Fantasy Football Sleepers in 2006

Some of the fantasy sleepers who were real diamonds in the rough in 2006 included the following:

• Jacksonville RB/KR Maurice Jones-Drew – a rookie in 2006, he went from fourth on the depth chart at running back, to returning kicks, to splitting starting time at running back in a depleted corps of backs on his way to fantasy stardom that year.In most leagues, he was an undrafted free agent. In week 3 versus the Colts, he opened fantasy players eyes with his 13 rush, 103 yard performance (a 7.9 ypc average). He also proved amazingly effective down the stretch, as he scored at least one rushing TD every week from Weeks 10-17. He finished the season with 941 yards on 166 carries (5.7 ypc average) and 13 rush TDs.

• New Orleans WR Marques Colston – the Hofstra rookie burst onto the NFL landscape after fortuitously the Saints traded away WR Donte Stallworth to the Philadelphia Eagles, giving Colston the opportunity to start his first game in the NFL in week one of the 2006 season. In that game against the Cleveland Browns, he had 4 catches for 49 yards and a touchdown. His best games of the season took place in the middle of the season and included a 6 catch, 163 yards receiving with 2 TD performance against the Ravens in week 8 and followed that up with a 11 catch, 123 yard with 1 TD outing at Tampa Bay the following week. Colston ended the season with 70 receptions, for 1,038 yards and 8 TD catches and also placed third in voting for top NFL offensive rookie honors behind Vince Young and Maurice Drew-Jones. Colston was undrafted in many leagues and if drafted, was a late round fantasy pick.

• New Orleans QB Drew Brees – there were some questions going into the 2006 as to whether Brees would have the same level of success New Orleans that he enjoyed while in San Diego. This caused him to be undervalued in most fantasy drafts. He quickly laid any questions to rest early on in the season with an impressive 26 for 41, 353 yards and 2 TD performance against the Packers on the road in week 2. He finished the season with the league leage in passing yards (4,418), 26 passing TDs versus 11 interceptions and a gaudy 96.2 passer rating.

• Tennessee QB Vince Young – Young was drafted in 2006 by the Titans with the 3rd overall pick, and started his first NFL on October 1, 2006 against the Dallas Cowboys. On November 26, 2006 Young led his team to an improbable come-from-behind victory over the New York Giants after the Titans fell behiind 21-0. Young threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to help his team win, 24-21. In three of the next four weeks, Young again led his team to come from behind victories over the Indianapolis Colts, the Houston Texans and the Buffalo Bills. His 552 rushing yards on the season were a record for rookie quarterbacks in all of NFL history. Young ended the season with 2,199 yards passing, with 12 passing TDs. His 552 yards rushing led to 7 additional TD scores.

• Tennessee RB Travis Henry – Henry played sparingly for the Titans in 2005 after being traded from the Bills to Tennessee. He was traded with the intent of being the backup to RB Chris Brown. Henry made his mark immediately on the 2006 season by scoring twice in week one against the New York Jets. He went on to solidify his status as the number one running back in Tennessee, with a surprising 1,211 yards rushing and 7 TDs.

• Green Bay WR Donald Driver – the Packers were not picked by many to have a prolific offense, and that prediction proved correct, other than the fact that QB Brett Favre was forced to throw as the team played from behind often. The result was many passes thrown to Driver, and he proved he is a consistent player by posting his third 1,200 yard receiving year in a row. Driver, incidentally, finished the season with 1,221 yards receving and 8 TDs which exceeded the totals many believed he would end the season with.