Fantasy Football: Deep Sleepers To Help Win Your League
Deep Sleepers That Can Win You Your Fantasy Football League
Every year it happens in fantasy football – some random guy seems to fall off the turnip truck to turn into a fantasy football star that leads anyone lucky enough to snag him off the waiver wire first to a championship. What a glorious feeling that is, if you’re that lucky guy. If not, it sucks. It really sucks.
Just look at last year.
David Johnson was buried behind Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington for the first half of last season. Then injuries to both Chris Johnson and Ellington opened the door for David Johnson to dominate fantasy football.
Then there was Blake Bortles. The guy wasn’t even drafted in most 10 or 12 or even 14 team leagues last year and he ended up as fantasy’s #4 scoring QB.
So who will it be this year?
Here are five candidates that you definitely want to keep an eye on and maybe even take a flier on in the later rounds of your draft.
Next: Bruce Ellington
Bruce Ellington, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Ellington finds himself in the perfect situation in 2016. The 49ers don’t really have a true No. 1 wide receiver (by default its Torrey Smith) and now the Chip Kelly is running the new offense.
All you need to know is that the No. 1 wide receiver in a Chip Kelly offense produces. Look at DeSean Jackson in 2013, Jeremy Maclin in 2014 and to a lesser extent Jordan Matthews last year.
Plus, you know that the 49ers will be forced to throw the ball a lot as they will be playing from behind for the majority of the fourth quarter. If you are looking to add some serious home run potential with your WR6, don’t hesitate to grab Ellington.
Next: Ryan Tannehill
Ryan Tannehill, QB, Miami Dolphins
Reading Tannehill on a deep sleeper list probably means that you’re rolling your eyes right now. Tannehill was a popular sleeper pick back in 2014 and was high on everyone’s breakout list last year.
Unfortunately for everyone who bought into him last year, he seemed to regress and at time struggle to make proper reads and adjustments.
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But never fear, 2016 might be Tannehill’s year as he now as quarterback-whisperer Adam Gase as his new head coach and believe it or not, Gase actually produced a decent fantasy season out of Jay Cutler last year.
The Dolphins have surrounded Tannehill with excellent weapons in Jarvis Landry, DeVante Parker and Arian Foster and with the help of Gase, Tannehill should finish the season as a QB2 and has the potential to be this year’s Blake Bortles and come off the waiver wire to finish as a top 12 fantasy quarterback.
Next: Chris Hogan
Chris Hogan, WR, New England Patriots
The Patriots are very good at this. They take some unknown player, usually off the scrap heap from another team, and then turn them into fantasy gold, especially in PPR leagues.
It started with Wes Welker, then it was Julian Edelman and now it might be Chris Hogan’s turn. It’s true that Edelman is still around but he’s missed 16 games over the past four years and his foot injury is worrisome.
The Patriots quickly snatched up Hogan from the Bills’ as soon as he hit free agency because they love that he is a savvy route runner who can line up in the slot or work along the outside. That kind of versatility should keep him on the field even if Edelman is back too normal.
He has also proven to be a quick study, using quick cuts to draw rave reviews during training camp. And unlike Edelman or even Danny Amendola, Hogan has some decent size at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds. A 80 catch, 900 yard season is not out of the question for Hogan, which would make him the draft day steal.
Next: Eric Ebron
Eric Ebron, TE, Detroit Lions
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Ebron was an excellent sleeper pick heading into this season, but with his ankle injury, he now enters the deep sleeper category because he’s seen his average draft position plummet (if he’s drafted at all) because people are afraid of his injury.
There is good news though as all reports coming out of Lions camp suggests that Ebron will definitely be ready for week 1. That should be music to your ears as somebody has to help pick up the 149 targets that Calvin Johnson left.
Yes, it’s true that Marvin Jones will get a bunch of them but Ebron should play every down and should be at his best entering his third year. At the very least we’ve seen him improve his catch rate and receiving average of his first two years.
A little leap in Year 3 would result in numbers in line with low-end start-worthy tight ends in Fantasy, because a big leap would put him beyond expectations. Given the Lions’ offense without Megatron or a potent run game, there’s a shot Ebron can give given over 100 targets (he had 70 in 14 games last season).
Next: Chris Thompson
Chris Thompson, RB, Washington Redskins
With the word that Matt Jones is now out for the rest of the pre-season with a second-degree separation of his left shoulder, Chris Thompson needs to start climbing your sleepers list.
A shoulder injury can easily happen again and it’s not as if Jones was running away with the starting running back job in Washington anyway. Thompson was always going to be their third-down back and even with a healthy Jones out there, Thompson could easily be this years Theo Riddick and catch 80+ balls out the backfield.
But if Thompson can get close to 120-150 carries, he could finish the year as a low-end RB2. That makes him someone to snag late in deeper fantasy leagues and check weekly on the waiver wire.
Next: Tajae Sharpe
Tajae Sharpe, WR, Tennessee Titans
What good sleeper list doesn’t contain the Titans’ rookie wide receiver? Everyone covering the Titans’ has been raving about him since rookie camp and now Sharpe finds himself fighting Rishard Matthews for the No. 1 WR spot after the trade of Dorial Green-Beckham to the Eagles.
The 21-year-old out of UMass was taken in the fifth-round in the 2016 NFL Draft, but likely would have garnered far more respect had he played for a bigger program because of his excellent route running abilities and is also can excelling at anything and everything that NFL wide receivers are required to do.
So far this pre-season, Sharpe has basically run away with a starting job, shinning in padded practices and preseason games. He erupted for 6 catches for 68 yards in one half of work in the Titans second preseason game.
While there are no guarantees when it comes to the Titans target distribution, it does seem that Sharpe has gained the trust of second year QB Marcus Mariota which makes Sharpe an intriguing late-round flyer, especially in PPR leagues.
Next: Sammie Coates
Sammie Coates, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
Ever since the news broke that Martavis Bryant was going to be suspended for the entire season, Coates has appeared on almost every sleeper list, and even some breakout lists.
There is good reason to think that Coates could be even better than Bryant was in the Steelers high-octane offense.
The Steelers need a big wide receiver and Coates fits the bill at 6-foot-1 and 212 pounds and he sure can run.
It’s not as if the Steelers are in love with their No. 2 wideout Markus Wheaton, which makes sense seeing that Wheaton has been given every opportunity to run away with the job, but so far hasn’t really shown that much promise.
This preseason the Steelers are peppering Coates with targets and so far, Coates has made a few big plays, but also several bonehead plays that have led to interceptions.
If you’re looking for a fifth or sixth receiver to stash on your bench in the hope that they develop into a potential starter, you could do far worse than gambling on Coates.