Fantasy Football Sleepers Part Two

Image: Jason Hill

Last week I touched on a few potential Fantasy Football Sleepers and this week I want to continue that theme with a few more young players that have enormous Fantasy Football Potential. These players probably won’t finish on top statistics wise, but could provide you with some good depth if you have some of your top players get injured, or if you need to start different players due to a bye week.

Disclaimer: Last week I mentioned the Dallas Cowboys receiver Isiah Stanback, scratch that. Just days after that article he injured his shoulder on a kick return, it was the same shoulder he had surgery on last year that caused him to miss his rookie year. Not a good omen for a 2nd year player trying to learn a new position.

RB DeAngelo Williams, Carolina Panthers:
I really liked Williams in college and I thought the Panthers made an excellent pick when they drafted him in the first round (27th overall) in the 2006 NFL Draft. Williams struggled a little bit as a rookie, but last year, even though Carolina struggled, Williams rushed for 717 yards and 4 touchdowns with an impressive 5 yards per carry average.

This year the Panthers drafted yet another running back in the first round when they selected Jonathan Stewart 13th over-all. Selecting Stewart that high might have signaled the demise of Williams, but instead it looks to have motivated him. Williams has had an excellent pre-season and looks to have a breakout season with Stewart breathing down his neck. DeAngelo has been the leading running back in the pre-season rushing for 188 yards and 3 TDs with a monster 7.2 yards per carry average. Against the Redskins Williams ran for 101 yards, including a dazzling 60-yard TD run.

TE Gijon Robinson/ TE Mike Hart, Indianapolis Colts
Obviously Dallas Clark is the top tight end on the team and for that matter one of the top tight ends in the NFL, but Clark has struggled to stay healthy in his career, he hasn’t missed many games, but he (Clark) has suffered from four concussions throughout his career and a broken leg in 2003. Enter small school stud Gijon Robinson, we always knew he was a heck of a blocker, but I have been highly impressed on how well he has fit into the Colts powerful offense. Robinson has been the Colts leading receiver for the Colts this pre-season catching 10 passes for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Also keep in mind the Colts drafted RB Mike Hart from Michigan this year. Hart has looked very impressive for the Colts in the pre-season, out of all the running backs on the Colts roster, Hart has looked the best with a team leading 7.7 yards per carry average. He is not going to beat out Joseph Addai, but if Addai gets injured look for Hart to get plenty of carries. Hart has football speed but doesn’t clock very well on the track (4.69), but don’t tell me he can’t play in the NFL. For his (Hart) career against the Big 10 at Michigan he ran for over 5,000 yards and 41 touchdowns with a 5 yards per carry average.

RB Andre Hall, Denver Broncos:
He didn’t get many carries last year, only 44, but he made the most out of them with 216 yards, 2 touchdowns and a nice 4.9 yards per carry average. I have a feeling Hall is going to be “The Man” this year for the Broncos. Hall (5’ 10” 210 lbs) has been the leading running back for the Broncos this preseason carrying the ball 24 times for 113 yards and a touchdown.

WR DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles:
Jackson is only a rookie, but he is a speedy threat to take the football into the end zone every time he touches the ball. Desean Jackson was the fastest receiver last year at the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine running a 4.35 forty yard dash. If your Fantasy Football League allows points for return yards and touchdowns, then Jackson could give you some nice fantasy points. Jackson was thought to be a little raw as a receiver, but he is developing rapidly with the Eagles. In the pre-season he has caught 16 passes for 189 yards including a scintillating 76 yard punt return for a touchdown against the Patriots.

WR Jason Hill, San Francisco 49ers:
I just loved this kid coming out of college (Washington State), he was a touchdown machine and hugely productive on the football field recording 32 career touchdowns. Then he ran a blazing 4.32 second 40 yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine and the San Francisco 49ers selected Hill in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. The 49ers, on their official website, gushed about Hill: "Even though Southern California’s heralded duo of Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith receive most of the press, if you ask any Pac-10 Conference defensive coordinator or defensive back which receiver they fear the most, they all say in unison one name – Jason Hill," the Niners wrote. So fast forward to 2008 and Hill is finally coming into his own, he has looked very good this pre-season, it looks like Mike Martz is working his offensive magic on Hill. He has caught 7 passes for 147 yards and 1 TD so far.

