Very Early Look at Some Potential Fantasy Football Sleepers

It’s a very long ways away from Fantasy football time, but this is the first year I didn’t have a fantasy baseball team because of the nature of my regular day job–a summer day laborer and baseball opens today. The next best thing though is fantasy football. A lot of this could change between now and the season because of the NFL Draft and training camp injuries and the like, but very, very early on here are some players I think could be poised for big seasons in 2012. Maybe not all the players are sleepers, perse, but I think all are undervalued.

Quarterback:

It’s hard to truly find any quarterback sleepers because quarterback is the most talked about position in all of sports–everyone knows the starting quarterbacks, but here are some guys, I think as of today, who’ll have better-than-anticipated seasons.

John Skelton, QB, Arizona Cardinals

Throwing to Larry Fitzgerald should definitely help. I think that Skelton has always had a supporter in Ken Wisenhunt and he’s improved every year. He was a bit of a project, but now will be entering his third year as a quarterback and I think he beats out Kevin Kolb in the long run, even if the Cardinals have a lot invested in Skelton. Skelton has shown some serious grit and I think teammates believe in him. He did go 6-2 as a starter in his 8 starts last season.

Mark Sanchez, New York Jets

I think Sanchez is going to be completely under-appreciated because of the Tebow situation and it is possible that the weight of the Tebow phenomenon. Do you know how many touchdowns Sanchez had last year? 32 total touchdowns. With the Tebow situation my guess is Sanchez is going to get drafted very late, possibly even un-drafted in some leagues and he has a lot more upside than that.

Josh Freeman, QB, Buccaneers

Clearly neither Sanchez or Freeman are sleepers, but I think they are going to be undervalued. Freeman had a terrible year last year, bu I expect a big bounce back year from Freeman. He doesn’t play in a division with really great defenses to start and the addition of Vincent Jackson should help. The Buccaneers could also end up with Trent Richardson which would instantly improve their run game and toughness on offense.

Running back

The Running back position will change dramatically based on what the teams do in the draft, so it’s important to watch what happens in the draft, but these are the players to keep an eye on their teams don’t draft a running back early.

Donald Brown, Colts

Brown showed flashes of brilliance last year that we’ve all been waiting for. Brown averaged 4.8 yards per carry in his 8.4 attempts per game. Brown found the end-zone five times last year and also has ability as a pass catcher. Donald Brown should be in-line for more carries this year, but he’ll have to beat out last year’s 4th round pick Delone Carter out of Syracuse. The good thing for Brown is a new coaching staff means that he’ll be evaluated on what he does for Pagano, not what disappointments he might have been for his previous coaches.

Isaac Redman, Pittsburgh Steelers

I had Redman in a league or two last year because I loved what he did when given a chance, but now with the Mendenhall injury Redman will be in line for plenty of opportunities. He’s not going to be considered a sleeper for long though and probably isn’t even know. But I do think he’s talented and will do a good job next year so don’t feel afraid of drafting him as early as he’ll probably end up being drafted. Along with Redman, Jon Dwyer has a chance to make something ou tof himself this year as well.

Shane Vereen, New England

Loved Vereen coming out of college. He didn’t get many opportunities last year, but this year Vereen and Ridley seem in line for a lot of carries.

Bilal Powell-New York Jets

I’m not the biggest Shonn Green fan, but right now the Jets have basically nothing at running back. Who do you trust to step up on the Jets? Joe McKnight? Green can’t stay on the field and barring the jets drafting someone else at running back (which they seem poised to do) Powell could be in line for a lot more carries than people think.

Wide Receiver:

Jerel Jernigan/Ramses Barden

Have to start here. Every year it seems the third WR for the New York Giants steps up and has a good season. Last year the third WR ended up being Manningham, but early in the year the third WR was Victor Cruz. I wouldn’t expect Jernigan or Barden to have that kind of impact, but whichever one gets on the field regularly will put up some numbers–even Derek Hagan had a pretty good year late when called on by the Giants to get on the field.

Golden Tate-Seattle Seahawks

Tate will have to overcome Mike Willams and possibly Doug Baldwin, but a quarterback who makes quick decisions and throws a lot of short passes and relies on the yards after catch is someone that Golden Tate can thrive with. The Seahawks have also spent a lot of high draft picks on offensive linemen

Jordan Shipley, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

I think Shipley is kind of a forgotten man because he missed all of last season, but he really showed he can be a good slot WR who rackes up catches for the Bengals, especially playing with the talented A.J. Green.

So there you have it a few players I’ll be watching closely in training camp–and paying careful attention to how the team approaches their drafts. As we get closer to the season we’ll have plenty of real fantasy football sleeper articles.

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