Fantasy Football Sleepers For Wild Card Weekend: Russell Wilson, Justice Hill, Dontayvion Wicks, Will Dissly

The NFL regular season may be over, but that doesn’t mean that fantasy football has to be! Playoff fantasy football takes all kinds of formats, from DFS to Guillotine leagues to good old-fashioned Redraft formats. One thing that all these formats have in common is that, because of the lack of teams playing, fantasy managers end up having to dig deeper than usual. That’s where this article comes in, breaking down some sleeper plays for Wild Card Weekend. These players aren’t the big-name fantasy stars we have been relying on all season, but they could come through for you this week. Let’s get started!

For more help with Start/Sit decisions, check out FantasySP’s NFL Start/Sit tool!

Wild Card Weekend Fantasy Football Sleepers 

Quarterback 

Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

While the rest of this article will be diving very deep, it’s hard to find a true “sleeper” at the quarterback position. After all, there are only 12 guys who are actually worth considering (unless you’re desperate enough to hope Justin Fields sees a touch or two). With that in mind, Love is my first pick as a guy outside of the obvious names who can provide a decent game. 

Although he ranked just 18th in fantasy points per game for the season, Love was ninth among qualified quarterbacks in fantasy points per dropback. The main thing holding back his production was that the Packers ran the third most run-heavy offense in the league, by both standard rush rate and rush rate vs. expected. Green Bay is also the only team among the top six run-heaviest offenses that did not play a rushing QB for at least a third of their games. However, the Packers are 4.5-point underdogs against the Eagles. That means they will likely be forced to pass, which is huge for Love’s fantasy production. With that in mind, I like his chances to put up a solid outing in his third-ever playoff start.

Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers

Now we’re really digging deep, as Wilson is literally the lowest-ranked starting QB for this weekend according to FantasyPros’ Expert Consensus. However, our weekly projections have him as the QB6. I wouldn’t quite push Russ up that far, but I do like his chances to outperform consensus expectations this week.

For one, Russ has been much more productive with George Pickens active, scoring 17.4 points per game with his top receiver compared to just 14.3 without him. Also in Wilson’s favor is the fact that the Steelers are the biggest underdogs on the slate — they’re going to have to pass to try and keep up with this Baltimore offense. 

And when he does pass, Wilson will have a decent matchup with the Ravens’ secondary. A lot has been made of the Ravens’ miraculous turnaround from arguably the league’s worst pass defense to arguably the best in the league. It is true that Baltimore’s secondary massively improved, but not as much as the numbers would imply. Across their final five games of the season (the weeks cited in the linked graphic), here are the offenses the Ravens faced: the Eagles, the Giants, the Steelers, the Texans, and the Browns. Only one of those teams ranked above average in dropback EPA per play for the season … and that was the Eagles, who beat the Ravens. You may notice that one of those teams is the Steelers, and Russ scored a solid 18.4 points in that Week 16 matchup with the Steelers' division rivals. He should come through with another decent outing on Saturday night.

Running Back

Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Does Rachaad White count as a sleeper for playoff fantasy football? I say yes, given that he recorded exactly zero touches in the Buccaneers' final game of the season. That’s obviously a massive red flag. If this were a normal week, I would be calling him a drop candidate, not a sleeper. 

But in playoff fantasy football, we have to dig deep. In my eyes, none of the 12 starting running backs who will be in action this week count as sleepers. And when it comes to RB2s, no one has been more involved than White this season. He has definitely been trending in the wrong direction, but he did still play 17 snaps and run 11 routes (28% participation rate) even in his Week 18 goose egg. He will hopefully see a few targets and a few carries, making him a viable play if you have been locked out of all of this week’s starting backs.

Justice Hill, Baltimore Ravens

After missing the last two weeks of the season in the concussion protocol, Justice Hill is set to return for the Ravens’ first playoff matchup. And that immediately makes him one of my favorite RB sleepers on the slate. 