WR Jerome Simpson, Cincinnati Bengals:
Disgruntled receiver Chad Johnson has a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder, he will attempt to play through the injury, but he needs surgery and it’s questionable how effective he will be. Remember Johnson missed all of the mini camps and came to camp late, I think the Bengals are getting tired of his antics. Enter Jerome Simpson, this receiver has immense talent, physical talent right up there with the elite receivers in the league. Simpson just came from a small school (Coastal Carolina) and is extremely raw. I had Simpson rated as a pre-draft third rounder in my 2008 NFL Draft Big Board and the Bengals picked him with the 46th pick in the second round. Simpson has looked very good early and will get every chance to show what he can do and has been the leading receiver in the pre-season catching 9 passes for 144 yards. The Bengals worked out Simpson and fell in love with his ability. Check out this video of the selection.

Fantasy Football Draft Sleepers

When preparing for your fantasy football draft it’s easy to just look at last year’s leaders and make your draft boards up. But the problem with that is not all of last year’s winners will be winners this year and more importantly when all of the top players are gone a lot of amateur Fantasy Football Coaches/GMs are left scratching their heads in the later rounds. It’s time to finalize your fantasy football rosters and here are a few sleepers that could pay huge dividends in the mid to later rounds. Draft these guys and you will not regret it down the road.

WR Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions:
This second year player might slip through the radar because even though he was the second player drafted over all in the 2007 NFL Draft, he injured his back and basically had a “wash-out” rookie year. Forget about him at your peril because physically, Johnson is the most dominate receiver in the entire NFL, yes even more dominant than Randy Moss and Terrell Owens. Johnson stands 6’ 5” 220 pounds and runs a 4.34 forty yard dash. I'm healthy," Johnson said. "Our chemistry's real good right now. We're clicking." In a preseason game against the Bengals in only two series, he caught three passes for 76 yards and a touchdown and then in the next pre-season game against New York he played in two series and caught four passes for 78 yards. "Being 100% is totally different for that guy," quarterback Jon Kitna said. "He's a freak of nature." Yes he is back, and poised for a break-out year. If his health holds up this year he should finish among the elite receivers in fantasy numbers.

WR Robert Meachem, New Orleans Saints:
Meachem is another player that was drafted very high in the 2007 NFL Draft (first round). He incurred a devastating pre-season knee injury and missed his entire rookie year with the Saints, so the Fantasy GMs that just look at last year’s numbers won’t even have Meachem on their draft boards, but make no mistake Meachem is talented, and this year he is healthy. In the pre-season game against the Cardinals the 6’ 2” 210 pound talent caught 4 passes for 129 yards and a TD. Meachem entered the draft as a junior in 2007 so he is still young and learning, but under offensive guru Sean Payton and with Drew Brees throwing him the ball look for him to have a break out year in 2008. Current starting receivers Marques Colston and Devery Henderson are battling knee and hamstring injuries respectively, so the door is open for Meachem. He will have to beat out David Patten and Terrance Copper, but that looks very doable to me. Look for him to be a starter by mid season.

TE Kevin Boss, New York Giants:
The replacement for Jeremy Shockey, who coincidently left to play for the Saints. Boss was one of the top Small School NFL Draft Prospects in the 2007 NFL Draft and ended up being drafted in the 5th round. Boss is big (6’ 5” 265 lbs) and fast and has immense talent. He took the NFL world by storm last year in Super Bowl XLII when his 45-yard catch and run early in the 4th quarter set up David Tyree’s 5-yard touchdown catch, which gave the Giants a 10-3 lead and an eventual Super Bowl Championship. Boss will be the starter now and has the ability to put up huge fantasy numbers.

