Three Fantasy Football Rookie Sleepers to Keep an Eye On
Everyone knows the best rookie players for fantasy football. When talking about the best rookie fantasy situations, it would be extremely easy to list off the top drafted rookies who are expected to receive work. Do you really have to read an article to know that Kyle Pitts has a great situation ahead of him in Atlanta, especially if Julio Jones is not on the team next fall? Do you really need another person to tell you the massive workload the Steelers first-round running back Najee Harris is going to get? Of course not!
Those talking points have already been pounded into the fantasy communities' heads enough now. What about the deeper sleeper rookies though? The guys going later in most drafts, and possibly not going at all, at all that can make you look like a genius months after the pick. These are three rookies to keep an eye on who might just make you look like fantasy football Nostradamus for taking a shot on in your draft.
Michael Carter, RB New York Jets
Ask yourself, who was the leading rusher for the New York Jets last season? Toting the rock for the league’s worst statistical offense was a 37-year-old Frank Gore. The options at running back were extremely scarce for the Jets, and it looks to be the same for the veteran options brought in for Mike LaFleur’s offense this season.
The most notable name in the Jets running backs room is Tevin Coleman. Coleman’s time was a disappointment with the 49ers. The former Atlanta Falcon gave the Niners 544 yards and 6 touchdowns in his first year in San Fran, then missed most of last year with a knee injury. Behind him is LaMichael Perine who averaged 3.6 yards a carry as a backup last season. The competition is pretty much wide open for the starting running back gig.
Enter North Carolina running back Michael Carter. The Jets spent a 4th round pick on Carter, and the Florida native looks to make an early impact for the new Robert Saleh-led Jets. Carter should see immediate work as a pass-catcher. No other running back on the Jets roster received any real receiving work last year, with no player surpassing 100 receiving yards out of the backfield. Carter showed good potential as a pass-catcher, with over 20 catches in three of his four seasons for the Tar Heels. With no real standout in the room, Carter’s big-play potential could also snag him the job. Carter averaged 8 yards a carry his senior year and could carve out a big role in the new New York offense.
2. Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR Detroit Lions
Many draft pundits expected the Lions to go wide receiver in the first round. The team
has a lot of holes overall, but it gets especially drastic when looking at the wide receiver position. Kenny Golladay is gone. Marvin Jones is gone. Danny Amendola is gone. Marvin Hall is gone. Four of the five top pass-catching Lions last year have moved on to greener pastures over the offseason. The featured names in Detroit now are solid #2 receiver Tyrell Williams who missed all of last year with an injury, and Breshaud Perriman coming off a disappointing year with the Jets. There are targets there for a rookie looking to make a name for himself.
If given the shot, former USC Trojan wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown can be a sneaky good fantasy option this season. As mentioned previously, there are no real standouts at wide receiver for Detroit anymore. The stars are gone now. In their place are Williams and Perriman who can prove to be deep threats from the outside, which would work perfectly for St. Brown. St. Brown is a jack of all trades, master of none type of slot receiver who can get a good amount of targets over the middle. He isn’t super flashy, but he runs good smooth routes and catches the ball. The addition of Jared Goff means the ball won’t be pushed down the field nearly as much as it was with Matt Stafford. Goff likes his receivers that can get it done underneath, which could prove to be money for fantasy owners of Amon-Ra St. Brown.
3. Kenny Gainwell, RB Philadelphia Eagles
This selection is more of a deep sleeper than the others. This is for the readers who are in Points Per Reception (or PPR) Leagues. Kenny Gainwell isn’t someone on a lot of players' radars. As a 5th round pick, it looks like he wasn’t high on a bunch of teams lists. When you look at the situation where he’s been drafted though, it’s worth monitoring the situation going into training camps.
There is a common thread between the offenses new Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen has been a part of, both heavily used receiving backs. During Steichen’s year and a half as offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers, they heavily used Austin Ekeler as a receiver. In 2019 Ekeler finished 2nd in team targets with 108. The next year when Ekeler went down (when he was healthy he caught the ball a lot,) the Chargers used Kallen Ballage, Josh Jackson, and Joshua Kelley a good amount in the passing game. Steichen is a firm believer in using running backs as receivers and has shown he’s willing to feature a smaller receiving back such as Austin Ekeler.
Moving to Sirianni’s Colts, they used Nyheim Hines heavily in the receiving game. In his three years in the league, Hines has received over 50 targets in each season. In two of those seasons, he’s brought in over 60 passes. This past year is the most important one to look at as far as Gainwell’s situation. Jonathan Taylor took over as the clear top rusher in Indianapolis, with 232 carries and over 1100 yards. The rookie finished 4th in standard scoring and 6th in PPR. His teammate Hines, despite Taylor’s emergence, finished 24th in standard scoring and an even more important 15th in PPR.
This shows that even if there is a true #1 rusher, there are still points there for a receiving back in Sirianni’s offense historically. Even if Miles Sanders is the clear-cut #1 rusher in Philly, mind you he still hasn’t toppled 180 carries in a season yet, there’s still fantasy potential in another Eagles back. Also consider that Miles Sanders had extremely poor numbers as a receiver last year, with less than 200 receiving yards and a 53.8% catch percentage. Finally, when you factor in that Kenneth Gainwell played a good mix of running back and wide receiver for Memphis, with 51 catches for 610 receiving yards in 2019, there’s a good shot Gainwell is in contention for the featured receiving back spot previously held by Austin Ekeler and Nyheim Hines. If you’re looking for a real deep sleeper, Gainwell might be the one.
Writer
-By: Jacob Keppen