It's not always easy to know exactly what constitutes a Dynasty Fantasy Football sleeper. As anyone who has played in a Dynasty league knows, there is a wide range of opinions on players. One man's treasure is often found to be another man's trash in trade negotiations. But that lack of clarity on who exactly is a sleeper does not diminish the need to find one. So, for this exercise, I used Dynasty League Football One Quarterback ADP and looked for players outside of the top 100. At least one of these guys is already starting to move up draft boards, but I wanted to include him in case anyone missed the memo. I only included one rookie, because I just published a list of rookie sleepers.
Jonathon Brooks, RB, Panthers
DLF ADP: 113
This is the obvious one. I'm using July ADP, but if we fast-forwarded to August ADP, Brooks may not even qualify. The former second-round pick is finally healthy, more than 19 months removed from his second ACL tear. The Panthers have big plans for Brooks this year, at the very least as a 1B to Chuba Hubbard. But if Brooks is truly back to his old self, I expect he'll take the lead job away from Hubbard. Brooks has a three-down profile and better pedigree than Hubbard. He also just turned 23 years old, so if he hits it would not be surprising to see Brooks as a consensus top running back by midseason.
De'Zhaun Stribling, WR, 49ers
DLF ADP: 146
This is a bit of mea culpa. I mostly laughed when the 49ers took Stribling 33rd overall. I thought it was another classic 49ers draft blunder. It may have been. But the drumbeat is getting stronger in San Francisco, with Brock Purdy heaping praise on the rookie. Christian Kirk has already suffered an injury in camp, Mike Evans turns 33 in August, and Ricky Pearsall has an extensive injury history that stretches back to his college days. Whether Stribling is good enough to justify his draft capital may be irrelevant, especially at this cost.
Cam Ward, QB, Titans
DLF ADP: 167
By this ADP, Ward is the 23rd QB off the board in Dynasty startup drafts. That seems pretty insane for last year's number one overall pick. Everything got better for Ward this offseason. Brian Daboll should be an upgrade at offensive coordinator, Carnell Tate is an upgrade at WR1, and Wan'Dale Robinson is an upgrade at WR2. Unless Ward is just a complete bust, he should take a big step forward in Year 2. There's also breakout potential if Daboll's propensity to draw up designed rush attempts for his quarterback continues.
Tank Dell, WR, Texans
DLF ADP: 178
Like Brooks, Dell just needs to stay healthy to be a huge win at his current cost. In his last 17 healthy games, Dell caught 70 passes for 922 yards and scored six touchdowns. As a rookie, he was WR13 in PPR Fantasy points per game before he got hurt. He has a great relationship with C.J. Stroud and like Brooks, has had a year and a half to get fully healthy. The Texans's receiver room is crowded with Nico Collins, Jayden Higgins, and Jaylin Noel and Dell is my second favorite of the group if he can stay on the field. You may be able to get him for a third-round rookie pick right now. That won't be the case if he stays healthy through camp.
Greg Dulcich, TE, Dolphins
DLF ADP: 184
Dulcich is still on the waiver wire in some Dynasty leagues. He shouldn't be. The common denominator found in surprise tight end breakout seasons is that they finish first or second on their team in targets. Dulcich just happens to be on a team with no proven WR1 or WR2, meaning he could lead the Dolphins in targets. He was very efficient last year, ranking second behind only Dalton Kincaid in yards per route run at tight end, and it may surprise you to learn that he's actually six months younger than Kincaid. He's also 60 picks cheaper than Kincaid in recent ADP.
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