year. Yes, the touchdown volume was crazy low for the number of carries he had inside the 10-yard line, but improvements on the offensive line, including the addition of rookie right tackle Jawaan Taylor should help that situation. He’s being left to the late second round right now which, for a full-time bell-cow, is a bit late. UPDATE 8/31 -- Nothing shoots a sleeper in the foot like waking up on Monday morning to learn the Jaguars have released Fournette. Head coach Doug Marrone said they continued to shop Fournette but got no offers. Well duh. You've been shopping him for how long? Everyone knows you're just going to release him, so why give something when you don't have to? We'll monitor the situation in Jacksonville, but as of now, expect a committee approach with Ryquell Armstead , Chris Thompson and Devine Ozigbo. As for Fournette, there are a few potential landing places for him, so don't expect him to be sitting idle for too long.
David Johnson , RB HOU – When people tell you this guy is injury-prone and Bill O’Brien made the worst trade in football history, let them talk. Don’t even respond. Eventually his price tag will drop even further than the late fourth round and you’ll be getting a steal. First of all, missing three games last year with a back issue does not make him injury-prone. He missed the 2017 with a broken wrist, a fluke injury he has shown no ill-effects from, so it’s tough to say he’s prone to injury as nothing has recurred and he managed to play a full season without issue in 2018 where he amassed over 1,400 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns. His numbers last year were terrible, but it’s also tough to blame him. Kliff Kingsbury inherited Johnson and it was obvious the rookie coach wanted to put his own stamp on the offense. Johnson was under-utilized throughout the early part of the season and after Kingsbury acquired Kenyan Drake , the changing of the guard was official. A fresh start in Houston in an offense that will cater to his strengths should keep the doubters quiet.
David Montgomery , RB CHI – This may be a borderline sleeper as some recent helium is starting to elevate his current ADP from 62 to 45. That may just be a result of Best Ball drafts where you need to grab as many viable running backs as you can, so we’ll look deeper into it once more regular drafts begin. Last season, his preseason helium killed the overall value and left many a fantasy owner disappointed and disgruntled. Hopefully that will keep most people off him and the price goes back to the late-fourth/early-fifth round which will make him a fantastic bargain. With a full-season of Matt Nagy’s offense under his belt, a potential increase in 12-personnel formations and no other running backs brought in to compete for touches, Montgomery should deliver a strong season and continue to suppress Tarik Cohen ’s snap count. UPDATE 8/29 -- Montgomery did suffer a groin strain that will keep him out 2-4 weeks. This will put his availability for Week 1 in jeopardy but he avoided major injury. This shouldn't change his draft status much, but he might fall another round with this news.
Jordan Howard , RB MIA – Completely miscast in both Doug Pederson’s and Matt Nagy’s offensive schemes, Howard is finally going somewhere that runs an offense that caters to his style of play. Brian Flores brought in Chan Gailey as the new OC and Gailey loves to use the power-run to set up play-action downfield. During his last stint as an OC, Gailey got over 1,000 all-purpose yards and eight touchdowns out of an aging Matt Forte in 2016 and then turned Bilal Powell into a viable fantasy player the following season. Howard should see the majority of touches in this backfield and produce at a rate that far surpasses his 97 ADP.
Breshad Perriman , WR NYJ – How quickly the world forgets, right? Or maybe it’s the stink of a Jets uniform serving as a deterrent for most people drafting? Either way, Perriman proved last year that he is more than capable of getting the job done as a WR1 and should slot in very nicely into this Jets offense. Over the last two seasons, Robby Anderson averaged 95 targets and 765 receiving yards per season with a total of 11 touchdowns. Those targets should become Perriman’s, though we’ll keep an eye on rookie Denzel Mims, and he should be the featured wideout in this scheme. We know Sam Darnold likes to lean on Jamison Crowder at times, but he’s also never had a receiver of Perriman’s caliber either.
Anthony Miller , WR CHI – The overall numbers from 2019 may not look all that great, but it was definitely a tale of two halves. Miller had spent the early part of the season limited while he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery and saw an average of just three targets per game. Then Week 11 happened. Not only was Miller’s shoulder back to 100%, but fellow wideout Taylor Gabriel went down with a concussion. Miller proceeded to average almost eight targets per game over the Bear’s final seven and rewarded fantasy owners with two 100-yard efforts and two touchdowns. It will just be him and Allen Robinson for the most part this season and that should keep his target share nice and high for the full season. Not too shabby for the 54th wide receiver off the board.
