10 under 10: Top deep-league fantasy lottery tickets for 2019

Here's the thing about lottery tickets: When you buy them, your odds of actually winning are pretty terrible. Investment advisors do not generally recommend throwing money at, say, the Ducks In A Row scratch-off game. Not a great strategy.

The only real value to any lottery ticket is in the what-if'ing you can do before it's revealed you've lost. What size yacht do we buy? Should we get a suit of armor for the dog? Do we hire Dokken or Slayer to play the next party? Or maybe both?

And then you win nothing and shred the ticket. But at least you had those few moments imagining life as a gazillionaire.

In fantasy, the success rate on final-round lottery tickets is a bit better, but still not great. Today, we're giving you 10 players drafted in less than 10 percent of Yahoo leagues who might prove useful to fantasy owners. There are, of course, no guarantees here. These players are merely fliers for deep leagues. If you play in a standard 10-teamer, you don't need to mess with these guys.

Also, you aren't going to find high-buzz sleeper names like Darwin Thompson (45% rostered), Tony Pollard (54%), Anthony Miller (45%) or Justice Hill (22%) on the list below.

We're going much deeper. If any of these lottery tickets hit, it's a fantasy windfall.

Malcolm Brown, RB, LAR

Darrell Henderson has been consistently drafted as the preferred handcuff to Todd Gurley, one of our game's few must-cuff running backs. Henderson certainly deserves attention as a third-round rookie with a ridiculous collegiate resume, but it's worth noting that Brown has also been running with the varsity offense in practices. He's also received the bubble-wrap treatment throughout the preseason, while Henderson has carried 23 times for 57 yards. Brown is listed second on the team's depth chart, for what it's worth. Did we mention he averaged 4.9 YPC last season on 43 rush attempts? Well, he did. Don't dismiss him.

Miles Boykin, WR, Bal

Boykin has been a wow player throughout camp and preseason, impressing pretty much everyone who's seen him. He's a 6-foot-4 playmaker who crushed the combine, and he's emerged as a likely Day-1 starter. Baltimore won't give us a high-volume passing attack, but it won't be as bleak for the receiving corps as it was late in 2018. At the end of a draft, take a chance on talent plus opportunity.

Chase Edmonds, RB, Ari

For the second straight year, Edmonds has been a hero of the offseason. He has a shot at low-level standalone value in a fast-paced and potentially explosive Cards offense. Edmonds had Kliff Kingsbury's attention early in the summer. Consider him a handcuff with benefits.

Dare Ogunbowale, RB, TB

Ogunbowale was a committee back at Wisconsin who averaged 4.8 YPC and caught 60 balls over his final two seasons. He's had some excellent moments this preseason:

Perhaps the most appealing thing about Ogunbowale is the team context in Tampa Bay. Presumptive starter Peyton Barber is coming off a season in which he averaged just 3.8 yards per touch, and somehow Ronald Jones was even worse. The Bucs' backfield depth chart isn't so intimidating.

(Also worth noting: Dare's sister Arike is a legend, currently averaging 17.1 PPG in the WNBA.)

Jacoby Brissett, QB, Ind

OK, I'm just flagrantly cheating with this one, because Brissett is rostered in 11 percent of Yahoo leagues as of this writing. I swear, when I initially sat down to create this list, he was at 10.

But in any case, we shouldn't completely dismiss Brissett's potential under coach Frank Reich. He's clearly not at the level of a healthy Andrew Luck, but he's surrounded by interesting weapons and playing behind a terrific young O-line. We can reasonably expect him to be much better than he was over 15 starts in 2017 when he averaged just 6.6 Y/A. It certainly helps that he's been at the controls of Indy's first-team offense throughout the offseason.

Mike Gesicki, TE, Mia

Behold, proof that Gesicki can occasionally make a play:

(Yes, I'm a sucker for a respectable highlight.)

Gesicki had an exceedingly quiet rookie season, but we only rarely see first-year tight ends achieve fantasy relevance. Miami's receiving corps isn't exactly loaded these days, so the 2018 second-round pick should have every shot to make an impact. Reports on his camp haven't necessarily been glowing, but his 3-59 line against Jacksonville in Week 3 of the preseason was promising.

Phillip Dorsett III, WR, NE

If you're done with Dorsett, I suppose I get it. He's been hyped in the past and face-planted. I'm not giving you a hard sell here, either, but he appears to be New England's No. 3 receiver these days. He's coming off a seven-catch preseason performance, snagging five of Tom Brady's eight completions (in a mostly unwatchable game). N'Keal Harry and Jakobi Meyers have been more heavily hyped, but Dorsett is within Brady's circle of trust.

Dontrell Hilliard, RB, Cle

Hilliard is the apparent understudy to Nick Chubb in Cleveland, at least until Kareem Hunt returns two months from now. We should see plenty of Hilliard on passing downs following the Duke Johnson trade. He'll need to hold off AAF star D'Ernest Johnson for position on the backfield depth chart. For now, he's the Chubb handcuff.

Trey Quinn, WR, Was

If you want to simply ignore all Washington fantasy assets on draft day, cool. Understandable. That might very well be the right path in an 8- or 10-team fantasy league. #HTTR

But if you're involved in a deeper PPR format, it's worth noting that Quinn is expected to be Washington's primary slot receiver. He's making his way back from a preseason thumb malfunction but should be good to go opening week. If you're in the sort of miserable league that grossly overvalues 6-55-0 receiving lines, this is your guy.

KeeSean Johnson, WR, Ari

Johnson is coming off a monster preseason performance (7-85) in which he showed terrific rapport with Kyler Murray. Few players have been as thoroughly hyped throughout the summer; Kingsbury clearly loves him. If you're interested in acquiring a dirt-cheap share of an intriguing offense, look no further. Johnson produced back-to-back 1000-yard seasons at Fresno State, breaking a few Davante Adams records along the way. He's legit. There's no question he's behind Fitz and Kirk, but Arizona's offense might just deliver a third draft-worthy wideout.

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