First, let's talk about average draft position (ADP).
ADP shows where players are typically being selected across many fantasy drafts, giving you a sense of the consensus value for each player. Our Consensus ADP takes this a step further. We combine the ADPs of several sites into one. We also only allow sites with quality ADP to be factored into the overall ranking.
RELATED: See 6 Underrated Wide Receivers here
RELATED: See 9 Overrated Wide Receivers here
We asked our staff to compare wide receiver ADP with our projections to identify wide receivers available late in your draft who should outperform their draft position.
Seven sleeper wide receivers quickly gathered interest. See what our staff has to say about each player.
Sleeper WR Christian Kirk, Houston Texans
- Current ADP: WR55
- FBG Projections: WR51
Bob Harris: The Texans acquired wide receiver Christian Kirk in an offseason trade with Jacksonville. He brings the team a solid veteran option with great hands.
In 93 career games (77 starts with the Cardinals and Jaguars), he had 404 catches for 5,176 receiving yards and 29 touchdowns. He sat out 14 games over the past two seasons because of an abdominal injury and broken collarbone, finishing with a combined 84 catches for 1,166 yards and four TDs in 20 games over that stretch.
Kirk joins a receiving corps in Houston led by Nico Collins, but that lost Stefon Diggs in free agency and will be without Tank Dell, who is expected to miss the 2025 season as he recovers from a serious knee injury. The Texans added a pair of receivers -- Iowa State teammates Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel -- in April's draft, but healthy Kirk -- who Collins referred to as a "slot magician" -- should play a prominent role in this passing attack.
With Collins going at the Round 1/2 turn in early drafts, taking a late-round flyer on Kirk as your WR4 or WR5 could yield a viable starting option.
Jason Wood: The fantasy community has a long history of overvaluing rookies, especially early in draft season, and it's happening again in Houston. There's more buzz around Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel than there is for veteran Christian Kirk. That's a mistake.
The Texans traded for Kirk early in the offseason, and head coach DeMeco Ryans has consistently maintained that Kirk will be the full-time starter opposite Nico Collins. Unless he gets hurt, Kirk will be on the field as the No. 2 target for a team desperately trying to rebound after its receiving corps was decimated in 2024.
Kirk doesn't have league-winning upside, but his current ADP suggests he's little more than a backup option. That simply doesn't reflect reality. He's a reliable veteran set to play a key role in a high-volume passing offense, and that kind of role is always undervalued in drafts.
Matt Waldman: If you're going to talk about Christian Kirk, then a good place to begin is Chris Godwin. One of the most impressive wide receivers no one talks about, Godwin can play all three wide receiver positions like a high-end starter.
Godwin has the contested-catch timing, strength, and mobility against tight-man coverage to win at the boundary. He's a strong ball carrier, and he has excellent route skills.
If Godwin were more explosive, the resemblance to Ja'Marr Chase would be more apparent. Most only see him as Mike Evans' sidekick.
Kirk isn't as physical as Godwin or Chase, but his versatility is similar. He's fast enough to win outside. He tracks the ball in the vertical game like a boundary specialist, and he's an adept route runner.
Kirk has not worked with an excellent passer in his prime. Kyler Murray has only supported more than one fantasy-productive receiver once in his career. Trevor Lawrence has endured multiple coaching regimes and bad offensive lines for the entirety of his NFL tenure.
Even so, Kirk delivered a 1,100-yard, 8-score campaign with Lawrence. If C.J. Stroud is merely a highly billed facsimile of Lawrence this year, Kirk should deliver the same production opposite Nico Collins.
Julia Papworth: Never a sexy pick, Kirk has been trying to get some back of the pizazz and draft clout he had after finishing WR11 in 2022, on the back of 1108 yards receiving and eight touchdowns. Last year was a bust, with a broken collarbone sidelining him halfway through the year.
He now has a chance to rebuild in Houston, having been traded from Jacksonville in the offseason. With Tank Dell out, Kirk stands a strong chance to be the main man in the slot. C.J. Stroud loved to target the slot when Dell was out there, and Kirk could reap the benefits of that position on the field.
Following Nico Collins, who will always get his, Kirk will be battling two untested rookies, Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins, for targets, and we have yet to see how they will transition to the NFL.
Always known for his solid hands, Kirk has always boasted at least a 61% catch percentage, with 76% in his 2021 season with Arizona. There is little chance Kirk could become the WR1 in Houston past some injuries, but he is the type of guy to take a late-round flier on at this ADP.
Ryan Weisse: Christian Kirk isn't going to be a league-winner, but he doesn't need to be at his current cost. He's virtually free in fantasy drafts and has a real chance to return value. Kirk's 2024 season in Jacksonville was cut short after eight games, but in that stretch, he was averaging six targets per game while playing behind Brian Thomas Jr. His role in Houston looks nearly identical—this time behind Nico Collins, with a clear path to being the team's second-most-targeted receiver.
Outside of Collins, there's no real competition in the Texans' wide receiver room. If Kirk sees six or seven targets per game, he's looking at roughly 100 to 120 targets over a full season. That's more than enough volume to matter in fantasy, especially tied to a quarterback like C.J. Stroud.
With similar volume in 2022, Kirk topped 1,100 yards and scored eight touchdowns. That may be his ceiling, but a 1,000-yard, six-touchdown campaign is well within reach.
Kirk is a known name with very little buzz, but the role, offense, and potential are all there. At his current draft price, he's the kind of late-round receiver who could quietly become a weekly flex.
Maurile Tremblay: Christian Kirk arrives in Houston at exactly the right moment for fantasy managers chasing upside. With Stefon Diggs now catching passes in New England and Tank Dell likely to miss all of 2025 after a catastrophic multi-ligament knee injury, well over 200 targets from last year's roster have evaporated.
Early minicamp reports suggest that Kirk has already become C.J. Stroud's favorite target, noting multiple chunk-play connections between the two during team drills. That budding rapport pairs with an expected quarterback bounce-back under first-year coordinator Nick Caley, whose background with the Patriots and Rams has leaned on quick, option-route concepts that have historically funnelled volume to savvy slot operators like Kirk.
We know he can cash in on that workload: in 2022, he turned 133 targets into 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns, finishing as a fringe WR1 in most formats. The collarbone that ended his 2024 season is fully healed, and beat writers say he hasn't missed a rep this spring.
Houston's 2025 schedule is fantasy-friendly, featuring multiple shootout-prone AFC South matchups that could boost Kirk's weekly ceiling. A clear runway to starter-level volume, proven big-play chops, and an ascending quarterback make Kirk one of 2025's most intriguing sleeper bets.