My Actual Fantasy Football Sleepers: Wideouts

Now that my three drafts in six days fantasy football season is over, and my league mates in all of those endeavors have already seen my act, it's time to share my sleepers with the world. Draft these guys, and you'll be guaranteed to have a fantasy football team. Whether it's any good or not is another matter. I'm going to split these out into separate posts just to make it easier to identify my mistakes later.

Wideouts were more important than running backs last year, thanks to the twin explosions of Randy Moss and Terrell Owens, and the very good years from Brayton Edwards, Reggie Wayne and many more. You might not be able to compete without good running backs, but you won't be able to win without good wideouts -- and here are some that you might be able to get for cheap.

Anthony Gonzalez, Indianapolis Colts. If Marvin Harrison comes back strong, he gets cuckolded... but the much better chance is that Dallas Clark's numbers slide back a bit this year, Harrison won't be everything he's been, and Reggie Wayne will continue to draw the #1 corner. Gonzalez is good, in a great situation, and young and unknown enough that you might be able to get him cheap. At the end of the year, he just might give you low #1 numbers for a #4 WR price.

DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles. Eagle fans who have watched the preseason, and Cal Bear fans who have watched him for years, know all about him. The rest of the country will soon learn. He's electric, could provide a return touchdown or two, and will be the #1 option in Philadelphia within a year. Don't overpay if you aren't in a keeper league, as all rookie wideouts struggle and hit the wall, and the Eagles have a perverse need to complete balls to as many people as possible every year... but if it's late and you are looking for the possibility of 1,000 yards and 8 TDs, tap Jackson.

Robert Mecham, New Orleans Saints. Let's say you are defending the Saints. You put your top corner on Marques Colston; that's a no-brainer. You're probably worried hard about what Jeremy Shockey will do to you, especially considering that Drew Brees loved to feed Antonio Gates in San Diego. Reggie Bush in the flat can make you look bad. What does that make Mecham? The single-covered sleeper, now in his second year after injury, who doesn't drop balls like Devery Henderson, and has much more explosiveness than David Patten or Terrence Copper. He might not get the number of targets you'd like to see, but Mecham could be a big play magnet this year.

Santonio Holmes, Pittsburgh Steelers. I simply love his talent, and with Hines Ward slowly fading to a role as a glorified blocking back, he's the unquestioned ace of the Steeler corps. With a better running game (Mendenhall and Parker is so much better than Parker and Davenport, it covers for the loss of Alan Faneca), the opportunities downfield will be there. Count on Holmes to deliver more than what you pay for him, partly because the Steelers are more finesse than you remember, too.

Jerricho Cotchery, New York Jets. He finally gets a real quarterback, and his stablemate (Laverneus Coles) seems to be sitting shiva for Chad Pennington. I'm not sure that the Favre Era will really mean a playoff bid for Gang Green, but they will mean at least a half dozen touchdowns and 1200 yards for Cotchery... especially because I'm just not feeling the love for the Jets tight ends, either.

Ted Ginn Jr., Miami Dolphins. You'll get him late, because his quarterback won't be able to get him the ball... but his division is bad, he'll get a lot opportunities in blowout games, they don't have anyone else, and he's been catching everything in preseason. Ride out the bad weeks -- there will be many -- and enjoy the cheap production.