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Sleepers & Snoozers: Week 14 (Fantasy Football)

Sleepers & Snoozers: Week 14 (Fantasy Football)

First off, my apologies for a rotten Week 13. Missing on five of six sleeper plays is not how I established such an impressive reputation (for all you know). All kidding aside, the logic was sound… sometimes the results simply don’t follow. Anyone competing and covering our hobby as long as I have understands that.

As we enter the postseason for a majority of fantasy leagues, this will be my last column for 2017. As such, I am devoting a little more time to “coaching,” and a little less space to players. There’s a reason for this.

If you’ve made the playoffs, you likely did so by paying attention to detail, trusting your instincts and, of course, utilizing FantasyPros.com to help you with the tougher decisions. During the regular fantasy season, it pays to incorporate sleepers as matchup plays and perhaps sit a guy or two you wouldn’t normally bench. But now that we’re in the playoffs, I’m tellin’ ya that you MUST stick with the players who got you here. The worst thing you can do now is over-think things (ask my buddy about his decision to sit Alex Smith last week for Tyrod Taylor). Intelligent streaming, if your league doesn’t freeze postseason rosters, certainly can make sense. But if one more person claims Russell Wilson should be benched because Jacksonville’s D is stingy, a crying fit the envy of three-year-olds across the land will follow.

The bottom line, friends, is to stick with your main nucleus of players. Stars usually overcome matchup challenges, and at the very least offer much higher floors than 90 percent of streaming alternatives. If you get it wrong in the regular season, it’s a single loss that can be overcome. If you do it in the playoffs, you’re done-zo.

For this week, SLEEPERS are players who I’m predicting will perform better than their norms and can be considered as lineup options if no top-tier option is available. SNOOZERS are second-tier players (recently, if not for the season as a whole) who you should feel okay about benching.

Best of luck to you.

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SLEEPERS

Eli Manning (QB – NYG vs. DAL)
Hey, he always comes up big in the playoffs, right? Dallas’ defense is 27th in points allowed to QBs, and I feel like Manning will feel as if he has something prove in a home rivalry game, and the Giants having essentially nothing to lose. I’m bettin’ he chucks it 45 times.

Peyton Barber (RB – TB vs. DET)
Barber was impressive at Green Bay last week, rushing for 102 of 143 scrimmage yards as Doug Martin sat out with a concussion, and Detroit is fourth-worst in points allowed to running backs. But be sure you monitor Martin’s progress in the concussion protocol. Just because Barber is clearly the superior option doesn’t mean Tampa Bay head coach Dirk Koetter will cooperate. Barber is only a legit play if he is announced as the starter again.

Kenny Stills (WR – MIA vs. NE)
True, the Patriots defense is a lot better now than early in the season, when its negative numbers were alarmingly inflated. But Stills, who was targeted 13 times last week, has four touchdowns in his last four home games, and the Dolphins figure to fall behind and be forced to throw a lot.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins (TE – NYJ @ DEN)
For all the prowess credited to the Denver defense, even amidst the club’s demise in 2017, the Broncos’ D numbers vs. tight ends are awful – as in, the second-most TDs allowed. Among secondary options, ASJ’s scoring potential stands out.

SNOOZERS

Kirk Cousins (QB – WAS @ SD)
The Redskins’ offensive line is beat up, the receivers are unreliable, and the Chargers defense – which ranks among the top five in pass D categories – is playing better than at any point this season, with an AFC West title now a very real possibility.

Carlos Hyde (RB – SF @ HOU)
A straight-forward benching. The 49ers are enamored with their new boy-toy QB, Jimmy Garoppolo, and the Texans defense is the league’s second-best against opposing backs.

Devin Funchess (WR – CAR vs. MIN)
Two reasons he’s a snoozer, 1) Xavier, 2) Rhodes. And Funchess is dinged going into the week as well. Avoid.

Eric Ebron (TE – DET @ TB)
Besides my observation that Ebron’s hands are about as soft as a granite countertop, QB Matthew Stafford might not play. Oh, and the Bucs’ defense – being as bad as it is against opposing wide receivers – has yielded fewer points to tight ends than any other unit.

Week 13 Results

Calls So Good That I Need My Own End-Zone Celebration
(Sleepers) Alex Collins. (Snoozers) Matthew Stafford, Stefon Diggs, O.J. Howard.

Calls That Missed As If I Was Just A Monkey With Darts
(Sleepers) Brett Hundley, Isaiah Crowell, Jamison Crowder, Zay Jones, Jared Cook. (Snoozers) Todd Gurley, Mark Ingram, Dez Bryant, (and yeah… Cameron Brate).



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Bob Cunningham is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Bob, check out his archive or follow him @bobcunnin.

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