Tommy Streeter is an intriguing sleeper prospect for the upcoming 2013 season, but how many of you are familiar with him?
My guess here is there isn't a ton of you who actually know who this kid is, or even why he is being considered "sleeper" material, but it's ok, that's what we're here for!
Tommy Streeter was a sixth round selection by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2012 NFL Draft, and to be honest, he was mainly viewed as a possible "project" receiver.
For those who shared that outlook, they were reassured after Streeter failed to even grace the field once last season.
So how can we assume Tommy Streeter will be a fantasy football sleeper in 2013?
Let's take a look.
A Slow Moving Hurricane in Miami; A Young Raven Waiting to Hatch:
If you look back at Tommy Streeter's collegiate career in Miami, you'll notice just how slow the youngster started out. In his first two years, Streeter made just one start and caught just six balls.
But as Miami soon found out, Tommy Streeter was kinda like a slow moving Hurricane.
Streeter exploded in his third season catching 46 balls for 811 yards and 8TDs, and he did all of this in just 8 games started.
That same year—2011—Streeter averaged 17.6 YPC which led all ACC receivers with 40 receptions or more.
But in 2012, the young Raven never left the nest after being put on IR before the season officially opened.
Many of us wondered if Streeter's talent was going to translate to the next level, but Streeter never had the chance to show us.
But as the title suggests, with Anquan Boldin gone and a new focus on the passing game, this young Raven is just waiting to hatch.
Let's look at what may come.
Analyzing The Risk/Reward Factor:
Tommy Streeter has a tremendous amount of potential, but what you need to initially keep in mind is there is just as much potential risk involved.
One problem is the cold hard fact that Streeter is still very much unproven at the pro level.
As mentioned in the previous slide, nobody really knows what this kid can really do because he never had the chance in 2012.
So what do we have?
Well, for starters, we have the base of the player.
Tommy Streeter has a very rare combination of size and speed. At 6'5" 220 pounds, Streeter is the prototypical "big target" that every NFL team covets.
In the 2012 NFL Combine, Streeter impressed with his 33.0 vertical jump and 10'5 broad jump, but what impressed many the most was his top-notch 4.40 time in the 40 yard dash.
Streeter also came into his own towards the end of the 2012 season, showing crisp route running, and an uncanny ability to best cover-men in traffic using his speed/size combo.
If that's not enough, at the NFL owners Meeting in March, both coach Harbaugh and owner Steve Bisciotti spoke highly of Streeter in regard to a query asking who the Ravens will replace Anquan Boldin with:
[colored_box color="eg. green"]"[Coaches] liked Tommy Streeter's development by the end of the year," Bisciotti said. "They thought that he finally started to get what it was like to be a pro." - Baltimoreravens.com[/colored_box]
In our final slide, I'll breakdown the anticipated approach from Baltimore and how this all points towards Tommy Streeter being a fantasy sleeping giant.
Getting Inside the X,Y and Z's:
There is an unofficial belief that there will be a three-way competition for the third receiver spot in Baltimore between Tommy Streeter, Tandon Doss and David Reed.
This assumption is also loosely based on Jacoby Jones simply being named the starting receiver opposite of Torrey Smith, which isn't yet a guarantee either.
Here's the breakdown:
There was a time that Tandon Doss was being "groomed" as Anquan Boldin's replacement, but to be honest, he's been a major disappointment for the past two seasons.
David Reed was re-signed by Baltimore, yes, but his role should be relegated to return specialist.
That leaves Streeter.
If you were the Ravens and had a solid route running 6'5" behemoth available, wouldn't you play him?
There is a good chance that Baltimore opts for a committee—at first—but if Tommy Streeter remains healthy, and is able to come on strong in the early goings, there is a solid chance he will be the every week starter in three-wide sets and he could even be a candidate for a rotational receiver in two-wide or double TE.
The bottom line here is Streeter has more pros than cons by a mile.
While he IS unproven, he DOES possess the skills, the rare size/speed combo, and has shown a great deal of improvement and reliability without even stepping on the field.
I don't know about you, but this has sleeper written all over it.
Streeter is someone to monitor very closely this summer, and I believe he is worth the late-round pick in early drafts.
Tommy Streeter is a 6'5", 220 pound sleeper, period. Just make sure YOU don't fall asleep on him!
