There are a lot of NFL offenses that are “solved” for fantasy football. Look at the Philadelphia Eagles, for instance. We know exactly who the main characters are. Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert. Everyone know it and they still won the Super Bowl.

With many of these other teams, it’s not so simple. They might have one super star at the top of the pass-catching group, they might have none and the room is wide open. That sounds scary for fantasy football and it is - in the early rounds. In the later rounds, we WANT uncertainty. Drafting Jahan Dotson on the Eagles doesn’t really give you a path to upside without injury. There are a lot of players from these uncertain teams who could get a decent target share or even LEAD their teams in targets. And they go late in drafts.

We’ve already taken a look at sleeper wide receivers and tight ends to watch in the AFC. Now it’s time to look into the NFC teams. I’m going to give you two guys from each team - the player I think has the best odds to lead the team and also a dark horse that could be a top two target on the team and have some fantasy relevance. You don’t even have to pick the guys I like but it’s a good exercise to start thinking of these rooms now and who you think could emerge as a focal point!

 

 

 

Atlanta Falcons Receiver Depth Chart Bets

Best Odds: Drake London, WR Atlanta Falcons

We have a new quarterback in Atlanta that we’ve only seen a small sample size of games from. But we can be confident that London is the preferred target regardless of quarterback given his role and skillset. London last year caught 100 passes on 158 targets so we’d need to see serious regression for him to fall off that pedestal. After him, there’s a little bit more uncertainty here.

Dark Horse: Darnell Mooney, WR Atlanta Falcons

As a tight end enthusiast, I often gravitate towards the tight end in these situations. And I’m still holding out hope for Kyle Pitts in dynasty as he’s still only 24. But he really does not fit the scheme well for Zac Robinson, who wants to run three WR sets with an inline blocking tight end.. The Falcons quietly led the league last year in three-WR sets and Kyle Pitts is not an inline blocking tight end which saw Charlie Woerner actually playing more snaps than Pitts. Unless they drastically alter his role or he becomes a much better blocker, he might not be a full-time player.

Darnell Mooney, on the other hand, is absolutely a full-time player. He only had one game where he played fewer than 88% of the snaps and he actually had nine games where he played 95% or greater. His 2022 and 2023 seasons were hampered by a serious ankle injury but last year he came within 8 yards of his second 1,000-yard season. If Michael Penix is as advertised, both London and Mooney could be viable in fantasy this year.

 

 

 

Carolina Panthers Receiver Depth Chart Bets

Best Odds: Tetairoa McMillan, WR Carolina Panthers

This one is pretty simple. They drafted McMillan at 8th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. He’s a 6’4” 224 pound big-bodied specimen. He should take over a full-time role as the split end right away. Yes, we’ve seen guys like Marvin Harrison have a middling first season when thrown into that role right away. We’ve seen guys like Corey Davis struggle and N’Keal Harry flop completely. But, in a room like this with his profile and draft capital, he has to be the best bet to lead the team in targets.

Dark Horse: Adam Thielen, WR Carolina Panthers

McMillan could bust, he could hit. Regardless, the battle is wide open after him. I know people like to get excited about the young guys - it is exciting. But Adam Thielen was the best wide receiver on the team last year. His 17 game pace was over 80 catches and 1,000 yards. In the 7 games after he returned from the hamstring injury in Week 12, he was actually the WR13 in PPR.

We did a little study on Xavier Legette this offseason that revealed he has some mechanical issues to work on - specifically, jumping when he doesn’t need to. Jalen Coker was interesting last year and even outplayed Xavier Legette but some insiders believe he might be closer to the roster bubble than he is a starting spot. With Adam Thielen manning the slot there’s really only one spot open opposite McMillan on the outside. Ja’Tavion Sanders is an interesting name as well with Tommy Tremble recently having back surgery but the potential rotation there pours some cold water on things. Thielen could just continue to be the most reliable option.

 

 

 

Green Bay Packers Receiver Depth Chart Bets

Best Odds: Matthew Golden, WR Green Bay Packers

If we were betting on “touches” instead of “targets”, we might put Jayden Reed here. Because he also got 20 carries last year on top of his 75 targets. But Reed has been more of a part-time player in his career, much like Khalil Shakir above. Of all the players that got 50 targets last year Reed ran the 6th highest percentage of his routes from the slot per Pro Football Focus. That can cap your upside.