Hunter Renfrow, WR LV – After a slow start to the season, Renfrow gradually became a more integral part of the passing attack and, working primarily out of the slot, became a reliable target for Derek Carr . His target share increased and he even found the end zone a couple of times until a rib injury sidelined him for three games late in the year. When he returned for the final two games of the season, he proved his mettle with 13 catches on 18 targets for 209 yards and two touchdowns. He walks into this season locked into the slot again and should offer some strong year-to-year growth which will help him earn more value than where he is being taken in drafts. UPDATE 8/2 -- News of Henry Ruggs working out of the slot has cooled plenty of people on Renfrow. He should still be considered as a late-round option given the lack of quality and depth at the position for the Raiders. Tyrell Williams is on shaky ground and could get jumped by Bryan Edwards as the X-receiver and neither Zay Jones nor Nelson Agholor are considered major threats. Renfrow may split time between the slot and the Z-receiver, but eeventually Ruggs should move to the outide, setting up Renfrow back up in the slot for the majority of the season.
Allen Lazard , WR GB – Considering he saw just 21 offensive snaps over the first five games, Lazard put together a somewhat decent year in 2019. He went undrafted in most, if not all fantasy leagues last year, but once Aaron Rodgers took a shine to him, things really turned around for the former Cyclone. While the Packers brought in Devin Funchess , Lazard should still be the team’s WR2 opposite Davante Adams and he should see a healthy share of the targets. At 6-foot-4, 227 pounds, he has the physicality to fight off press-man coverage and the necessary speed to gain separation. When he first signed with the Packers, he was compared to Mike Evans and now that he is going to see regular snaps and targets, he could also produce like him as well.
N’Keal Harry, WR NE – While everyone just assumes Julian Edelman will be the main squeeze for Jarrett Stidham, you don’t want to sleep on Harry, especially late in drafts where he can be had for the whopping cost of a 15th-round pick. Edelman and Mohamed Sanu are possession receivers who fit the needs of an aging Tom Brady . Harry is expected to serve as the deep threat on the outside and should see a full complement of targets as Stidham looks to make his own imprint on this offense. UPDATE 8/10 -- The arrival of Cam Newton douldn't affect Harry's status as a late-round sleeper. He remains the primary outisde receiver and should continue to be utilized in that fashion.
Randall Cobb , WR HOU – The veteran slot-receiver heads over to the Texans who are in dire need of wide receiver help following the trade of DeAndre Hopkins . Yes, the Texans brought in Brandin Cooks , but let’s take a long look at Cooks’ recent concussion issues alongside the continuous soft-tissue injuries for Will Fuller and Keke Coutee . Who knew that a near 30-year old would be the healthiest guy in this group? Cobb is a solid veteran who can be had for next to nothing in drafts and should manage to see a strong share of the targets and has the football IQ and ability to make himself readily available to Deshaun Watson when he’s scrambling around and looking downfield.
Steven Sims, WR WAS – Small in stature and fast as all heck, Sims looks like he could be a real nice play for those in standard leagues or in best ball formats. He’ll compete for targets with Kelvin Harmon and some of the rookies coming in, but with Terry McLaurin as the only player locked into a role, Sims should work his way into action regularly this season. He is going undrafted in most 12-team leagues and remains somewhat of an afterthought in deeper formats. If you’re looking to round out your roster with someone who has home-run ability and a little bit of upside, he could be your guy. UPDATE 8/4 -- The loss of Harmon for the season puts a crimp in the passing attack of the Washington offense, but his injury definitely puts Sims on the radar for a targets increase. Draft late but with confidence.
Hayden Hurst , TE ATL – The easiest way to break it down is Hurst should see roughly the same targets vacated by Austin Hooper who enjoyed a breakout campaign in Atlanta last season before signing with Cleveland in the offseason. Hurst was supplanted by Mark Andrews in Baltimore, so dealing him to the Falcons was easy for them. Now, obviously, we can’t just give those 97 targets to Hurst here in his first season with the falcons, but he is expected to play an integral role this season. And let’s not forget, this was still a first-round pick in 2018. He is capable of lining up both as a tight end as well as a slot-receiver, so his versatility should be a big help to his cause.
Mike Gesicki , TE MIA – Talk about a late-round value, Gesicki should be very much on your radar this season. As you will see throughout this Draft Guide, we preach to you about learning teams’ offensive schemes and there is no better example of how a change in scheme can make all the difference in a player’s production. Fantasy Alarm’s newest TE Whisperer Andrew Cooper did a breakdown of what Gesicki’s workload looked like under Adam Gase in 2018 versus what it looked like last year under Brian Flores and the numbers are a bit staggering. You can look at the full breakdown on your own, but let’s just say 701 snaps are better than 439, 545 routes run are better than 218 and a decrease in blocking by about 20% favors pass-catching. He is TE 15 right now according to ADP, so be careful once the word gets out.