There's just something better about any team that has "All-" in front of it. All-American, All-Decade, All-County. You get the idea. It's time fantasy football owners were able to enjoy one of these teams, too. Since we know how much you all love sleepers and hate busts, it only made sense to put together this All-Sleeper team for the 2019 season. Your team shouldn't look exactly like this at the end of drafts because that means you'll be ignoring the guys at the very top of the rankings and cheat sheets, but getting a few of these potential undervalued veterans and high-upside breakouts is a good way to polish off a solid draft.
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We all love being right, and there's not much better "being-right" feeling in fantasy sports than nailing a sleeper. Sleepers cause one of two reactions in the draft: Either everyone gets upset that you drafted them first, or everyone scoffs at you for taking them (if they even know who they are). That's fine, you think to yourself. You're the most informed one in the room. By the end of the season, your mood will be greatly affected by whether you were right.
DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Ultimate 2019 cheat sheet
We're here to help you be right (so hopefully we're right). Our All-Sleeper Team features a QB who creates endless GIF potential for your league message board ("You like that? You like that!"), and you know there's a rookie running back. We also have a wily veteran stash who's returning to the team that drafted him, one of last year's biggest busts, and two WRs trying to fill the shoes of departed stars. We even decided to add a kicker because kickers are people, too.
Note: All the average draft positions (ADP) reflected below come from FantasyPros' composite ADP lists.
MORE: Dollar values | IDP rankings | Best ball tips | Team names
Fantasy Sleepers: Quarterback
Kirk Cousins, Vikings
If your league has any sort of social media interaction whatsoever, how can you pass up the opportunity to send the "You like that?" meme to your opponent each time Cousins has a good game? That's just icing on the cake for a player going way too late for the value he'll bring your fantasy team. He's going outside the top-20 quarterbacks, while he's just outside the top-10 in our rankings. That's a huge gap that could be exploited in all of your drafts.
If you embrace the wait-on-QB strategy, Cousins could wind up as your starter after you pile up on upside-laden skill-position guys. If you draft a big-name passer, Cousins can be your backup -- one of the last few backups off the board in 12-team leagues but also one of the safest. He completed more than 70 percent of his passes last season and gets two of the best receivers in football back to keep throwing to.
Cousins is going in the 12th round of fantasy drafts. Whether he's your starter or backup, that's a great time to take him with the expectation that he should exceed that draft position. Cousins has posted four straight seasons of 4,000-plus passing yards and 30-plus total touchdowns, so even if the Vikings run a little more as expected, you know he's going to put up numbers.
Honorable mention: Derek Carr, Raiders; Sam Darnold, Jets; Josh Allen, Bills
QBs: Rankings | Draft Strategy | Sleepers | Dollar Values
Fantasy Sleepers: Running back
Tevin Coleman, 49ers
Coleman really shouldn't fall into the sleeper category. He's the top running back in an offense that should be above average, and he had a good season last year in Atlanta, finishing as the No. 18 running back in both standard and PPR scoring. Coleman's role and ability is similar, so there shouldn't be anything stopping him from repeating 2018, yet he's going as the No. 27 RB according to FantasyPros' composite ADP.
In our Top 200, Coleman ranks 26th overall. He's not even being drafted as the No. 26 running back. If people were concerned about Jerick McKinnon, that shouldn't matter as much now that he's a candidate to open the season on injured reserve because of a knee injury. San Francisco surely didn't bring Coleman in to toil on the sideline while the injury-prone Matt Breida dominates touches.
As fantasy owners, we might try to decipher why drafters behave differently than we'd expect. At the end of the day, though, all that really matters is what we think about a player and where he's being drafted. Coleman is more valuable than his ADP. It's that simple. That means you should be able to wait a bit and still end up with a top-30 player well after he should've already been off the board.
SEASON PREVIEW PODCASTS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST
Ronald Jones II, Buccaneers
How quickly fantasy owners move on from a player who burned them once. As a second-round pick after a productive USC career, people touted Jones as a sleeper last year as a rookie. He rushed for 44 yards the whole season after quickly falling into the doghouse with Bucs coaches. Things are expected to be different this year with offensive guru Bruce Arians in town.
Jones isn't fighting super stiff competition in the Tampa backfield. He needs to beat out Peyton Barber, which reports indicate he's well on the way to doing. That will set him up for 16 games of starting in an offense that should produce plenty of points.
Why, then, is Jones going No. 41 among backs? For goodness sakes, Kareem Hunt and his eight-game suspension are being drafted on average before Jones. Jones should still possess some of the shine that rookie running backs often have, but somehow drafters feel like they've already seen Jones fail. In reality, they didn't even see him get a fair shake. This year, with a chance to stand out, everything in Jones' pedigree and Arians' offense suggests the second-year runner will do just that, even if he's still mostly an afterthought in the passing game.
Honorable mention: Royce Freeman, Broncos; Devin Singletary, Bills; Darrell Henderson, Rams; Darwin Thompson, Chiefs
RBs: Rankings | Draft Strategy | Sleepers | Dollar Values
Fantasy Sleepers: Wide receiver
Tre'Quan Smith, Saints
There have been a handful of No. 2 WRs in New Orleans who have had success in the Drew Brees-Sean Payton era. Lance Moore, Kenny Stills, Willie Snead, and a rookie Michael Thomas all were worthy fantasy options as the offense's secondary receiver. Last season was the first time in a while that only one player mattered at the WR spot in the Superdome. Of course, Thomas led the league in catches, but the Saints' second-best receiver was RB Alvin Kamara. There's room for Tre'Quan Smith to hearken back to the days of a more diverse offense, though.
