Fantasy Football 2015: Darren McFadden and 2 Other Veteran Sleepers

In fantasy football you have your sleepers, and then you have your deep sleepers.

Deep sleepers are not just people hooked up to sleep apnea machines who would not wake up if their kids were banging cymbals above their heads. They are also players in fantasy football leagues who are buried far down on cheat sheets when fantasy owners prepare for their drafts.

Three veterans have joined new teams either via free agency or trade in the last couple of months, and their fantasy values went from close to zero to being intriguing. They may have been labeled deep sleepers before they changed uniforms, but now the “deep” can be removed because their fantasy price tags have gone up.

So here are the three veterans who have become sleepers in fantasy football because of the new NFL teams they will be with in 2015, starting with a guy who could be the luckiest player in the league.

Darren McFadden, Dallas Cowboys (RB)

I know what you are thinking. Craig, McFadden has had more injuries than all of the bad guys in every Liam Neeson action movie combined! And even though he did not miss a game in 2014, McFadden did not run with any authority. He averaged just 3.4 yards per carry and 5.9 yards per catch. Why would I touch him with a 10-foot selfie stick?

Because McFadden signed with the team with the best offensive line in the business. You could stick Trent Richardson in Dallas’ backfield and that slow-footed fumbler could stumble his way to 1,100 yards.

Now that McFadden has seemingly conquered his injury problems (being a little optimistic, I know), he could post the second 1,000-yard season of his career if he wins the top tailback spot with the Cowboys and gets 250 carries over the course of the 2015 campaign.

McFadden does not need to be the McFadden of 2007 who sprinted through secondaries for the Arkansas Razorbacks and got himself drafted fourth overall by the Raiders. He just needs to follow DeMarco Murray’s lead and make one cut and plow forward. Dallas’ line can do the rest.

Do not draft McFadden in the first four rounds thinking he will be the Tony Dorsett of 2015. But if he does well during training camp and is assured of even just splitting the carries with another back, he is going to have several solid games and run for a lot more than 3.4 yards per carry.

Miles Austin, Philadelphia Eagles (WR)

Did Chip Kelly and his coaching staff see something on film that the rest of the world didn’t see when it comes to Austin the past couple of years?

Austin is coming off a season where he had to fight and claw to get 568 receiving yards and two touchdowns in ,12 games with the Cleveland Browns. Before that he had a couple of lackluster years with the Dallas Cowboys where if you had him on your fantasy roster and your league had a special category for hamstring pulls, Austin would have been more valuable than Drew Brees.

Yet Philadelphia signed Austin for one year at $2.3 million, and if he reaches certain incentives, he can even make more. Sounds like a little much for a receiver who would not have surprised anybody if he was unable to find a taker and had to settle for signing with a CFL squad.

Kelly’s 100-plays-per-quarter offense can make average receivers look like Odell Beckham Jr. Just ask Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper. Maclin never reached the 1,000-yard plateau in his first four seasons, but in his first full season with Kelly, he racked up 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Cooper was a part-time player during his first three years in the league. But under Kelly he has had his two best pro seasons, amassing 1,412 yards and 11 scores over that period, even though his blocking is just as important in Kelly’s offense as his pass catching is.

With Maclin gone and Philadelphia’s receiving corps currently limited to Jordan Matthews, Cooper and Josh Huff, Austin could scoot up to as high as No. 2 on the receiver depth chart depending on who the Eagles draft and sign from here on out (and how Austin’s hamstrings hold up).

Could Austin have another injury-riddled season and flame out by Week 5? Sure. But signing with Kelly and his high-flying Eagles gives him the best chance to have an 800-yard, seven-TD season.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, New York Jets (QB)

Fitzpatrick has had a decent career of being a low-end starting quarterback or a high-end backup quarterback. That will not change after being traded to the Jets, but fantasy owners will be more interested if he is the former and not the latter.

Geno Smith’s hold on New York’s starting quarterback spot is as tenuous as Stevan Ridley’s hold on the football during rushing attempts. Now that there is a new coaching and management regime in New York, Smith’s job is not safe. One too many terrible interceptions or bad reads during the preseason could cost him.

Fitzpatrick could step right into an offense with Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker at receiver, up-and-coming Jace Amaro at tight end and an above-average offensive line led by center Nick Mangold. Fitzpatrick has thrown for 3,000 yards with 20-plus touchdown tosses with better talent and with worse talent.

While the Jets offense is not exactly high-scoring and would rely heavily on the run, Fitzpatrick could throw for 3,600 yards and 23 touchdowns if he played 14 to 16 games. Houston did Fitzpatrick and his fantasy owners a favor by trading him to the Jets instead of a team he would definitely be the No. 2 QB on.