WR Sleepers (1 Viewer)

[Fiddles]

Oakland

Favorite - Javon Walker, Ronald Curry

Dark horse - Johnnie Lee Higgins

I like Johnnie Lee Higgins too, but with the acquisition of FA Drew Carter I'm less optimistic about his chances this year.

I agree that the odds of a Higgins breakout are slim, but talented young players should never be ignored. They have the capacity to rocket up the depth chart and seize a prominent role. The best example of this phenomenon is Chad Johnson. He was a relatively unheralded 2nd round pick who had a quiet rookie season. He was buried on the depth chart entering his second season. If you had just looked at his numbers and his situation, you never would've anticipated him breaking out. But Chad Johnson had elite talent and elite talent eventually rises to the top of the depth chart. I'm reluctant to write off guys like Ted Ginn, Derek Hagan, Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jason Hill, Craig Davis, Robert Meachem, and Dwayne Jarret because they were early draft picks who potentially have top 15-20 type talent. Most people look at these guys and see crap since none of them (except for maybe Ginn) have made any kind of noise whatsoever.

Mistake. My attitude with young guys is don't write them off until they've absolutely proven that they suck. A lot of FF owners make the error of punishing their players for failing to capitalize on opportunities that never even existed. How can we say that Derek Hagan sucks if he's never even had a chance to start a football game? I think you have to wait until a guy has squandered 1-2 seasons of legitimate opportunities before you can conclude that he sucks. Otherwise you'll risk missing out on the slow starters like Santana Moss, Chad Johnson, Bernard Berrian, and Roddy White.

A year ago everyone and their brother would've told you Roddy White sucks. Based on what? Two mediocre seasons with Michael "WR poison" Vick at the helm? White never had a chance to succeed! Yet people were punishing him for failing to capitalize on opportunities that never existed. That's why they all missed the boat on his breakout. I saw the same thing happen with Justin Fargas. Along with Roethlisberger, he was the only player I owned on every single one of my dynasty teams. Then last offseason I finally lost patience and dropped him, figuring he would never amount to anything. Woops. He finally got a legitimate opportunity and became a 1,000 yard rusher.

This sort of thing happens again, and again, and again, and again, and people still don't learn to be patient.

Based on watching almost all of the falcons games those 2 years and seeing him drop ball after ball. Probably a combo of a learning curve and Vick. If vick was such a poison to receivers why did crumpler excel? Regardless your overall point of being patient is spot on. I am trying to learn this after numerous screwups.

 

[dmac37]

Jacksonville

Favorite - Reggie Williams, Jerry Porter

Dark horse - Troy Williamson, Matt Jones

David Garrard is a good QB with the potential to put up respectable numbers. Reggie Williams had a very productive year in 2007 on a per-target basis. He could be a nice value. Jerry Porter also has the potential to emerge there. He has traditionally been an underachiever though.

No Mike Walker??If healthy he has the talent to emerge from this group. He seemed to show mad skills in training camp / pre-season last year.

EBF, did you omit him because of health or because of Porter and Williamson being brought in?

 

[EBF]

Jacksonville

Favorite - Reggie Williams, Jerry Porter

Dark horse - Troy Williamson, Matt Jones

David Garrard is a good QB with the potential to put up respectable numbers. Reggie Williams had a very productive year in 2007 on a per-target basis. He could be a nice value. Jerry Porter also has the potential to emerge there. He has traditionally been an underachiever though.

No Mike Walker??If healthy he has the talent to emerge from this group. He seemed to show mad skills in training camp / pre-season last year.

EBF, did you omit him because of health or because of Porter and Williamson being brought in?

A little bit of both. From what I understand, he's still having issues with his knee. He had another surgery on it a few months back and might not be ready to play until training camp. With the lingering injury issues and the presence of Porter and Williams, I just don't see a clear route to production for Walker in 2008. He's still an interesting dynasty stash if you have deep rosters because he generated a good buzz in camp last year, but I would temper my expectations in the short term.

