2011 Fantasy Football Sleepers

Bradford is a great grab in your fantasy football draft who can be had as a back-up QB for your team with the potential to be an every week starter. Selected #1 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft, Bradford has delivered, and in many ways, exceeded already high expectations. He started the 2010 season on fire by rookie standards, and at the end of week 8, he had already tossed 11 TDs, which tied an NFL rookie record also held by Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, and Ben Roethlisberger. By the time all the smoke cleared on his rookie year, he did the impossible, throwing for over 3,500 yards and more TDs than INTs. Since 1997, only Peyton Manning has thrown for more yards as a rookie (3,739) and only a very small handful of QBs have thrown for more TDs than INTs in their rookie year. During that time, Bradford is the ONLY rookie QB to throw for 3,500+ yards, 15+ TDs, and more TDs than INTs. He also set several NFL rookie records: most attempts (590), most completions (354), and most consecutive passes thrown without an INT (169). Bradford's transition from college to the complexity and speed of the NFL was seamless, and it should come as little surprise Bradford won the 2010 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Coming out of Oklahoma, Bradford was a star. In his first game for the Sooners, he threw for over 350 yards. In his second game, he set a Sooners record for consecutive pass completions (22). As a sophomore, he led the Sooners to the National Championship game and helped set a NCAA single season record in team points (702). He also won the Heisman Trophy that year. Electing to return for his junior year, Bradford missed much of the season with injuries (sprained shoulder). The shoulder injury prevented him from participating in the NFL Combine, yet Bradford still went #1 overall. He proceeded to prove STL right, and leads a young nucleus of talent poised to make a run at the NFC West. Now teamed with new OC Josh McDaniels, who made Kyle Orton approach 4,000 yards in DEN and helped Tom Brady become a household name, Bradford is player to keep in mind with big fantasy football upside.

The QB and TE positions this year in fantasy football are deep, and there are many great values to be had at these positions later in your draft. Freeman represents one of those values at QB. In most years, Freeman's 2010 production would warrant a higher draft status; however, this year Freeman is a player that can be had later in your fantasy football draft after other high profile quarterback names are taken; yet he could deliver at an elite level. It is always nice to select a lower tier QB later in your draft with the upside to finish as a top five QB. Freeman's 2010 season was very good, particularly considering he was playing for a team that was still in the process of finding its idenity offensively with a load of youth on the roster. It was his second year in the league, and he started all 16 games. His touchdown to interception ratio was through the roof, tossing the rock for 25 TDs to only 6 INTs. His 6 INTs were second lowest only to Tom Brady (4) among season-long starters. That is an impressive stat, particularly for a young player, as it speaks to his understanding of the offense and very good decision making ability when under pressure. He also finished the year with a completion % greater than 60 and the sixth highest QB rating in the NFL (95.9). The nice thing about Freeman is that he can hurt a defense with both his arm and legs. Freeman finished 13th in passing yards (3,451) and 2nd in rushing yards (364) among QBs. In most fantasy football scoring systems, rushing yards are valued more than passing yards, so a QB that can tack some extra rushing yards to the stat line provides a sneaky way to garner a few extra points. The best part about last season is that Freeman rushed for zero TDs, which is helping to keep his 2011 fantasy value a little low. In college, Freeman had a nose for the endzone and rushed for 14 TDs in his senior year at Kansas State. If Freeman were to find the endzone even just a few times via the ground in 2011, it would send his fantasy value to another tier. His young WRs are very talented and have a year of valuable experience under their belts. The stars are starting to align for Freeman to pop a big year in 2011.