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Each season, most of the players who lead fantasy teams to the playoffs are selected early in drafts. However, there are always a few late-round picks who emerge as fantasy stars. Michael Wilson did so last season, while Brock Bowers accomplished the same feat the year before.
Here are 10 players being drafted in the 11th round or later who have the upside to become weekly must-start options. Each player is ranked at least one round higher than his ADP.
The average draft position listed is a consensus of ESPN, Sleeper and Yahoo! drafts for 12-team redraft leagues.
WR Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs (ADP: 11.11)
Worthy was a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft. The speedy receiver was seen as a deep threat for Kansas City but made little impact for most of his rookie season, averaging 32 yards per game over his first 11 games with an average depth of target in the double digits for most of them. The Chiefs then used him more in the slot with a lower average depth of target the rest of the way, the role where Rashee Rice thrived as a rookie and early in 2024 before his injury. Worthy's average jumped to 57 yards per game over his next six. He then gained 85 yards in the AFC Championship Game and caught eight passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns in the Super Bowl loss.
Last season, his average depth of target climbed back to 12.5. JuJu Smith-Schuster often took the slot and the low-average-depth role when Rice was out. Worthy was meant to be the deep target, yet both Tyquan Thornton and Hollywood Brown gained more receiving yards on deep passes. His incomplete deep balls were uncatchable, and something was off with his chemistry with Patrick Mahomes.
Worthy suffered a shoulder injury in Week 1 and didn’t undergo surgery until after the season. Reports later indicated that the injury bothered him throughout the year and limited what he could do, particularly on routes that required more physicality. His performance while playing through the injury shouldn’t be held against him. However, he re-sprained the shoulder on Aug. 1, so while the injury helps explain some of last season’s struggles, it could still affect him this year. He didn’t play in the first preseason game but began participating in 7-on-7 drills in mid-August.