After a bland weekend in the world of sports (except for those Little League World Series fans..), I'm going to waste no time getting to my preseason quarterback wrap-up for this year. For every position I will name two to three undervalued players, two overvalued players, and one or two deep sleepers. Quarterback was by far my hardest position to pick these guys since there are the least amount of injuries at the quarterback position, but let's get started.
My first undervalued quarterback for 2011 is Sam Bradford. The first overall pick in last year's draft, had a nice rookie campaign despite his 76.5 quarterback rating. Even with #1 wide receiver Donnie Avery out for the year, he spread the ball around and reminded many people of a young Peyton Manning (I was one of them). But this year he is going to be even better, in my opinion. He now has more targets, as well as a year under his belt and an entire training camp to learn the new offense. Bradford now has an extra addition to the team Mike Sims-Walker, he made Danny Amdendola a somebody last year, and now has Donnie Avery back in the mix. I wouldn't be surprised if the kid throws for over 4,000 yards this season.
Another good, undervalued pick that people are starting to scavenge is Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. He has become everyone's new fantasy sleeper. Stafford went from being drafted in the 11th round in fantasy drafts to the 9th round since May 8th and is still on the rise. While I still don't trust him as a starter quite yet, I do think he is a very strong backup. Although he was injured the majority of the 2010 campaign, Stafford showed some immense talent in the games that he played. Of course, Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson, Titus Young, and a much improved Maurice Stovall won't hurt his talent. Look for Stafford to finish among the top 10 QBs in fantasy points this year, and on some teams, be a started byt eh end of the year. Although I like him a lot, if you grab an elite QB in your draft you should sell high on Stafford in the regular season and get another RB/WR. He is known to get injured often, and if he has the hot hand and you've got back up then sell high on him.
One last undervalued guy (this one should be short and sweet) is Kyle Orton. I don't see why he goes so late in drafts this year. Broncos have been prominent that Orton will be the starter in Denver, Tebow has dropped to the third string role according to Pro Football Talk, and Brady Quinn is Brady Quinn. This guy's team has remained the same with the exception of losing some minor receivers to the Redskins. But to level that out, Orton has a healthy Moreno that has great pass-catching ability. In a 10 man league on fantasyfootballcalculator.com, Orton's average draft position (ADP) is in the 13th round after guys like Cassel, Kolb, and Bradford. This guy had a great season in Denver last year and I guess I don't see why people are so down on him this year.
Now my deep sleeper that was my sleeper even before the preseason is Colt McCoy. McCoy has been moving up many fantasy owners' draft board because of his excellent performances since the first preseason game. I have liked this guy ever since he joined the NFL and started believing in him even more when he became the starter and lit it up at the end of last season. I'm not saying you should expect 4,000 yards from this guy, but you can usually grab him in the last few rounds of your draft and I think that will be great value for a backup quarterback that has full potential (see 2010) of becoming a top fantasy quarterback.
That concludes my quarterback sleepers article, come back tomorrow for some overvalued quarterbacks and some undervalued running backs. Until then, you can follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/theffaddict or email me at cshardy@att.net.
Note: All ADPs the writer will be using in this series of undervalued and overvalued players will be taken from fantasyfootballcalculator.com and you can check them out here: http://fantasyfootballcalculator.com/adp.php
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