 

[BuckeyeArt]

Alex Smith has not been great to date, but if a journeyman QB like Kitna can throw for over 4000 yards and over 20 TDs in his two years with Martz it is definitely possible, even likely, that Smith can do as well.

Big difference between Kitna and Smith IMO. In his last season as a starting QB in Cincinatti, Kitna threw for 3591/26... before Martz, he had already been in the top 10 in passing yards twice and the top 10 in passing TDs twice. He also was in his 10th season when he came to Detroit.Smith, on the other hand, has been about as miserable as a QB could possibly be in his first two seasons. The only categories in which he has been notable are passes intercepted, times sacked, and fumbles lost. His career QB rating is 63.5, and he has missed one third of his possible games so far. Yes, it is theoretically possible he could improve... heck, there's nowhere to go but up... but I suspect he'd be out of the NFL if it wasn't for the fact he was a #1 pick and thus has a monster contract.To suggest that it is "even likely" that Smith can throw for 4000/20 next season is absurd... even with Martz.

There were a lot of targets in Detroit too; so the only question is WHO will emerge in SF, because SOMEONE will. And that is why people are gambling on Hill or B. Johnson or Battle or Lelie, because one of them will be McDonald or Furrey this year.

The situations are different. Detroit was #32 in the NFL in rushing attempts in 2006 and 2007 with Martz. Are you expecting that in SF, with Smith/Hill instead of Kitna and Gore on the team? I'd like to see someone high on these SF WRs breakdown some projections on the SF passing game.

Smith being 21 and starting behind a forgettable offensive line; running a new offense he never ran in college. Who did he have to throw to in HIS CAREER? And better than that: What were we doing when we were 21 years old. Give him a little benefit of the doubt.

Sure, he was 21 in 2005. Entering 2007, he was 23, still young, but he had played in 25 games and started 23. That is enough that he should have shown some improvement, especially considering he was a #1 pick (i.e., expectations are deservedly higher). Instead, he regressed horribly last season.On top of that, in college, he was a hybrid running/passing QB. In two years as a college starter, he threw 587 passes and ran 286 times. He attempted 25 passes per game and ran 12 times per game. IMO this is one reason that he has struggled - his skillset that enabled him to dominate in college does not translate effectively to the NFL. And it translates even less effectively to Martz's offense.Give him the benefit of the doubt based on what?

Didn't he improve from 2005 to 2006? He actually had a very respectable 2nd year. Going from 1/11 TD/int ratio in 2005 to 16/16 in 2006 seems to show a lot of improvement. I think the benefit of the doubt can be applied to 2007 when he injured his shoulder. It's tough to call 2007 a 'regression' based upon 3 injury free games.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

Jacksonville

Favorite - Reggie Williams, Jerry Porter

Dark horse - Troy Williamson, Matt Jones

David Garrard is a good QB with the potential to put up respectable numbers. Reggie Williams had a very productive year in 2007 on a per-target basis. He could be a nice value. Jerry Porter also has the potential to emerge there. He has traditionally been an underachiever though.

No Mike Walker??If healthy he has the talent to emerge from this group. He seemed to show mad skills in training camp / pre-season last year.

EBF, did you omit him because of health or because of Porter and Williamson being brought in?

A little bit of both. From what I understand, he's still having issues with his knee. He had another surgery on it a few months back and might not be ready to play until training camp. With the lingering injury issues and the presence of Porter and Williams, I just don't see a clear route to production for Walker in 2008. He's still an interesting dynasty stash if you have deep rosters because he generated a good buzz in camp last year, but I would temper my expectations in the short term.

enough with the mike walker already

 

[Chunky Soup]

Jacksonville

Favorite - Reggie Williams, Jerry Porter

Dark horse - Troy Williamson, Matt Jones

David Garrard is a good QB with the potential to put up respectable numbers. Reggie Williams had a very productive year in 2007 on a per-target basis. He could be a nice value. Jerry Porter also has the potential to emerge there. He has traditionally been an underachiever though.

