8 Sleepers and 4 Traps to Avoid in 2024 Fantasy Leagues

Jul 01, 2024

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Sleeper is a term that gets thrown around quite a bit in the fantasy football realm, but what goes into mining out those players isn’t something that gets highly focused on. People in the industry and those who spend most of their days arguing about the hidden value and potential busts on social media are well-versed in most players who can be considered sleepers, but there are plenty of you out there just wandering back to fantasy football after a hiatus or are just slightly researching the upcoming season since it is only early July.

This piece is for you folks and will go over several ways to find potential sleeper candidates and a few possible traps based on each criterion mentioned.

* All ADP is courtesy of 4for4's Multi-Site ADP Tool.

Available Targets and Touches

Opportunities breed fantasy output, so identifying any changes in NFL offenses can help us find some players who could outperform their current perceived value. We’re looking for turnover in the form of free-agent departures, retirement, or any other player movement.

Justin Edwards explains this concept in a bit more detail and goes over the teams and scenarios with the most opportunities in his available targets and carries series. Here are a few players that stand out this season as sleepers and busts based on this data.

Sleeper: Curtis Samuel, WR- Bills

The Bills boast the highest air yards percentage available (73.3%) and the second-highest target share (54.7%) up for grabs. In his last four seasons with 15+ games played, Curtis Samuel has eclipsed 612 receiving yards each year, with an added average of 139 yards per year with his legs. The former Commander is now reunited with OC Joe Brady, who got a WR25 performance out of him in half-PPR scoring back in 2020 with Teddy Bridgewater under center.

Samuel now has Josh Allen throwing him the ball, with a rookie on the outside, and plenty of targets to go around. The 27-year-old is ranked as the WR42 in 4for4’s ranks but is being drafted as the WR52 in the 11th round.

Sleeper: Michael Wilson, WR - Cardinals

After rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., the WR2 spot for the Cardinals is very much for sale. Arizona has 217 targets and 1,378 air yards to disperse in 2024, which sit as the sixth and seventh most in the NFL, respectively. Enter sophomore Michael Wilson.

Last season, with Hollywood Brown sidelined for the last two contests, Wilson averaged 13.0 half-PPR points, and he ran a route on 80% of the dropbacks (35th among all WRs) throughout his first campaign, which bodes well for Wilson’s potential role in 2024. If he can fend off Zay Jones, there’s a real possibility to outproduce his current 17th-round ADP. Right now Wilson is leaving boards as the WR80 and is 4for4’s WR60 in half-PPR scoring, creating massive value in early drafts.