A good sleeper pick in your fantasy football
draft can give your team a huge advantage over your opponents. Needless
to say, selecting players in the mid-to-late rounds of your draft that yield
first-to-second round production can make for a long season for your league
mates. It is no secret that many championship teams can point to a
“surprise” pick or two during their draft that were real difference makers
for their team. With that in mind, the Docs have rundown a list of
10 players that you will want to target as “sleeper picks” in your
fantasy football draft plans.
For more information on what is meant by a “sleeper” and “Average Draft Position”,
click here (or read the information located at the bottom of
this article).
Frank Gore, RB, San Francisco 49ers
We’ve had Gore on this list since day one back in late June, and Gore continues
to do everything to solidify his position as a solid sleeper. In fact, he may be
getting a little carried away as he is now on everyone’s radar and on the verge of
no longer maintaining sleeper status. Most recently, Gore has finally run perennial
disappointment, Kevan Barlow, out of town. Barlow was traded to the Jets as Gore
showed the 49ers this preseason he is picking up right where he left off in 2005.
While Barlow has been given every opportunity to establish himself as a legitimate
back in the league, he has floundered. Barlow has been plagued with nagging injuries
over the past couple of seasons, and we have seen his yards per carry (ypc) consistently
get worse every year since the 2003 season. With a 3.3 ypc average in 2005, the door
of opportunity opened for the 49ers with rookie RB, Frank Gore. So what did Gore do?
Outrun Kevan Barlow’s total 2005 season rushing output by 27 yards in only 72% of the
number of rushing attempts. Gore finished 2005 with a very impressive 4.8 ypc average
while running behind one of the worst run blocking offensive lines in all of football.
Furthermore, he finished the season strong, tallying 108 rushing yards against the Texans.
Enter 2006 and enter 10-time Pro-Bowl Guard, Larry Allen, from Dallas. The 49ers have
made a big move to improve their offensive line with the addition of Allen. Allen
should open a few more holes for Gore than he is used to seeing. This is a huge plus
for Gore, as he is a breakaway threat that can also run with power between the tackles.
While playing in college at Miami, Gore was a standout back, rushing for 1,975 yards
(7th all-time for Miami) and posting a very gaudy 5.7 ypc average over his entire college
career. Having returned from reconstructive knee surgery twice (2001 & 2003), Gore does
present some added risk relative to other sleeper RBs mentioned; however, other backs
such as Jamal Lewis have returned from such surgeries to post monster numbers, provided
they are two years removed from the major injury, which Gore is.
Jon Kitna, QB, Detroit Lions
Detroit is a town that is starting to get serious about putting a winning
product on the field for their fans. After turning the Pistons into
a championship team, followed by the Tigers remarkable turnaround thus far
in 2006, the fans in Mo-town actually have something to cheer about for a
change. The Lions are now following suit. They have given the
offense a huge boost in the off-season, hiring from St. Louis ex-Head Coach,
Mike Martz (a.k.a. ring-leader for the “Greatest Show on Turf”), as offensive
coordinator and hiring from Green Bay ex-Offensive Line Coach, Larry Beightol
(a.k.a. offensive line master motivator and genius), as their new line coach.
The Detroit offensive line has been much improved over the past couple of
years and finished with a very respectable rating in 2005. Beightol
will help take this group to the next level over the next couple of years.
Everything is coming together to produce a very nice recipe for success for
newly acquired QB, Jon Kitna. With Joey Harrington shipped to South
Beach, Kitna is slated to be the Lions starting quarterback. The receiving
talent Mike Martz has to work with for his offense in Detroit is well documented.
WR Roy Williams, WR Mike Williams, TE Marcus Pollard, and the emergence of
WR Scottie Vines all give Martz a load of weapons to incorporate into his
offensive creativity for the Lions. Kitna enters his 10th season in
the league and brings plenty of experience to the table. Prior to Carson
Palmer taking over in Cincinnati, Kitna posted a very solid 2003 campaign
as their starting QB (~3600 yards, 26 TD, and 15 INT). The only downside
to Kitna is that the Lions have also acquired QB Josh McCown from Arizona
in the off-season. McCown has shown good potential in the past.
If Kitna struggles or if McCown wins favor in Martz’s eyes during practice,
we could see a switch. However, thus far Kitna has played solid in the preseason to
help solidify his starting position, and McCown has actually slipped in Martz’s eyes. Rumors
have Martz moving McCown behind QB Dan Orlovsky on the depth chart. Kitna makes
a compelling grab as a sleeper pick in the later rounds of your draft.
RB Frank Gore and QB Jon Kitna are two of ten key sleepers pick the Docs have in store for the 2006 season. The remaining 8 picks
are included in our Total Draft Package, which is updated each and every week to give you the latest and greatest rankings, projections, and draft information on the web. Includes draft software for custom rankings and
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