Welcome to the 2026 fantasy football season! Today we'll look at wide receivers who we can get a bit later in drafts, who also have good enough upside to beat their average draft position. Every year there are many WR sleepers, as there are many that are on the field most of the game and are cheap in fantasy drafts. But, there are plenty of receivers who get lots of playing time, but can't win targets or are on a team that can't move the ball.
I rather stack my bench with running backs, but we can't ignore later round receivers, as many leagues start three receivers and have a flex spot or two that need a warm body. Oftentimes our back of the bench receivers are our best bet for a flex spot if our bench running backs aren't getting playing time. It's tougher to hit a home run on a later round receiver, but they are needed.
Emeka Egbuka is first in line to take Mike Evans' old workload, but McMillan is a solid receiver who won work in his rookie season despite playing with Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. McMillan missed most of last year due to a neck injury, but returned late in the season and looked healthy, as he caught seven passes and went over a hundred yards against the Dolphins in Week 17.
Chris Godwin isn't the same player he once was due to his injury history and Egbuka didn't live up to his hot start last season as he faded. Egbuka is the likely de facto No. 1 receiver, but McMillan has a chance at leading this team in targets. Right now he can be had in drafts for free as WR69 going off the board.
The Seahawks offense ran through Jaxson Smith-Njigba in a big way last year, giving him a crazy 36% target share. There's no doubt he will again be the top target with a big percentage, but it will be difficult to repeat such a remarkable season. The Seahawks will need to find a useful No. 2 receiver and Shaheed is talent enough to be just that.
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Last season I had high hopes for Shaheed after he was traded to the Seahawks, but his transition to the offense wasn't smooth and his playing time fell from when he was with the Saints. The offense was JSN or bust through the air, while the run game was a focal point under Klint Kubiak.
The good news is that Shaheed gets a full offseason with the offense and the team just gave him a three-year deal worth 17 million a year. He put up good numbers on a bad Saints team last year and has proven he can play in this league. The slump in his numbers and playing time after being traded doesn't bother me that much. The team paid him and Sam Darnold is one of the best deep ball throwers in the league, while Shaheed is one of the best deep ball receivers in the league. They'll figure it out.
The rookie Stribling is of course a well known "sleeper," especially after Ricky Pearsall's season was ended abruptly in training camp. Add in George Kittle's age and late season Achilles injury along with Jauan Jennings being let go, and the second round pick is going to be asked to be a big part of this offense quickly. Yes, Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel have vroomed in on their hover-rounds, but age and injury history will make it tough for either to play a full 17 games at the level they once did.
Stribling has also looked great in training camp and preseason. It's going to be really tough to keep him off the field, and with an ADP still around WR50, I'd draft him in every league without a second thought.
The Raiders might not be good this season, but with Klint Kubiak taking over as head coach, I expect their offensive play calling to be a positive instead of a negative for the first time in a while. Brock Bowers is the true top target on the team, but Tucker appears to be the no-doubt WR1 after resting preseason while Jalen Nailor and Jack Bech played. We know Tucker has upside, we just haven't seen enough of it. His three-TD game last year wasn't just a fluke, though it looks like one when checking out his game logs. But the fact that Kubiak has signaled he likes Tucker as that No. 1 guy has me optimistic that he can be a useful bench player in fantasy.
I don't think we're going to go back to Brian Thomas Jr. being a stud wide receiver anytime soon, which has me looking at the Jaguars later round pass catchers. In his last eight games, Meyers averaged 7.3 targets per game in Jacksonville, catching an average of 4.9 passes per game. His reliability should continue, while his upside will remain low. He's currently going as WR45, which is late enough where I'm good with taking him. Much depends on the makeup of my team though. If I feel like I've got a lot of risk, Meyers makes for a stabilizing pick late.
