Fantasy football seems easy. Buy a book, look at some cheat sheets, and draft according to the lists. Simple, right?
Following the cheat sheets like that forgets one key about fantasy football: upside rules all in the late rounds. When the choice is between a run-of-the-mill veteran receiver and a young receiver getting good reviews in training camp, always go for the upside.
After all, Fred Taylor isn’t winning your fantasy football league. Chris Perry might.
But once those first few rounds are over, whom should you target? Who are the high-upside sleeper picks that will make your team able to withstand your early-round busts? Who can help you withstand injuries or provide trade bait to get the player to put your team over the top?
Here are 14 players with the potential to provide huge returns on when they are chosen.
Mid-late round sleepers (picks 75-125)
WR Nate Burleson - Seattle Seahawks
Burleson put up almost 700 yards and nine touchdowns last year. With Bobby Engram and Deion Branch both probably out for at least the first two weeks of the season, Burleson is Matt Hasselbeck's No. 1 receiver, and he will have the first chance to take the role that Darrell Jackson had for so many years and that Engram had last year.
He's clearly the No. 1, and in an offense that is sure to pass the ball a lot, he could put up big numbers early against Buffalo, San Francisco, and St. Louis.
RB Chester Taylor - Minnesota Vikings
Taylor is a great player to have and not just if you're an Adrian Peterson owner. Even with "AD" in town, Taylor put up 844 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 5.4 yards per carry. If Peterson gets hurt again, Taylor is immediately a top 10-15 running back behind that offensive line. Plus, he's great trade bait.
One last fact about Peterson: He wasn't much of a goal-line back last season. Taylor could potentially siphon goal-line carries from him. But let's get one thing straight; if you're drafting Taylor, you're drafting him hoping that Peterson misses some games.
RB Ricky Williams - Miami Dolphins
I know No. 34 is considered a joke by many football fans, but he very well might be the starting running back for the Fish. He's healthier than Ronnie Brown, and he's in much better football shape than he was last season.
Prepare to hear some snickers when you draft him, but getting a possible starting running back who has had 1,300 and 1,800-yard seasons in his career is a steal at around the 100th pick in the draft.
Don't expect the world, but he has more upside and a clearer path to start than other backs you can take at this point in the draft.
QB Jay Cutler - Denver Broncos
Cutler enters his third year as Denver's starter. Along with David Garrard, Matt Hasselbeck, Derek Anderson, and a few others, he's in the next tier of quarterbacks that you wait until the middle of the draft to grab.
He was a high first-round pick for a reason: He has all the talent of the elite quarterbacks. Throw in Brandon Marshall, Darrell Jackson, Brandon Stokley, and Tony Scheffler, and you have a decent situation here.
13 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Matt Madrid 10 months ago
I like your list. Might have to refer back to this at my draft this weekend!
One note, Gonzo is in his 2nd season with Indy. I still think he'll have a great year though becayse Harrison has been injury prone and has the off field issue going on.
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Mackenzie Kraemer 10 months ago
Thank you for the fact check there. Stupid of me, I thought he was drafted two years ago. Either way, with Harrison getting up there in age and coming off a rough year with injuries and off-field concerns, Gonzo may have to step up.
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Shaun Guidolin 10 months ago
2 Words - Eddie Royal .. He'll be the #1 WR in Denver for the 1st 2 weeks
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Shaun Guidolin 10 months ago
2 words - Eddie Royal. He'll be the #1 WR in Denver for the 1st 2 weeks.
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Mackenzie Kraemer 10 months ago
Eddie Royal's another decent pick, but I don't like trusting rookie receivers that much, and I expect Marshall and Jackson to remain the #1 and #2 receivers there for a while.
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Daniel Gorter 10 months ago
Excellent list. Jay Cutler, Chester Taylor, Ricky Williams, and Anthony Gonzalez are all people i love going into drafts. Maurice Morris is also a steal in most drafts.
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Kyle Latimer 10 months ago
I dont agree with the players you think of as your top 14 sleepers...I wrote and article 'Don't Sleep on the Fantasy Sleepers" and none of my guys were on your list...
Michael Turner,
Kevin Curtis,
EARNEST GRAHAM,
Dwayne Bowe,
Justin Fargas
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Mackenzie Kraemer 10 months ago
None of the guys you listed would be on my list though, except for Fargas and Curtis.
Bowe might be taken before the time in the draft I was targeting, so I didn't really consider him. He's a nice sleeper though for where he's typically chosen, but I was looking more for guys taken slightly later.
Curtis would have been a good sleeper if he hadn't gotten hurt, though part of me doesn't believe he can be a #1 receiver.
Graham, I like him more than most, but again, he's an earlier pick. Top 40 pick for sure, not top 100.
Turner, see Graham.
Fargas is a decent sleeper certainly, but with McFadden in town, what is Fargas's upside in a split role on a bad team?
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Daniel Gorter 10 months ago
Excellent list. Jay Cutler, Chester Taylor, Ricky Williams, and Anthony Gonzalez are all people i love going into drafts. Maurice Morris is also a steal in most drafts.
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Daniel Gorter 10 months ago
sorry didn't mean to repeat the comment
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Sam Wenk 10 months ago
I like your picks, especially Chris Perry and A-Gonz. They are on my sleeper list as well. Ricky Williams is a great value pick that most people forget is now the starter after Brown's injury.
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Andrew Hamilton 10 months ago
Good list, remember, up in Seattle, there aint going to be much going on with the passing game which means that they may lean heavy on the run.
To Kyle: I don't see Kevin Curtis as a sleeper. In fact, he was fantasy poison last year. I love the Eagles, but Curtis couldn't put a consistent week in, week out performance. I picked him up in my drafts last year (no one else was gunning for him) but I dropped him in all leagues. He had some great GREAT games which brought him to his final season numbers but its hard to start a guy who is hot one week and cold the next without any discernable pattern.
On that note, I think Desean Jackson will be a total stud and rookie of the year this year. I would say that he has great sleeper potential considering that Curtis is injured and may be out for several games and sluggish for a few when he returns.
Andrew Hamilton
Hamilton International Productions
Convention Videographers Las Vegas
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Michael Inglis 10 months ago
I like the list.
I think Julius Jones is going to have a good year for the Seahawks. I also like rookie RB Stewart for Carolina. He should get a good amount of carries for a team that doesn't have a number one back.
Michael Turner is a good pick, he could lead the NFL in rushing because A) he's good. B) he'll get a lot of carries because the falcons passing game won't be great.
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