No Mike Walker??If healthy he has the talent to emerge from this group. He seemed to show mad skills in training camp / pre-season last year.

EBF, did you omit him because of health or because of Porter and Williamson being brought in?

A little bit of both. From what I understand, he's still having issues with his knee. He had another surgery on it a few months back and might not be ready to play until training camp. With the lingering injury issues and the presence of Porter and Williams, I just don't see a clear route to production for Walker in 2008. He's still an interesting dynasty stash if you have deep rosters because he generated a good buzz in camp last year, but I would temper my expectations in the short term.

enough with the mike walker already

why

 

[Tau837]

Alex Smith has not been great to date, but if a journeyman QB like Kitna can throw for over 4000 yards and over 20 TDs in his two years with Martz it is definitely possible, even likely, that Smith can do as well.

Big difference between Kitna and Smith IMO. In his last season as a starting QB in Cincinatti, Kitna threw for 3591/26... before Martz, he had already been in the top 10 in passing yards twice and the top 10 in passing TDs twice. He also was in his 10th season when he came to Detroit.Smith, on the other hand, has been about as miserable as a QB could possibly be in his first two seasons. The only categories in which he has been notable are passes intercepted, times sacked, and fumbles lost. His career QB rating is 63.5, and he has missed one third of his possible games so far. Yes, it is theoretically possible he could improve... heck, there's nowhere to go but up... but I suspect he'd be out of the NFL if it wasn't for the fact he was a #1 pick and thus has a monster contract.To suggest that it is "even likely" that Smith can throw for 4000/20 next season is absurd... even with Martz.

There were a lot of targets in Detroit too; so the only question is WHO will emerge in SF, because SOMEONE will. And that is why people are gambling on Hill or B. Johnson or Battle or Lelie, because one of them will be McDonald or Furrey this year.

The situations are different. Detroit was #32 in the NFL in rushing attempts in 2006 and 2007 with Martz. Are you expecting that in SF, with Smith/Hill instead of Kitna and Gore on the team? I'd like to see someone high on these SF WRs breakdown some projections on the SF passing game.

Smith being 21 and starting behind a forgettable offensive line; running a new offense he never ran in college. Who did he have to throw to in HIS CAREER? And better than that: What were we doing when we were 21 years old. Give him a little benefit of the doubt.

Sure, he was 21 in 2005. Entering 2007, he was 23, still young, but he had played in 25 games and started 23. That is enough that he should have shown some improvement, especially considering he was a #1 pick (i.e., expectations are deservedly higher). Instead, he regressed horribly last season.On top of that, in college, he was a hybrid running/passing QB. In two years as a college starter, he threw 587 passes and ran 286 times. He attempted 25 passes per game and ran 12 times per game. IMO this is one reason that he has struggled - his skillset that enabled him to dominate in college does not translate effectively to the NFL. And it translates even less effectively to Martz's offense.Give him the benefit of the doubt based on what?

Didn't he improve from 2005 to 2006? He actually had a very respectable 2nd year. Going from 1/11 TD/int ratio in 2005 to 16/16 in 2006 seems to show a lot of improvement. I think the benefit of the doubt can be applied to 2007 when he injured his shoulder. It's tough to call 2007 a 'regression' based upon 3 injury free games.

Well, there is no doubt it was a regression. The injury is no doubt one thing that contributed to it, but it doesn't change the fact that he regressed. Even in the 3 injury free games, he completed less than 52% of his passes for a Joey Harrington like 5.6 ypa, with only 461 passing yards and 1 TD.Anyway, to each his own. If you guys see Smith producing this year, I will agree to disagree. I have Johnson and Battle on my dyansty team, so I'd be happy to be wrong.

