Grab These Running Back Sleepers While Friends Nap at the Fantasy Wheel

You’ve all heard of that old saying “You Snooze, You Lose” right? Well, if you haven’t, let us introduce you to the Bruno Boys philosophy on finding those diamond in the rough fantasy football impact players or identifying a player coming off injury who is set to have a big season. We like to call our traditional sleeper rankings, Snooze Alarm rankings, because we focus on players who are virtually unheard of coming into the season, or they are undervalued because they might have suffered an injury or inconsistent play in the previous season. In some occasions we will even tackle a player who had a solid season the year before but still isn’t getting the attention he should.

Often times, these are the exact same players who either outperform their average draft position in fantasy football drafts by season's end, or they hit your league as a free agent, but finish as a top performer on a weekly basis. With that being said, please read on and enjoy the 2009 Bruno Boys Running Back “Snooze Alarm” Rankings. Doing so, will allow you to not panic on draft day when a certain position starts flying off the board and should help add much coveted depth to your fantasy football roster.

Ranking System: The higher the “Snooze Alarm” Ranking, the more sleeper value the player has.

Kevin Smith (Detroit Lions): Heading the list of sleepers or undervalued players who could have a solid impact during the 2009 fantasy football season is the Detroit Lions’ Kevin Smith. Having impressed during training camp and the preseason games, the Lions rewarded Smith’s efforts with the starting gig. He lasted only four games before being leap frogged by long-time Cincinnati Bengal, Rudi Johnson.

That did not last long though as he came off the bench for four games to only be thrown back into the starting lineup; this time for good. During his last eight games Smith averaged well over 100 all-purpose yards and punched in five touchdowns.

He is going into 2009 with a better offensive line in front of him, a rookie tight end in Brandon Pettigrew who takes enjoyment in laying hard blocks as well as getting to play behind a vastly improved passing game. If he were playing for the New England Patriots there is a good chance he would be being targeted as a mid-high RB2 in 12 team leagues. Luckily for you he is a Lion and a lot of people will allow him to slip much lower. Don’t be one of those people. Grab him later than he should be going and enjoy his production. That is why we here at the Bruno Boys are giving Smith SIX SNOOZE ALARMS!

SNOOZE ALARM RANKING: 6 ALARMS

Darren McFadden (Oakland Raiders): Unlike Kevin Smith, Darren McFadden had a pretty rough rookie season. Expected to make an immediate impact as a top backup RB3 in deeper leagues, the fantasy football world, along with the Oakland Raiders all cringed as we watched him limp into 784 total yards, four touchdowns and only five games started.

Making matters worse in 2008, but significantly improving your chances of being able to grab him as a great sleeper is the fact that he not only plays for the Raiders, but that he also only had two games in which he totaled more than 100 yards through the air and on the ground. Those are not numbers that one wants to see when looking to draft a RB2 to your team. That is why he most likely will be available as a RB3 in deeper leagues and has a very good chance at producing solid RB2 numbers throughout the season.

While he has a fairly tough schedule for opposing rush defenses, he does play seven games against opponents in 2009 that were not very solid against the run in 2008. Used in the right matchups, McFadden will definitely make fantasy football owners happy this year. That is enough to convince us to give him FIVE SNOOZE ALARMS!

SNOOZE ALARM RANKING: 5 ALARMS

Cedric Benson (Cincinnati Bengals): No one expects much from this once highly regarded Chicago Bears No. 1 draft choice in 2005 and there is just reason for that. He hasn’t approached anywhere near what his reputation was selling when he entered the league. But with a few off-the-field problems and a release by the Bears, the Cincinnati Bengals decided to give him a chance, and that turned into one of the better stories around the NFL in 2008.

Cedric Benson was brought in after the Bengals had given up on the talent that they have at running back and took full advantage of the situation. Getting into game shape by coming off the bench during his first two games with the Bengals, he started their final 10 games having put up an average of 124 combined yards per game during his last three contests.

You have to keep in mind that those games were not against the toughest rush defenses in the game; far from it. But it should serve as an eye opener and gives you someone to keep in the back of your mind for a solid RB3 option that could be a solid starting option during certain weeks. He does have a tough division in which he will be facing the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens twice a year, putting a solid nick in his fantasy football value. But if you have the room and can grab him to spot-play, he can server your team well. That is why he is getting FOUR SNOOZE ALARMS!

SNOOZE ALARM RANKING: 4 ALARMS

Ronnie Brown (Miami Dolphins): Ronnie Brown has shown a lot of promise since he was drafted in 2005 by the Miami Dolphins. In 2007, his third year in the league, Brown was off to a very hot start having accumulated almost 1,000 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns in his first seven games. That seventh game ended in disaster though as he blew out his ACL; but as we said that is 2007; this is 2009.

Playing through a rebound year in 2008, Brown split a lot of time with Ricky Williams and yet he still had a total of 1,170 yards and 10 touchdowns. Those numbers are pretty solid for a guy that was expected to miss the first half of the season while recovering from his ACL injury.

This offseason he is 100 percent and is expected to take on a much more prominent role in the offense. That could mean that he is in for a year unlike any other that he has had.  A solid spike in both yardage on the ground and the air is to be expected while touchdowns may hover at or near what he did in 2008. The good thing though is no one knows and he could produce even more, or re-injure himself. That is why he is on the sleeper map. There will be plenty of fantasy football owners that are not going to be willing to throw him in as their RB2 as they want assurance.

Well, this is the NFL and the only thing that you are assured of is that LaDainian Tomlinson can have a knife in his back and still find a way to put pads on and get into the game. There is just enough question marks around Brown to make him qualify on this list and that is why the Bruno Boys are giving him THREE SNOOZE ALARMS!

SNOOZE ALARM RANKING: 3 ALARMS

TO SEE THE REST OF THE SLEEPERS CLICK HERE...

Fantasy Football Running Back Sleepers