This week, I am going to mix it up a little bit and look back at some sleepers I picked early this year and see how they have been doing as well as give you my picks for this week.
But before we do that, lets see how last week’s group performed.
If you thought Nick Foles played bad against the Cowboys’ pathetic excuse for a defense, I hope you stuck around to see Matt Barkley take the field. He made Foles look like Joe Montana.
I’m not sure if this performance says more about Dallas’ defense, or about Chip Kelly’s QB situation…Yikes
Speaking of QBs, I told you the one thing holding Chris Ogbonnaya back could be Brandon Weeden. Apparently Weeden has the reigns to the whole team because they are in reverse. The Cleveland Browns are the worst 3-4 team in the history of the NFL.
Running back Joseph Randle had a reasonable day with 10 pts in PPR leagues. Sadly, that’s more points than the #1 overall pick in 80% of fantasy leagues, Adrian Peterson.
I have to say, as a Peterson owner, I was a little confused as to why the Vikings abandoned the run 4 minutes into Monday night’s game vs the Giants. Was it to watch Josh Freeman rare back and chuck it 53 times and complete only 20 attempts?
We might have a glimpse of why Freeman is no longer in Tampa Bay…Wow.
Both of my receivers had good games. Cole Beasley had 6 catches for 53 yards and Jarrett Boykin tore it up for the Packers with 8 receptions for over 100 yards and a TD. Nice!
I correctly predicted that Miami’s Charles Clay would hit pay dirt. Too bad that was his only catch.
Now for this week’s sleepers!
Week 8 Sleepers
Eli Manning QB, Giants
Let’s face it, Eli Manning has had an awful year.
Between the 15 picks, 3 fumbles, and a completion percentage well under his career average of 58.4%, it’s hard to find a lot to be complimentary of.
But he is going to face an Eagles defense this weekend that doesn’t handle the pasing game very well. Time for Eli to have a big game.
Ronnie Hillman RB, Broncos
Hillman’s average yards per carry is just too high for him to be splitting time with Knowshon Moreno.
If he can hold onto the football, his snaps will start to increase.
The Redskins give up a lot of yards on the ground and Peyton Manning is banged up a little bit. Look for the Broncos to have a big ground game this weekend.
Brandon Bolden RB, Patriots
The Patriots are yet another team going with a two headed monster at running back.
Don’t these teams realize we’re trying to play fantasy football and could use some backs that never leave the field?
Anyway, Bolden and Stevan Ridley are getting the carries in New England, but Bolden is starting to assert himself a little more and is getting some looks through the air. Look for him to have a good game against the Dolphins this weekend.
Leonard Hankerson WR, Redskins
The chances that the Redskins and the Broncos get into a shootout this weekend are pretty good.
RG III is going to need someone to throw to, especially if the Broncos take Pierre Garcon out of the game. That leaves Hankerson as the next best option.
Keep an eye on Hankerson this week. He sat out of practice on Wednesday, but he should be in the line up this Sunday.
Rueben Randle WR, Giants
If I’m going to bat with Eli Manning, I better take one of his receivers along for the ride.
With the disappearance of Hakeem Nicks, Randle has been stepping it up of late.
Randle already torched the Eagles once this year for two scores. Look for history to repeat itself against a bad Philly secondary.
Andrew Quarless TE, Packers
Time for my weekly injury special. Jermichael Finley was literally carried off the field last week for the Pack.
The Packers are already thin when it comes to pass catchers.
Quarless hasn’t done much this year, but these are the times when players can burst onto the scene and absolutely explode. Grab him if you need a TE for the weekend.
Like I promised, time to check in with some of my earlier picks this year….
Where are they now?
I think there a couple you should have held on to and a few I would rather not discuss any more.
Julius Thomas TE, Denver
I was on the Julius Thomas bandwagon early. I predicted week one that he was going to be a good pick up.
All he’s done this year is grab 36 balls for 422 yards and 8 touchdowns. Enough said.
Rashard Mendenhall RB, Cardinals
In week 2 I gave you Mendenhall as a possibility because he was the team’s starter and short yard specialist.
He is definitely good at short yardage downs. Every down for him is short yardage with a YPc of 3.1.
He does have 3 TD’s this year, so he hasn’t been a total bust.
Kendall Wright WR, Titans
Another week 2 suggestion was picking up Kendall Wright.
Wright has turned himself into the number one WR in Tennessee. He is consistently leading the team in receptions each week.
If only he could find the endzone a little more often, he would be a keeper of a sleeper…
Lamar Miller RB, Dolphins
In week three I suggested that Lamar Miller would be a good pick up, even though he is splitting time with Daniel Thomas.
Nothing has changed in Miami.
Miller is not getting much more than 12 carries per game. However, his YPC is 4.31. Eventually that kind of average should get him the bulk of the carries.
Dexter McCluster RB/WR, Chiefs
You would think that McCluster’s move to the slot would make him a great guy to have on your squad because he can play RB or WR, at least that is what I suggested in Week 3…
Not so much.
He has 16 catches so far this year and five of those came last week. Something about knowing what routes to run tend to affect the amount of targets you receive in a game.
Miles Austin WR, Cowboys
In Week 3 I started my post about Miles Austin by saying “he’s not the receiver he once was.” That has turned out to be the understatement of the year.
12 catches and 125 yards is not exactly what the Cowboys or fantasy owners were hoping to get out of him.
Fortunately for the Dallas Cowboys, GM and owner “Genius” Jones didn’t just give him a fat contract extension…Wait, he did.
When Heath Garrison isn’t complaining about Adrian Peterson’s production over the last several weeks, he writes for 643ball.com. Follow @hgarrison643 for daily tweets and feel free to msg him on twitter.
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