Smith did have the second-best WR season on the Saints in 2018, reeling in 28 passes for 427 yards and five touchdowns. His 15.3 yards per catch shows his per-play upside. He should play even more this year, though there is a worry that his deep-threat ability might be slightly limited by Drew Brees' propensity to live on underneath passes. Still, we know Brees can get it out to Smith, and we know the Saints offense will provide opportunities.
Smith is going outside the top-60 WRs in current ADP data, and that means he'll only cost a late-round pick. Unlike some sleepers, there isn't a huge blockage to opportunity for Smith. He should be ready to make noise as soon as Week 1.
FANTASY SLEEPERS:
8 QBs | 14 RBs | 11 WRs | 11 TEs | 6 D/STs | One from each team
David Moore, Seahawks
As of Aug. 20th, David Moore is being drafted No. 96 among wide receivers. Even if DK Metcalf is the second coming of Jerry Rice, that's too low for Moore. Getting a deep-threat third receiver in a Seattle offense that likes to push the ball down the field would be value at that price. That seems to be like the minimum role Moore could have this year. There's the chance he works as the No. 2 behind Tyler Lockett, too.
There's no doubting Moore's big-play ability, as his 17.1 yards per reception in 2019 can attest to. The key to his fantasy value is turning that rate into more volume. There's basically no cost to investing in Moore. He's already dealt with his young-player blues and should be ready to step into a bigger role in his third season. His role should be even slightly more secure with news that Metcalf will undergo a minor knee surgery.
DRAFT STRATEGY AND RANKINGS TIERS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST
James Washington, Steelers
The more Donte Moncrief buzz in the preseason, the better for people who want to draft Washington. We've been down the Moncrief hype train before, and somehow people are falling for it again. Washington is immensely talented, and while preseason games don't mean much, the difficulty of catches he made in the Steelers' preseason opener counts for something.
This is all about replacing Antonio Brown's production. Washington is Pittsburgh's long-term answer across from JuJu Smith-Schuster. If he can be the short-term solution, too, he'll have immense fantasy value that well exceeds his current position of barely a top-50 WR.
Honorable mention: Corey Davis, Titans; Tyrell Williams, Raiders; Devin Funchess, Colts; Jakobi Meyers, Patriots
WRs: Rankings | Draft Strategy | Sleepers | Dollar Values
Fantasy Sleepers: Tight end
Benjamin Watson, Patriots
Respect your elders. It woud be tough to roster someone older than Watson on your fantasy team this year unless you own his QB, Tom Brady, or his former QB, Drew Brees. There's already an age bias among many fantasy owners who just want to draft the next big thing. Watson was the next big thing more than a decade ago and has just been chugging along ever since, so to many drafters, he's the definition of boring. Add in the fact that he begins the year with a four-game suspension and you don't have many left interested in him.
You should be, though. He formed a connection years ago with Brady that he'll be able to build upon, and while he has the unenviable real-life task of replacing Rob Gronkowski, in fantasy, that's actually pretty a pretty enviable spot to be in. This is a New England offense that has almost always relied on at least one TE for production, and Watson is the best pass catcher of a motley crew.
Watson is being drafted No. 40 among tight ends, so, really, he's not being selected in anything but the deepest of leagues. You probably won't have to draft him either because you should just be able to pick him up the week before his suspension ends. Before Watson's suspension was taken into account, he was a top-15 TE for us, a borderline starter. At a position with such much uncertainty, you should target a proven veteran like Watson.
Honorable mention: Mike Gesicki, Dolphins; Ian Thomas, Panthers; Darren Waller, Raiders
TEs: Rankings | Draft Strategy | Sleepers | Dollar Values
Fantasy Sleepers: Defense
Pittsburgh Steelers
We've made it clear time and time again that playing matchups is our preferred way of approaching the D/ST slot on your fantasy roster. The Steelers don't quite fit that bill to start the season, with the Patriots hosting Pittsburgh in Week 1. The Steelers are going undrafted in standard leagues, though, which is silly. They're a top-10 fantasy defense, easily.
If you want a better Week 1 matchup, fine. You can draft someone else and pick up the Steelers when they fit into your roster. If you don't care that much about that opener, you can select Pittsburgh after everyone else in your draft has picked a D/ST. There's certainly no need to be reaching on defense when year-to-year production depends so much on takeaways and touchdowns, which can be somewhat random over the small sample of 16 games.
The Steelers will get docked down on anyone's board who's just looking at Week 1. Apparently, they've also been knocked down the boards of those looking longer than that, too. They should be cheap wherever you want them, and they should outproduce that low price.
Honorable mention: New England Patriots; Kansas City Chiefs; Indianapolis Colts
D/STs: Rankings | Draft Strategy | Sleepers | Dollar Values
Fantasy Sleepers: Kicker
Giorgio Tavecchio, Falcons
A kicker can't really be a sleeper in the same way the other positions can. If you do this correctly and wait until the last round to select one, the disparities in ADP are much smaller. Tavecchio is worth pointing out, though, since he's going 14th among kickers but is No. 8 in our rankings. That means that in every draft you do of 12 teams or less, you should be able to get Tavecchio. Picking in the back half of the last round, he's a good target.
MORE: Kicker rankings
He was born in Milan, Italy, and he has a huge leg. Tavecchio latched on with Atlanta at the end of 2018 and made all five of his kicks, including two from beyond 50 yards. He also had made three 50-yarders the year before with the Raiders. In a high-powered Falcons' offense that plays its home games indoors, Tavecchio's strong and accurate left foot should have a good floor and high ceiling (for a kicker).
Honorable mention: Michael Badgley, Chargers; Aldrick Rosas, Giants; Graham Gano, Panthers