Feel free to comment... or add your own sleepers, players to avoid, etc.
Still 1 more week of fantasy football "scouting" but this is how I see it so far.
(rankings according to http://www.nfl.com/fantasy/rankings)
Undervalued players:
QB Flacco #98 - Huge huge things for the Ravens this year IMO. Flacco is 98th and will perform more like a top 20 pick. This is the guy I'm gonna target in the mid/late rounds for my QB spot in my upcoming draft.
QB Young #114 - not nearly as in love with this one as I am with Flacco, but if you want to pick up a second QB with upside, this should be your guy, IMO
WR Hester #110 - Reports from Bears practices indicate that new OC Martz is using Hester in a variety of different ways. Knox also intriguing as he is a "pure" deep threat WR, and ranked all the way down at #84, but the Martz chatter sure smells like sleeper re: Hester
WR Wallace #67 - Mike that is. Everyone's favorite "sleeper" so not much to say here
WR Floyd #85 + WR Naanee (unranked) - If V Jax stays with the Chargers, he will be suspended a minimum of 3 games. The Chargers #1 receiver is ranked #85, and Rivers is def no slouch. Even if he's only good for those 3 weeks, who cares? He's eighty friggin fifth.
RB Benson #17 - Will put up numbers like a top 10 pick. Looks fantastic. Anyone who drafted him last year, I salute you. One of the very few situations in the league where you have a team that will score TD's, and they aren't in a tandem RB type situation. Another one - San Diego and Ryan Mathews
RB Taylor #116 - Chester. Chicago. Matt Forte had a big bust of a year last season after being a top 5 pick. He still looks like hot garbage to me. Chester Taylor looks fantastic. Big upside at #116. Could see him taking over the vast majority of running duties in Chicago.
RB Jackson #13 - Stephen Jackson is the only proven offensive weapon this team has. If it's Feely or Bradford behind center, he will get a million zillion carries. Particularly if it's Bradford. Personally feel that SJax should be a top 5 ish pick this season.
RB Tomlinson #115 - Expect him to get many goal line + red zone looks. More on that below; see Green.
RB Best #35 - Possibly the most impressive back I've seen this preseason. I always hate drafting players from bad teams, but the Lions look dramatically improved so far - a well balanced offense and decent offensive line. Best will compete for touches with Kevin Smith (BUST) and Morris; neither guy holds a candle to Best's explosiveness and on-the-field awareness.
TE Finley #57 - He's gotta contend with fellow TE Lee in two TE sets, which kinda bugs me, but Finley is just a ridiculous beast, and Rodgers should have another monster year through the air.
TE Celek #56 - Seems to be a favorite target of new starting QB Kolb.
TE Scheffler #185 - Wayyyy down on the list, Lions are looking pretty primed (finally), a longshot but if you got a spot, take him IMO.
Undervalued defenses:
49ers #8 - Have been very impressed with their first string this preseason, IIRC they were top scoring fantasy defense last year.
Rams #32 - Am I crazy? Who on earth would take the last ranked defense? Me. I'm gonna give it one more week before I decide to pick up this team in my league, but I think their defense just might shock a lot of people. I think they look pretty damn good, and we all know about their head coach. Obviously a longshot here.
Lions #30 - Am I crazy, part 2. IMO a longer shot than the Rams, but I'm gonna keep an eye on this unit. Clearly their defensive line is set up for domination. Will their secondary let them down? They have made personnel changes in that area. Will they be improvements? They can't get much worse. (See a pattern here with these 3 defenses and their head coaches?)
Overvalued players:
WR Fitzgerald #15 - This poor bastard. Plays one quarter with Leinart as starting QB in a preseason game and he hangs him out to dry across the middle, leaving him with a bum knee. Good god Leinart is horrible. He is going to get this poor guy killed. Madden Curse a year late for Fitz.
RB Mendenhall #12 - No way would I draft a Steelers RB this high. Every season it's a revolving door in the Steel City at RB and they just love to share the duties. Possible value in picking up Redman (unranked) late in your draft. Moore apparently will be their 3rd down back.
RB Green #16 - Love this kid, he's fantastic, and he's young, which is always great for a Fantasy RB. BUT... I got one of those feelings that Tomlinson is gonna get a whole bunch of goal line looks this season. The Jets certainly seem to love that acquisition.
Got a lot more names on my list, but these are the most noteworthy.
Also, on an unrelated note, watching all this preseason football has overexposed me to these horrible NFL network original commercials and I am about to commit a homicidal act. Holy shit, what typewriter-wielding monkey comes up with this garbage
Still 1 more week of fantasy football "scouting" but this is how I see it so far.
