It is officially training camp hype season for fantasy football. Your favorite rookie sleeper made an incredible catch in camp that your team’s beat reporter “couldn’t believe”. These next few weeks can be hard to be patient in dynasty, as news diarrhea is constant. I do think this is mostly the time to “sell” on hype (stay tuned for my dynasty fallers article), but there are opportunities to buy, especially for guys who are extremely cheap in value.
In my last “dynasty startup steals” article, I wrote about how the whole 2nd/3rd-tier of rookie wide receivers was worth targeting in your startup drafts. Here, I’ll talk about three guys who are steaming up in dynasty value as camps start, who are all young wide receivers making big impressions early on. These are three guys with big-time QBs that all have a direct path to a lot of snaps immediately.
Cyrus Allen-WR Kansas City Chiefs
Cyrus Allen is the training camp darling so far in the first few days of Chiefs camp. Passing game coordinator Joe Bleymaier stated, “Sometimes, with young guys, when they’re learning the offense, where to line up, all the details… once the ball is snapped, natural ability gets shoved down a little bit. You could still see that he was playing with that natural ability. He’s got great physical traits; they were showing up after the snap, his mental stuff was good pre-snap, and you can build on that. That’s exciting.” He has been one of Patrick Mahomes’ favorite targets so far with the injury to Xavier Worthy and the team still easing in Rashee Rice.
Still, the opportunity for targets is legit. Rice and Worthy have significant off field/injury histories that have made them unavailable at times. The only other wide receiver to challenge for targets is Tyquan Thornton, a reliable but unexciting player. Allen’s “analytical model” is not great, but opportunity sometimes outweighs skill in fantasy football. Allen will definitely have that.
Pat Bryant- WR Denver Broncos
Pat Bryant didn’t need any extra camp buzz for me to be excited about him this year for fantasy football, but here we are. The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider believes Pat Bryant is “in line for a bigger slice of the pie” in 2026. Admittedly, the Broncos’ offense is hard to predict. Bo Nix had the most pass attempts in the league in 2025. A feat hard to imagine repeating in 2026. The team brought in Pro Bowl wide receiver Jaylen Waddle via trade.
Evan Engram has gotten a little bit of training camp buzz, and Justin Joly’s is everyone’s favorite rookie sleeper at tight end. Throw in the fact that Sean Payton is trying to keep Taysom Hill from retirement, Bo Nix’s college teammate Troy Franklin is coming off a solid year, and gadget man Marvin Mims could be used situationally, and it’s hard to find a true path to success for Bryant.
But Bryant excels in the short and intermediate routes, a skill set that separates him from the rest. But there is a world where Bryant overtakes Courtland Sutton as the true number 2 in this offense. When wide receiver rooms get overloaded in talent, there is always the possibility of a trade. If that happens with Sutton, or even Bryant himself, he has the skill set to be a very productive wide receiver in this league. Take advantage of the discount due to the challenges in front of him right now, and target him in all of your dynasty fantasy football leagues.
Ja’Kobi Lane- WR Baltimore Ravens
I’ll admit that Lane hasn’t been the rookie wide receiver I’ve been targeting this offseason. I stood by Elijah Sarratt, but the hype on Lane is hard to ignore right now. He is getting front-line reps, and he and Lamar Jackson are building a strong rapport. His ability to make amazing catches is catching the eyes of beat reporters and coaches alike. Like Allen from above, Lane doesn’t have much in his way as far as target competition.
Isaiah Likely is gone, Rashod Bateman is coming off a down year, and the aforementioned Sarratt is not sticking out nearly the same way as Lane thus far. You may have missed out on drafting Lane in the 3rd or 4th round of your rookie drafts, but he may be worth paying up for now, before he worth much more.
