4 Early High-Ceiling Sleepers to Target in 2026 Fantasy Football

These 4 NFL players have high perceived upside in 2026 fantasy football.

Dec 14, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA;Jacksonville Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten (33) runs the ball against the New York Jets at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Travis Register-Imagn Images | Travis Register-Imagn Images

Fantasy football is a new look in 2026. Free agents have joined new teams, teams have hired new coaches, draft picks have been made, and injuries have occurred. There is a lot to dissect, but when it really boils down to it, the analysis is quite simple. Who has high upside that outweighs their risk? Once that question is answered, we find 4 fantasy football sleepers, as provided below.

Kyler Murray

While his QB1 job has yet to be confirmed, the expectation is that Murray will easily beat out JJ McCarthy, if that even is a competition. It is fair to question how good Murray is. However, he finds himself in the perfect situation. Murray plays indoors for an offensive wizard and quarterback expert in Kevin O'Connell. He has Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Jauan Jennings at his disposal. Beyond that, the Vikings roster includes TJ Hockenson at tight end and a solid 1-2 running back duo of Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason.

Murray is ranked just inside the top-20 quarterbacks as of now. Given the talent surrounding him, the upside is absolutely that of a top-10 fantasy football quarterback, if not even higher.

Bhayshul Tuten

The Jaguars love Tuten, hence the trade of Tank Bigsby in Week 2 of 2025. With Travis Etienne Jr. gone, Tuten is the team's RB1 on paper. Backed up by Lequint Allen Jr. and Chris Rodriguez Jr., neither option poses a big threat to Tuten. The expectation is that he is the high-workload RB1 come week. Though expectations are moderately volatile, Tuten's upside on a high-end offense is quite high; perhaps being a top-15 running back in fantasy football should he maintain his role on Liam Coen's run-first offense.

Jayden Higgins

Higgins kept rising throughout 2025, and he is now the clear-cut WR2 on the Texans. CJ Stroud is a gunslinging quarterback, and we can be sure that his yards-per-game can exceed 225. Higgins will expect a minimum target share of 17%, not over 20%. Nico Collins and Higgins will command the passing game, and as Higgins is a bigger-bodied ball-hawking wide receiver, he can surely build off of his 6-touchdown rookie year to contest on double-digit scores. We can project around a 1,000-yard season with 0.5-0.7 touchdowns1,000-yard per game.

TJ Hockenson

Hockenson has struggled recently, especially due to injuries. Nonetheless, he enters 2026 healthy. With such a vast array of trusty weapons at the Vikings' disposal, he shall be opened up in the offense with higher efficiency in catch rate. Kyler Murray supported Trey McBride to be the fantasy football TE1 in Arizona. Why not get Hockenson up from TE22 to a top-10 option after a couple of years off from his peak form? Hockenson is still just 28 years old.