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Fantasy Football Sleepers to Watch as We Enter the Preseason

By Hunter Helms

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 31: Mitchell Trubisky #10 of the Chicago Bears passes the ball in the first quarter of the game against the Minnesota Vikings on December 31, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 31: Mitchell Trubisky #10 of the Chicago Bears passes the ball in the first quarter of the game against the Minnesota Vikings on December 31, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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Throughout the season, I will offer up a handful of Fantasy Football Sleepers each week, but right now I wanted to share four players I think it would be wise to keep tabs on as we enter the preseason.

It is officially draft season. The time to set up a draft board, talk trash with league members, and do whatever else it is you like do this time of year. One of my favorite things to do is to try and find the deep Fantasy Football Sleepers. The players a few scrolls down on the pre-draft rankings. The type of guys you offhandedly bring up in a conversation to see how other teams in your league view them- if they even know them at all.

A couple players we’ll look at are generally known commodities, but are slipping through the cracks in most drafts. The others, however, are some genuine deep sleepers. Lets get started.

Willie Snead: WR, Baltimore Ravens

Snead is someone that has attracted some activity lately from the fantasy community. He is still largely going undrafted, but has seen a small uptick in ownership. Snead is joining a WR core that features Michael Crabtree and John Brown, and is expected to lock down the slot position. For that reason alone (taking over the slot) his signing should have gotten much more fantasy press than it did, so let me explain why. Baltimore hasn’t had a true slot receiver since Steve Smith, who quickly became Joe Flaccos favorite target. Smith posted a 1,000 yard, 6 TD season in 2014, then tore his achilles in 2015 and missed half the season. He returned for a marginally productive year in 2016, but he really wasn’t the same player and retired that offseason. Baltimore attempted to replace Smith with Jeremy Maclin last season, but the move didn’t work out. The belief is that Snead can at least be 80% of the player Smith was in 2014, but he could be even better than that. He is only 25 and he has already posted two top-40 WR campaigns. Michael Crabtree has been the receiver to draft out of Baltimore, but I think it is entirely possible Snead can outperform him this season.

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Nick Vannett: TE, Seattle Seahawks

Vannett is the best tight end on the Seahawks roster. That isn’t really by choice, but a lack of options. Seattle signed Ed Dickson in the offseason, but he is a career blocking tight end. They drafted Will Dissly out of Washington, but he is also a blocking tight end. The only other legitimate option is Tyrone Swoopes, a converted quarterback, and he probably won’t take anyones job this year. The bottom line is that Vannett has a wide open path to fantasy relevance. Yes, the Seahawks will be a run-first team in 2018, but Russell Wilson will still toss the rock around. The obvious candidates to take most of the targets are Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, and Brandon Marshall. Baldwin injured his knee and will more than likely miss the entire preseason. This could be serious issue and he could miss portions of the regular season with a nagging injury like that. Lockett has never been a go-to guy, often being a third or fourth target behind Baldwin, Jimmy Graham, and Paul Richardson. Brandon Marshall is 34 and coming off a season ending ankle injury. Like I said before, Vannett has a WIDE OPEN path to relevance and could really be an important part of the Seattle offense.

Chad Hansen: WR, New York Jets

I’ll do it for you,

“WHO??”

Hansen has been on the Jets roster for a year, being taken in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. He has been buried under a slew of Jets receivers, but if he can follow up a nice performance in training camp with a strong preseason he could very well break through. Admittedly, Hansen is more of a long shot that Vannett and Snead. He’s currently sixth on a depth chart constituting of Quincy Enunwa, Terrelle Pryor (a popular sleeper candidate), Robby Anderson, Jermaine Kearse, and ArDarius Stewart. The thing is though, Enunwa recently had another injury, Robby Anderson could be suspended, and ArDarius Stewart IS suspended. It isn’t out of the question that Hansen could take the slot position by the season opener. He is the biggest question mark on the list, but it would be worth your time to at least keep an eye on him.

Mitch Trubisky: QB, Chicago Bears

I think Trubisky could be special this year. There is no reason he can’t be a top-15 fantasy QB. He showed flashes last season and even put together a nice stretch of games on the back end of the season. Chicago went out and totally rebuilt his receiving corps- signing Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, and Trey Burton. Those additions, along with the backfield duo of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, will be huge for Trubiksy. There are loads of upside here and if you’re someone who waits until the later rounds of the draft to take a QB, Trubisky is as solid a bet as any.

Fantasy Football WR Rankings. dark. Next

These were just a few players I had my eye on, and I can’t wait to see what happens as we enter the preseason.

Thank you!

All stats and figures were compiled from pro-football-reference.com and fftoday.com

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