Four QB Sleepers for 2025 Fantasy Football: J.J. McCarthy, Bryce Young, and More
Fantasy quarterbacks currently exist in a two-class system, and we know it. Disproportionate scoring towards running pushes four fantasy quarterbacks ahead of the pack this draft season.
Regardless of your stance on the most polarizing positional argument in the game, there simply aren’t enough dual threats for everyone, leaving a consolidated glob behind it. I know for a fact my personal projections aren’t the only ones with QB10 separated from QB25 by fewer than 35 fantasy points.
In that case, why pay a premium and sacrifice massive opportunity cost for a zero-edge proposition? So, just in case you missed out on the Fab Four, today we’re staffing your fantasy squads with the fantasy shot callers no one else wanted, looking for that diamond in the rough—QB sleepers for fantasy football.
You are getting sleepy, very sleepy …
2025 Fantasy Football Quarterback Sleepers
J.J. McCarthy, MIN (QB19, ADP ~131)
At just 40 years old, longtime coordinator turned head coach turned new-age offensive guru, Kevin O’Connell, has already earned his place on the Mount Rushmore of quarterback whisperers. Not only did the Vikings’ skipper help vault former misfit toy Sam Darnold to nine figures worth of free agency, but Minnesota let him walk after a 4,300-plus yards and 35 TDs last season.
Almost like KOC knows something about schematics we don’t …
And it’s not just the recent Darnold breakout convincing yours truly to smash every buy button in sight on J.J. McCarthy. Just look where MIN finished in passing after Kirk Cousins went down, forced to deploy the motley crew of Jaren Hall, Joshua Dobbs, and Nick Mullens under center. A real who’s who of who?
- 66.0% Pass Rate: 10th
- +0.17 EPA/Attempt: 13th
- 22.8 Completions Per Game: T-10th
- 235.0 Passing Yards Per Game: 9th
- 7.4 Yards Per Attempt: 10th
- 11.4 Yards Per Completion: T-10th
- 40 +20-Yard Completions: 5th
- 12.2% Explosive Pass Play Rate: 5th
Kevin O’Connell has shown the ability to turn below-average quarterbacks into commanders of top-10 passing offenses more than once. Just think about the potential with McCarthy’s game-breaking talent, and most importantly—it comes at a major discount.
NOTE: Knowing our very own in-house expert, Thor Nystrom (the world’s foremost hype man for McCarthy), I decided to reach out and ask for a sentence. Within one minute, I’m bombarded with a dozen video spots, tape reviews, and articles dedicated to the polarizing sophomore.
My favorite response says it all …
Bryce Young, CAR (QB22, ADP ~155)
If we’ve learned anything these last few seasons regarding quarterback growth, it’s the importance of exercising patience with premium picks. Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith, and Sam Darnold immediately come to mind.
Sure, some prospects will take longer than others to blossom. Nevertheless, given the value of the first-round draft capital involved, any sustained signs of growth should be viewed as a leading indicator for trajectory change.
The Panthers’ roster started 2024 terribly flawed at best, and Bryce Young predictably struggled out of the gate—except it’s not about how you start, but how you finish. The former 1.01’s EPA chart looks like Amazon’s run-up during the tech boom (image below). That strong stretch also included a couple of top-two positional finishes as the overall QB6 after Carolina’s Week 11 bye.
A big part of quarterback fantasy success nowadays always seems to rely somewhat on running, and Young is no exception. As the year progressed, you could almost feel him getting more comfortable in Dave Canales’ system, taking off for first downs whenever throws weren’t there.
Again, a picture’s worth a thousand words when it comes to Young’s takeoff chart. By the back half of 2024, he represented a consistent threat to scramble (image below). While the rushing stats never hit gaudy levels like a Lamar Jackson, scooping up a couple of first downs per game rather than taking a sack or throwing it away adds up in a major way.
The environment, division, coaching, pedigree, and, more crucially, the fantasy price tag, all line up for a potential QB breakout from the last round of drafts.
Anthony Richardson, IND (QB25, ADP ~180)
Every time I think I’m out, he drags me back in …
Sometimes we develop fantasy crushes that won’t quit. After months spent fading Anthony Richardson for shoulder injuries, apparently absence just made the heart grow fonder. Indianapolis’ former first-rounder returned to football activities, and the fawning started immediately (not just by me).
After spending the offseason training with biometrics coach Chris Hess (famously credited for helping Josh Allen turn his career around), can you blame me for being excited over any positive signals?
Fantasy gamers needn’t look any further than Week 1 last season for the full Anthony Richardson experience. Despite completing just nine passes on nineteen attempts (both the lowest among all starters), A-Rich finished as the weekend’s fantasy QB2 on the back of his ground game (212-2-1; 6-56-1).
If quarterback rushing is the skeleton key to fantasy success, there isn’t a more obvious player to fill that description after pick 170 than Anthony Richardson—and that’s without buying any of the improvement narrative.
Now, I wouldn’t recommend totally punting the position to fall back on Richardson’s services. However, if you missed on a dual-threat shot caller but wanted one, do not leave the draft room without him.
If A-Rich feels too risky (I get it), there’s a great on-site reference in Jake’s QB map to 35+ TDs as a guide to the best pocket-passer values.
Dillon Gabriel, CLE (QB60, ADP N/A)
In an attempt to be the first content creator in history to do a sleeper piece without hearing “bUt tHoSe gUys aRe aLL rOsTeReD iN mY LeAGuE”, I dug into my deepest bag for this last dark horse …
Cleveland’s struggles at quarterback border on mythology at this point. A remarkable 40 players started at least one game for the Browns this century—Tim Couch, Doug Pederson, Spergon Wynn, Kelly Holcomb, Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown, Trent Dilfer, Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Ken Dorsey, Bruce Gradkowski, Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace, Colt McCoy, Brandon Weeden, Thaddeus Lewis, Brian Hoyer, Jason Campbell, Johnny Manziel, Connor Shaw, Josh McCown, Austin Davis, Robert Griffin III, Cody Kessler, Kevin Hogan, DeShone Kizer, Tyrod Taylor, Baker Mayfield, Case Keenum, Nick Mullens, Jacoby Brissett, Deshaun Watson, Joshua Dobbs, P.J. Walker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Joe Flacco, Jeff Driskel, Jameis Winston, Bailey Zappe. Wow.
Averaging nearly two starting QBs a year for over two decades comes with consequences. That brings us to a very sad present-day situation, and Forest City’s latest attempt to turn around a putrid 101–234–1 record (.302) in that span.
Cleveland’s front office surprised the public at the 2025 Draft, grabbing not one but two quarterbacks in the top 150. If anything, Dillon Gabriel’s selection felt overshadowed the morning after by the hubbub surrounding Shedeur Sanders’ plummet deep into the fifth round.
Gabriel averaged nearly 3,600 passing yards, 29 TDs, and over seventy rush attempts annually across five healthy CFB seasons. Combine a balanced game with strong efficiency stats (+65% Completion, 8.9 Yards/Attempt), and suddenly Judy Bautista’s NFL Network reports about processing speed could sound like a dark horse drumbeat.
Right now, the uninspiring play of Kenny Pickett and an ancient Joe Flacco stand in the way of any early-season relevance, which in modern NFL terms isn’t too high of a bar to clear. At a literal cost of zero, I’m coming down with Gabriel in any and every deep/SuperFlex draft.
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