We’re back with another round of deep sleepers and bench stashes for dynasty fantasy football leagues. If you missed volume one, you can read that here.
The offseason is my favorite time of the year for dynasty fantasy football. Apart from the NFL draft and free agency, I love to dive into hail merry fantasy prospects. These are the deep stashes that have been overlooked by the community. These players won’t be League Winners, but they could provide solid depth in leagues where you need to start nine or more players. I’m expecting these players to supersede other players with similar ADP.
For this exercise, all stash players will be beyond the 175 ADP threshold based on DLF football’s ADP database for Superflex leagues. With that said, let’s get into it.
Kyle Philips, WR – Tennessee Titans
Kyle Phillips was one of my favorite sleeper wide receivers of the 2022 NFL Draft class. When the Tennessee Titans decided not to draft a wide receiver this offseason, Philips quietly became a winner of the draft.
Coming out of UCLA, Philips reminded me of quicker version Hunter Renfrow. Funny enough, their RAS coming out of college were fairly similar – with Philips showing slightly quicker acceleration.
Philips became an offseason darling in 2022, and for good reason. He showed amazing route-runner skills and an ability to get separation with ease. He was beating teammates in 1-on-1 drills, as well as defensive backs from the Buccaneer and Cardinals during joint practices.
Kyle Philips creating easy separation. pic.twitter.com/QlnaxQ9EGM
— Nick Penticoff (@NickPenticoff) July 29, 2022
Philips opened the season with heavy volume (9 targets, 6 catches for 66 yards) before getting hurt on the first punt return of the game. He returned and played the following week, but clearly wasn’t healthy. After seeing injuries effect his snap count & performance, Philips was put on Injured Reserve after Week 5.
This season, I think there’s a real opportunity for Philips to shine with the Titans. With only Treylon Burks and Chigoziem Okonkwo as the only true pass-catching threats in Tennessee, Philips has a chance to feast in a slot role.
Ryan Tannehill is currently slated to open the season as the starter. If that’s the case, we’ve already seen his lack of hesitance in targeting Philips. Even if Will Levis ends up starting for the Titans in Week 1, there’s a chance that Philips becomes his safety valve; in a similar fashion that we saw Renfrow as Derek Carr’s safety valve with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Kyle Philips is only rostered in 57% of Sleeper leagues. If he isn’t on the waiver wire in your fantasy football league, he can be easily acquired for a 4th round pick in any rookie draft.
Darius Slayton, WR – New York Giants
I’ll be honest. I love Darius Slayton. He isn’t a receiver that will ‘wow’ you with his route-running ability, but the kid is a playmaker. And, he doesn’t let adversity knock him down.
After starting the 2022 season as a healthy scratch, the 26-year old led the New York Giants in receiving yards. Outside of Saquon Barkley & Daniel Jones, Slayton was the biggest playmaker on a surprising playoff team.
Darius Slayton reached a top speed of 20.97 mph on his 54-yard TD reception, his fastest speed as a ball carrier in his career.
Slayton gained +34 YAC over expected, the most by a Giants' player on a reception over the last 3 seasons.#HOUvsNYG | #TogetherBlue pic.twitter.com/1thhOHq5r6
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 13, 2022
In the offseason, Slayton signed a two-year deal to remain with the Giants. Essentially, it’s a ‘prove it’ deal. The Giants didn’t add much competition in free agency (though they did trade for TE Darren Waller), but they did select Jalin Hyatt in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Hyatt is incredibly similar to Slayton, meaning there’s direct competition for targets. Despite that, I think Slayton is still worth a stash in fantasy football leagues.
In three out of the last four seasons, Slayton has surpassed 700 receiving yards and 15 yards per catch. When healthy, his floor is WR5 – with a WR3 ceiling. Of course, those aren’t eye-popping numbers, but Slayton has become more efficient with more experience.
