Sleeper candidates

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FANTASY FOOTBALL: 6 Sleepers to consider drafting…

Posted by fantasyfurnace on July 21, 2012
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 8 comments

 If you were to look at the six sleepers we picked before last season, you would have to say it wasn’t all bad considering that four of them ended up injured. Not surprisingly, two were running backs! Here are the picks from last year; (This might determine whether or not you still want to see who our selections are for this season…)

Dustin Keller- TE-Jets- He finished the year with 65 receptions-815 yards-5 TDs. The receptions and yards were the most in Keller’s 4 pro seasons. Remember this was a season where QB Mark Sanchez regressed significantly.

Domenik Hixon-WR-Giants- One of the ones who got injured and only got to play in 2 games. That probably opened the door for some extra opportunities for stud Victor Cruz.

Julio Jones-WR-Falcons- Even with missing 3 games due to injury, the rookie had 54 receptions-959 yards-8 TDs. Not too shabby.

Brent Celek-TE-Eagles- He had a good year; not one that would qualify as sleeper material but you wouldn’t have gotten hurt by Celek’s 62 receptions-811 yards-5 TDs. Remember too that he played hurt for most of the year. We’re predicting an even better season for him this year.

Mark Ingram-RB-Saints- Another pick who lost significant time (missed 6 games) to injury. He still collected 5 TDs on just under 500 yards rushing, but what we liked was that the rookie only had one fumble on 122 carries!

Felix Jones-RB-Cowboys- This was the biggest disappointment for us. We thought with Marion Barber’s departure that the more ‘Bulked Up’ Jones would have a breakout year. He ended up with just under 800 all purpose yards and just 2 TDs. He too fell victim to injury which made him miss 4 games. Still far from a sleeper type season.

So, if you’re still reading this, then I guess you have some confidence in our choices for the 2012-2013 season. We hope these six players (which are in no particular order), will fare better for you:

Jared Cook-TE-Titans- Now entering his fourth season in the NFL, Cook has improved in every one of them. The big 25 year old; 6′ 5″ 250 lbs, had 49 receptions, 759 yards and 3 TDs. The coaching staff has voiced their desire to build their passing offense and should get some much needed help now that WR Kenny Britt has returned. (Hopefully the DUI he was hit with last week will be his last…) We think Cook can build off of the two 100-yard games he had last December, and prove to us that it was no fluke.

Donald Brown-RB-Colts-Entering his third season, this former UCONN Husky showed enough signs last season to convince us to make him a sleeper candidate. He averaged just under 5 yards per carry and 5 yards per reception while scoring 5 TDs. On 134 carries he failed to fumble even once. With Joseph Addai now a Patriot, it will be Brown’s job to keep the pressure off of Andrew Luck and so we could see him break records for carries in a season. We also were impressed with his 161 yard performance vs the Titans last December and think he’ll make an excellent RB2 and sleeper.

#31 RB Donald Brown should be a workhorse for the Colts this season. Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Brent Celek-TE-Eagles- As stated above, Celek was one of our sleeper hopefuls last season and now that he is fully healthy, (he played with a sports hernia AND a torn labrum last season), we expect a breakout kind of year from the big TE. No reason why he couldn’t, at best, return to his ’09 form when he had 76 receptions good for 971 yards and 8 TDs. Given that he was Vick’s main Red Zone target last season, he should have the same role this year. A healthy Celek could finish the season as a top 5 TE in the league!

Eric Decker-WR-Broncos- Even with the leagues most inconsistent passer, Tim Tebow, Decker, in just his second season last year, caught 44 passes for 612 yards and 8 TDs! Imagine what he will do with a hall of fame QB in Peyton Manning under center… The Broncos will make a complete transformation this season and no longer carry the moniker as the team with the fewest attempts in the league. Watch out for Decker as he will be part of that transformation and will reap the harvest of a quality QB for the first time in his short career.

Torrey Smith-WR-Ravens-Here is another WR that is sleeper qualified for the 2012-’13 season. In his rookie season last year, Smith’s numbers rival those of Eric Decker: 50 receptions-841 yards-7 TDs. If you look back to week #3 against the Rams (150 yards-3 TDs) and week #10 against the Bengals (165 yards-1 TD), you can easily see this youngster’s potential. Consider too that he had those two monster games as a 22 year old! QB Joe Flacco should, and probably will pass him the ball with a bit more frequency this season as he didn’t have more than 6 receptions in any one game last year. He too is fully healthy (he played most of the season with a sports hernia), and should become Flacco’s 1st option this year. Torrey will be the story this season!!

