Fantasy Football Rankings 2013: Rookie Sleepers to Snag Late in Your Draft

The fantasy football season is approaching fast, and owners should look to the 2013 rookie class to find the sleepers that can help them win a championship.

While big names like Le'Veon Bell, Montee Ball and Tavon Austin are getting drafted very high, there are underrated first-year players that savvy owners will take a worthwhile risk on.

When these sleepers blossom into stars, fantasy owners who drafted them will look as smart as the real NFL owners who drafted them.

Top 15 Fantasy Rookies

Rank	Player	Pos.	Team	Bye Week	Proj. RD
1	Le'Veon Bell	RB	Pittsburgh Steelers	5	4-6
2	Montee Ball	RB	Denver Broncos	9	4-6
3	DeAndre Hopkins	WR	Houston Texans	8	10-12
4	Tavon Austin	WR	St. Louis Rams	11	6-8
5	Giovani Bernard	RB	Cincinnati Bengals	12	7-9
6	Eddie Lacy	RB	Green Bay Packers	4	7-9
7	Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	Minnesota Vikings	5	12-14
8	Tyler Eifert	TE	Cincinnati Bengals	12	13-15
9	Keenan Allen	WR	San Diego Chargers	8	13-15
10	Johnathan Franklin	RB	Green Bay Packers	4	13-15
11	Aaron Dobson	WR	New England Patriots	10	Undrafted
12	E.J. Manuel	QB	Buffalo Bills	12	Undrafted
13	Zach Ertz	TE	Philadelphia Eagles	12	Undrafted
14	Stepfan Taylor	RB	Arizona Cardinals	9	Undrafted
15	Denard Robinson	RB	Jacksonville Jaguars	9	Undrafted

Rookie Sleepers You Can’t Miss

Keenan Allen, WR, San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers are now looking for one of their wide receivers to step up with Danario Alexander going down with a season-ending ACL tear. This could be the chance Keenan Allen has been looking for.

While Allen is listed as the No. 4 WR on the Chargers depth chart, he has the raw talent and size to be an effective player at the NFL level. If Philip Rivers can develop chemistry with the former Cal star, fantasy owners could see big numbers from the third-round pick.

During the team’s first preseason game Thursday, Allen caught two passes for 13 yards and was targeted for another. Those numbers aren’t overly impressive, but the hope is that they will climb during each of the preseason games and result in serious targets during the regular season.

Johnathan Franklin, RB, Green Bay Packers

While fellow Packers rookie Eddie Lacy is getting more love on draft day, fantasy owners should wait to snag Johnathan Franklin in the waning stages of the draft and ride him to the playoffs.

Lacy is a powerful back that will see a heavy dosage of work, but Franklin is the better pass-catching running back. Both backs are efficient pass-blockers, and Green Bay will likely split carries evenly.

Franklin had 33 receptions in his final season with UCLA, and it will be his ability to play in every situation that gets him the reps that make him a fantasy steal. As the season progresses, expect Franklin to get more and more touches each week as he acclimates to the league.

Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Minnesota Vikings

There are plenty of questions around Minnesota Vikings first-round pick Cordarrelle Patterson and whether he will acclimate to the NFL in time to be effective this year. However, his play in the first preseason game showed his true talent.

Patterson amassed 104 total yards against the Houston Texans on Friday (50-yard kickoff return and four receptions for 54 yards) and looked to be the kind of player that many people believe has the raw talent to become a star.

While Christian Ponder’s lack of elite talent scares owners, the fact that Matt Cassel is the backup and could get a chance to start eventually should be a positive sign for the deep threat.

Either way, grabbing Patterson in the 13th round is a risk well worth taking.

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