Fabs' Five Fantasy Football Sleeper WRs for 2025 Include Jordan Whittington, Ricky Pearsall

Michael Fabiano | Feb 14, 2025

Jordan Whittington will see an increase in fantasy value once the Rams trade Cooper Kupp. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

It’s never too soon to look ahead to the next fantasy football season, even a week after the close of the previous NFL campaign and the crowning of a new champion.

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans!

All offseason, I’ll get you set to take home your next league championship! I already laid out my early 2025 rankings for quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends, plus a one-man mock draft. This week, I’ve posted my sleeper quarterbacks and running backs, and today I’ll follow up with wide receivers.

In 2024, we saw players like Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Ladd McConkey emerge out of nowhere as later-round draft picks who went on to finish as fantasy starters. Here are five of my early favorites, including a few players entering their second season.

2025 Fantasy Football Sleeper Wide Receivers

Jordan Whittington, Rams: The Rams will be trading Cooper Kupp in the offseason, and DeMarcus Robinson, Tutu Atwell and Tyler Johnson are all slated to become free agents. That could leave plenty of opportunities for Whittington to become a far more prominent pass catcher in the offense for coach Sean McVay next season. Not only is he a name to watch in redrafts, but I’d be looking to acquire him in dynasty leagues as well.

Ricky Pearsall, 49ers: Pearsall showed flashes of potential as a rookie, and he should be better as an NFL sophomore. The 49ers receiver room is crowded, but Deebo Samuel Sr. is coming off a disappointing season and the Niners have allowed him permission to seek a trade. What’s more, Brandon Aiyuk will be returning from a torn ACL. Pearsall is a name to remember in 2025 and should be seen as a worthwhile fantasy dart throw in drafts.

Marvin Mims Jr., Broncos: Mims Jr. started to emerge into a useful fantasy asset in the second half of the season, posting 434 yards, six touchdowns and 108.2 fantasy points in his final seven games. During that time, he averaged an impressive 15.5 points. With the emergence of Bo Nix, Mims Jr. could push to be a No. 3 fantasy wide receiver in 2025. He’ll be well worth a flier pick in the later rounds of most 2025 fantasy football drafts.

Kayshon Boutte, Patriots: The Patriots have several young wideouts who could pop next season, but Boutte could be the best of the bunch. Over the final eight weeks of the 2024 season, he led all New England wideouts in snaps played, targets, receiving yards and fantasy points. There’s a chance the Patriots, who are flush with cash, will bring in a big-name free agent, but for now, Boutte will be worth a late-round flier in redrafts.

Jalen Coker, Panthers: Xavier Legette might be the bigger name among the young Panthers receivers, but could Coker be the one to target in fantasy drafts next season? He scored 14 or more points in two of his last four games as a rookie, and he saw at least five targets in five of his final seven games. Legette will likely be picked ahead of him in redrafts, but Coker will have late-round, deep-sleeper appeal based on the rookie flashes he showed.