Fantasy Football Sleeper Quarterbacks for 2025 Season: Drake Maye, Michael Penix

The Super Bowl is in the books, putting a bow on the 2024 NFL season. But for me, it also signals the start of the next fantasy football season. All offseason, I’ll set you up to take home your next league championship!

I already laid out my rankings for QB, RB, WR and TE plus a mock draft. Now, let’s get into sleepers. These players can be the difference between a good team and a title winner.

I’ll kick it off at quarterback, a position that saw a few sleepers last season including Bo Nix and Sam Darnold. Both were late-round draft picks but finished as fantasy starters. Here are five of my early favorites for next season, including a prospect who could be a top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and two others who are entering their second NFL campaigns.

Drake Maye, QB, Patriots: Maye started 10 games as a rookie where he played at least 40 snaps, and he averaged 16.4 points in those contests. He finished with 17-plus points six times and averaged 36.3 rushing yards. Over a full season based on these parameters, Maye would have rushed for 617 yards and scored 278 points. I see him as a borderline breakout/sleeper candidate who could be a tremendous draft bargain.

Bryce Young, Panthers: Could Young finally meet expectations in real and fantasy football? The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, he showed signs of improved play in his final four games of last season. During that span, Young had eight touchdown passes with just two interceptions and averaged 23.1 fantasy points. He’ll be worth a late pick as a No. 2 fantasy quarterback with upside, especially if the Panthers add offensive help.

Michael Penix Jr., Falcons: Penix Jr. will get a full offseason and training camp as the No. 1 quarterback in Atlanta, and the offense and talent around him should excite fantasy fans. With Bijan Robinson in the backfield and Drake London and Darnell Mooney in the pass attack (notice I didn’t mention Kyle Pitts), Penix Jr. has a shot to make a Year 2 impact. He will no doubt be one of the most popular sleeper quarterbacks in fantasy football.

J.J. McCarty, Vikings: Obviously, McCarthy will need the Vikings to part ways with Sam Darnold to become a fantasy sleeper next season. If that scenario comes to fruition, I can see McCarthy making an impact in his first year as an NFL starter. The offense of head coach Kevin O’Connell is very quarterback-friendly, so McCarthy would be in a favorable position. This is an offseason situation that fantasy managers need to keep close tabs on in 2025.

Cam Ward, Rookie: Ward might be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after he put up 4,313 passing yards, 39 touchdown passes, 204 rushing yards and another four scores on the ground in his final collegiate season. He was accurate too, completing 67.2 percent of his passes, and Ward had 287 rush attempts in college so he can run with the ball, too. Ward won’t be Jayden Daniels 2.0, but he could be a decent late-round draft bargain.