Fantasy Football Rankings 2012: Sleepers That Will Finish Among Top 10 WRs

Stop drooling over Calvin Johnson.

At the top of the 2012 fantasy football rankings, he’ll be joined by a number of sleepers that are underrated going into the season. Believe it or not, he isn’t the only wide receiver that’s bound for domination in 2012. There are three sleepers that’ll finish among the top-10 fantasy receivers.

3. Dez Bryant

Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Bryant is having a phenomenal training camp. Of course, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

In just his first two years in the league, Bryant has caught 108 balls for 1,489 yards and 15 touchdowns. He produced despite being held back by injuries to him and Tony Romo. If the Cowboys offensive line can keep Romo upright (easier said than done) and Bryant can stay out of trouble (also easier said than done), he’ll be a top-10 fantasy football wide receiver in 2012.

In a perfect world, he likely would’ve gone over 1,000 yards and scored double-digit touchdowns last year. But the Dallas Cowboys’ world never is perfect, is it?

Bryant’s worth the risk. His upside is tremendous. But hopefully, for his sake, the ticking time bomb that is that O-line doesn’t go off and send Romo to the sideline—again.

2. Julio Jones

ESPN’s NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas raved about the camp Julio Jones has been having. He wrote:

"

If I had to pick just one player who has stood out most during my training camp tour so far, Atlanta’s Julio Jones would be the easy choice. In each of the practices, I saw the second-year receiver make several spectacular plays. Let’s keep in mind that he was going up against some big-name cornerbacks in Brent Grimes, Dunta Robinson and Asante Samuel.

"

That’s music to Falcons fans' ears.

Jones reeled in 54 receptions for 959 yards and eight touchdowns in just 13 games last season. The terrifying part for Atlanta’s division rivals is that all eight of his trips to the end zone occurred in the last seven games of the year. Now that he’s over his hamstring and foot injuries, he could have that type of production all season long.

Jones drew comparisons to Terrell Owens before the 2011 NFL draft for a reason—he’s special.

1. Brandon Marshall

Over the past two seasons, Brandon Marshall has racked up 167 receptions, 2,228 yards and nine touchdowns catching passes from Chad Henne and Matt Moore—I repeat, Chad Henne and Matt Moore. With the Chicago Bears, Marshall is going to rip opposing secondaries to shreds—kind of like he did with the Denver Broncos.

Jay Cutler is a superior passer to Henne and Moore (he’s thrown more touchdowns the past three years than Henne and Moore combined). Throw in the fact that he and Marshall have quite a history of success together, and they’re bound to form a dominant combination in 2012.

In his two years as a starter catching passes from Cutler, Marshall recorded 206 receptions, 2,590 yards and 13 touchdowns.

The NFC North should be horrified.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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