With the NFL Draft on the horizon, activity in dynasty fantasy football leagues is going in one direction—up.

With the draft comes dynasty rookie drafts. From there, waivers, transactions, and chatter will pick up as we progress through the offseason.

To get a head start on your offseason, start targeting the following sleepers in dynasty leagues, and make sure to sell off of a pair of players whose stock is cratering.

Sleepers To Target In Dynasty Fantasy Football

QB J.J. McCarthy (Vikings)

McCarthy is a late-round target in redraft leagues, so it stands to reason (given that he's yet to play a down of regular-season football) that he's also someone I want in dynasty.

Although he essentially redshirted his first NFL season, McCarthy is still a rookie-aged player at 22 years old, so he certainly has time ahead of him to develop—and I think he has an underappreciated shot to develop into one of the league's best QBs.

McCarthy has outstanding institutional support with the Vikings. It's not just that he will launch his NFL playing career surrounded by one of the league's best skill-position quartets in WRs Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, TE T.J. Hockenson, and RB Aaron Jones. He will also benefit mightily from offensive playcalling HC Kevin O'Connell, who last year (as the NFL Coach of the Year) mentored cast-off journeyman Sam Darnold to a career-best campaign (8.2 AY/A vs. 6.0 in six previous seasons).

Plus, McCarthy should be significantly ahead of the average first-year starter in his knowledge base, given that he used his rookie season to pick up the Vikings offense and transition to the NFL.

And then there's McCarthy's draft pedigree (No. 10 pick), athleticism (6.82-second three-cone drill), college production (9.8 AY/A in final season), and winning record (CFB and HS national champion), all of which combine to give him an incredibly high ceiling.

Given all the factors in his favor, McCarthy could legitimately be a top-tier NFL QB for much of the next decade, but he's regularly available outside the top 12 at the position.

WR Ricky Pearsall (49ers)

No. 1 WR Brandon Aiyuk might miss a chunk of the year as he recovers from a season-ending knee injury. No. 2 WR Deebo Samuel was traded to the Commanders this offseason. No. 3 WR Jauan Jennings is in the final year of his contract, and his 2024 fifth-year breakout (77-975-6 receiving) might've been a fluke.

Meanwhile TE George Kittle and RB Christian McCaffrey are both nearing age cliffs.

There are opportunities within the 49ers offense, which should still be an above-average unit thanks to offensive playcalling HC Kyle Shanahan and QB Brock Pudy, and Pearsall—the team's 2024 first-rounder—could earn a lot of those opportunities.

Pearsall played little last year as a rookie, and he finished just No. 5 on the team with 46 targets.

But this year he's slated to be a full-time starter, and in his four starts last year, he had 22-321-3 receiving on 28 targets with 3-45-0 rushing and an incomplete pass attempt. 

Pearsall has a legitimate shot to be the No. 1 WR for the 49ers this year—but he's not being valued that way.

Players With Big Downside in Dynasty Fantasy Football For 2025

RB Breece Hall (Jets)

Hall strikes me as carrying an abundance of risk.

First of all, he might not be as good a runner as second-year RB Braelon Allen, who last year outperformed him in success rate (51.1% vs. 46.4%) and rushes per broken tackle (23.0 vs. 29.9).

Given that Allen is younger (21 vs. 24) and bigger (235 lbs. vs. 217), he might steal some of Hall's rushing workload.

Additionally, new QB Justin Fields is likely to diminish Hall's production in three ways.

  • The Jets will probably be less productive with Fields instead of QB Aaron Rodgers. With Fields, the Jets offense will likely score fewer points and accumulate fewer yards.
     
  • Fields is one of the league's best running QBs. The Jets will likely reallocate some of the team's designed rushing attack away from Hall and toward Fields.
     
  • Fields will be less likely than Rodgers to check the ball down to Hall when pressured in the pocket and more likely to scramble.

With all these factors considered, Hall, on a per-game basis, could have the fewest carries and targets of his career in 2025.

And after 2025, he'll be entering his second contract, when RB production tends to decline.

In dynasty, it's usually better to trade players near the peak of their worth and perhaps a little early than to wait too long and lose all their market value.

For Hall, 2025 might be the last good opportunity to trade him for difference-making assets.

WR Rashee Rice (Chiefs)

The market is valuing Rice as a mid-range WR2 in dynasty, and I get it.

In 2023, he was strong as a rookie (79-938-7, 102 targets). Last year, he looked like a league winner in his first few games (24-288-2, 29 targets) before suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 4. And he's likely to make a full recovery in time for 2025, given that his ACL, MCL, and meniscus are all intact.

Even so, Rice feels risky to me at his current cost.

He's still returning from injury, and he will need to compete for targets in 2025 with WRs Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown and TE Travis Kelce in a Chiefs offense that has been good but not great in the passing attack.

And then there's the off-field concerns that accompany Rice—and those do not strike me as small.

He's likely to miss some of 2025 because of a suspension related to a high-speed hit-and-run five-car collision he caused while street racing his weed-occupied Lamborghini last offseason. While he sent only two people to the hospital, Rice is honestly lucky no one died in the accident. He easily could've found himself in a Henry Ruggs-like situation.

But at least since then he has been totally remorseful and kept his head down on advice of counsel and lived a model life, right?

No.

Less than two months after his infamous car crash, Rice allegedly punched a photographer at a Dallas nightclub. While he wasn't arrested or charged with a crime, he was investigated, and Dallas police implied the reason he wasn't arrested was because the victim declined to press charges.

Danger, Will Robinson.

Even if Rice is the No. 1 WR for QB Patrick Mahomes, there's no guarantee that his off-field activities will allow him to play fully in the future.