Dynasty Strategy: Jalen Royals Headlines Post-Hype Sleepers

For dynasty teams that are surefire title contenders, it sometimes makes sense to fill out bench spots with boring veterans like Khalil Shakir and Mark Andrews. For any other type of team — and I'm not just talking about rebuilders — the ideal dynasty league strategy often includes a couple of young players who are neither blue-chip prospects nor surefire fantasy starters.

If not the bench, we often have practice-squad spots that can be devoted to post-hype sleepers our league-mates have mostly forgotten about (if they ever cared in the first place). It may seem like there's not much difference between available options outside the top 100 or so of most dynasty football rankings, but I'll make the case below that some of these overlooked young players still have ceilings worth pursuing.

I initially intended to do this as one article, but it ran long, so I'm splitting it into two. For now, we'll cover the post-hype sleepers at WR, QB and TE; the next article will then focus solely on RBs.

Available in Shallow Leagues             

Freely available in some shallow leagues, and most can be had for a third- or fourth-round pick (or even just FAAB) in deeper leagues.

• WR Tory Horton (88% rostered)

Horton is probably my personal favorite on this list, because he had massive production at Colorado State (2,620 yards in 30 games) and looked sharp in a part-time role for Seattle last year. He seemed to pick up momentum as his rookie year moved along, only to suffer what ended up being a season-ending injury.

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The Seahawks still haven't provided much information, but we know Horton remained absent/limited throughout the offseason program. We also know that Seattle traded for Rashid Shaheed right around the time of Horton's injury... and Shaheed has subsequently been re-signed.

However, Shaheed's contract is partially based on special-teams value, not an assessment that he's a surefire starter at wide receiver. Horton may still get the chance to compete for a starting job, or at least a rotational role alongside Shaheed and Cooper Kupp. There's a non-zero chance that Horton proves to be a better deep threat than Shaheed, though the latter is of course superior once he gets the ball in his hands.

• QB Mac Jones (69% rostered)

Jones recently made the rounds on X for his unusual antics at TEU. That obviously doesn't matter for fantasy value, but it may have reminded some people that he's still alive. Brock Purdy's injury history suggests it isn't a bad idea to have a premium backup on board, but the 49ers would have to be tempted if someone offered a trade package that included right-now help for their defense. I'm not sure they can afford the luxury of a premium backup QB if there's a chance to trade him to a QB-needy team and help fill the various holes that emerged on San Francisco's roster the past couple of years.

Available in Medium-Depth Leagues

These players are available in a lot of dynasty leagues and may otherwise be available in exchange for something like a 2028 third-round pick or a 2027 fourth-rounder.

• QB Jalen Milroe (77% rostered)

Milroe's only crime as a rookie was that the Seahawks (and Sam Darnold) were much better than anyone expected, which meant there wasn't much incentive to mess around with reserve QBs or wildcat packages. Darnold's triumph makes Seattle a dead end for Milroe's dynasty value, but it also makes him a trade candidate for non-contenders who want a lottery ticket at QB. I still have Milroe on a practice squad, with no intention of cutting him anytime soon.

•  WR Jalen Royals (66% rostered)

There was some hype around Royals last summer when he came in as a fourth-round pick (133rd overall) and was said to be training as the backup to Rashee Rice. What people remember is that Royals failed to earn playing time despite Rice and Xavier Worthy both missing significant time. What they may forget is that Royals was also unavailable for much of that same period, sidelined by a knee injury for the majority of August and September.

He fell behind during the preseason, and by the time he was healthy enough to play, the Chiefs had Worthy (and then Rice) coming back from injury. It's not a good sign that Royals was a healthy scratch at times later in the year, but there is some reason to consider giving him a mulligan, and the Chiefs are still in need of WR help (partially because they still aren't sure about Rice's off-field issues or Worthy's durability).

Royals wasn't a blue-chip prospect or anything like that, but he had a decent case to be selected on Day 2 last year before ultimately going late in the fourth round. At the 2025 Scouting Combine, he ran a 4.42 40-yard dash at 6-feet, 205 pounds, showing off SEC athleticism after he spent his college career dominating the MWC at Utah State (1,914 yards and 21 TDs over his final two seasons).

•  TE Greg Dulcich (54% rostered)

Dulcich seems to have become the default answer to who will catch passes in Miami besides RB De'Von Achane. There's not much I've seen from Dulcich to suggest he'll ever be more than a passing-down specialist, but he at least needs to be owned in all TE-premium leagues and all deep leagues in advance of the upcoming opportunity. He played well down the stretch last year while sharing targets with Darren Waller, and the Dolphins went with 260-pound blocker Will Kacmarek (third round) as their big addition at TE this offseason. Dulcich, 26, is getting one last chance to put it all together in a contract year.

•  TE Darnell Washington (49% rostered)

The argument for Washington is similar to that for Braelon Allen, though in Washington's case he's already established as a useful real-life player (thus the four-year, $42 million extension he signed this offseason). He'll probably continue to do more blocking than pass-catching, working alongside Pat Freiermuth in Pittsburgh, but I do wonder what it would look like if Washington dropped a bunch of weight and focused on maximizing his receiving skills. 

He's already made some impact there while playing at 300-plus pounds, raising the question of what he could do at, say, 6-foot-7, 270 pounds. Washington turns 25 in August and figures to be in Pittsburgh for the next few years, but it's impossible to say what the team around him will look like beyond 2026, with an old roster and older QB potentially setting the franchise up for a rebuild as soon as next offseason. Maybe he'll end up in a situation where the Steelers need him to run far more routes and want him back toward his college weight in the 260s or 270s.

Available in Deep Leagues

These guys are available in most fantasy leagues, including the majority of deeper formats where well over 250 players are rostered.

•  QB Trey Lance (22% rostered)

Lance is now 26 years old and highly unlikely to ever become an NFL starter. Still, he's one of the more desirable backup QBs to roster in superflex or 2QB formats, and for two different reasons. First, Lance's athleticism and team context hint at potential for solid fantasy scores if Justin Herbert misses time with an injury. Second, the Chargers haven't brought in serious competition for the backup QB job, settling for 2025 UDFA DJ Uiagalelei as the only other arm (besides Herbert and Lance) during the offseason program. Granted, Lance's new contract is modest even by backup standards ($2 million guaranteed), which suggests the Chargers may still be exploring options. 

•  QB Tanner McKee (19% rostered)

McKee was rumored to have trade value at one point (real NFL, not dynasty), but he now enters the final year of his rookie contract in a battle with Andy Dalton for the QB2 gig in Philadelphia. While the trade for Dalton may hint at a lack of confidence in McKee, it could also open the door for him to land with a new team. The Jets and Browns come to mind, as they may end up cycling through a few quarterbacks this season, and currently have developmental QBs who are either too raw (Taylen Green, Cleveland) or devoid of any upside (Cade Klubnik, New York).

Notes

• Wideouts like Christian Watson, Josh Downs, Quentin Johnston and Jayden Reed also can be considered "post-hype", but "sleepers"... well, not so much these days. Watson is a fifth/sixth-round pick in best ball, with Downs, Johnston and Reed going in the seventh/eighth round. Downs was way underpriced earlier this offseason, but they all seem fairly valued this summer.
  • All of the guys listed in this article are going in the double-digit rounds of best ball drafts, if at all. The idea is that they shouldn't cost much to acquire, not that they're high-probability plays.