Fantasy Football Free Agent Finds

Now that most drafts are done, the second part of the fantasy football battle begins. Too many players will draft their team and stay married to those players, unwilling to admit a mistake or cut a guy they liked preseason. Year after year, fantasy leagues are decided by a few free agent studs that are picked up after week 1 or 2 performances. Just as important however, is finding guys that won’t be stars, but may have solid weeks here or there that can fill in during the bye weeks.

I attempted to find one player from each team in the NFL (key word attempted, more on that later) that is going undrafted in leagues, or is severely underrated that could help you with your team. The advice for most of these guys is not to pick them up, just yet. Watch how the first few weeks of the regular season unfolds, if these guys start getting an opportunity, pick them up and see if they develop. You never know though, since they’re sleepers, some might even get cut before the final rosters come out.  To make matters easier, most of these players fall into a few key groups.

One of these Quarterbacks has to break out eventually

Ryan Tannehill,Miami Dolphins, Blaine Gabbert, Jacksonville Jaguars, Jake LockerTennessee Titans, Sam Bradford , St. Louis Rams.

These are four young quarterbacks that so far have been struggling during their NFL careers. It is likely that none of these guys will eventually break out, but the unpredictable nature of the NFL implies that one could still bloom late. I would recommend watching Tannehill and Bradford closely, both have improved weapons at their disposal and could make the leap to fantasy relevant this year. If you have a low upside backup on your bench (Alex Smith, Phillip Rivers, Matt Schaub) replace them with Tannehill and Bradford, see if either breaks out, the backups will likely be available in free agency if things don’t work out.

Quarterbacks with rushing value to make up for passing troubles

EJ Manuel, Buffalo Bills, Terrelle Pryor, Oakland Raiders.

Fantasy football still gives a huge scoring edge to quarterbacks who are able to run and throw, allowing less talented quarterbacks to have more value than some more talented quarterbacks. Think about Tim Tebow (groan, sorry) while he was with the Broncos. We knew then that he could not throw the ball at an NFL level, but he was valuable in fantasy because he could get the ball down the field with his legs, and got some red-zone TD’s with his arm as well. The additional rushing points will make up for a lot of passing failures. It’s clear due to the QB situations in Oakland and Buffalo that these two will get chances during the season; I expect that they will run it quite a bit. Try to pick these guys up, BEFORE the breakout performance, and either trade while the value is high, or plug them in at QB.

Running Backs that could steal more touches than you think

Bilal Powell, New York Jets, Danny Woodhead, San Diego Chargers, Lance Dunbar, Dallas Cowboys, Joique Bell, Detroit Lions, Mike Tolbert, Carolina Panthers.

Unless you are in a fairly deep league, most of these guys will not be on your roster, however, they will see some playing time on the field. In fantasy, we worry about the starting running back a lot, and the immediate backup to serve as a handcuff. There are times where the number one backup has less value than the third string player, as the third string will see time on the field no matter what happens with injuries. This is true with many of the guys listed above, some are second string, some are third, but each is going to get some work in the passing game, and even some rushing attempts. These guys will all be more valuable in PPR leagues, and might not be the #1 back if the starter goes down, however as a bye week flex option, these guys bring value.

Running Back who actually might be next in line

Stepfan Taylor, Arizona Cardinals, Knile Davis, Kansas City Chiefs, Chris Polk, Philadelphia Eagles, Christine Michael, Seattle Seahawks.

All of these guys have fairly entrenched starters ahead of them on the depth chart, and it would take an injury for them to get fantasy value. In the case of Taylor, Polk, and Michael, there are established number two running backs on their current teams who people are looking at as handcuff options. After looking at some training camp reports and preseason games, there’s a chance that these guys could be next in line. If an injury happens to the starters on any of these teams, look quickly at these guys, they will fly under the radar, but could steal some carries quickly.

Tight Ends with value, but the secret might already be out

Jordan Cameron, Cleveland Browns, Zach Sudfeld, New England Patriots, Julius Thomas, Denver Broncos.

When I first started putting together this list, I had these tight ends picked out. My advice was going to be: pick one of these guys up as your backup tight end, and after two weeks shop either these guys or your starter, because you woll have two high level players. However, in the past two weeks, Cameron and Sudfeld have been getting their name tossed out there a lot, so the secret might already be out. Good job if you were able to pick them up, if they’re still available, grab any of these guys for week 1 and decide if you’re willing to trust them in your starting lineup.

Wide Receivers with talent that might steal some targets

Mohamed Sanu, Cincinnati Bengals, Darius Heyward-Bey, Indianapolis Colts, Ramses Barden, New York Giants, Aldrick Robinson, Washington Redskins, Earl Bennett, Chicago Bears, Jarius Wright, Minnesota Vikings, Kenny Stills, New Orleans Saints, Harry Douglas, Atlanta Falcons, Jon Baldwin, San Francisco 49ers.

Wide Receiver is one of the easiest places to find free agent pickups, since the league is so pass happy now. None of these guys are going to break out and be a number one option in fantasy football this season, but in PPR formats, or bye week flex guys, I could see them getting some playing time. Most of these guys have a good amount of talent and opportunity, something that is important in today’s pass happy NFL. For example, everyone is freaking out over T.Y. Hilton’s value this year (including me) talking about how his speed in the Colts’ offense along with Andrew Luck is a success story waiting to happen. Didn’t Heyward-Bey get drafted way too high in the first round by Oakland because he was fast? I think there’s a chance there. Jarius Wright can serve as a mini-Percy Harvin in the slot for the Vikings if given the opportunity. We all know Earl Bennett and Jay Cutler go back to their college days every once in a while. Cutler likes to stare down his receivers, if Brandon Marshall goes down, Bennett will see a lot of passes.

Wide Receiver with a lot of opportunity

Tandon Doss, Baltimore Ravens, Jericho Cotchery, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kevin Ogletree, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

I’m not as high on the talent for this group compared to the one directly above it, but I still think that due to the NFL being a pass happy league, there’s a chance that these three will see some targets. All have lost some receiving targets from their teams in the offseason, and these guys appear ready to see a lot of time on the field.

Teams that are too predictable for sleepers

Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans.

First off, we all know the Texans’ rushing depth chart. Secondly, we know their pecking order for the passing game.  It makes it tough to find a sleeper on this team, because it’s such a tightly run offense without room for a lot of depth. When it comes to the Packers, most of our readers follow Green Bay to some extent, so it’ll make it tough to be the first player in your league to hear about someone on their roster. Packers get over drafted in Wisconsin fantasy football leagues as it is. If there’s someone you feel will break out, go ahead and pick them up, I just can’t find anyone not already on the radar.

Let us know what you think. Did we miss anyone? Think these guys won’t be valuable at all in leagues? Got questions for the fantasy football season? Email snotap12@gmail.com. Now that football is coming soon, we’ll have a weekly column going over roster advice, matchup predictions, and reactions to what happened the week below.

Adam