The next Jacory Croskey-Merritt? Best deep sleepers to currently target in fantasy football drafts

Jacory Croskey-Merritt fever has swept the fantasy football nation over the past couple of weeks. After JCM’s average Underdog ADP in mid-July was 215.1, it’s now at 124.3. If you’re reading this, the time to draft him has already passed. Everyone knows who JCM is, and in your home leagues, he’s probably going to go in a single-digit round since he’s at the top of everyone’s sleeper list.

With many people still having upcoming drafts, the top late-round targets have changed considerably throughout this month. I have two current favorite deep sleepers, one at running back and the other at wide receiver—and they’re ones who haven’t shot up the ranks like JCM has (yet). We’ll also check out their Week 1 odds at Fantom Odds and share why they could exceed their projections early.

Here at Fantom Odds, we create customized odds for your fantasy football leagues (ESPN, Yahoo and Sleeper) for you and your leaguemates to use. One of our markets is alternate over/under player fantasy points, where you can adjust a player’s final fantasy point tally to whatever number of your choosing and the odds will adjust.

For instance, Ja’Marr Chase’s Week 1 Yahoo projection in a PPR league is 19.8, meaning the true odds of Chase going over 19.8 points is +100 and going under 19.8 points is +100. But let’s say you think Chase will have a monster performance against the Browns and you want to adjust his point total to 28.0. Chase over 28.0 points is now +501 at Fantom Odds, while Chase under 28.0 points is -501.

Anyone is able to use Fantom Odds for any league for completely free this season, so make sure to sign up at www.fantomodds.com. Now let’s share some deep sleepers.

Ollie Gordon (Current Underdog ADP: 176.0, Week 1 PPR projection: 1.19 points)

All of the JCM love has helped steer away some of the intrigue surrounding Gordon, a fascinating rookie in his own right.

JCM played college football from 2019 to 2024, entered as a 0-star recruit, and had just one season where he rushed for more than 500 yards (1,190 in 2023 with New Mexico). Gordon, meanwhile, was a 4-star recruit and was the best running back in college football in 2023. Gordon won the Doak Walker award after rushing for 1,732 yards (6.1 YPC) and 21 touchdowns in his sophomore campaign at Oklahoma State.

Gordon had an injury-riddled junior season in which he ran for just 880 yards, a key factor as to why he fell to the sixth round of the NFL Draft. But like JCM, he did land in a very intriguing spot.

The Dolphins do have their fair share of issues, but Mike McDaniel is still an innovative offensive mind who can put his top guys in favorable positions with pre-snap motion and unique formations. Ahead of Gordon on the depth chart is Devon Achane, who has been dealing with a calf injury, an injury that can be a nuisance all season. Gordon could very well be the No. 2 back in Miami since he was superior to Jaylen Wright in preseason (Gordon 4.8 YPC, Wright 1.5 YPC), and Wright is now considered “week to week” with an undisclosed injury.

Gordon has the past pedigree and a potential path to valuable touches in a potent Dolphins offense. Would I take him straight up over JCM right now? No. Would I rather have him a few rounds later? Yes. I’m not leaving any draft without Gordon, even if it means reaching a round or two early.

Gordon and the Dolphins play the Colts in Week 1. Even if Achane is playing, I think Gordon can get more than 4.8 PPR points (at +203 on Fantom Odds) given that Miami won’t want to give Achane a full workload immediately after coming back from the calf injury.

Jalen Coker (Current Underdog ADP: 194.7, Week 1 PPR projection: 6.06 points)

With how the NFL and fantasy football are covered, I think it’s tough to pick offenses that you truly feel are underrated heading into the season. But for my money’s worth (though this blog is free, so take it with a grain of salt), the Panthers’ offense is underrated coming into this season.

Maybe it’s because Carolina has won seven games total in the past two seasons, or people can’t get rookie-year Bryce Young out of their minds—but this should be a fantasy-relevant offense, and its players are currently being underpriced.

Young was a different quarterback after his early-season benching in Year 2. In his final nine starts, he was PFF’s seventh-best graded quarterback and ranked 14th in EPA over that span. Young may never be the elite quarterback the Panthers thought when they took him No. 1 overall, but he definitely looked a lot more comfortable in the pocket when he came back from his benching and made several impressive throws when he was being pressured.

The Panthers have a stout offensive line and legitimate weapons for Young with Chuba Hubbard and first-round rookie wideout Tetairoa McMillan. Carolina’s defense also projects as one of the worst, if not the worst, in the NFL. A solid offense and a poor defense is a great formula for a shootout team, and I think the Panthers will get their fair share of garbage time opportunities.

Now onto Coker—I think there is a real chance he emerges as the Panthers’ No. 2 wideout. Veteran Adam Thielen has been the subject of trade rumors, and I think Carolina wants to give its younger wideouts more snaps. While Xavier Legette was Carolina’s 2024 first-round pick at wideout, you can certainly argue that undrafted wideout Jalen Coker had the better rookie year.

Legette had 38 more targets than Coker but finished with only 19 more receiving yards. Coker had the superior yards per route run (1.67 to 1.15) and has looked superior in the preseason. Higher draft capital is Legette’s advantage, but he can’t rely on that much longer if Coker continues to outplay him.

Coker is projected for 6.06 PPR points in Week 1, and I think the Panthers-Jaguars matchup has a good chance at being a shootout. Coker over 9.6 points is +201 at Fantom Odds, and I think he will be one of many players who offer solid fantasy value in this Panthers-Jaguars matchup.

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