Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

Kickers are not exactly highly sought after fantasy football players. Generally they are taken in the last rounds of the draft and are rarely on the same fantasy roster the entire season. Some managers even choose to stream kickers based on match-up, the idea being that point totals for kickers are based more often on the success of their offense than actual ability. No matter how you treat the position, it is a spot that needs to be filled and like in real life, can be the difference between being a champion or the first loser. Anyone who has ever won a match-up by less than three points can attest to the importance of even a few extra points to a success of the team as a whole. That means it’s crucial to have a quality kicker week in and week out even if you’re drafting the position in the last round.

Below are five kickers to target late who could have break out seasons and be that big contributor your fantasy football team needs to put it over the top. When reading about the 2010 Fantasy Football Sleeper Kickers selections, remember these three rules Bruno Boys uses to classify “sleepers”: 1) players who have a chance of outperforming their projection and player ranking; 2) players that should give you a nice return on your draft pick/auction price; 3) some sleepers are also undervalued, not all.

Dan Carpenter, K, Miami Dolphins – Carpenter is only entering his third NFL season, but has already proven himself to be one of the best in the business. He is coming off a strong Pro Bowl season in which he posted an 89-percent field goal percentage, good for fifth in the league for kickers with more than 20 attempts. This isn’t unprecedented for him, either. In 2008 he kicked at an 84-percent clip and went 40-40 on extra points, so we can assume the talent is real and that his 2009 Pro Bowl selection wasn’t a fluke. He also plays in Miami, where it’s 80 degrees and sunny 365 days a year. There might be rain from time to time; however, a passing seagull poses a bigger threat to his accuracy than the Florida weather ever will.

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The tight end position in fantasy football has always added a certain element of strategy to the game. Having a tight end spot reserved on rosters forces owners to stray from just worrying about running backs and wide receivers and deciding on whether or not they want to take a top-tier tight end, and when they want to draft their stud. 

Many top tight ends can be considered WR2 options, but if you miss out on a stud, you can get stuck with a dud in your lineup all season. This year, more than any other years, the talent at tight end is rich. With job splits and injuries, however, many tight ends will emerge from the waiver wires and become solid pieces to fantasy lineups down the stretch. The following 2010 Fantasy Football Sleeper Tight Ends list is made up of both lesser names with loads of potential value, or mid-range players that have a chance to break into the top tier this season. 

Tony Scheffler, TE, Detroit Lions – After two productive years as a member of the Denver Broncos (pushing 1,000 receiving yards before injury in 2008), Scheffler languished under Josh McDaniels in 2009. McDaniels follows the Mike Martz philosophy that tight ends should be great blockers first, so a good receiving tight end like Scheffler was bound to struggle in that situation. He’s now in Detroit with a blossoming quarterback, and he has an opportunity to regain his form and become a solid fantasy football tight end in 2010. He has shown no effects of injuries that kept him out of minicamp, and coach Jim Schwartz has said Scheffler is a key to keeping the pressure off of star wide receiver Calvin Johnson. 

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The parity in the NFL makes fantasy football statistics harder to predict than other fantasy sports such as basketball. In fantasy basketball, many players are consistent with their career averages regardless of the situation they’re playing in. Fantasy football couldn’t be more opposite. Consistent statistical seasons are hard to find over time from any position in fantasy football, but especially at wide receiver. Receivers are a fickle bunch and often have a great statistical year one year, followed by a horrible statistical year the next. So many factors affect whether they are successful, such as changing quarterbacks midseason or the rise of a unknown running back. Whatever it is, fantasy football owners are used to dealing with the surprises that make fantasy football so much fun to begin with. Here are seven wide receiver for the 2010 season that made our list of 2010 Fantasy Football Sleeper Wide Receivers.

Johnny Knox, WR, Chicago Bears – Knox had a solid rookie season in 2009, registering 45 receptions for 527 yards and five touchdowns. He was one of the few bright spots in Chicago’s somewhat dysfunctional offense. A fifth-round pick from Abilene-Christian College, Knox also excelled on special teams, averaging 29 yards per return. New offensive coordinator Mike Martz brings his pass-happy offensive playbook to the Bears this season. Martz is responsible for the St. Louis Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” offense from 1999 to 2001 that made stars out of receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. Knox compares favorably to these former Ram standouts. Martz was also successful in Detroit, turning the somewhat forgettable quarterback Jon Kitna into a 4000-yard passer. 

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With the level of attrition at the running back position, fantasy football owners who unearth a sleeper or two on draft day can have a decided advantage over the course of the season.  The following players make our 2010 Fantasy Football Sleeper Running Backs list.

LeSean McCoy, RB, Philadelphia Eagles – The offseason departure of Brian Westbrook opens the door for McCoy to become the Eagles’ primary ball carrier.  As a rookie in 2009, he set an Eagles’ rookie record of 637 rushing yards along with 40 receptions for 308 yards.  His touchdown total (four) was a little lackluster; however it stands to rise with a full workload in 2010. McCoy’s fantasy football value is good in standard leagues, yet receives a bump in Points Per Reception (PPR) leagues.  He is currently ranked 10th in our running back cheat sheet for PPR leagues.
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In the information age, a sleeper really isn’t a sleeper anymore. Thus, in order to ensure that you wind up with a diamond instead of Cubic Zirconium, fantasy owners need to dig deeper than ever. As such, Bruno Boys Dominic presents us with some deeper sleepers for 2009 that could be worth monitoring or grabbing with a late round pick.

RB Frank Summers (PIT) - Selected in the 5th round in this year’s draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, many believe this 230 lb running back from UNLV is destined for the fullback position. However, he ran the 40 in an impressive 4.5 and catches the ball well. So, it’s no wonder that visions of a young Jerome Bettis are dancing in the heads of some of the Pittsburgh coaching staff. Even if he’s not a reincarnation of the bus, with his size and ability, he could vulture some serious TDs.

