5 Rookie Sleepers to Draft in Fantasy Football (2024)

We are only a few weeks away from the start of the 2024 NFL season. OTAs have begun for teams as work for the new year begins. That also means it’s time for us fantasy football managers to begin prepping for your 2024 fantasy football drafts. While dynasty football managers will be all over these rookies; today, we’ll dive into a few rookies who can help you immediately. One of the best ways to gain an edge over your league mates is to identify potential sleeper candidates.

Top 5 Rookie Sleepers to Draft in Fantasy Football 2024

In recent years, we’ve seen more rookies become instant fantasy football contributors. Sometimes, they are obvious players with high draft pedigree attached to their names. Other times, lesser-known names can emerge from obscurity to provide difference-making results. Here at Faceoff Sports Network, we’ve got you covered with all your redraft fantasy football needs. Today, we are going to examine five rookie sleeper candidates to target in your fantasy football drafts.

Kimani Vidal – RB, Los Angeles Chargers

Vidal finished second in the nation in rushing last year while playing for the Troy Trojans, totaling 1,661 rushing yards. However, the competition in the Sun Belt Conference is lacking. This could be partly why he fell to the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. However, the Chargers are a fine landing spot for the rookie.

The competition standing in Vidal’s way is Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins, and Isaiah Spiller. Dobbins is coming off another devastating injury after tearing his Achilles tendon last season. Spiller has been a massive disappointment and may not even make the final roster. Edwards is coming off a career year with the Baltimore Ravens and finished a respectable 18th in Next Gen Stats Rush Yards Over Expectation (RYOE).

Furthermore, Edwards does enter his age 29 season and has never handled more than 198 carries in a year. There is plenty of room for another back to emerge in this offense. If he carves out a role, Vidal has enough talent to be a fantasy difference-maker. Additionally, if injuries strike the depth chart, Vidal could be a potential league winner. He makes for a good late-round dart throw in all formats.

Javon Baker – WR, New England Patriots

Baker is coming off a strong senior season at the University of Central Florida. He eclipsed 1,100 receiving yards and averaged a ridiculous 21.9 yards per reception. The Patriots took him in the fourth round with the 110th overall pick.

New England’s receiving room is wide open. Baker projects best as an X-receiver, and the Patriots desperately need such a player. Unfortunately, it’s unclear who will eventually emerge as rookie Drake Maye‘s preferred target. Baker has big play ability downfield and reports out of Patriots’ OTAs that Maye’s downfield accuracy has been highly impressive. Overall, this trait could mesh well with Baker’s skill set.

Furthermore, Baker is currently going outside the top 230 picks in drafts, according to Fantrax’s latest ADP. Fantasy managers should feel free to spend a last-round pick on him as a flier or choose to monitor him on waivers during the first couple of weeks.

MarShawn Lloyd – RB, Green Bay Packers

Llyod was arguably one of the top three rushers in pure talent in this rookie class. His issues with fumbles caused him to fall to the third round of the NFL draft. Lloyd put the ball on the ground at an absurdly high rate in college. He fumbled on average once every 26 touches.

Scoop n score after a Marshawn Lloyd fumble and UCLA leads #USC 28-10 with 9:29 left in 3rd Qtr @On3USC pic.twitter.com/VNkUiuwvW9

— Scott Schrader (@SSchraderOn3) November 18, 2023

That is an unsustainable rate for gaining playing time in the NFL. Despite the concerns, the Green Packers selected Lloyd 88th overall in the draft. He joins Josh Jacobs and A.J. Dillon in the Packers running back room.

Jacobs signed a four-year, $48 million deal with Green Bay in free agency. However, the Packers do have an out in his contract after the 2024 season, and Jacobs was not very effective last year. He only finished 45th in RYOE and has never been a particularly efficient player outside of his banner 2022 season. Dillon has not yet proven to be an effective back, and if Lloyd can fix his fumbling issues, he can easily surpass Dillon for the RB2 job.

Should Jacobs continue to struggle, it’s possible Lloyd could earn a bigger role in the offense. Fantasy gamers should monitor the backup running back battle through the summer and be ready to pull the trigger on Lloyd as a premium handcuff if he wins the backup job.

Brenden Rice – WR, Los Angeles Chargers

After falling to the seventh round of the NFL draft, Rice enters a Chargers receiving room that is very much in flux. This offseason, the team moved on from long-time starters Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Quentin Johnston appears to be a disastrous bust. Joshua Palmer has had his moments but has never been a particularly good player.

Los Angeles did select fellow rookie Ladd McConkey in the second round of April’s draft, and he figures to have a prominent role. After that, the WR2 role appears up for grabs. New Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has no ties to the current players on the roster, and he won’t hesitate to make changes if he feels the incumbents aren’t getting the job done.

Moving forward, Rice will have to work in camp to improve his separation skills to climb the depth chart. He boasted a strong 2.75 Yards Per Route Run in 2023 per Pro Football Focus (PFF) and scored a career-high 12 touchdowns as well. Ultimately, he could eventually emerge as the WR2 as the season progresses. If so, he could provide WR3 or flex value as Justin Herbert’s number two option.

Blake Watson – RB, Denver Broncos

Watson went undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft but did latch on with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent. Watson is a bit undersized, but he is a fantastic pass-catching back and could carve out a role in Denver as a pass-catching specialist. This would be great news for Watson’s fantasy prospects as the Broncos targeted the running back position at the highest rate in the NFL last season per FantasyPros.

Incumbent starter Javonte Williams is coming off a poor 2023 season. The leash on him might be shorter this year. Second-year back Jaleel McLaughlin might be Watson’s toughest competition regarding playing time. However, McLaughlin missed time due to injury last year, and durability may be an issue.

Monitor the Broncos running back situation throughout the summer and see what kind of noise Watson makes. If he can carve out a pass-catching role, he can easily return Flex value with the potential for more.

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