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.