Fantasy Football 2015: Top Sleepers at Each Key Position for Early Drafts

Fantasy football draft season is already underway. Every group of owners features different preferences for when to hold the draft. Some like the earlier dates, which takes a little more work to project how camp battles will go, while others choose to wait until those key decisions are made.

One other factor during the early drafts is typically getting better value on sleepers. Finding players who can break out during camp and preseason games before their value skyrockets can be the foundation for a championship squad.

With that in mind, let's check out some of the top sleepers available based on the early results. All average draft position (ADP) details are courtesy of ESPN and all scoring information is based on standard formats.

QB: Colin Kaepernick—San Francisco 49ers (ADP: 19th QB)

Kaepernick disappointed a lot of fantasy owners last season. He entered the campaign as a fringe top-10 selection at the position. Not only did he fail to live up to those standards, but he also posted three straight single digits scores starting in Week 13 for the early playoff rounds.

Now he's barely cracking the top 20, as he looks to bounce back. There's reason to believe he can do exactly that. The 49ers added Torrey Smith, a deep threat to fill a glaring void, and are shifting toward a more uptempo approach on offense.

The faster pace should create more running opportunities for the athletic quarterback. He finished with just one rushing TD last year. While that may not seem important, if you add 24 points (four more TDs to match his career high) he finishes tied for 11th in QB scoring.

Kaepernick isn't leaned on heavily enough to become a top-tier quarterback. That said, he's a perfect backup target if an owner ends up with one of the secondary starting options. Expect him to crack the top 12 in scoring at the position.

RB: Charles Sims—Tampa Bay Buccaneers (ADP: 41st RB)

Doug Martin still figures to get the first crack at securing the starting role in Tampa Bay. He's battled injuries over the past two seasons, however, and scored just three touchdowns in 17 games when healthy. His yards per carry average was also below 4.0 over that span.

So that means Sims should get his opportunity to shine, whether it be due to injury or a lack of production from Martin. The second-year back never got fully up to speed last year, appearing in just eight games after undergoing ankle surgery.

He should be back to full speed this season after checking in at just 2.8 yards per carry in limited duty last season. If he can flash more elusiveness during the preseason, his role should immediately increase. Pat Yasinskas of ESPN previously noted that the team remains bullish on his outlook:

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Doug Martin has been the starter the past three seasons. But he's coming off a disappointing season, and the coaching staff and front office don't seem sold on a player they didn't draft. They did draft Charles Sims last year, and the coaches are very high on him. Sims could end up beating out Martin.

"

As a dual-threat option, Sims could also become a popular checkdown option for rookie quarterback Jameis Winston, as he gets acclimated to the speed of NFL secondaries. It makes him particularly intriguing in PPR leagues, but he's a terrific pick at his current ADP, regardless of format.

WR: Pierre Garcon—Washington Redskins (ADP: 57th WR)

Garcon seeing a drop in targets following the arrival of DeSean Jackson didn't come as a surprise. The amount the volume fell off was the problem for fantasy owners. The wideout went from 184 targets in 2013, all the way down to 105 last year.

While that still led the team, the effort to spread the ball around more made him tough to rely on in the fantasy realm because Jackson received most of the looks on deep balls. His return to fantasy relevance is dependent on him better understanding his role this year.

Jackson is still going to serve as the main big-play target. But Garcon can still be a reliable asset by doing a better job taking advantage of the underneath routes. That will make him the receiver who moves the chains rather than the one that relies on the occasional long touchdown for value.

It's not a guarantee Garcon will be able to do that, but there's still a lot of upside there as a receiver barely being picked inside the top 60. It's better to take a chance on him than players like Rueben Randle and Malcom Floyd, who are being taken in the same range.

TE: Charles Clay—Buffalo Bills (ADP: 19th TE)

Whichever quarterback is under center for the Bills in Week 1—Matt Cassel, EJ Manuel and Tyrod Taylor are battling it out in camp—will have one task: limit mistakes and let the team's running game and defense handle the rest.

That equates to a lot of short, safe throws from the Buffalo offense. While that's problematic for the likes of Sammy Watkins and Percy Harvin, it should help Clay's value. They didn't sign him away from the Miami Dolphins to serve as a decoy.

He only reached double-digit points in four weeks last season and still finished 16th in tight end scoring. He should easily surpass that total, and he believes he can match up favorably with Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham if given the chance, per Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News.

"I look at myself as I'm capable of doing anything," Clay said. "I feel like I'm my own player. I feel like there's things I can do they can't do. And there's things they can do where I'm not as polished."

The Bills aren't going to throw the ball enough for him to become a top-five option, even given the overall weakness of the position. But he should be targeted more than enough to make him a regular starter in 12-team leagues.