4 Potential League Winners in the Later Rounds of Drafts

Our general rule of thumb is that there are two aspects to winning your fantasy football draft: 

Hitting on your first 3 picks

And finding at least one league winner in later rounds.

There are so many names in the later rounds (7+) who have the ceiling to be a top 30-35 player in fantasy. We always look for young players (rookie or second year) who are either in an improved offense or have a significantly increased usage opportunity. We like the less experienced players here because they are still unfinished products. If they flashed upside in their rookie season, then the sky is still the limit for them. These are four names we think fit this mold, and guys we would love to see you draft in later rounds as potential league winners. 

Tyrone Tracy Jr - A rookie running back posts 1100 scrimmage yards and 6 touchdowns. He gets a new quarterback in an offense that should show significant improvement. He also gets his top offensive lineman back from injury. After the team handed him the starting job in week 5, he was the RB16. WHERE IS THE BUZZ??? WHERE IS THE EXCITEMENT???? His RB30 ADP is insane. Everyone is scared off by 4th round pick Cam Skattebo who posted a 4.65 40 yard dash time at his pro day. I think Skattebo has a little bit of upside but he’s also dealing with a hamstring injury this preseason. This ADP for Tracy is very very far off. He’s a borderline 7th round pick who should probably be going in the 4th/5th. He poses as a potential league winner with significantly more upside than other running backs around his ADP. 

Ricky Pearsall - By most accounts, you likely weren’t pleased if you drafted Deebo Samuel last season, who finished as the WR44. But he leaves behind 93 total touches in this offense!!!! Brandon Aiyuk also isn’t expected to play until week 6 of this upcoming season. The offense will have Christian McCaffrey returning, and he will certainly take a chunk of those Deebo touches on top of the running back touches from 2024. But this team needs a WR to step up. Jauan Jennings is a real threat to take these targets, but he’s dealing with a legitimate calf injury this preseason and is also disgruntled over a contract dispute. The offense as a whole is more wide open than it seems when it comes to splitting the offensive touches pie. There is a real opportunity for Pearsall to take over as the WR1 in this offense. It’s also not like he was a total dud his rookie season. He missed 6 games to start the season after getting shot in the chest, and upon his return, he managed to start 4 games in which he had 4+ catches in each, caught 3 touchdowns, and had 65+ yards in 3 of the 4 contests. We love the talent, and we love the opportunity given his ADP.  

Rome Odunze - Rome is probably our favorite pick in fantasy drafts this season. If we had to pick a select few to be “my guys” he’d be at the top of the list. He flashed at times his rookie season in spite of Caleb Williams struggling. He did this with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen being the primary targets as well. He possesses great traits as both a deep ball receiver and a pure route runner. We think Odunze can top 1,000 yards this season and catch 6+ TDs from a hopefully improved Caleb. He should be the main beneficiary of Keenan Allen’s abandoned targets. Most people will note the team spent their top 2 picks on receiving options in TE Colston Loveland and Luther Burden, but their both rookies who need a learning curve and have proven, established commodities ahead of them. And we love Ben Johnson. If we trust anyone in the league to turn this offense into a juggernaut, it’s Ben. In his 2024 Lions offense, he had two established, high-volume backs in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, and Jared Goff was still able to be top 10 in pass attempts. If Ben Johnson was able to get Jameson Williams to 1,000 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2024, we are very trusting he can do the same for Rome Odunze. 

Jayden Higgins - Listed as a starter on the Texans' initial depth chart, Higgins has flashed in training camp. The third-round rookie receiver will step into an offense with a lot of abandoned targets. Over 175 targets have opened up with the departure and injuries to Tank Dell, Stefon Diggs, and Robert Woods. If Higgins displays that he can be a trusted receiver for quarterback CJ Stroud, then the sky is the limit for him. This is the reason we always love later-round fantasy rookie receivers. If they have true NFL WR capabilities, they have upside, unlike other players around their same ADP to win your league and be the steals of drafts.