Wide Receiver Sleepers, Values & Breakouts (2025)

Aug 19, 2025

Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Im

The receiver position continues to be deep thanks to the league’s emphasis on the passing game. Fantasy managers can wait until the fourth round to target the position and still put together a potent receiving corps, though I'm typically drafting a receiver in the first round due to the drop-off at the position from Round 1 to Rounds 2-3.

I’ll highlight some Values, Breakout Candidates, and Sleepers below.

Since this is a receiver article, I’ll refer to Matt Harmon and his excellent Reception Perception analysis early and often. Oh, and if you're a 4for4 subscriber, you can get 30% off a subscription at Reception Perception!

More Sleepers, Values & Breakouts: QB | RB | WR | TE

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Values

One of my favorite strategies at receiver is to target real-world WR1/WR2 types in the middle rounds, and there are quite a few that fit the description this season.

Last year, I highlighted DeVonta Smith (WR17 per-game), Rashee Rice (WR15 per-game), Terry McLaurin (WR6), and Chris Godwin (WR4 per-game) in this section. Let's see who's popping in 2025.

DeVonta Smith followed up a WR18 campaign in 2023 with a WR24 finish last season, though he was WR17 on a per-game basis. He continues to shine as one of the league’s premier route-runners and posted above-average marks in both yards per route run (29th) and YAC per reception (44th). Smith is a rock-solid WR2 with weekly upside, but his ceiling remains capped in Philadelphia’s run-heavy offense as long as A.J. Brown stays healthy.

On that note, Brown has missed practice with a hamstring injury this summer, so if that lingers or he reinjures himself and misses extended time, then Smith becomes a fantasy WR1. In the meantime, drafters should continue to view him as a high-floor, low-WR2 with room to spike if the situation breaks in his favor.

Calvin Ridley followed up a WR24 season with the Jaguars in 2023 by finishing WR29 with the Titans last year, a respectable but unspectacular showing given the volatility in Tennessee's offense. He now enters his second season with the team as the clear favorite for WR1 duties. Despite the additions of Tyler Lockett and Van Jefferson, Ridley faces minimal target competition, and he should benefit from the arrival of rookie quarterback Cam Ward, who brings much-needed juice to the passing game.

Ridley posted an above-average 35th-place finish (among 112 qualifiers) in yards per route run and continues to be a reliable technician, though his YAC/rec numbers were middling. While he’s unlikely to regain the elite form he showed in Atlanta a few years ago, a projected uptick in passing efficiency, volume, and a summer of positive reports make him a high-floor WR3 with easy WR2 upside if the Tennessee passing game continues on this trajectory.