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Fantasy Football: Extremely Deep Sleepers – August Version

By Mark D. Strausberg
Tyson Bagent Extremely Deep Sleepers for 2023 Fantasy Football

As promised back in my extremely deep sleepers article in July, I am now following up with my “Fantasy Football: Extremely Deep Sleeper Picks August Version.”

For those who did not read it, and perhaps for those who did, here’s a quick review.

I prefer deep leagues, but when you play in 16-team leagues, for example, you need to find extremely deep sleepers and the majority of sites out there just don’t offer that. Yes, I can think of a few, and I write for some of those. But even finding deep ADP can be tough. The good news however is that here at Fantrax our standard ADP goes nearly 450 deep!

Because the kind of extremely deep sleepers I’m talking about probably wouldn’t, nay, shouldn’t, even be considered last-round options in a 20-round standard 12-team league. I am talking about players with an ADP of over 300.

So with ADP courtesy of Fantrax, I’m looking at you my 16-team league members, and members of bigger leagues. Now, we’ve naturally seen some movement since July. For example, back in July, I told you how much I loved Puka Nacua at an ADP of 445. I still like him, but now over 100 points higher (344), he’s less of a deep sleeper than he was before.

Therefore, it’s time to update things and that’s why I now give you my Fantasy Football: Extremely Deep Sleeper Picks August Version.

A free trip to the NLF game of your choice for your entire fantasy football league? Sound too good to be true? It’s not. All you have to do is play fantasy football on Fantrax! See how you and your league can share the experience of a lifetime!

Fantasy Football: Extremely Deep Sleepers – August Update

I’ll try to give you at least one at each skill position, but we’ll go in ascending order with ADP next to the player’s name in parenthesis.

AT Perry, WR, New Orleans Saints (370)

Given my affinity for dynasty leagues, we start our deep picks not so surprisingly with a rookie WR.

Perry’s ADP is certainly higher in standard 12-team dynasty league ADP, but even that is still around 250. And that’s absolute larceny given what Perry did at the collegiate level. Perry caught 152 passes totaling nearly 2400 receiving yards and 26 touchdowns over his last two years.

He’s also got the physical tools to strike fear into the rest of the NFC South. He’s a 6’3″ receiver with a 9.62 RAS. Most thought he would be a day-two pick. He fell to the Saints in the sixth round. But don’t mistake him falling to day three as an indicator. I already told you how good he was. The one question might be the opportunity.

Perry is currently behind Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, and for some reason Rashid Shaheed. Nonetheless, we’re just one Michael Thomas injury away from Perry being a starter. That’s far from unlikely to happen.

Durham Smythe, TE, Miami Dolphins (403)

Smythe looks like he will begin the year as Miami’s starting tight end. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle of course will do the heavy lifting for Miami’s passing game, but things get very cloudy behind them.

The Dolphins let Mike Gesicki take his talents away from Miami due to a poor fit in Mike McDaniel’s offense. That was not so surprising, but they also jettisoned Hunter Long in the Jalen Ramsey Trade. That has now opened the door for Smythe who seems to have the organization’s support behind him. He’s not going to be a target hot like Travis Kelce or George Kittle, but he will have a regular role as an outlet for Tua Tagovailoa in the ‘Fins quick passing offense.

Expect his target share to be just enough in a tight-end premium league, and with a few red zone catches, he could crack the top 15 at the position. I don’t think he will. But he could. 

Raheem Blackshear, RB, Carolina Panthers (423)

I was going to go with Evan Hull, but with the recent news about Jonathan Taylor, Hull is going to skyrocket up draft boards and that felt like cheating to me. So instead, we are going to go with Raheem Blackshear.

Blackshear has not seen a lot of volume during his NFL career but has been pretty efficient in his limited playing time. Despite just 23 carries last season, he did manage to hit paydirt on three of them. Additionally, go search his special teams performances alone to see what he is capable of doing. Unfortunately, what you find might be somewhat limited. But there might be plenty of footage of him soon, as Carolina’s healthy RBs are now Raheem Blackshear, Spencer Brown, and rookie Camerun Peoples.

Even if Chuba Hubbard or Miles Sanders are healthy come week 1, something tells me that will not be the case all season. But don’t expect Blackshear to suddenly be a 30-carries three-down workhorse. That is never going to happen. He really is a bit of a ‘tweener, but the comparisons to Cordarelle Patterson and Deebo Samuel are fair comparisons. Blackshear has the ability to punch it in (see the tweet above), but has extremely good hands and route-running ability for an RB.

The bottom line is he should be on any deep leaguer’s radar and if you can snag him at 423, that’s sensational value.

Tyson Bagent, QB, Chicago Bears (NR)

If you’re playing in a deep league, you probably know who the top 40 QBs are. And Bagent isn’t one of them. But in 2-QB keeper and dynasty leagues, I am grabbing him left and right.

He probably isn’t on your radar or 99% of the owners out there. And I’m not even suggesting you grab him. But do put him on your radar. We know Justin Fields is Chicago’s starting quarterback. Bagent is not taking that title away. But like any running quarterback, Fields is at a higher risk of injury every time he leaves the pocket.

Meanwhile, the Bears’ number two and number three quarterbacks were doing nothing to distinguish themselves. In fact, PJ Walker and Nathan Peterman are no longer on the roster. Bagent meanwhile has looked fantastic. He’s playing against third-string defenses, but he finished off a 92-yard 17-play drive with a 2-yard TD run.

If you are looking to “handcuff” Justin Fields, Bagent is the player you want. Bagent won the Harlon Hill Trophy last season, which is essentially the Heisman equivalent for D-II football. And oh yeah, this four-year starter just happened to end his collegiate career with 159 touchdowns, an all-divisions record.

There’s a reason I acquired him within the last week in nearly every deep league I could!

That will do it for my Extremely Deep Sleepers for now. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me on Twitter (@MarkStrausberg) for more deep league questions!

For more great rankings and analysis, make sure to check out our 2023 Fantasy Football Draft Kit!

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