Fantasy Football Sleepers: 3 Undervalued Receivers Ready to Rock in Week 1

The term “fantasy sleeper” is used too loosely.

People that call players like Cedric Benson and Steve Smith sleepers are crazy.

A sleeper is a player that you don’t even know exists right now. You couldn’t pick him out of a police lineup.

Here are three players that you don’t know, but will be putting up huge fantasy numbers in 2011.

1. Andre Roberts, Arizona Cardinals

Somebody besides Larry Fitzgerald has to catch passes, right?

With new (and competent) QB Kevin Kolb under center, the pass is officially back in Arizona. Losing Steve Breaston to the Chiefs gives Roberts the opportunity to secure the No. 2 spot.

An injury-plagued rookie season finally got on track by the end of the year. On Christmas Day, he had 110 receiving yards, including a 74-yard TD bomb from John Skelton.

With a much better QB, expect Roberts to put up massive numbers.

2. Danny Amendola, St. Louis Rams

Last season, Amendola averaged 8.1 yards per catch. This is incredibly low, to the point where he had the worst YAC of any receiver with over six catches in the entire NFL.

Now, with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in town, everything is going to change. The field is going to be stretched and expect Amendola to be a big part of it.

Second-year QB Sam Bradford is a lot more comfortable going downfield now, and Amendola is going to end the season with 1,000-yards because of it.

3. Jerome Simpson, Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals offensive unit is considered by many to be the worst in the league entering the season because they have a rookie QB under center in Andy Dalton.

Yet the progress of the “Red Rifle” is coming at a faster-than-expected rate. Dalton will be a competent QB off the bat—especially considering the first two games are against the Browns and Broncos. As the season progresses, he will only get better.

This is great news for Simpson.

He exploded onto the scene in his third-year once the opportunity to start was there. In two games, he collected 247 yards and three TDs.

Simpson is the deep threat and will rack up some huge games. While consistency is certainly a question, Simpson is worth the gamble.