13 Lottery Ticket Stashes for 2025 Fantasy Football

As much as we strive to win our leagues with pure skill, academic research, and daily effort, luck plays a major role in the game of fantasy football. It's not quite as bad as the actual lottery — where your odds of hitting are roughly 1-in-300-million — but it's no sure thing.

This is most evident in the hunt for late-round sleepers. The guys worth stashing in your last bench spot, on the infinitesimal chance that they turn into the next Puca Nacua. Most of those players typically end up as the focus of chaotic waiver wire battles in Week 2 ... but if you have the wherewithal to tuck them away during the draft, you gain a massive leg up.

So let's search for that wherewithal. These are my 13 favorite lottery ticket stashes at the end of drafts, that could end up deciding championships come Week 17 — in roughly ADP order. (For the record, I was going to do seven, because lucky number seven, but there are simply too many worth highlighting, so we're going against the grain with "lucky" number 13.)

NOTE: For housekeeping purposes, all these players are going outside the first 14 rounds in our multi-site redraft ADP.

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TE Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars

If you have the room/depth to stash a backup tight end, Brenton Strange is my favorite late-round target (though not my only one). The former second-round pick is entering his third season — the sweet spot for tight end breakouts — and had some impressive flashes last year with Evan Engram out, and could be the best "safety outlet" target for Trevor Lawrence. Engram averaged 7.1 targets per game over three years in this offense, and was the TE7 over that span (despite missing eight games last year). Strange could absolutely take up that mantle and be a fantasy TE1 in Liam Coen's offense.

RB Dylan Sampson, Cleveland Browns

Normally, in this range, you're typically grabbing low-end handcuff running backs. It's not often you can get an electric Day Two rookie that might lead his team in touches. But with Quinshon Judkins still unsigned amid the NFL's ongoing conduct policy investigation, the Cleveland backfield is currently just Jerome Ford and Dylan Sampson. Ford is fine. Just fine. He will likely be the "starter" to start the season. But if Judkins never shows up, and Sampson shows out, the Tennessee product could find a valuable fantasy role very early on.

RB Ollie Gordon II, Miami Dolphins

De'Von Achane is expected to be ready for Week 1 after missing much of August with a calf injury, but I am not excited about the prospect of an oft-injured speed back entering the year with a soft-tissue injury in his leg. Also, let's not forget that Miami was an absolutely elite offense two years ago when Achane was a change-of-pace back and the bigger Raheem Mostert was shouldering 60% of the carries and finishing as the fantasy RB2. Ollie Gordon II fell in the draft (due to a down 2024 season at Oklahoma State), but he could have Mostert-esque bruiser value even with Achane healthy. And if Achane misses time, Gordon is the next man up — with Jaylen Wright undergoing surgery this month — and could have massive upside in a dynamic offense.

WR Isaac TeSlaa, Detroit Lions

If rookie receiver Isaac TeSlaa goes in the mid-100s of your draft, it will tell you everything you need to know about how "plugged in" your league is. (Electricity pun intended.) TeSlaa is one of the most popular preseason risers in the "online" fantasy community, even more so after the team shipped off Tim Patrick to make room for TeSlaa as the WR3. NFL Draft analyst Thor Nystrom pinpointed TeSlaa as the Puka Nacua of this season, and a quick look at his absurd athletic profile — which draws comparisons to guys like Andre Johnson and Dez Bryant — would get anyone excited. While it'll be tough to carve out targets in an offense with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, and Jahmyr Gibbs ... TeSlaa might be able to do it, and could become an exciting WR3 if he does.

RB Kendre Miller, New Orleans Saints

Sometimes, opportunity trumps everything else, no matter how iffy the "everything else" might be. After earning early-third-round capital back in 2023, constantly battling the injury bug, missing 20 of a possible 34 games, and totaling just 304 rushing yards through two seasons ... Kendre Miller is still an intriguing dart throw in 2025. Miller led the Saints in rushing in the preseason and slots in as the clear RB2 behind Alvin Kamara. The depth chart is so thin that the RB3 behind Miller is properly a wide receiver (Velus Jones Jr.). Meanwhile, Kamara is 30 years old and has missed multiple games in four straight seasons. Miller is just a handcuff, but the volume he would see in Kamara's absence, even in a bad offense, makes him a high-upside lottery stash.

QB Jaxson Dart, New York Giants

For the record, I do not recommend stashing a backup quarterback in one-QB leagues with short benches. However. If you're in a two-QB league or have extra bench spots, you may want to consider tucking away rookie QB Jaxson Dart. He absolutely crushed in the preseason, with 424 total yards, four total touchdowns (including one rushing), and zero interceptions in roughly five quarters. And he looked the part. Russell Wilson is the Week 1 starter, but when New York is 0-4 and then loses to the Saints in Week 5 ... you're going to start hearing a lot of Dart chants in Big Blue. I'm willing to personally guarantee he's the starter after the Week 14 bye, but feel confident he'll force his way onto the field well before that. When he does, he could be an immediate — and extremely fun — QB1, and a must-start QB2.