 

[Tecmo]

I'm still pretty high on Jason Hill in SF, he has a legit shot at being a #1 receiver in Martz system. This team still doesn't have that #1 talent. He runs great routes and is a red-zone beast. He can be drafted real late and has the potential for huge #s

Not sold on Bryant Johnson, he never did anything when he got his starting opportunities in ARZ. I don't think SF inks him for 1-yr if they think so highly of him.

Arnaz Battle is the guy all SF fans praise as their best receiver. I would peg him as the slot guy which has value in Martz's system (Az Hakim, Furrey, Shaun McDonald). BUT, I question if TE Vernon Davis will clean up underneath stuff moreso, VD seems to have success running short crosses n such. I can see Vernon digging into Arnaz's receptions big time.

Bruce looks like their #1 receiver as it stands now. He's capable of putting up 1100 yds, 5 TDs as he knows the system. He's been putting up #s for a decade, no reason to think he still can't do it. He can easily be pushed to #2 if someone like Hill steps up too.

Lelie is the dark horse that deserves a flyer. He has the speed to work those deep slants. Lelie and Bryant are the 2 speed guys to work the deeper stuff, at least 1 of them will be seeing the field regularly. I wouldn't assume Bryant is a lock over Lelie.

Yeah, Hill has a good shot at #1 to me. None of these guys are it. Would be a good late pick to swing for the fences if he can impress at training camp. Drop him otherwise, maybe grab him near the end of the season when his playing time increases. on the SF situation, there's a sleeper in this bunch

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

Jacksonville

Favorite - Reggie Williams, Jerry Porter

Dark horse - Troy Williamson, Matt Jones

David Garrard is a good QB with the potential to put up respectable numbers. Reggie Williams had a very productive year in 2007 on a per-target basis. He could be a nice value. Jerry Porter also has the potential to emerge there. He has traditionally been an underachiever though.

No Mike Walker??If healthy he has the talent to emerge from this group. He seemed to show mad skills in training camp / pre-season last year.

EBF, did you omit him because of health or because of Porter and Williamson being brought in?

A little bit of both. From what I understand, he's still having issues with his knee. He had another surgery on it a few months back and might not be ready to play until training camp. With the lingering injury issues and the presence of Porter and Williams, I just don't see a clear route to production for Walker in 2008. He's still an interesting dynasty stash if you have deep rosters because he generated a good buzz in camp last year, but I would temper my expectations in the short term.

enough with the mike walker already

why

no way, no how, mike walker "explodes" this year. like the Op asked.

 

[Chunky Soup]

Jacksonville

Favorite - Reggie Williams, Jerry Porter

Dark horse - Troy Williamson, Matt Jones

David Garrard is a good QB with the potential to put up respectable numbers. Reggie Williams had a very productive year in 2007 on a per-target basis. He could be a nice value. Jerry Porter also has the potential to emerge there. He has traditionally been an underachiever though.

No Mike Walker??If healthy he has the talent to emerge from this group. He seemed to show mad skills in training camp / pre-season last year.

EBF, did you omit him because of health or because of Porter and Williamson being brought in?

A little bit of both. From what I understand, he's still having issues with his knee. He had another surgery on it a few months back and might not be ready to play until training camp. With the lingering injury issues and the presence of Porter and Williams, I just don't see a clear route to production for Walker in 2008. He's still an interesting dynasty stash if you have deep rosters because he generated a good buzz in camp last year, but I would temper my expectations in the short term.

enough with the mike walker already

why

no way, no how, mike walker "explodes" this year. like the Op asked.

Don't some people say this about all players that we consider sleepers? I think that's the point, so I'd say Mike Walker is a sleeper. Think Steve Smith (car) when he broke out, Roddy White, James Jones, Marques Colston, etc. There are countless examples. I'm sure most wrote those guys off -- probably you too.

 

[sfl49er]

Alex Smith has not been great to date, but if a journeyman QB like Kitna can throw for over 4000 yards and over 20 TDs in his two years with Martz it is definitely possible, even likely, that Smith can do as well.

