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This year eight staff writers have all been polled who their sleepers, undervalued and overvalued players are. To make this within context of your draft, we have shown the selections against the average draft rankings and are highlighting when at least three writers have a consensus on a player. We hope you like our new format.
Sleepers (Players drafted as a backup that have the potential to perform like a starter)
 (6 stars)
Jake Delhomme, Carolina Panthers - No quarterback was remotely as close to being a consensus sleeper than Delhomme this year. Being drafted at a ridiculous 20th spot, his injury of last year has apparently frightened off most people. He has bounced back well from his Tommie John surgery and says he feels better than he has in years. He still has "Swinging Steve" Smith, Muhsin Muhammad is back and D.J. Hackett now mans the slot to give Delhomme plenty of tools this year. If you get him as a backup, you'll be forced to make starting decisions that include him. The last time Delhomme averages 24 touchdowns when he plays a full season and now has upgraded wideouts and a nice ease of schedule.
(4 stars)
Trent Edwards, Buffalo Bills - Edwards is a major draft value that could become your starter even though he is available deeply in drafts. While he only had 1630 passing yards and seven scores over nine starts, he threw six of those touchdowns over the final four games. More importantly, the Bills have a nice schedule this year and the offense is expected to come together with Marshawn Lynch and Edwards entering their second seasons, Lee Evans still there and the rookie James Hardy spawning optimism that the Bills could actually have a #2 wideout to complement Evans. At the price you pay, Edwards is almost no risk to draft.
(3 stars)
Matt Schaub, Houston Texans - Another quarterback that was limited by injury in 2007 was Schaub who missed five games. But in the full games that he did play, he averaged 264 passing yards and 1.5 touchdowns. The Texans enter the second season of Schaub as the starter and already Andre Johnson has been a stud. Same receivers in the same season means all Schaub has to do is remain healthy. Added plus - the Texans still have the same motley-looking group of running backs so you can be sure the need to throw will exist in every game.
(2 stars)
Aaron Rodgers, Vince Young, Kurt Warner, Jon Kitna
Undervalued (Players drafted as a starter but a great value where available)
 (3 stars)
David Garrard, Jacksonville Jaguars - Garrard's overall numbers from 2007 were misleading since his 2509 yards and 18 touchdowns came over just ten games. More than that, he threw for two or more touchdowns in five of his last six games and turned in a very respectable 278 yards and two scores in the playoff loss in New England. While Garrard will never be asked to lead the league in passes, his ability to toss touchdowns will be enhanced with an upgraded wideout crew for 2008. He'll also turn in a few fantasy points each week via the run.
(2 stars)
Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Derek Anderson, Matt Hasselbeck, Marc Bulger
Overvalued (Players that are poor values where being drafted, if not outright busts)
 (3 stars)
Eli Manning, New York Giants - Super Bowl MVP, younger sibling of the most famous family in football, following in his brother’s footsteps as pitchman for everything under the sun… undervalued? This cuts to the core of the Eli debate. If you believe he turned the corner in the playoffs, and that the 6:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and 95.7 quarterback rating he posted in the postseason were just the tip of the iceberg, there’s no question he’s a value pick. What you need to determine is how many owners in your league still consider Eli the guy who threw 20 picks and had a 73.9 QB rating last season, so you can draft him accordingly.
Jay Cutler, Denver Broncos - Cutler is being taken too early in drafts not because of himself - he could be better this year with his diabetes in check. But his receiving crew has little more than Brandon Marshall and a gaggle of other receivers who are not distinguishing themselves. Add in that Marshall will miss a few games suspended and Cutler's stock takes yet another incremental drop. He not only has one of the tougher passing schedules, he also has to twice meet up against the secondaries of Oakland and San Diego.
Matt Leinart, Arizona Cardinals - Even with his 18th ranking in the average draft, Leinart is being over-valued. While he had a few promising games as a rookie in 2006, his sophomore season in a new offense was nothing short of horrible and was mercifully ended by injury after five weeks and three in-game benchings. His collarbone is now healed and he resumes his post as starter but Kurt Warner was exponentially more productive in 2007. The risk Leinart gets yanked again runs far too high for even a fantasy backup.
(2 stars)
Derek Anderson, Donovan McNabb, Ben Roethlisberger, JaMarcus Russell, Brady Quinn
Under Valued
or Sleeper |
Over Valued |
ADP Rankings
as of 8/1 |
DMD |
2V |
SB |
PS |
MC |
DT |
TVP |
KR |
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1 |
Brady,Tom |
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O |
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2 |
Manning,Peyton |
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3 |
Romo,Tony |
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4 |
Brees,Drew |
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5 |
Palmer,Carson |
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6 |
Roethlisberger,Ben |
O |
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O |
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7 |
Anderson,Derek |
O |
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U |
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U |
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O |
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8 |
McNabb,Donovan |
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O |
U |
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O |
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9 |
Hasselbeck,Matt |
U |
U |
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10 |
Cutler,Jay |
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O |
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O |
O |
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11 |
Manning,Eli |
O |
O |
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U |
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U |
O |
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12 |
Garrard,David |
U |
O |
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U |
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U |
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13 |
Bulger,Marc |
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U |
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U |
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14 |
Rivers,Philip |
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U |
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O |
U |
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15 |
Schaub,Matt |
S |
S |
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S |
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16 |
Rodgers,Aaron |
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S |
S |
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O |
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17 |
Young,Vince |
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S |
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S |
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18 |
Leinart,Matt |
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O |
O |
O |
S |
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19 |
Campbell,Jason |
S |
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20 |
Delhomme,Jake |
S |
S |
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S |
S |
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S |
S |
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21 |
Russell,JaMarcus |
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O |
O |
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22 |
Kitna,Jon |
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S |
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S |
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23 |
Ryan,Matt |
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24 |
Edwards,Trent |
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S |
S |
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S |
S |
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25 |
Quinn,Brady |
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O |
O |
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26 |
Jackson,Tarvaris |
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27 |
Smith,Alex |
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28 |
Garcia,Jeff |
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29 |
Flacco,Joe |
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O |
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30 |
Warner,Kurt |
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S |
S |
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31 |
Favre,Brett |
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S |
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32 |
Brohm,Brian |
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33 |
Clemens,Kellen |
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34 |
Henne,Chad |
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35 |
Green,Trent |
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36 |
Croyle,Brodie |
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37 |
Kolb,Kevin |
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38 |
Grossman,Rex |
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39 |
Pennington,Chad |
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40 |
Stanton,Drew |
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DMD: David Dorey
2V: John Tuvey |
SB: Scott Boyter
PS: Paul Sandy
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MC: Michael Courter
DT: Darin Tietgen |
TVP: Tim Van Prooyen
KR: Kevin Ratterree |
O: Over Valued
U: Under Valued |
S: Sleeper |
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I'm looking to platoon Hasselbeck and Delhomme, knowing that I can draft them between rounds 7-9 in my 12 team re-draft. I just hope none of my opponents subscribes to this site.