QB Tom Brandstater (DEN) - Josh McDaniels made it clear that he likes to do things his way. If Orton can’t become the QB he’s looking for, the new Broncos coach may decide to start grooming his pet project sooner than later. Brandstater has good size, arm strength and mobility. If McDaniels believes he has the intangibles, he may try to create Denver’s own Tom Brady prototype.

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It is not glamorous. No one goes into draft day thinking that they hope this or that falls to me in the first round, and it certainly is not something that holds a ton of excitement after you obtain one, unless that is if you are the exception to the rule. What am I talking about here? Defenses people, defenses.

The Bruno Boys take great pride in getting you the best information possible, and it doesn’t matter if we are talking quarterbacks, running backs or the ugly step child, defenses. We are here to serve Bruno Boys Nation to the best possible extreme that we can.

This edition of the Bruno Boys Snooze Alarms focuses on sleeper defenses. It doesn’t matter if the position is flashy or not, the fact of the matter is that if you have a hands up on your competition when it comes to the defense position, that is one more area to help guarantee you victory week in and week out. Let’s jump into the 2009 Bruno Boys Defense “Snooze Alarm” Rankings analyzing three defenses that we feel will give you a little more bang for your buck, or in fantasy football terms, your draft pick. 

Ranking System: The higher the “Snooze Alarm” Ranking, the more sleeper value the player has.

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You’ve all heard of that old saying “You Snooze, You Lose” right? Well, if you haven’t, let us introduce you to the Bruno Boys philosophy on finding those diamond in the rough fantasy football impact players or identifying a player coming off injury who is set to have a big season. We like to call our traditional sleeper rankings, Snooze Alarm rankings,  because we focus on players who are virtually unheard of coming into the season or are undervalued because they might have suffered an injury or inconsistent play in the previous season. In some occasions we will even tackle a player who had a solid season the year before, but still isn’t getting the attention he should.

Often times, these are the exact same players who either outperform their average draft position in fantasy football drafts by seasons end, or they hit your league as a free agent, but finish as a top performer on a weekly basis. With that being said, please read on and enjoy the 2009 Bruno Boys Kicker “Snooze Alarm” Rankings (that’s right we even cover Kicker sleepers). Doing so, will allow you to not panic on draft day when a certain position starts flying off the board and should help add much coveted depth to your fantasy football roster.

Ranking System: The higher the “Snooze Alarm” Ranking, the more sleeper value the player has.

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As you prepare for your fantasy football draft it is always best to formulate a strategy. You should start the day with a specific plan of attack, but you must always be prepared to adjust your strategy based on how players are being drafted. If you go into a draft thinking that you are going get the best players at every position, you are either a) delusional or b) in a very weak league.

Since you stand no real chance of landing a squad consisting of the likes of Drew Brees, Adrian Peterson, Larry Fitzgerald, etc., you should always be prepared with potential sleepers at every position. A sleeper of course is a player that other owners in your league may overlook and that you can get at a good value, who winds up exceeding expectations and even at times, matching the top players from his position. Finding a sleeper at one or more positions is very important to one’s fantasy football success.

When it comes to the tight end position, where there seems to be a decent drop after the handful of elite players go off the board, many fantasy owners will reach for their tight end early. However, there seems to be more and more offensive tight ends breaking out each season, meaning you can find very productive tight ends in the middle-to-late rounds of a fantasy football draft. The Bruno Boys are here to help you in doing that by providing you with our annual sleeper rankings, or as we like to call them, the 2009 Bruno Boys Tight End “Snooze Alarm” Rankings.

Ranking System: The higher the “Snooze Alarm” Ranking, the more sleeper value the player has.

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Looking for sleepers in your draft come August? Bruno Boys Greg will analyze who he feels should have a strong fantasy football showing in 2009, giving you his position by position under the radar picks over the next few weeks. These are players who won’t be highly touted on draft day but should produce at a level higher than their average draft position. This week, he covers the DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAM position.

Chicago Bears D/ST - After once being so dominant, the Bears defense from a fantasy football standpoint has been a low end D/ST 1, high end D/ST 2 for the last couple seasons. With the addition of quarterback Jay Cutler  the team will not have to rely solely on their defense to win games, which should help them more aggressive.  This could result into creating more sacks and turnovers because the defense knows that the offense has the fire power to bail them out if they take the risk and get burned.  Given that the Bears were worth a start at times the last couple years, they could result in a must start this season.  Look for them to get back to their old form of a couple seasons ago, but the price won’t be as high for fantasy owners as Chicago is being drafted in the last round of most mock drafts.

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You’ve all heard of that old saying “You Snooze, You Lose” right? Well, if you haven’t, let us introduce you to the Bruno Boys philosophy on finding those diamond in the rough fantasy football impact players or identifying a player coming off injury who is set to have a big season. We like to call our traditional sleeper rankings, Snooze Alarm rankings,  because we focus on players who are virtually unheard of coming into the season or are undervalued because they might have suffered an injury or inconsistent play in the previous season. In some occasions we will even tackle a player who had a solid season the year before, but still isn’t getting the attention he should.

Often times, these are the exact same players who either outperform their average draft position in fantasy football drafts by seasons end, or they hit your league as a free agent, but finish as a top performer on a weekly basis. With that being said, please read on and enjoy the 2009 Bruno Boys Wide Receiver “Snooze Alarm” Rankings. Doing so, will allow you to not panic on draft day when a certain position starts flying off the board and should help add much coveted depth to your fantasy football roster.

Ranking System: The higher the “Snooze Alarm” Ranking, the more sleeper value the player has.

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