The long anticipated and also long delayed return of Fantasy Champ has arrived. I think it is a pretty good time to return. Baseball is just over half way through, the Celtics just made Kobe cry, and football is just around the corner. Without further ado let’s get down to it.
I’m going to start this year off with rookies and sleepers. Everyone has their can’t miss “Sleeper” pick, and there is always stud rookies that are going to destroy the league. In all actuality there are very few sleepers and even fewer rookies that have big fantasy football impact. In turn here is my list of top sleepers and rookies.
QB Sleepers:
Aaron Rodgers – Now I know some of you are going to call me a homer, … well go ahead. It really has nothing to do with Rodgers as much as it has to do with Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, and the rest of the skill position players. The Packers had the highest yards after catch average in the league last year.
Jason Campbell – So here’s the Campbell equation: Young talented QB – Run heavy offense – Brandon Lloyd + Pass oriented head coach = More development and bigger numbers.
Trent Edwards – He’s smart, has a good arm, and is very accurate. On top of all of that he has Lee Evans and Marshawn Lynch to help him out. Don’t expect big numbers from him, but he should be a serviceable backup.
QB Rookies:
Don’t draft one! Don’t be that guy that gets the rookie QB thinking he’s going to be as good as he was in college. The QB position is the toughest position to learn, so it takes at least a year or two before guys start showing how good they really are.
RB Sleepers:
Julius Jones – Here’s the tricky thing with Jones, he’s not a 25 carry a game guy. On the flip side, he is a 15 -20 carry and 5 catches a game guy. I don’t expect him to get 2,000 yards this season just because he’s the starting RB is Seattle. I do however expect at least 1,100 yards rushing and probably 300 yards receiving. He’ll also throw in 5 TDs or so to make him a good #3 RB.
Thomas Jones – A lot of people have jumped off the Thomas Jones band wagon. Well lets be honest I don’t know how many people were ever on the Jones band wagon. This year Jones has something he didn’t have last year … and that’s a good O-Line. The Jets added Alan Faneca and Damien Woody to play alongside Nick Mangold and D’Brickashaw Ferguson. Remember Jones had over 1,100 yards rushing and over 200 yards receiving last year.
RB Rookies:
Matt Forte – Am I confident that he’ll be the starting RB for Chicago? No. Do I think he’ll definitely rush for over 1,000 yards? No. Has he got a chance to do both? Yes! That is more than can be said about most rookie RBs.
Jonathan Stewart – He’s not going to be the main guy in Carolina. He may not even get more than 5 carries a game, but he will more than likely be the goal line RB. Plus, he’s got a lot of upside.
Darren McFadden – Just think about Adrian Peterson’s impact last year. Nuff said.
WR Sleepers:
Anthony Gonzalez – He didn’t really pull a Brandon Stokley or a Wes Welker his rookie year in Indy, but he did have 576 yards and 3 TDs. Now those numbers don’t look to impressive, but he put up 264 yards and 3 TDs in the last 4 weeks of the season. Looks to me like Manning has a new security blanket.
Bryant Johnson – He was always a solid #3 WR in Arizona, but now he’s expected to be the #1 in San Fran. That’s not always a good thing, unless of course you have Mike Martz as your new Offensive Coordinator. With Martz around Johnson should see plenty of passing plays.
Jerry Porter – He has moved out of Oakland and into Jacksonville. Reggie Williams had 629 yards and 10 TDs playing with David Garrard last year. Is anyone going to disagree that Porter is better than Williams?
WR Rookies:
I hate rookie WRs since they take about half a year to develop. Even Dwayne Bowe last year took sometime before he started killing people. But here are some guys to take late late round flyers on or to look for to pickup half way through the season:
