As football season begins to positively loom, fantasy leagues begin to kick into high gear. Almost everyone and their brother-in-law are trying to dupe each other in the fantasy draft by brushing up on stats for all their favorite players and catching updates from their favorite teams. Every sports fan thinks that he has the key unknown players that will make a difference in leagues across the country but most of them will go the way of the Staten Island Stapletons. If you’re looking for the lowdown on good sleepers for your fantasy team, here’s a list of players that will generally go a little bit later in the draft than they should.
Jay Cutler
It sounds a bit sketchy to say that Jay Cutler will be a sleeper considering he’s the starting quarterback of one of the most storied franchises in NFL history but consider the fact that he’s a regularly underappreciated and undervalued player and you have a perfect recipe.
His performance will simply outpace that of the average fantasy leaguer’s expectations simply because he has two great receivers, an incredible running back and a solid tight end. Even better is the fact that he’s getting further seasoned, which can only improve his play like a good cut of meat in a great marinade.
Cutler should have a banner year if he can avoid the injured list. His throwing targets are the size of houses and Matt Forte is a solid bet to contribute by catching passes out of the backfield. The Bears may not go on to take the title but Cutler might help you get ahead in your league.
Fred Jackson
The Buffalo Bills are in need of the leadership that has been provided by Fred Jackson for as long as he’s been with the team, particularly at the goal line. His primary competitors in that position are Bryce Brown and C.J. Spiller. Neither of these players has put in any significant amount of time at that high pressure position, which will likely lead the Bills to depend on Jackson during crunch time.
Tre Mason
Selected by the Rams in the 3rd round and a Heisman finalist, Mason has great potential for a lot of play in an offense that’s famously narrow. In giving them diversity, he also gives himself a decent amount of play time on a team that desperately needs some action.
Charles Clay
Clay ranked top ten among tight ends in catches (69), targets (101) and touchdowns (6). He’s currently a great safety valve for Ryan Tannehill as well. The Dolphins’ new offensive coordinator, Bill Lazor, is coming into the picture, which may either increase or decrease his play-time. I’d guess the former. As long as he can stay injury free for the season he should be a steal.
Doug Baldwin
Baldwin, as a member of the defending super bowl champs should have a lot of credit. Last season he set personal records for yards per catch and touchdowns. Golden Tate will be gone and Baldwin could easily be one of the primary wideouts for a team that can, at the very least, count on some home field yardage. I would argue that this makes Baldwin the potentially most underrated man on this list. At the very least he gives Seahawk fans a good reason to show support for this NFL team.
Frank Gore
Frank Gore was RB24 as of last month which is obscene considering he’s a cornerstone of the run-heaviest team in football. Even if he is slowly phased out this season he’ll be miles ahead of many other players getting drafted ahead of him this season. I’m not saying you should necessarily draft him right away but keep an eye on him as he slides.
Pierre Thomas
The Saints’ Pierre Thomas may be the most overlooked RB in football. After a 77-catch season that led all running backs, he’s still going absurdly low in the rankings. Maybe you reach to assure a catch or maybe you revel in the slide but either way you truly need to pick up Monsieur Thomas.
Altogether, your fantasy team is your own and everyone has their eye on several players in particular they believe to be sleepers. Further, most people are going to end up trying to draft a lot of their favorite players as a simple matter of course; the game wouldn’t be as fun if you didn’t get to celebrate or mourn the player you love to love.