Big difference between Kitna and Smith IMO. In his last season as a starting QB in Cincinatti, Kitna threw for 3591/26... before Martz, he had already been in the top 10 in passing yards twice and the top 10 in passing TDs twice. He also was in his 10th season when he came to Detroit.Smith, on the other hand, has been about as miserable as a QB could possibly be in his first two seasons. The only categories in which he has been notable are passes intercepted, times sacked, and fumbles lost. His career QB rating is 63.5, and he has missed one third of his possible games so far. Yes, it is theoretically possible he could improve... heck, there's nowhere to go but up... but I suspect he'd be out of the NFL if it wasn't for the fact he was a #1 pick and thus has a monster contract.To suggest that it is "even likely" that Smith can throw for 4000/20 next season is absurd... even with Martz.

There were a lot of targets in Detroit too; so the only question is WHO will emerge in SF, because SOMEONE will. And that is why people are gambling on Hill or B. Johnson or Battle or Lelie, because one of them will be McDonald or Furrey this year.

The situations are different. Detroit was #32 in the NFL in rushing attempts in 2006 and 2007 with Martz. Are you expecting that in SF, with Smith/Hill instead of Kitna and Gore on the team? I'd like to see someone high on these SF WRs breakdown some projections on the SF passing game.

Smith being 21 and starting behind a forgettable offensive line; running a new offense he never ran in college. Who did he have to throw to in HIS CAREER? And better than that: What were we doing when we were 21 years old. Give him a little benefit of the doubt.

Sure, he was 21 in 2005. Entering 2007, he was 23, still young, but he had played in 25 games and started 23. That is enough that he should have shown some improvement, especially considering he was a #1 pick (i.e., expectations are deservedly higher). Instead, he regressed horribly last season.On top of that, in college, he was a hybrid running/passing QB. In two years as a college starter, he threw 587 passes and ran 286 times. He attempted 25 passes per game and ran 12 times per game. IMO this is one reason that he has struggled - his skillset that enabled him to dominate in college does not translate effectively to the NFL. And it translates even less effectively to Martz's offense.Give him the benefit of the doubt based on what?

Based on his new systems every year, nobody to block for him his last three years. His shoulder injury that he shouldnt have come back from so soon. Maybe Im missing it with him. Maybe I dont know anything about a good QB. I feel this year IS his last chance. I personally would like to see Hill get playing time Because of his ability to see the field quicker, and release. Maybe one quarterback (Peyton) would succeed in this league behind those 3 horrible offensive lines in the past. I just dont believe that Brady, Mcnabb, or Romo could do it either--just like Smith cant

 

[QUEZILLA]

Michael Clayton - Looked skinny at OTA's, and weighed 208. That is about the weight he was at when he was a rookie. The past few years he was around 220, apparently JG wanted him to be around the weight of TO. Anyways, that combined with the fact that he was nursing injuries in the off-season prevented him from working out like he wanted. I expect that he should be able to get more separation, and definitely should put up better numbers. Now if he could only get a hand transplant...

Paris Warren is also worth keeping on the radar. They liked what he was doing in pre-season last year, but then he got hurt. If he were to pick up where he left off he could get an opportunity. I wouldn't necessarily add this guy to your roster right now, but remember the name.

Also, keep in mind the Bucs are expected to have a top 10 O-line unit this year. Good O-line, "offensive genius" as HC, a veteran QB...

 

[acme]

Welcome to FBG. The sleeper receivers I have my eye on this year are:

Demetrius Williams - disappointed owners last year, but is still a talented play-maker.

Chad Jackson and Jabar Gaffney - one of these two should emerge as the WR2 for the Patriots.

Isaac Bruce - the most reliable of the 49er receivers in the Martz offense

Marty Booker - he and Mark Bradley are the only receivers in Chicago

Jeherme Urban - produced decent numbers as the Cardinal WR3 last year and could again

The Pats lost Donte Stallworth, but Welker and Moss are still there, right? I imagine they'll stay 1-2...Don't know anything for sure, but that's what seems to make sense...

-my 2¢