(rankings according to http://www.nfl.com/fantasy/rankings)
Undervalued players:
QB Flacco #98 - Huge huge things for the Ravens this year IMO. Flacco is 98th and will perform more like a top 20 pick. This is the guy I'm gonna target in the mid/late rounds for my QB spot in my upcoming draft.
QB Young #114 - not nearly as in love with this one as I am with Flacco, but if you want to pick up a second QB with upside, this should be your guy, IMO
WR Hester #110 - Reports from Bears practices indicate that new OC Martz is using Hester in a variety of different ways. Knox also intriguing as he is a "pure" deep threat WR, and ranked all the way down at #84, but the Martz chatter sure smells like sleeper re: Hester
WR Wallace #67 - Mike that is. Everyone's favorite "sleeper" so not much to say here
WR Floyd #85 + WR Naanee (unranked) - If V Jax stays with the Chargers, he will be suspended a minimum of 3 games. The Chargers #1 receiver is ranked #85, and Rivers is def no slouch. Even if he's only good for those 3 weeks, who cares? He's eighty friggin fifth.
RB Benson #17 - Will put up numbers like a top 10 pick. Looks fantastic. Anyone who drafted him last year, I salute you. One of the very few situations in the league where you have a team that will score TD's, and they aren't in a tandem RB type situation. Another one - San Diego and Ryan Mathews
RB Taylor #116 - Chester. Chicago. Matt Forte had a big bust of a year last season after being a top 5 pick. He still looks like hot garbage to me. Chester Taylor looks fantastic. Big upside at #116. Could see him taking over the vast majority of running duties in Chicago.
RB Jackson #13 - Stephen Jackson is the only proven offensive weapon this team has. If it's Feely or Bradford behind center, he will get a million zillion carries. Particularly if it's Bradford. Personally feel that SJax should be a top 5 ish pick this season.
RB Tomlinson #115 - Expect him to get many goal line + red zone looks. More on that below; see Green.
RB Best #35 - Possibly the most impressive back I've seen this preseason. I always hate drafting players from bad teams, but the Lions look dramatically improved so far - a well balanced offense and decent offensive line. Best will compete for touches with Kevin Smith (BUST) and Morris; neither guy holds a candle to Best's explosiveness and on-the-field awareness.
TE Finley #57 - He's gotta contend with fellow TE Lee in two TE sets, which kinda bugs me, but Finley is just a ridiculous beast, and Rodgers should have another monster year through the air.
TE Celek #56 - Seems to be a favorite target of new starting QB Kolb.
TE Scheffler #185 - Wayyyy down on the list, Lions are looking pretty primed (finally), a longshot but if you got a spot, take him IMO.
Undervalued defenses:
49ers #8 - Have been very impressed with their first string this preseason, IIRC they were top scoring fantasy defense last year.
Rams #32 - Am I crazy? Who on earth would take the last ranked defense? Me. I'm gonna give it one more week before I decide to pick up this team in my league, but I think their defense just might shock a lot of people. I think they look pretty damn good, and we all know about their head coach. Obviously a longshot here.
Lions #30 - Am I crazy, part 2. IMO a longer shot than the Rams, but I'm gonna keep an eye on this unit. Clearly their defensive line is set up for domination. Will their secondary let them down? They have made personnel changes in that area. Will they be improvements? They can't get much worse. (See a pattern here with these 3 defenses and their head coaches?)
Overvalued players:
WR Fitzgerald #15 - This poor bastard. Plays one quarter with Leinart as starting QB in a preseason game and he hangs him out to dry across the middle, leaving him with a bum knee. Good god Leinart is horrible. He is going to get this poor guy killed. Madden Curse a year late for Fitz.
RB Mendenhall #12 - No way would I draft a Steelers RB this high. Every season it's a revolving door in the Steel City at RB and they just love to share the duties. Possible value in picking up Redman (unranked) late in your draft. Moore apparently will be their 3rd down back.
RB Green #16 - Love this kid, he's fantastic, and he's young, which is always great for a Fantasy RB. BUT... I got one of those feelings that Tomlinson is gonna get a whole bunch of goal line looks this season. The Jets certainly seem to love that acquisition.
Got a lot more names on my list, but these are the most noteworthy.
Also, on an unrelated note, watching all this preseason football has overexposed me to these horrible NFL network original commercials and I am about to commit a homicidal act. Holy shit, what typewriter-wielding monkey comes up with this garbage
