Is Fantasy Football time! Who are the sleepers?

Is about that time in the year for fantasy football fanatics, everybody knows who the power players are, but what about the sleepers for this year?

Here in Denver, Coach Shanahan has built an impressive offense and for the looks of it the passing game is going to be huge this year and backed up with a solid running game that has been the trademark for the Broncos for more than a decade now.

I believe this should be the sleepers for the Broncos. They are not guys that will be taken in the first couple of rounds but in my opinion are going to be of huge impact for your FF football team:

TE-Tony Scheffler : Denver QB JayCutler absolutely loves this guys, as soon they made the QB change last year his stats just skyrocketed.
First 11 games with Jake Plummer: 6 receptions,67yds,0TD's
Last 5 games with Jay Cutler: 12 receptions,219yds, 4TD's
Projected 2007 stats: 36 receptions, 703yds, 13TD's

Even though the reception total is not high, the yards and TD's will make him the best FF TE out there.

Other potential Broncos sleepers:

WR-Brandon Marshal: like Scheffler, he also benefited from the change of QB.
With Plummer(11 games): 6rec,76yds,1TD
With Cutler(5 games) : 20rec,309yds,1T

This guy will be at times the fastest player in the field and since Jevon Walker is the first option and would attract the better CB and safety, is going to leave Marshall 1 on 1 situations with a slower shorter defender.

QB- Jay Cutler: he has the talent to be a top notch QB in this league and Shanahan has give him the tool he needs to succeed this year. The question in order is, would he be a good pick as your starter for your FF team? Given the fact that the Broncos run the ball a lot,I dont think it wil be a smart choice, but if hes there in the 3 round you should get him, you might see a shift from run to pass in the offense if he develops to be what they expect from him.

2006 stats:5 games,137att/81comp for 59.1%,1001yds,9TD's,5 Int's
Projected 2007:429/269(att/comp) for 62.7%,3203yds,28TD's,16 Int's

That TD total would be second only to Peyton Manning from '06, although the yardage is not that impressive. The reason for that TD total as they show last year is that they are not afraid to make Cutler pass the ball in the Red Zone something that Plummer was not allowed to do, and thats when Scheffler got most of his TD's, in goal situations.The INT's I expect that they will decrease as he gets more experience in the league. This would make him a solid FF pick but like I said not to start the season.

Who are the FF sleepers in your team?

Im going to pick F. Gore as my first pick.

A good sleeper I think will be Micheal Bush.

man isn't that tough to tell

you can look and research all day and it's just sometimes 2 much guesswork

look for new players in more accomodating systems, or old playes highly rated going into less accomodating systems and stay away but often it is tough to ge a read on these type of things

or new players moving into back-up roles in accomodating systems and make a watch list and a *alert* should go off when someone gets injured* and if they are ahead of someone on the watch list - scoop them up-right quick

[edit on 15-7-2007 by cpdaman]

Alex Smith. He's got another year under his belt and now a defense that'll give him more time on the field.

Not to mention he's got Gore in the backfield. The Niners are taking the division this year.

GO NINERS!!!

intrepid, does he have any receivers? anyone new?

Originally posted by cpdaman
intrepid, does he have any receivers? anyone new?

Arnaz Battle is an pretty good receiver. Same with Darrell Jackson and Ashley Lelie. The real threat will be TE Vernon Davis and Gore out of the backfield.

I'm SO jacked up for this season. It's been a while.

same here, i'm so glad my team signed 3 new receivers

welker, stallworth, and moss WOWSERS

but they will still need that luck to get by the colts, and the chargers


man the AFC is like the western conference in basketball, STACKED

Originally posted by cpdaman
man isn't that tough to tell

you can look and research all day and it's just sometimes 2 much guesswork

look for new players in more accomodating systems, or old playes highly rated going into less accomodating systems and stay away but often it is tough to ge a read on these type of things

or new players moving into back-up roles in accomodating systems and make a watch list and a *alert* should go off when someone gets injured* and if they are ahead of someone on the watch list - scoop them up-right quick

[edit on 15-7-2007 by cpdaman]

Sure is tough to tell, thats the fun thing about FFL that all you can do is speculate.

Look all the guys last year that took Shaun Alexander within the first 5 picks!! They all got burn, I took 2 RB's late in rounds, Travis Henry and Marion Barber and they made my team win with 20+ points per game. Also Drew Bress I took him late in the 4th round and that was a steal.

Thats what I want to know who you think the sleepers are, everybody knows who the studs are, they be gone by the first 2 rounds, but I dont believe you can put a winning FFT without making good late round picks.

BTW I woud not pick any Patriots receiver in the early rounds, the same way I would not pick a Denver RB either, Brady throws the ball even to the waterboy!! Thats good in real football not so good in FF, the Broncos run the ball well, but everybody gets a shot(yes! even the waterboy), so no one puts out big games!

Gore is a stud! barring injuries he's going to have a solid if not a huge year IMO, and that is going to benefit A.Smith as well.

What about Matt Schaub and Jon Kitna? I had Kitna last year and suprisingly he did better than my other star, Carson Palmer. I'd pick Schaub because he's got Andre Johnson, however, he comes with a risk because Houston's OL is pretty piss poor.

What about Adrian Peterson? He'll be healthy, he won't have to take the abuse because they have Chester Taylor.

What about Marshawn Lynch? Buffalo likes to run, and you know they'll go to the ground to help Losman out.

What about Dwayne Bowe? Kansas City needs a receiver besides Kennison, and this guy should be it. However rookie receivers don't do great, but he has Larry Johnson and Tony Gonzales to take the pressure off of him.

What about Anthony Gonzales? There shouldn't really be an explanation for this one, he's on the Colts. He'd be the new Brandon Stokely when Peyton had his record breaking year.