Matthew Golden became the first Green Bay Packer wide receiver selected in the first round in a long time. Star running back Josh Jacobs came out and said it in February - the Packers “need a No.1 WR”. If I’m paying up to place a bet, I’m betting on the upside of Golden to be that guy in an uncertain room.

Dark Horse: Tucker Kraft, TE Green Bay Packers

Let’s break this down. Matthew Golden and Savion Williams are rookies - rookies either start slow or flop completely on a regular basis. As we laid out, Jayden Reed is often a part-time player, coming off the field for two WR sets. Neither Romeo Doubs nor Dontayvion Wicks, in five combined seasons, has ever had a 100+ yard receiving game during the regular season (Doubs did have one in the playoffs following the 2023 season). Christian Watson is set to miss most of the season, if not all of it. That leaves the door wide open.

Tucker Kraft is clearly a special player. He outplayed Luke Musgrave despite being drafted after him in the same draft. Last year, he missed virtually the whole offseason with a torn pec and STILL got that starting job. He may have only gotten 4.1 targets per game, but he made the most of them, including a couple of monster 60+ yard touchdowns. Jordan Love and Tucker Kraft have both said they want to add more chunk plays downfield to Kraft’s resume. And, as we always say, if the targets are spread out, positional scarcity makes those TE targets more valuable than the WR targets in fantasy football. Getting 90 targets for a wide receiver doesn’t help us but, for a tight end, sometimes that is all we need.

 

 

 

New York Giants Receiver Depth Chart Bets

Best Odds: Malik Nabers, WR New York Giants

Not much has to be said here. Malik Nabers was a super star right from the rip, even as a rookie. His 170 targets last year was second only to Ja'Marr Chase. Between Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and first round rookie Jaxson Dart, the Giants invested a lot in trying to improve the QB position this year. We could see a lot of targets again for Nabers but also higher quality targets.

Dark Horse: Darius Slayton, WR New York Giants

After Nabers it opens up a bit. Many would go for Wan’Dale Robinson here as he was able to accumulate 140 targets last season. But his 699 yards was the second fewest a wide receiver has ever had on 140 targets behind only 2006 Chris Chambers. That’s some pretty serious inefficiency and it certainly isn’t do much for us in half PPR formats like Best Ball Mania.

Robinson was also a part-time player because he’s one of the worst pass-blocking WRs, per Pro Football Focus. He’s graded outside the top 200 WRs in that category two years in a row now. Darius Slayton is the guy who plays the full-time role opposite Nabers - he even played 100% of the snaps in a couple games last year. His field-stretching role fits the play-style of deep ball expert Russell Wilson which could see him have some big weeks compared to the lower aDot guys like Wan’Dale Robinson and Theo Johnson.

 

 

 

San Francisco 49ers Receiver Depth Chart Bets

Best Odds: George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers

This one might not actually have the best odds. But it’s the best bet in fantasy football for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason, of course, is that Kittle has TE eligibility. If the targets are spread evenly, Kittle’s targets are simply worth more because it’s easy to replace WR production in your lineup than TE production.

The other reason is the uncertainty surrounding the WR room. And the big problem is the usage of the fullback and blocking tight end. Kyle Juszczyk is back plus they just gave a sizeable contract to Luke Farrell. That configuration is why this team only really has two full-time wide receivers which leaves the WR3 with a part time snap share. When Brandon Aiyuk gets back, one of these guys is likely to lose snaps at the worst possible time for fantasy football - playoffs.

Dark Horse: Jauan Jennings, TE, San Francisco 49ers

Brandon Aiyuk is expected to be eased in or possibly even miss games entirely to start the season. That should see Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall in those full-time roles. Maybe Brandon Aiyuk gets a really late start and then they ease him in on a limited snap share making him the part time player - that’s what the Vikings did last year with T.J. Hockenson. But, if Aiyuk gets back up to full speed, one of Pearsall or Jennings would become a part time player.

If I’m betting on one of these guys, I’m betting on Jennings. He played over 90% of the snaps in eight of the final ten games last year and one of the ones he didn’t was a meaningless Week 18 game when virtually all of the starters were benched. Maybe they just rotate all three guys (another reason to bet on George Kittle) but, in my opinion, Jauan Jennings has the best odds of maintaining a full-time role from Week 1 through fantasy championships.