#82 WR Torrey Smith should be the Raven’s #1 option this season; ahead of Boldin. Photo: farmerstan.com

Jay Cutler-QB-Bears- The first thing you need to do is throw out last years numbers on Cutler. In just 10 games he passed for 2319 yards, had 13 TDs and 7 INTs. Prorating those numbers for a full season, his line would look like this: 3700 yards, 21 TDs and 11 INT’s. And that would have been without newly acquired WR Brandon Marshall and the Bears second round pick WR Alshon Jeffery. Cutler can be had in later rounds (7-8) should you not have been lucky enough to grab one of the elite six. He also makes an exceptional QB2 in leagues that start two QBs. With a new offensive system in place in Chi-town, Cutler is poised for having a sleeper season. It’ll be no mystery when the season is over that your friends ask you how you won your league…just tell them “the Cutler did it!”

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Fantasy Baseball-Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups:

Posted by fantasyfurnace on May 21, 2012
Posted in: MLB. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

We have come to the first of four milestones in the long fantasy baseball season. Most leagues have around 22 weeks of competing in the regular season and at least 3 weeks of playoffs, making the season about 25% over at this point. Some managers have been a bit frustrated by the under-achieving Red Sox and Yankees while others are reaping the rewards of some over-achieving teams like Cleveland and Baltimore. Meantime for those interested in who’s hot enough to make our Waiver Wire Pickup list this week, here are another five to consider..

Jonathan Lucroy-C-Brewers-When we started putting this list together on Sunday night, Lucroy was owned in 39% of leagues. What a difference a day and seven RBI’s in Sunday’s game makes. He is now owned in 46% of leagues and since he’s not playing on Monday,(manager Ron Roenicke will stick to his plan of using George Kottaras as the catcher when Randy Wolf is on the mound), the adds will slow until Tuesday when he is scheduled to be behind the plate again. How any catcher batting .342 on the season and on pace to knock in 108 runs is still so widely available is astonishing. In addition to his 4 HR’s he has 3 triples and 7 doubles, proving how well he’s been mashing the ball. There isn’t a more productive catcher widely available on waivers so we place Lucroy in our ‘Must Adds’ for the week!

Jonathan Lucroy, after knocking in seven runs on Sunday, has become one of the most added players in leagues. Photo: the associated press

Dayan Viciedo-OF-White Sox- Viciedo, who just turned 23 this past March, has been playing out of his mind in his last seven games. Batting a torrid .444 (12 for 27), he also has belted 4 home runs and has 10 RBI’s and 5 runs scored. Since May 13th he had added almost 50 points to his batting average which admittedly is still low at .245, but if you can afford to grab him, we recommend riding the LF/RF until he shows signs of slowing down. There isn’t enough on his major league resume to go on as he has only had about 200 career AB’s before this season when he’s finally be given the start in LF. He is currently only owned in around 20% of leagues and worth a flier in deeper leagues.

Alfonso Soriano-OF-Cubs- Remember him? Soriano is now entering his 14th year in the bigs and still possesses some punch in his bat. In the last four seasons, Sori has averaged 25 homers. His biggest enemy is the injury bug and that’s why we say that there is some risk involved with Sori on your team. He’s been hot of late hitting safely in seven of his last eight games with three HR’s, 7 RBI’s and 10 runs scored. He has a .360 batting average over the last six games and has raised his average 20 points to .270, very close to his career .274 BA. He has had some knee soreness and said he will play through it while making adjustments. Soriano is available in about 2/3 of leagues.

Wade Miley-SP/RP-Diamondbacks- This 25 year old southpaw just picked up his fifth win on Sunday on a six hit shutout vs the Kansas City Royals. Miley has taken full advantage of the opportunity to join the starting rotation ever since Josh Collmenter was sent to the bullpen. He’s sporting a 2.41 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. His control has been impeccable as indicated by his 30K’s against 14 BB’s. The reliever turned starter this year will face the Brewers on Friday followed by the Giants in S.F., the team that he earned his first victory from back on April 8th. We like Miley and think he qualifies as one of our sleeper candidates. Among all pitchers in Yahoo! leagues, Miley is ranked 82nd. He’s owned in just 25% of leagues and makes for a nice pickup in 12+ leagues.

#67 Diamondback’s Wade Miley takes his 5-1 record and faces Milwaukee on Friday. He has become one of our sleeper candidates. Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Matt Adams-1B-Cardinals- This highly touted prospect made his season debut against the Dodgers on Sunday and went 2-4.  This is not why we think he’s worth a speculative add of course. What we do find intriguing is that in his last 152 games in Double-A and Triple-A in the Cardinals organization, he has 41 homers and a .300+ batting average. With 1B Lance Berkman (torn meniscus) out for up to eight weeks, De Aza has an opportunity to show his talents and make a case for staying in the lineup should Berkman return. (There has been chatter about Berkman not returning this season). He’s barely owned (just 15%) so if you have the room or want a sub for Berkman, or you are in deeper leagues, give Adams a shot.