2021 Fantasy Football Deep League Sleepers

What is up everybody? I hope you’re ready to see some undrafted free agents and backups this weekend. Me, I don’t really get excited about that stuff. I’m not exactly a Campus to Canton guy. But you? Maybe you dig that first week of preseason football vibes. Just like pre-season baseball, it’s hard to take anything you see in pre-season football terribly seriously — we’re not seeing proper game script, we’re not seeing the first team on the field all the time, and more often than not, we’re just watching to see if teams want to keep their young players on the field or bring in a veteran to eat up some yardage. That said, I also know most “home leagues” are starting up, and you’re looking for the best players to take such that you can embarrass your friends and relatives and win their undying respect. So! Let’s take a look at some end-game players that could really change your season outcomes before the pre-season gets underway.

James White: Holy floor option, Batman! Drafting James White is about as unsexy as watching Donkey Teeth make his patented nacho smoothies before the big game. No, Donk, I don’t want guac in my smoothie! ENYWHEY. White is kind of the old man in the Patriots backfield, which is quite the accomplishment these days. He missed time last year following the heart-rending death of his father, coupled with some injuries, coupled with Cam Netwton just smashing the turbo button on his feet and not throwing the ball whatsoever. Still, guess who came in second on the team in receptions? Mr. James White. Now Nelson Agholor is in town, and he figures to help the Patriots passing game a smidge. Over the past four years, White has averaged 4.6 receptions per game, which is great for PPR leagues and provides a nice floor play. However, he’s never going to be the feature back in New England, so he’s about as boring as asking me over to watch the game on your couch, where I’ll proceed to analyze every play on Pro Football Reference.

Nelson Agholor: Speaking of random wide receivers that the Patriots found, Nelson Agholor came from the Raiders, where he fared nicely in 2020 and hopes to restart his career in the Boston suburbs with a quarterback who threw for 8 TDs last year. Yikes. But Cam Newton wasn’t always afraid of throwing the ball, and the big-armed Mac Jones stands ready on the sidelines to take over if Cam doesn’t want to throw. Agholor’s average depth of target (aDOT) soared to 15+ yards last year, meaning he’s ready for huge yardage upside as the Patriots’ WR1.

Le’Veon Bell: About 2 weeks ago, the former all-pro running back announced that he’d rather retire than play for Andy Reid again. Imagine saying that to Andy Freaking Reid. HEY, DT! I’D RATHER RETIRE THAN WRITE ANYWHERE ELSE. See what I did there? I’m tricky with my compliments! But Bell isn’t very tricky, and his agent definitely wasn’t happy to hear that quote go public. Between the Jets and the Chiefs last year, Bell still managed about 4 yards per carry, and he’s only 29. Remember when Carlos Hyde swooped in and ran for 1,000+ yards in Houston in 2019? Bell’s waiting for a big play RB to go down in the pre-season or early season (because it always happens) and the get his next opportunity at a starting gig. If you’re grabbing Bell with your last pick, you could easily have a starting RB come week 1 or 2. If he doesn’t pan out, then it doesn’t really matter, because 90% of the time your last pick wasn’t going to stay on your roster anyway.

Tim Patrick: Way back in the early days of alpha covid, the Denver Broncos were tossing everybody with a working arm at quarterback, and Patrick had 3 games of 100+ yards in the middle of the season and tacked on another run of games with 3/4 receptions per game to finish out the season. What if Courtland Sutton isn’t returning 100% from injury? What if Teddy Bridgewater takes over at QB and clicks with Patrick instead of KJ Hamler? Patrick is also playing for his “last” big contract; at 27 and as a career WR3/4, he’s likely got one more shot to get a big contract or fade from the league. Do I hear echoes of Nelson Agholor? Again, we’re talking last-round picks here and you shouldn’t expect some sort of breakthrough hit like Gasolina, but Patrick has big play possibility and could be one of those pre-preseason picks that sticks on your team. Just don’t get sad if you have to wipe TP from your roster come week 3.

Dan Arnold / Anthony Firkser / Blake Jarwin / Zach Ertz / Jack Doyle / Mo Alie-Cox: I know I told you to take a top TE, but this is a wonderful year for doing the TE free fall. There are basically 30 TEs that Rudy predicts to get 10% target share or more. That, my friends, is an efficient frontier. So, maybe you drafted Kyle Pitts. Awesome upside! But, what if Pitts, like many rookies, fail? What kind of TE can you find with some sort of upside in the last round to use as ballast? Well, any of these guys, because they’ve got track records or are in high-volume offenses or simply have no competition. Jimmy Graham was basically undrafted last year and finished as TE10. You can easily add him to the TE list here as well…along with another 10 TEs.

Who are your favorite last-round picks in 2021? Drop a line and let me know who you’re targeting!