For the season, Hill was surprisingly productive in a receiving-down-only role for the Ravens, averaging 7.4 Half-PPR points in his healthy games. He averaged just 3.2 carries per game but saw a 12% target share in Baltimore’s offense, including a 13% red zone target share. The Ravens being massive favorites isn’t a great sign for his usage, but he should be solidly involved at least until they have a comfortable lead.  

Ty Johnson, Buffalo Bills

The Bills used a three-headed monster at running back this season. James Cook was obviously the lead back, but both Johnson and rookie Ray Davis were involved in all game scripts. They are both viable sleeper plays for this weekend, but Johnson pulled slightly away from Davis down the stretch as the clear RB2, which is why he gets the nod. From Week 9 onward (not counting Week 18, in which Johnson was mostly rested while Davis was not), Johnson averaged 5.8 Haf-PPR points per game on a 32% snap share. Davis averaged the same amount of points, but he played just 22% of the snaps.

Like Hill, Johnson is mostly involved in the receiving game, with just 3.1 carries per game since Week 9 and a 6% target share. Obviously, three carries and a 6% target share isn’t ideal usage. But if we’re going to be playing role players, we want to target those on the best offenses. The Bills have the highest total of the weekend at a massive 28.5 — hopefully, Johnson will be a part of it. 

Wide Receiver 

Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay Packers

In six games this season where he has posted at least a 60% route participation rate, Wicks has averaged 8.5 Half-PPR points per game. In those games, he has also led the Packers with a 22% target share and a 32% air yards share. With Christian Watson unfortunately done for the season with a torn ACL, Wicks should once again be a featured part of the Packers’ offense on Sunday. That is enough to make him my top wide receiver sleeper for the week. 

Olamide Zaccheaus, Washington Commanders

In four weeks without Noah Brown to finish the season, Zaccheaus averaged 13.0 Half-PPR points per game. He ranked second to Terry McLaurin on the Commanders with a 19% target share and a 21% air yards share. Those numbers get even more impressive when we consider that he spent the first of those two weeks playing just a part-time role with a 47% route participation rate and a 61% route participation rate. 

However, that changed by Week 17 (the last week in which the Commanders played their starters for the full game), as Zaccheaus earned a 79% participation rate as their every-down WR2. Heading into a matchup with the Buccaneers, whose defense hemorrhages points through the air, Zaccheaus is well set up to provide a useable fantasy week. 

Tylan Wallace, Baltimore Ravens

Zay Flowers is officially out for the Ravens this week with a knee injury. That obviously makes Rashod Bateman a great option as the Ravens’ WR1, but I want to dig even deeper. The first name that comes to mind after Bateman is Nelson Agholor, who served as Baltimore’s WR3 for most of the season. However, Agholor was a healthy scratch for the Ravens in Week 18.

Instead, Tylan Wallace stepped in as the Ravens’ WR2 after Flowers went down with his injury. The fourth-year receiver posted a 58% route participation rate, the third-highest on the team. Of course, he only saw one target, which he failed to catch. This play isn’t for the faint of heart. But if you’re just looking for someone who will at least be out there running routes, Wallace is the man for you.

Tight End

Will Dissly, Los Angeles Chargers

For the season, Dissly ranked as the TE25 with a miserable 5.7 Half-PPR points per game. However, he became more involved as the season went on, claiming the team’s lead receiving TE role over Hayden Hurst. He missed a few games late in the year with a shoulder injury but was back to a decent 66% route participation rate in Week 18. He saw six targets (a 17% target share), catching five for 42 yards and a touchdown. If Dissly can provide that level of production again, he will be an absolute smash for anyone without a reliable TE option for Wild Card Weekend.

Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills

Outside of the obvious names, options are very scarce at the tight end position. Once again, I am happy to just find someone who is a non-negligible part of an offense that projects well, and Dawson Knox fits that bill. In the three weeks since Dalton Kincaid’s return from injury where the Bills played their starters, Knox averaged an 8% target share on a 51% route participation rate. You could do worse than that if you’re truly desperate for a tight end this week.

Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasySP. Find him on Twitter @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.