5 late-round college football fantasy sleepers you need to know about

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College football is becoming more professionalized every year. Though that may bring some negative side effects for fans, it also offers new opportunities for them to engage with the sport.

New for the 2026 season, Yahoo Sports is expanding its fantasy services to offer a college football fantasy game — the first of its kind on a major platform.

While college fantasy football operates similarly to its NFL counterpart, there are some key differences — namely that the pool of players to choose from is significantly larger. As a result, there are quite a few players set to have huge 2026 seasons who may be falling under the radar for most fantasy players.

Here are late-round sleepers at every position you'll want to keep an eye on during your drafts.

QB: Byrum Brown, Auburn

Quarterback play at Auburn has been rough for a while now, but that could change this year. Brown headlines a group of several USF transfers who followed coach Alex Golesh to the Plains, and he may be one of the SEC's most underrated quarterbacks entering 2026, as he sits at No. 20 on Yahoo Sports' fantasy QB draft board.

Brown threw for 3,158 yards and ran for 1,008 more last fall, totaling 42 touchdowns. If he can even come close to matching that production with the Tigers — certainly a big if as he makes the jump to the Power Four level — he could end up being one of the biggest fantasy draft steals in 2026.

RB: Makhi Hughes, Houston

After rushing for 2,700 yards from 2023-24 at Tulane, Hughes was viewed as one of the top transfers in the country when he joined Oregon last offseason. However, things didn't work out for him in Eugene, as he saw just 17 carries all season. Now, he rejoins his former coach Willie Fritz at Houston, and he's arguably the most obvious bounce-back candidate in the entire country this season. Dean Connors ran for nearly 1,000 yards in this offense last year, and Hughes could be one of the Big 12's best rushers if he can return to his Tulane form

WR: Evan Stewart, Oregon

It's hard to believe Stewart can even be considered a sleeper here. The former five-star recruit turned in two solid seasons at Texas A&M before transferring to Oregon, where he had 613 receiving yards and a career-high five touchdowns. But after an offseason injury held him out of the entire 2025 season, Stewart ranks just 38th among receivers, per Yahoo.

Stewart will have to contend for targets, as the Ducks also return Jeremiah McClellan and Dakorien Moore, who had a breakout true freshman season. But if he's truly healthy, Stewart could be the star receiver no one is talking about this offseason.

TE: Elija Lofton, Miami

Lofton's production to this point in his career has been limited. He had just nine catches as a freshman in 2024, and though he caught 23 balls last year, he still finished with just 218 yards and three touchdowns in a Miami offense that didn't put the ball in the air much if it didn't have to. That's likely set to change this fall with the addition of Darian Mensah. A Heisman contender who was extremely productive at Duke last year, Mensah should immediately make this one of the nation's best passing offenses.

Could Lofton struggle to produce in a receiving corps that returns Malachi Toney and adds several talented transfers, including Mensah's former Duke teammate Cooper Barkate? Perhaps, but he will almost certainly have a much more productive campaign in 2026 than he had in 2025.

FLEX: WR Eric Singleton Jr., Florida

There's a decent amount of excitement surrounding Florida's offense under new coordinator Buster Faulkner. Though the starting quarterback is a question — Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo is expected to get the nod — the skill positions are not. Much of the talk has centered around sophomores and former five-stars Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson, but Singleton could be one of the most underrated transfer additions in the country.

A former star in Faulkner's offense at Georgia Tech, Singleton still totaled 534 yards and three touchdowns in an anemic Auburn offense last fall. Now reunited with the offensive coordinator who put him on the map, he could be in for a sneaky big season.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: 5 late-round college football fantasy sleepers you need to know about

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