After working himself out of the doghouse in 2022, Slayton had a nice run of fantasy production. From Weeks 5-16, he had five WR2 finishes and seven WR3 finishes. During that span he was the WR37 in PPG and the overall WR29. That’s incredible return on a player that had an ADP outside of the top-100 WRs last year.
Considering Slayton’s startup ADP is once again outside of the top-100 WRs, I’m comfortably taking a shot on him with a late draft pick. In non-startups, he’s rostered in 44% of Sleeper leagues. There’s better than a 50-50 chance to find him on the waiver wire. If he isn’t, I’m equally comfortable trading a late ’23 3rd or 4th round pick for him.
Logan Thomas, TE – Washington Commanders
I think a lot of people forget how good Logan Thomas can be in fantasy football. A former quarterback, Thomas made the transition to tight end and burst onto the fantasy football scene in 2020.
LOGAN THOMAS MOSSED HIM.
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/7GxFGLI8N2
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 4, 2021
Thomas finished the 2020 season as the overall TE3. He had 110 targets, 72 catches for 670 yards and 6 touchdowns. In 2021 Thomas faced the injury bug, missing multiple games with a hamstring injury before tearing his ACL in Week 13.
Despite suffering such a late ACL tear, Thomas played in 14 games in the 2022 season. He finished the year TE32 overall, with only two top-10 performances at the position. It was clear Thomas wasn’t healthy, but gutted through the recovery to try and help his team.
Despite being labeled as a cap casualty going into this year, Thomas remains on the Washington Commanders. Head coach Ron Rivera never expected an Adrian Peterson-like recovery from the ACL injury, and Thomas seems to remain a big part of Washington’s plans going forward.
In fantasy football dynasty leagues, Thomas is a forgotten asset. He’s only rostered in 16% of Sleeper leagues, undrafted in most, and can be traded for a ’23 4th in plenty of others. 31 years old isn’t a death sentence at the tight end position. At that cost, I’m taking a risk that Thomas returns to form in what’s likely a ‘prove it’ year for the veteran pass-catcher.
Cade Otton, TE – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Without Tom Brady on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, everyone is justifiably lowering all Tampa Bay pass-catchers in fantasy football leagues. But considering the tight end landscape in fantasy football, it’s worth taking dart throws on potential three-down starters; and at cost, I’m taking Cade Otton with that dart throw.
Once Otton took over the tight end position in Week 4 last season, he dominated snaps as a rookie. Otton finished with the 17th-highest snap percentage and was 10th in targets. You can expect the targets to go down with Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask starting this season, but the snap percentage should increase.
Otton may have been a rookie, but he played like a veteran. Look what this check and release does to Cincinnati’s Logan Wilson. It allowed Cotton to instantly get open, and then the Bucs’ TE gives a mean stiff arm for extra YAC.
Buccaneers rookie Cade Otton doing his best Gronk impression with the stiff arm to pick up some major YAC yards.
The tight end out of Washington has quietly been really impressive as a rookie. pic.twitter.com/qOCrc4bbCU
— Seven Rounds in Heaven (@7RoundsInHeaven) December 18, 2022
As a blocker, Otton was heavily relied upon in the run game, and effectively as a pass-blocker. He had the fourth-highest pass-blocking grade, and had the third-most snaps in schemed gap runs, per PFF. Given those opportunities and excelling provides opportunity for tight ends – and that matters for fantasy football.
Good lead block by rookie Cade Otton #Bucs pic.twitter.com/dHIXcDKSrn
— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) November 13, 2022
At the moment, Otton is only rostered in 48% of Sleeper leagues. If he’s on your waiver wire, put in a claim for him. If he isn’t, he can be traded for a ’23 4th. I’m taking the risk on the upside in a landscape that’s hard to find consistency.
The stage not too big for Cade Otton. Great sliding catch to avoid landing on the ball. #Buccaneers pic.twitter.com/MGdnUkzRNP
— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) November 7, 2022
