As most of you prepare for your upcoming drafts, you are probably wondering and pondering about the same question: Who are some of the biggest sleepers? For those of you who are not familiar with the term, "sleeper" in fantasy football, I will briefly explain it to you. A sleeper pick is a player who may be undervalued coming into a draft or may go unnoticed by many of the members in a league. A sleeper is a player who usually gets picked up late in the draft because people do not think he is worth anything in a fantasy league, but once the football season starts, the player has a lot to contribute to a team's success. Intuitively, a sleeper is a player who fantasy owners "sleep on" or overlook. Let me tell you about a few potential sleepers for this upcoming season. Sleepers are subjective because one player's value is going to be different from owner to owner. So, do your research, and you decide if these players are worth your time.
The biggest sleeper in the 2010 season is Kevin Kolb, quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. I keep telling everyone not to sleep on Kolb. Kolb has been learning the game of football as a backup behind Donovan McNabb for several years now. Backups like Kevin Kolb (under McNabb), Matt Cassel(under Tom Brady), and Aaron Rodgers (under Brett Favre) tend to learn the most on the bench and turn out to be productive quarterbacks. Kolb is currently number one on the depth chart in Philadelphia with Michael Vick at number two. Donovan McNabb went to Washington in the off season. So, expect Kolb to get lots of playing time as an Eagle because coach Andy Reid has a lot of faith and trust in his young quarterback. Can he get you all the way to a fantasy playoff spot or a championship? Anything is possible, but I do not think Kolb should be used as a regular starter in fantasy leagues. This is Kolb's first full year as a starter, so I would suggest drafting a better quarterback in the early rounds, then, if Kolb is still around later (which he probably will be), you should pick him up to play as a backup on your roster.
Speaking of sleeper quarterbacks, I would also recommend taking a look at the young Matt Leinart from USC playing for the Arizona Cardinals. Leinart is taking over the Arizona quarterback position with big shoes to fill. Kurt Warner previously had the job, and even led the team to a Super Bowl appearance a couple of years ago. Warner decided to end his spectacular, hall of fame career during this past off season. Leinart was a great college quarterback in his days at USC, but he is still trying to prove himself in the NFL. Despite losing key receiver, Anquan Bolding to the Ravens, Leinart still has offensive weapons like Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston to throw to. With Leinart in as QB, I expect Arizona to be competing with the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers in the weak NFC West Division this year. For a fantasy football league, Leinart should not be used as a regular starting quarterback on your roster. Draft him, like Kolb (if still available), in the late rounds as a bench player for your roster. I think it is safe to say that Matt will go undrafted in most leagues, so if you need an extra quarterback, pick Matt up off waivers.
Let me share a couple more sleepers in this year's draft that might interest you in some way. There are a lot of good running backs that will be taken in the first and second rounds like Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Maurice Jones-Drew, and Michael Turner. However, after all the explosive runners are gone, who is left? That is a good question. If you do not draft a good running back in the early rounds, do not be discouraged and do not worry because there are a lot of players out there that get drafted late and have good seasons. One running back is Marion Barber of the Dallas Cowboys. He is competing against Felix Jones and Tashard Choice. Most likely, these three guys are going to share time in the backfield. Barber may be a little bit undersized, and his body may be wearing down, but I would expect him to get a lot of red zone carries because of his aggressiveness and toughness that he brings to the Cowboys offense.
Barber's former University of Minnesota teammate, Laurence Maroney, is in a very similar situation as Barber up in New England. The Patriots do not run the ball much with the arm that Tom Brady has. Plus, Maroney is expected to get a bulk of the carries, but he is going to be sharing his time in the backfield with other guys. Maroney should pick up decent yardage and score touchdowns, but like Barber, he is not going to be a consistent running back from week to week in fantasy leagues. Use Barber and Maroney as specialists against weaker defenses, and use them when your star running backs have a bye week.
I hope this information helps you in your upcoming drafts. Stay tuned for more. Good luck in your draft and 2010 fantasy football season.
No comments:
Post a Comment