As the fantasy football draft season begins in earnest, we’ve asked all of SI Fantasy’s writers and editors to weigh in with their top picks in five key categories. Next up: SI Fantasy & SI Betting executive director Bill Enright:
We are on the brink of NFL Training Camps getting underway and now is an excellent time to start your fantasy football research. What better way to do that than with some traditional sleepers, busts, and rookies plus some more insight on late round quarterbacks to targets and a comeback player that is being overlooked by the rest of your fantasy league. Let’s get to it.
Top Sleeper: Russell Gage, WR, Buccaneers
“Sleeper” – in a world of 24-hour sports TV networks, social media and hundreds of fantasy football websites providing analysis – is perhaps the most overused term in all of fantasy. A “sleeper” doesn’t have to be a relatively unknown player that is in his first or second year in the league. For me, a sleeper is a player drafted after Round 7 that can contribute an average of 10-14 points on a weekly basis. On the safer side he can end up as your flex, RB2 or WR3 but on the eternal optimism side, he ends up as a Top 15 player at his position. Think safe floor, big upside and relatively low price tag. With that in mind, a player that fits that mold is Russell Gage. The 26-year-old veteran signed with Tampa Bay and will start the year as the Buccaneers No. 2 wide receiver with Chris Godwin likely starting the year on the PUP list. But even when Godwin returns, Gage will still have a consistent role in Tampa Bay’s aerial attack. With an ADP around 115 (48th WR), the former Falcons playmaker won’t break your bank in terms of draft equity. Add in the fact the Bucs’ receivers have the second easiest schedule and Gage could be your “steal” of the draft.
