The 5 Most Underrated Fantasy Football Options from the AFC East

Tom Brady. Wes Welker. Reggie Bush. Rob Gronkowski. Stevie Johnson. 

These are all guys that will go early in fantasy drafts, but while you should always be able to count on your two or three fantasy studs, the only way you can contend for a championship is to focus as diligently on value in the later rounds as you do early.

There are always some later-round pickups that will yield a high return, and several of those players reside in the AFC East. Here are some players who could impress that you might be able to land a bit later than expected.

Patriots Defense

It's not a glamour position, but the Patriots defense could be a solid value pick-up if you're looking to draft a defense later on. They give up yards at will, but they have been among the top units in turnovers the past two years, finishing first in 2010 and third in 2011. They are also underrated in terms of their ability to keep opponents off the scoreboard, finishing eighth in scoring in 2010 and 15th in 2011.

They lost defensive end Mark Anderson to free agency, but their pass-rush shouldn't be any less fearsome than it was last year with Anderson and Andre Carter running relentlessly into opposing backfields; With a revamped front that featured new additions Chandler Jones, Dont'a Hightower, Trevor Scott, Jonathan Fanene and more, the Patriots could be much improved in 2012. 

Davone Bess

A deep camp battle is brewing at wide receiver as the Dolphins try to find the best fits for their West Coast offense. They won't have to look far, though, as they have a great wide receiver on their roster in Davone Bess who fits the mold for their offense.

Bess' ability to create yards after the catch will make him an asset on short and intermediate throws, which will be the bread-and-butter of the Dolphins offense. 

The Dolphins aren't trying to replace the presence of a No. 1 receiver in their offense after trading away Brandon Marshall—luckily for them, as they don't have another receiver anywhere near his caliber (yet)—but they'll have to replace his production somehow. Bess should get increased looks due to his schematic fit as well as the increased opportunities that will be a result of Marshall's departure.

Dustin Keller

The New York Jets are looking for big improvements in their passing game, and though Mark Sanchez is at the center of that, so is the production of their skill position players.

Dustin Keller has always been more of a receiving tight end than a blocking one, and even though his stats have improved each year over the past three seasons, his services have never been used quite as much as they should; of all the receivers in the Jets offense, he has more familiarity than any of them with Sanchez. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Keller was targeted the seventh-most times of any tight end with 109 passes his direction, and he caught nearly 60 percent of those passes. 

If Tony Sparano uses the short game as much as he should—quite a bit with Sanchez at quarterback—Keller could have a big season, but with his career trending upward, Keller could be a solid option at tight end.

Fred Jackson

Fred Jackson was among the league's leaders in fantasy points before he went down with an injury. When he went down, C.J. Spiller stepped in and showed the Bills that they have two solid backs on their roster. With Jackson being plagued by age (31 years old), his recent injury, his presence in a pass-happy offense and his snaps in jeopardy, fantasy owners may be cautious to pick up Jackson.

On the contrary, the Bills would be wise to give their backs a heavy workload this season, and Jackson is the most well-rounded back on the Bills roster, with much more to offer as a receiver than Spiller. The Bills bring back almost the exact same group of offensive linemen that ended the 2011 season for them and have improved that unit by adding Cordy Glenn in the draft. 

While a majority of the offseason attention was on the Bills' need for a big-play threat in the passing game, what the end of the season taught the Bills is that they need to look for balance and that the running game is still capable of providing the push they need on offense.

Barring an unforeseen circumstance, Jackson will still be the No. 1 back in the offense. And if he keeps his play up to the level he was at when he went down mid-2011, he'll once again be one of the most dominant backs in fantasy.

Brandon Lloyd

After it became abundantly clear that the Patriots still needed help at wide receiver, specifically outside the numbers, they brought in Brandon Lloyd. He is a perfect fit in that he brings exactly what the Patriots lacked at receiver, but also in that he already knows the system. The value of football intelligence for the Patriots can't be understated.

He may not put up lights-out fantasy numbers, but he definitely has the potential to do so. We've seen what he's capable of in McDaniels' offense in the past, and that was without the superior quarterbacking skills of Tom Brady throwing him the ball. Instead, he was reeling in passes from Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford and others while still making it look easy.

The ball will get spread around, but Lloyd brings an element of big-play ability to the offense that the Patriots have lacked for some time; Brady will probably be very anxious to get the ball to his new toy.

Erik Frenz is the AFC East lead blogger for Bleacher Report. Be sure to follow Erik on Twitter and "like" the AFC East blog on Facebook to keep up with all the updates.