TE Elijah Arroyo, Seattle Seahawks

Tight end Elijah Arroyo, our fifth (and not final) rookie in this column, might be the "quietest" name on the list, at least throughout the preseason. That's largely because the biggest news for Arroyo's value came more than a month ago, when the Seahawks released Noah Fant in mid-July. That leaves 2024 fourth-rounder AJ Barner and 2025 second-rounder Arroyo as the top tight ends on the depth chart — and Barner is not a pass-catcher. I actually comped Arroyo to Noah Fant before the draft, as he's a versatile, explosive pass-catcher with major downfield chops. He could see a ton of snaps in a 12-personnel-heavy Seattle offense and be the top receiving option behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp.

RB Woody Marks, Houston Texans

Of the 13 players highlighted in this column, Woody Marks might have the highest upside. The murky Joe Mixon injury nightmare in Houston has landed the former Pro Bowler on the NFI list, sidelining him for at least four games ... and quite possibly the entire season. Amidst the turmoil, Houston signed a 29-year-old Nick Chubb, coming off (another) major injury, after he sat unwanted for months this offseason. For now, he's the top back on the depth chart, with Dameon Pierce in the mix as well. Neither is an accomplished pass catcher, which means Marks could have an immediate role as arguably the best receiving back of the 2025 class. If he also performs better as a runner than Chubb or Pierce — which may not be a particularly high bar — Marks could find himself in a lead role for a resurgent offense.

TE Theo Johnson, New York Giants

Second-year tight end Theo Johnson has been somewhat forgotten in fantasy circles after an injury cut his rookie season short by five games. However, in the four weeks prior to that injury, Johnson averaged 5.8 targets, 3.8 catches, and 45.3 yards per game. His pace through November would have made him the TE11 over a full season — and that was as a rookie with Daniel Jones, Tommy DeVito, and Drew Lock (yes, all three). Johnson is an athletic super-freak, and his biggest competition for targets behind Malik Nabers is Wan'Dale Robinson. A George-Kittle-esque year two breakout is not outside the realm of possibility for Johnson.

WR Dont'e Thornton, Las Vegas Raiders

The wide receiver room in Las Vegas is a bit of a conundrum right now. Jakobi Meyers has asked for a trade amid stalled contract talks, and the team just signed Amari Cooper (seemingly in response). However, they also drafted Jack Bech in the second round and Dont'e Thornton in the fourth. Through the preseason, Thornton — not Bech — was the lightning rod for all the fantasy hype, catching three passes for 43 yards and a Mossing of a touchdown. He's a rare size-speed combo — 4.30 40-yard dash at 6-foot-4 is hardly human — and could be both the explosive element and the red-zone threat in the Raiders offense. While Brock Bowers will remain the top target regardless, Thornton has the upside to be the WR1 for Geno Smith and Co. in Las Vegas.

RB Tahj Brooks, Cincinnati Bengals

If we're talking pure handcuffs — guys with basically no fantasy value barring an injury to the starter — rookie running back Tahj Brooks might be the best available with the last pick in your draft. He doesn't have a particularly impressive prospect profile and was drafted in the sixth round, but Brooks would contend with Samaje Perine as the next-man-up behind Chase Brown, who's already been injured a couple of times in his short NFL career. And if you're the RB1 in Cincinnati's offense, you're going to matter for fantasy. Like with Miller earlier, this is about opportunity upside — except that the Bengals offense is several times better than the Saints.

RB Brashard Smith, Kansas City Chiefs

Back in 2022, Jerick McKinnon saw just 72 carries with the Chiefs but finished as the RB21 in half-PPR scoring. Why? Because he caught 56 passes for 512 yards and nine touchdowns. Isaiah Pacheco led the team with 170 carries, and both Travis Kelce (152) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (101) saw triple-digit targets that year. Now, rookie RB (and former college wide receiver) Brashard Smith looks like an excellent fit to refresh that "McKinnon role" in Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes' air yards per attempt have continued to decline every year, and between Kelce's advanced age, Xavier Worthy's downfield style, and Rashee Rice's suspension, there may be quite a few short-area targets up for grabs. Don't be surprised if Smith is a sneaky FLEX play in leagues with any level of points per reception.

WR Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers

When both Adam Thielen and Xavier Legette sat above Jalen Coker on the Carolina depth chart — all of whom are clearly below eighth-overall pick Tetairoa McMillan — it was hard to imagine the undrafted second-year player carving out a significant role. Then, the Panthers traded Thielen to the Vikings, opening a spot in three-receiver sets that should clearly belong to Coker. Even as a UDFA rookie, Coker had several notable games last year — including a 110-yard, one-TD performance against the Cowboys in Week 15. If he continues to impress, there's little reason he couldn't challenge Legette for WR2 in an offense that ran the fifth-most 11 personnel in the league last year.