2009 Fantasy Football Coma Sleepers

---

Did you know we offer a Cheat Sheet Calculator? It's an interactive tool that allows you to create fantasy football cheat sheets and rankings (based on your league settings) on the fly for your various fantasy football leagues.

Every year as football season approaches the fantasy football journalists  toss out their picks for the sleepers to snatch up who will bring glorious rewards to your teams. The problem is, most of them aren’t really much of a sleeper. They are more of a “if you blinked, you may not have noticed me” sort of players. Seriously, is LeSean McCoy really a sleeper? How about Percy Harvin or Josh Morgan? But hey, that’s what we call them, so let’s create a new category. We’ll call them coma candidates; guys who may wake up from their deep slumber at any given time and pleasantly surprise the fantasy faithful. Hey, work with me here.

Here are a dozen fantasy football coma sleepers I have my eye on in 2009.

Chicago Bears – Juaquin Iglasias, WR

The wide receiving corp. in Chitown is a muddled mess of potential and opportunity. Iglesias is certainly no stud receiver, but he will be a great slot guy who can put up solid reception numbers. We’ll call him Less Welker.

Cincinnati Bengals – Bernard Scott, RB

Two words– Cedric Benson. He’s always been a bust and he’ll be a bust in Cin-city. Look for Scott to take over by mid-season. He’s got great skills as a receiving back, and as a return specialist. He certainly got off to a good start in tonight’s pre-season opener against N’awlins.

Cleveland Browns – James Davis, RB

While everyone is busy snapping up Jerome Harrison to be Jamal Lewis’ successor, the real RB talent in the Browns locker room is going largely unnoticed. Harrison does not have “feature back” talent or make up. Davis is the future, and quite possibly, the present. Also in Cleveland keep an eye on TE Martin Rucker; Robert Royal and Steven Heiden are in his way, but he’s the best of the three. Somehow I don’t see Royal or Heiden striking fear in the hearts of anyone.

Dallas Cowboys – Sam Hurd, WR

I wrote an article about this kid last week (read it here). I think he’ll end the season as the team’s number two receiver over Patrick Crayton and Miles Austin. Word out of Dallas today is Austin has all but lost his hold on the number three spot to Hurd already. Hurd is the word, and you heard it here first.

Denver Broncos – Alphonso Smith, CB (KR/PR)

Alpo (hey he needs a nickname, right?) will be handling primary kick and punt return duties for the team as well as possibly getting the gig starting opposite Champ Bailey.  Regardless, he’s got return point potential and makes a nice coma pick in IDP leagues. Hey, the Broncs traded their top pick for the kid, so there ya go.

Green Bay Packers – James Jones, WR

Jones has looked good so far in camp and he’s pretty much sewn up the 3rd receiver role. Rodgers will again throw about 30 TDs. Jennings won’t catch them all and Driver’s getting older. Keep an eye on WR Jordy Nelson as well.

Jacksonville Jaguars – Rashad Jennings, RB

I know Maurice Jones-Drew can do it all, but he won’t get to unless the Jax coaches are Bush-brains. He need only surpass Greg Jones to get an opportunity to shine. And one poor misshap for MJD could spell fantasy gold for Jennings.

Kansas City Chiefs – Brad Cottam, TE

If you read my PPR tight end rankings you already know I have my eye on this kid. He comes into a great situation where former tight end Tony Gonzalez was king. New QB Matt Cassell likes to throw quick short passes. Cottam should see a lot of them. Right now he’s currently the 33rd tight end off the boards on average. Another quasi-sleeper in KC is Bobby Engram, who is a perfect slot receiver, and with Bowe and Bradley not impressing, these two should reap the benefits.

New Orleans Saints – Garrett Hartley, K * Robert Meachem, WR

Yes, I have a kicker on here. Why? Tell me who last season’s best kicker was? Stephen Gostkowski? Rob Bironas? David Akers? No, it was Hartley, who came in mid-season and averaged nearly 10 fantasy points per week. This year we get 16 games of which he plays over 60% in a dome. So while everyone else is picking up those names they recognize, you truly can wait until that last pick…unless your teammates read this article too. Damn me. Damn me to hell! Strike that. The moron got himself suspended for 4 games and may lose his gig. *We’ll replace him with WR Robert Meachem who finally looks ready to fulfill the promise we all saw in him when he was drafted.

New York Giants, Travis Beckum, TE

Kevin Boss may have the starting gig, but he did little to impress in 2008. Beckum is a true pass-catching TE, with more fantasy potential then Boss. He’s currently the 37th TE off the boards.

Seattle Seahawks, Justin Forsett, RB

Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett. No further analysis needed. This kid will push them both off the field if the opportunity arises, and I have no doubt Jones will give it to him sooner rather than later.

St. Louis Rams – James Laurinitis, LB

Laurinitis, a former Ohio State standout is just all sorts of a defensive freak, and he has been given the starting nod in Arch-city. Look for him to be this season’s Jerod Mayo.

Note: These are still guys who can help this season. I’ll save the really deep picks for my article on Dynasty leagues.

No related posts.