Fantasy Football Frenzy

In preparation for the start of the 2007 NFL regular season I've put together a list of players that may fly under the radar during your fantasy draft, but have the potential to put up big numbers this season. See if you can grab any of these sleepers in the later rounds.

The Sleeper Team

QB - Jeff Garcia, Tampa Bay

When in the right situation Garcia has shown the ability to put up great numbers. San Francisco and Philadelphia were the right situations for him. Cleveland and Detroit - not so much. Playing in Jon Gruden's west coast scheme down in Tampa is the right situation for Garcia and his stats will show it come end of the year.

RB - Brandon Jacobs, NY Giants

Would seem like an obvious with Tiki Barber retired and with the Giants having a huge void at running back. However, it seems that Jacobs is still being undervalued because his sheer size is almost being viewed by some as a detriment. What people fail to realize because of his size is that Jacobs possesses great speed and is a solid pass catcher. Expect him to get the bulk of the carries and be in there on third down rather than share time with Rueben Droughns.

RB - Brandon Jackson, Green Bay

Something tells me that Vernand Morency is not the answer at running back for the Packers. If that proves to be the case Jackson is the man in Green Bay. The rookie possesses the explosiveness the Packers are looking for to replace Ahman Green and should turn into the workhorse in the Pack's backfield for years to come.

WR - Maurice Stovall, Tampa Bay

At some point Joey Galloway is going to slow down, right? Stovall is slated to start opposite Galloway for the Bucs and Jeff Garcia will likely find the speedy 6-5 Stovall an appealing target. Stovall possesses excellent leaping ability to go along with his height, which will come in handy on those jump ball fade passes tossed in the end zone.

WR - Vincent Jackson, San Diego

As the Bleeding Sports GM exclaimed "somebody needs to catch the ball." Sounds like Vincent Jackson is that somebody on the Chargers receiving core who will step up to take some pressure off of Philip Rivers and give him an option other than Gates and Tomlinson in the passing game.

TE - Eric Johnson, New Orleans

When healthy Johnson can rack up catches and yards. Just a few years back he was leading all NFL tight ends in receptions before an injury forced him to miss the rest of the season. While overshadowed in San Francisco due to the addition of Vernon Davis, Johnson should be a nice complement on the Saints high-powered offense giving Drew Brees another weapon in the middle of the field.

K - Neil Rackers, Arizona

Rackers had a monster 2005 season only to come back down to earth in 2006. Expect him to bounce back and perform somewhere in between '05 and '06 this season with the improving Cardinals offense giving him more opportunities to succeed.

Defense - Houston Texans

This may be going out on a limb, but the Oakland defense is too obvious of a choice since they finished in the top 5 in total defense last season. The Texans feature some intriguing players on the defensive side of the ball. 2006 Defensive Rookie of the Year, DeMeco Ryans, is a tackling machine, Dunta Robinson is a shutdown type cornerback, the addition of Michael Boulware should help bolster the safety position and then there is that other guy the Texans drafted in the first round last year, defensive end Mario Williams, who should become more of a force as a pass rusher in year 2.