Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 9: Josh Freeman and More

Eric StashinNov 5, 2010

Looking for a sleeper option who may be available on your waiver wire who could make a major impact this week? Let’s take a look at a few options (for consideration on this listing from week-to-week, a player must be owned in less than 50 percent of both Yahoo and ESPN leagues).

Josh Freeman—Tampa Bay Buccaneers—at Atlanta

The emergence of LeGarrette Blount will certainly help Freeman’s production, as defenses will no longer be able to focus strictly on the passing game. In Week 8, despite attempting his second fewest passes of the season (25), he posted his second biggest yardage game of the year (278).

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As it is, he has been playing significantly better of late. He has thrown for at least 200 yards and a touchdown in each of his last four games. He also has gone three straight games without an interception and hasn’t thrown more than one in any game this season. His rapport with Mike Williams is getting better and better, with at least 80 yards in three of the past four games.

Atlanta is allowing the sixth most passing yards per game (260.3), and has given up at least 300 yards in each of their last two games. With Freeman’s recent success, he could continue the trend.

Freeman is currently owned in 45 percent of Yahoo leagues and 36.2 percent of ESPN leagues

Another potential quarterback sleeper:

Jon Kitna—Dallas Cowboys—at Green Bay: 24 percent of Yahoo leagues and 13.9 percent of ESPN leagues

Mario Manningham—New York Giants—at Seattle

Seattle is a tough place to play, but the Giants offense has been clicking on all cylinders of late. With Eli Manning doing a great job of distributing the ball, Manningham has been able to show his potential despite being third on the Giants depth chart.

He’s scored touchdowns in three of his last four games and has proven that he is the Giants big-play receiver. Each week he has routinely made plays of 25 yards or more (his long is a 54-yard catch in Week 2 against the Colts).

The Seahawks are not a good defense against the pass, allowing 267.7 yards per game. To make matters worse, they are tied for the second most passing plays of at least 20 yards allowed at 27. That certainly makes you think that the Giants big-play receiver could be in store for a big afternoon.

Manningham is currently owned in 48 percent of Yahoo leagues and 47.2 percent of ESPN leagues

Other wide receiver sleepers:

Mohamed Massaquoi—Cleveland Browns—vs. New England: 12 percent of Yahoo leagues and 7.8 percent of ESPN leagues
James Jones—Green Bay Packers—vs. Dallas: 12 percent of Yahoo leagues and three percent of ESPN leagues

Toby Gerhart—Minnesota Vikings—vs. Arizona

This week we are going to go really deep.

With Adrian Peterson in place he is not going to get many carries, but Gerhart’s quickly becoming a major cog in the Vikings passing game. With Randy Moss sent packing, his presence could become that much more important. They are finally trying to incorporate him and given his recent performance, his role could grow.

He had five catches for 67 yards in Week 8 at New England and now gets a Cardinals defense ranked 11th in the league against the pass. In Week 8 Carnell Williams, who didn’t play much, managed three catches for 26 yards. In Week 7 Justin Forsett had two catches for 31 yards against Arizona.

He’s a huge risk and not advisable except for those in desperate need of a running back, but he certainly has the potential to have a very usable day in the passing game.

Gerhart is currently owned in four percent of Yahoo leagues and 3.4 percent of ESPN leagues.

What are your thoughts on these players? Would you take the gamble on any of them?

Make sure to check out our Week 9 Rankings: