Sleepers and busts can massively tilt your fantasy football season in any direction, as we well know.
You can just as easily win your league if you pick the sleeper that bursts into the top tier as if you pick league-winning production in your first pick, which makes doing research on your pass-catcher, running back, tight ends, and quarterback sleepers of paramount importance.
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Every year, some players go outside the top ten for whatever reason, and picking the correct sleeper out of that group will lead you to victory. Using our Footballguys' Average Draft Position and Rankings tools, I'll identify three of my favorite quarterback sleeper candidates in fantasy drafts this season.
To be clear, we define sleepers as players who we think will perform better than most expect and be undervalued at their average draft position.
QB Sleeper: Jayden Daniels, Washington (ADP: QB12)
Daniels is the type of quarterback that makes you get dollar signs in your eyes. He's a true diamond in the rough, a player who can absolutely break fantasy football with his skills.
He enters the NFL fresh off of a Heisman-winning season in his final year at LSU, putting up 1,100 rushing yards and ten touchdowns with 3,800 passing yards and 40 touchdowns. That's just a ridiculous stat line, and while he did have two first-round NFL Draft picks in Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. as his receivers, it doesn't diminish the accomplishment any less.
He had the highest PFF offensive grade among passing quarterbacks. While he's stepping into a less-explosive Commanders' offense in the pros, the Air Raid scheme that offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury will implement, combined with his rushing ability, should easily boost him inside the top ten for fantasy football, making him the best quarterback sleeper that you can find.
Jayden Daniels launches it DEEP on his second throw
— NFL (@NFL)
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QB Sleeper: Jared Goff, Detroit (ADP: QB15)
Goff is not a quarterback most view as "fantasy friendly", but one thing is absolutely true when it comes to him: he's one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL when it comes to playing indoors. The statistics back it up, as Goff's 2023 numbers when playing inside far outweighed his outdoor numbers.
Indoor Stats
- 69.0% completion percentage
- 2.09 touchdowns per game
- 7.9 passing yards per attempt
- 104.7 passer rating
Outdoor Stats
- 64.5% completion percentage
- 1.17 touchdowns per game
- 7.0 passing yards per attempt
- 87.9 passer rating
He'll have plenty more opportunities to find his receivers this season, as the Lions only play three games outdoors this season.
Like I said, Goff isn't sexy in the statistics. He doesn't run much and is not a massive deep ball thrower. However, he can be highly efficient, and while he doesn't throw the deep ball much (he ranked 20th in deep ball attempts last season), he throws it well (he ranked 6th in deep ball completion percentage).
Fans in Detroit want a repeat of the season that the Lions had last season, except with them going to their first Super Bowl appearance ever. They arguably should have defeated the San Francisco 49ers last season, and now that Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and the rest of the offensive group are locked in, it's time for Goff to make this happen. He has top-12 upside this season.
QB Sleeper: Bo Nix, Denver (ADP: QB29)
This pick is way more of a leap of faith than anything else. Purely a case of a player who, given his toolbox and abilities, has way more ceiling potential than his draft slot indicates.
Nix won't get drafted in most leagues, but if you are the player who likes to leave quarterback as long as possible and then grab a second quarterback sleeper that you like, this is the play for you. Nix carries a very solid rushing upside, as we saw during his years at Auburn and Oregon, and playing in Sean Payton's offense could help boost him up.
We've seen that Nix is an accurate quarterback who can use his legs. At his worst, he can be a very viable bye-week fill-in player who gets you enough points to get through the week. But we have seen plenty of quarterbacks with this kind of prospect profile see quick success, especially with his seasoning after five years in college.
