Ja'Kobi Lane Showcases Immense Upside Among 4 Late-Round Fantasy Football Dart-Throws

The final rounds of a fantasy football re-draft can strike gold if a team manager is smart in their preparation.

Aug 15, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane (6) is greeted by teammates after his touchdown catch during the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Not a single year goes by in which there are zero fantasy football sleepers netting huge returns. In 2025, a ton of players earned their keep. Kenneth Gainwell, Michael Wilson, and Harold Fannin Jr. featured a list of players who ended up in the top 100 in the final fantasy rankings. In 2026, the story will surely repeat itself. For that reason, a late-round "dart-throw" is a viable draft strategy. Here are some options to add to your late-round short list.

De'Zhaun Stribling

Current ADP: WR65/135th Overall

The 49ers drafted Stribling with the first pick in the 2nd round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Reports have emerged that some NFL teams actually viewed Stribling as one of the top wide receivers in the draft. Now at 49ers camp, he receives a ton of praise, more recently with comments from Kyle Shanahan stating, "He stays humble, and he takes coaching really well. Never seems to take anything personally. He’s been a real fun guy to coach so far."

Mike Evans enters his 14th NFL season as a high injury risk with ongoing hamstring issues. As of now, Stribling seems about on par with Christian Kirk for the WR2 job on volume alone. However, given that Stribling plays out wide and Kirk plays in the slot, there is room for Stribling to become WR1 if Evans misses time, and it appears evident that he eventually will miss time.

Dalton Schultz

Current ADP: TE24/129th Overall

We may have found the latest "steal" in 2026 fantasy football. The Houston Texans lost their WR2, Jayden Higgins, for the season due to a torn ACL. Beyond Nico Collins, the next two best pass-catchers will be Tank Dell and Schultz.

Looking back to 2025, Schultz played a noteworthy role in this offense. He far outdid Higgins in target share, resulting in 102 targets or 19% of the team's targets, and a team-best 80.4% catch rate. Schultz did that just with nobody's either. The Texans took the field with Christian Kirk, who went on to become a playoff star for the team last January.

The fact is, minus Higgins, the role of Schultz returns to prominence, perhaps better than he has ever seen. My latest projection update raises Schultz to an 18.5% yard share, above the 20% target share. That brings Schultz to about 43 yards and 0.32 touchdowns per game. He is my TE10 overall.

Tyler Allgeier

Current ADP: RB47/130th Overall

#Cardinals Jeremiyah Love - Wk 1 TBD but realistic. Avg = 3-5 wks

Performance dips ~6 wks

Re-injury risk is substantial (~20% for season if it puts him out ~4 wks)

Current ADP RB 15. Would downgrade to ~RB 20-24 range

Optimal value for redraft may arise if he starts slow Wks… pic.twitter.com/SueuLIwfbp

— Deepak Chona, MD. SMA (@SportMDAnalysis) August 17, 2026

The Cardinals are living in a world where Jeremiyah Love is currently listed out for 3-5 weeks. This gives the rookie running back a 50/50 shot at playing in Week 1, and even if he does, Love will not play at 100%. That opens the door to some elite Allgeier output in the short term.

The fact is, no late-round pick can guarantee top-25 positional upside on a weekly basis. Neither can Allgeier. What he can guarantee is at least one week, and probably multiple weeks, as his team's RB1. If the Cardinals are smart, they will bench Love, their future, for Week 1. Even amid Love's return, this will not be an offense commanded heavily by Love.

Mike LaFleur has gone on to emphasize a fresh split in Arizona this season. "You want to be able to divvy that thing up. If we can split it up, keep it fresh, have a third-down back … that’s the perfect world," LaFleur explains. My latest projection which accounts for Love's injury,, has a season-long yardage split of 49% to Love and 31% to Allgeier.

Ja'Kobi Lane

Current ADP: WR62/179th Overall

Wide Receivers that can rise to WR2 out of nowhere

Zachariah Branch (Falcons)
JaKobi Lane (Ravens)
Cyrus Allen (Chiefs)
Caleb Douglas (Dolphins)
Bryce Lance (Saints)
Malachi Fields (Giants)

— Tom Carelli | Fantasy Football (@TCarelliTakes) August 20, 2026

This is the most trendy pick going. Lane is constantly impressing at Ravens training camp, and while he may not begin the year as the team's WR2, nor a starter, Lane certainly can catch up to Rashod Bateman in that race.

I am always keen on finding players who have been drafted by a new staff, and then favoring them over players who have been inherited. While Bateman stays in town under the John Harbaugh regime, he could have a more volatile long-term outlook. So long as Lane keeps impressing, the staff would logically favor a player they specifically drafted as a team fit.

Bateman is making about $12 million per year. That is another key reason why he has a firm grip on his starting job. However, if Bateman slips up, the team would probably not be shy to trade him away while letting Lane and Elijah Saratt begin to mold the Ravens' pass-catching future.