WR Isaiah Stanback, Dallas Cowboys:
Terry Glenn is off the team and the Cowboys need a deep threat opposite Terrell Owens (TO). Enter Isaiah Stanback, the former quarterback from Washington who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He is a serious deep threat, Stanback ranks among Washington's all-time top-10 in the 100-meter dash (10.48, 8th) and 4x100-meter relay (40.07, 7th) outdoors, and the 60-meter dash (6.80, 8th) indoors. The 6’ 2” 210 pound former quarterback mainly returned kicks and fought injuries his rookie year, but he learned the nuances of the wide receiver position and appears poised to put up some good fantasy numbers for the Cowboys this season. WR Miles Austin suffered a knee injury in the pre-season and will be out at least 6 weeks, so Stanback will be given an opportunity. WR Patrick Crayton is penciled in as the starter opposite TO and Sam Hurd look like the 3rd receiver, but neither of those guys are a deep threat, so look for Stanback to come in on 3rd and long and make some plays. Stanback is still raw, but he could be a late round steal, especially if you play in a keeper league because he has long term potential to be able to even win a starting spot in the future.

TE Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys:
I know what you are thinking, Jason Witten is hardly a sleeper, even a Fantasy Football novice knows about him, heck he made the Pro Bowl last year. You are right, but I still wanted to highlight Witten because he is good, no I mean really good, I mean top 5 selection good. If you can’t get one of the top 2-3 receivers, running backs or quarterbacks, then get Witten because he will give you a ton of fantasy points. Find a way to get Witten on your fantasy football team folks, I can’t stress enough how good of a fantasy player he is. Since 2003 Witten has accumulated 348 receptions for 3,983 yards and 21 TDs, but remember, except for last year the Cowboys had serious QB problems during those years. Speaking of last year, Witten is getting better and better and now after a full year with QB Tony Romo should do even better this year, last year he was almost unstoppable catching 96 passes for 1,145 yards and 7 TDs. The 6’ 5” 262 pound tight end, even though he has been around a while, is just now coming into his own, remember he came into the NFL as a junior, so he should be able to put up huge fantasy numbers for years to come.

Early 2008 NFL Draft News

The big news out today is Scott Wright has changed his website domain from NFL Draft Countdown, to just Draft Countdown: www.draftcountdown.com. Historically, Draft Countdown has been probably the best web site for free NFL Draft information on the Internet. Amazingly he has resisted the temptation over the years to add fees to his site and I have recently been assured his web site will remain free. He already has his 2009 NFL Mock Draft and Prospect Rankings updated and he is planning on keeping his Wright Stuff Blog updated throughout the season. Don't forget to change your bookmarks and links.

In other NFL Draft News, Florida senior tight end Cornelius Ingram will miss the 2008 college football season with a torn ACL in his left knee. It is unclear whether Ingram will attempt a red-shirt or enter the 2009 NFL Draft. Last season (2007) the 6' 4" 230 pound tight end recorded 508 receiving yards and tied for a team-high seven touchdowns. Ingram came to Florida as a star quarterback and is very athletic, even playing on the Florida basketball team. Not a strong blocker and this injury will cause him to slip if he does enter the 2009 NFL Draft, but he has NFL potential and reminds me of the Denver Bronco's Brandon Marshal.

Look for the Florida offense to possibly struggle early with timing issues, they have been hit with an injury bug. Wide Receiver (WR) Louis Murphy has been walking around with a boot on his right leg to protect a sprained ankle, and WR Percy Harvin is still recovering from a heel injury. Don't feel too sorry for Heisman Hopeful QB Tim Tebow however, both receivers are very talented and should be on the field by opening day.

Young Guns for the 2009 NFL Draft

I have just updated my 2009 NFL Draft Positional Rankings and for the first time I have included sophomores. Unlike most NFL Draft Sites, I do try to predict (or speculate) on who might enter the draft as an under-classmen. Isn’t that what being a Draftnik is all about, speculating about the NFL Draft? So if you are a purist and you think it’s unethical to talk about under-classmen until they actually declare, then you’ve come to the wrong place. So when I am wrong on some of my predictions and some of these prospects decide to go back to college for another year, then I will just update my rankings, just as we all have to update when we finally know exactly which under-classmen has declared.

This is the first time I have ever included sophomores in my rankings or Mock Drafts, heck (currently 7 August), I even have a sophomore as my number one over-all draft pick in my recently updated 2009 NFL Mock Draft. As a disclaimer, I am not recommending that any of these prospects enter the draft early, especially as a sophomore and unless they are a running back, I don’t think they should even enter early as a junior. The running back position is the exception, they only have so much tread on their tires, durability is a concern, you hate to see a college prospect beat themselves down in college and get injured, plus the running back position, except for blocking, is not that hard. Give a running back the ball and he knows exactly which way to run.

