10 Sleepers and 4 Traps to Avoid in 2023 Fantasy Leagues

Jul 10, 2023

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

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 Twitter 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 really any other player movement.

John Daigle 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: Romeo Doubs, WR - Packers

The Green Bay offense currently has the third-largest air yards percentage available (58.8%) and the third-highest target share (47.7%) up for grabs. Last season Doubs flashed legitimate upside in an inconsistent offense, and when The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman was asked who he thought would be the most productive WRs in terms of receptions, he responded, “By catches? I’ll go, barring injury, Romeo Doubs, Watson, Jones, Musgrave, and Reed, in that order.”

While that’s just one observer’s opinion, it is telling that this WR room is really a toss-up at this point, and while Christian Watson is costing drafters a fifth-round pick, Doubs is there six rounds later in the 11th. He enters the season as the WR2 for the Packers, and if Jordan Love can get this team moving the chains, has the potential to outproduce his current WR4/5 ADP.