What about Greg Olson? He's a bigger, better, version of what they allready had. The Bears TE had some good games last year, with and upgrade, Grossman should be better, and the TE is a good threat in the redzone.

Calvin Johnson isn't really a sleeper, but he is the 3rd option for the Lions. They have Williams and Furrey in front of him to take the pressure off and Mike Martz is still a good OC.

Trent Green could be considered a sleeper. He barely played at all last year and Miami does have Ronnie Brown, Chris Chambers, Marty Booker, and maybe Ted Ginn Jr.

Cedric Benson is the starter now in Chicago, he could do what Thomas Jones did for them.

I'd look for Carnell Williams to come back strong. He can't possibly be as bad as he was last year could he?

Darrell Jackson should come back strong now that he's with the Niners instead of the Seahawks. He should be the focal point of there offense.

Vernon Davis should be a major fantasy producer. He was hurt last year but he'll be the guy Alex Smith looks for when he needs to get rid of the ball, and as before, TE is a good bet for some TD's in the redzone.

Randy Moss. He sucked the last few years, but now he's got Tom Brady throwing to him. He should return to form.

Hopefully this will help some people out.

[edit on 19-7-2007 by ChrisJr03]

My team is this:

QB Donovan McNabb
(Phi - QB)
WR Steve Smith
(Car - WR)
WR Lee Evans
(Buf - WR)
WR Jerricho Cotchery
(NYJ - WR)
RB Larry Johnson
(KC - RB)
RB Cedric Benson
(Chi - RB)
TE Jeremy Shockey
(NYG - TE)

Bench Players (My Sleepers)
BENCH Marion Barber III
(Dal - RB)
BENCH Vincent Jackson
(SD - WR)
BENCH J.P. Losman
(Buf - QB)
BENCH Ladell Betts
(Was - RB)
BENCH Kevin Curtis
(Phi - WR)
BENCH Tony Scheffler
(Den - TE)


I think that Vincent Jackson & Kevin Curtis should have good break out years. Barber & Betts are IMO good if my main RB's dont cut it (Larry Johnson, getting old).

J.P. Losman could be a sleeper, but really, I just havnt found anyone else I can pickup that will be starting and have more of a chance to win that J.P.

If Donovan is healthy then all will be good for you.

The best sleeper right now has to be Joey Harrington is Atlanta.

I'm tellin' you NOW if you can get Edgerrin James (AZ) cheap, take him. The Cards were in turmoil last year. Nobody knew what they were doing, or were supposed to be doing. Once they settled down and stabilized the O line (about the last 3 games), Edge performed well.

He's amped and jacked and ready. And having watched him for the first 7 years of his pro career here in Indy, I can tell you this is a guy you'd want as a teammate. Ex-Hog Russ Grimm is the new assistant head coach, and I'm confident he'll have an O line ready to rumble.

I think he'll have a good statistical year, and I'm happy for him.

Originally posted by yeahright
I'm tellin' you NOW if you can get Edgerrin James (AZ) cheap, take him. The Cards were in turmoil last year. Nobody knew what they were doing, or were supposed to be doing. Once they settled down and stabilized the O line (about the last 3 games), Edge performed well.

He's amped and jacked and ready. And having watched him for the first 7 years of his pro career here in Indy, I can tell you this is a guy you'd want as a teammate. Ex-Hog Russ Grimm is the new assistant head coach, and I'm confident he'll have an O line ready to rumble.

I think he'll have a good statistical year, and I'm happy for him.

Word on the street is that the Edge is not rocking the gold teeth anymore. Should make him quicker.

Yeah, he dropped the dental bling. I don't know about making him quicker, but it sure seems like he might be a little more serious.

Harrington could be, he did have a good year last year, well decent. Atlanta is better than Miami, and with the reports that Vick could sit out the year, Harrington then would seem like a better pick. Of course Vick could be suspended too, so we'll just have to wait and see. As for Edge, I like that the Cards upgraded with Levi Brown, but other then that, the line is horrible. I'd see Edge getting around 3.5-3.8 ypc if that. Edge will have to play well if Leinert is to continue his developement; so I guess Leinert could be a sleeper too.

i dont mean to sound like a fan boy but how was ATL better then Miami? i mean yea better QB maybe and Running back but Miami had one of the best defeneses in the league... but in terms of fantasy you choose special Off. people and a whole Defense depending where you play so yea Off. is more important. Miami also had that one streak of like 6 games. This years draft went awsome for them i think. taking Beck over Quinn. Beck is older and maybe more matured. Plus i think he has the same arm. (seen beck throw 70 yards in air) also Ginn will add alot of excitment to the team. so Atlanta might have a few postions better. but over all this year in head to head (with or with out mike vick) i think the Phins could edge them out.... but thats why they play to see whos better



Back to topic. I think a sleeper will be... yes a dolphin Chris Chambers. He hasnt really had a good arm to throw to him. i mean yea hes been in the league a while and had that one great year (Probowl) but other then that really dissapointed. but i mean if were going to rookies. then ill choose. i dont really know none stick out in my head as amazing... maybe russle?? lol

Originally posted by hitman132436

Back to topic. I think a sleeper will be... yes a dolphin Chris Chambers. He hasnt really had a good arm to throw to him.

Wes Welker didn't have any problems catching passes last year.

true but welker also was a great third down/ possession reciver and he was also the 3rd reciever so he didnt have the best guarding. also i dont want to make excuses because i did at once have respect for him but now its lost. but he went short alot

Well so much for Frank Gore staying healthy. Broke a hand in practice. Thats the kind of injury that will put the chills in any coach.

RB + BAD HAND = FUMBLES

Sorry niners fans!

[edit on 31-7-2007 by Bunch]

[edit on 31-7-2007 by Bunch]