So back to the original purpose of this article, since this is the first time I have ever included sophomores in my rankings I wanted to highlight the three prospects that I have chosen to include. All three of the following sophomore prospects are eligible for the draft. The NFL says that a player must simply be three years removed from high school and all three are red-shirt freshman, meaning they sat out and didn’t play their true freshman college football season.

I will start out with maybe the top player in college football at this point, Wide receiver Michael Crabtree from Texas Tech. As a freshman last year he really caught my eye, yes he played for pass happy Texas Tech and the system did pad his stats a little, but C’mon, 22 touchdowns (TDs) and the winner of the Biletnikoff Award as a freshman, that is just unheard of. I watched him play quite a bit last year and he destroyed some talented senior defensive backs that are playing in the NFL right now. Playing against Texas and Oklahoma alone last year he accumulated 22 receptions for 349 yards and 3 touchdowns (TDs). He started out the season on fire last year by scoring 17 touchdowns by October 6th. His total receptions were 134 for 1,962 yards and 22 TDs. Crabtree was the Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year and led the nation and the Big 12 in receptions (134), receiving yards (1,962) and touchdowns (22) - all NCAA freshman records. Plus he didn’t do this against Hawaii; most of his games were in the brutal Big 12. So how did he do this? Well he has all the tools, he looks like he was born to play receiver, he has nice size (6’ 3” 208 pounds), speed, quickness and hands. He looks like a young Michael Irvin to me. It would definitely benefit him to stay in school at least one more year, you could say that about all three of these prospects, but if he does enter the draft, he will be hot property.

Jeremy Maclin is another super talented receiver; Maclin does double duty as a punt and kick returner and put up some pretty gaudy numbers, again in the Big 12. Maclin’s 2,776 all-purpose yards were the most by a freshman in NCAA history and the fifth most by any player ever. Maclin was the only player in the nation to record touchdowns via receiving (9), rushing (4), punt return (2) and kickoff return (1). His kickoff return of 99 yards against Kansas State was one for the record books; it was Missouri's first kickoff return for a TD since 1982. He also set a school record with 360 all-purpose yards against rival Kansas State. As a slot receiver he exploded for a team high 1,055 yards last year and this spring he blazed a 4.32 forty yard dash. At 6’ 1” 200 pounds he is not some small guy either. If he continues to refine his technique, stays healthy and puts up the kind of numbers he put up last year, it might be hard to stop him from jumping to the NFL early. He should be the focal point of Missouri’s offense this year and he will have a Heisman Trophy Candidate throwing him the ball in QB Chase Daniel.

Running Back Knowshon Moreno is getting a ton of hype right now. Georgia is ranked number one in most pre-season College Football Top 25 Polls and Moreno is part of the reason why. This pre-season the accolades are already flying in. Moreno has been named as an All-America and All-SEC first team by Lindy’s, Phil Steele, Athlon, Sporting News, Blue Ribbon; and All-SEC first team by SEC Coaches and Birmingham News. The reason, simply put, Moreno is very good. Last year (2007), he appeared in 13 games making six starts with 248 carries for 1,334 yards (5.3 average) and 14 TDs. He is also excellent catching the ball out of the backfield; he made 20 receptions for 253 yards with a 12.6 yards per catch average. Moreno ended the season with the second-most yards per game (102.6 average) in the SEC and finished No. 2 on the school’s all-time list and No. 4 on the SEC’s all-time list for most yards rushing by a freshman (1,334 yards). He was named to the Freshman All-America First Team by Rivals.com and Scout.com and All-SEC First-Team by Associated Press, SEC Coaches and Rivals.com; named SEC All-Freshman and SEC Freshman Offensive Player of the Year by Sporting News and named to the SEC Coaches All-Freshman team. He is a workhorse, has decent size (5” 11” 207 lbs) and is very durable, he carried the ball 33 times against Florida last season. Quick, strong, shifty, fast and he breaks tackles, the young Knowshon Moreno has all the attributes of an NFL running back.

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