Wide Receiver Sleepers For Best Ball 2026: Buy The Dip On Troy Frankin
Adam Kaufman outlines a trio of late-round wide receiver sleepers to target in your best ball drafts given their week-winning upside.
Hi, I’m Adam Kaufman. I’m that guy who’s been handing out best ball sleeper plays all month.
We hit the quarterback sleepers. The running back sleepers. Overall late-round stashes.
Now it’s time to talk wide receivers. Here’s the problem. When examining the early best ball draft market last month, I already fell in love with a few wideouts.
Jalen Nailor, Jalen McMillan, Jalen Brunson and Tre’ Harris.
Three of my favorites, already covered for you.
The good news is a few more names have climbed onto my radar since. And we are going deep down the board. I’m talking dumpster diving into the final rounds.
Let’s go shopping.
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Three Late-Round Wide Receiver Sleepers for 2026 Best Ball Drafts
Troy Franklin | DEN
- ADP: WR98 (209.7)
Franklin took a massive Year 2 leap, doubling his target share and essentially tripling his yardage and touchdown production. His 65-709-6 line on 104 targets ranked second on the Broncos in every category.
The reason you’re seeing Franklin available in the final couple rounds of best ball drafts is because Denver’s supporting cast has improved, which is good for quarterback Bo Nix, but may not be for Franklin.
New addition Jaylen Waddle slots in as the Broncos’ top pass catcher, followed by the reliable Courtland Sutton. On paper, that leaves Franklin, Pat Bryant and Marvin Mims fighting for scraps.
But Franklin already has something neither Bryant nor Mims possesses, and that’s extensive chemistry with Nix.
The two spent a pair of seasons lighting up defenses together at Oregon before reuniting in the NFL, and that familiarity showed up repeatedly last season.
Franklin recorded at least four catches in 10 games, topped 80 receiving yards four times and scored touchdowns in five different contests. More importantly for best ball purposes, he demonstrated the ability to deliver usable spike weeks.
Head coach Sean Payton has consistently praised Franklin’s speed and playmaking ability, and those traits tend to translate into the types of ceiling performances we’re chasing in this format.
By Round 18, we’re firmly in dart-throw territory.
Franklin is one worth aiming at.
Tory Horton | SEA
- ADP: WR105 (212.9)
A Seahawk.
Somewhere, Kendall Valenzuela is smiling.
Horton quietly offers one of the more interesting profiles outside the top 100 at the position.
Before lower-body injuries ended his season in early November, Horton appeared in eight games and turned 13 receptions into five touchdowns. The workload wasn’t overwhelming, but the efficiency certainly got people’s attention.
The opportunity remains intriguing.
Reigning Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba is clearly Sam Darnold’s favorite target, but Seattle’s depth chart isn’t nearly as settled behind him.
Cooper Kupp is entering his age-33 season. Rashid Shaheed remains more big-play specialist than volume receiver. Beyond those two, there isn’t much standing in Horton’s way.
Despite missing more than half of his rookie season, Horton still finished third on the team in receiving touchdowns behind only Smith-Njigba and tight end AJ Barner.
Wide receivers available after Pick 200 rarely offer a realistic path to WR2 duties in a playoff-caliber offense.
Horton does.
Caleb Douglas | MIA
- ADP: WR87 (215.8)
I know. Why would anyone voluntarily invest in the Dolphins offense?
Fair question.
Malik Willis may eventually make running back De’Von Achane the most-targeted player on the roster. But somebody in the receiver room still has to catch passes, and Miami’s hierarchy is completely undetermined.
Tyreek Hill is gone. Waddle is gone. It’s open audition season.
Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert, Tutu Atwell and Douglas are all fighting for roles in a rebuilding offense with a new coaching staff and a new starting quarterback. Everyone is essentially starting from scratch.
That environment matters.
Unlike Franklin and Horton, who play for teams with Super Bowl aspirations, the Dolphins have every incentive to spend 2026 evaluating young talent and seeing what they have.
That means patience, not desperation. Experimentation, not routine.
Douglas is the most fascinating candidate.
At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds with 4.39 speed, the rookie third-rounder brings a combination of size and athleticism none of his internal counterparts can match. He also proved to be a legitimate red-zone weapon at Texas Tech, scoring 13 touchdowns over his final two collegiate seasons.
Douglas should be given the benefit of time to develop chemistry with Willis which, in Miami, translates to a real chance to emerge as the team’s top receiver. Those opportunities rarely exist near the end of best ball drafts.
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