Mid-Late Rounds
A lot of these players will have dropped off of many fantasy footballer's radars by the time your drafts come around. A couple of these guys, specifically the TEs, won't be forgotten about, they just simply don't have very high draft value. They will be drafted either by one of the last owners to draft their starting TE (considering the following two TEs, I would highly recommend that option for your 2010 draft), or they will be the very first backup TEs drafted. All of these players will hold some of the best sleeper value to be had toward the end of your draft. They include...
Arian Foster
~~As one of the most popular undrafted free agents from the NFL's rookie class in dynasty leagues, this University of Tennessee product certainly made all of his dynasty owners very happy with the way he seized control of his opportunity in the last two weeks of the regular season for the Texans. For the rest of fantasy football owners everywhere...who the hell is he??? Chris Brown started the season as the large, plodding, short-yardage RB to compliment Steve Slaton, but he became relatively ineffective as the season wore on. When Slaton had bad nerves...literally, not metaphorically...in his neck and had to be put on injured reserve after missing week 13, an opportunity arose for Foster, who was already called up from the practice squad. Foster needed to carve out a role for himself by outperforming Ryan Moats, and he helped himself with a solid performance in week 14. After an early fumble in week 15 forced him to the sidelines for the remainder of that game, Foster needed to continue to impress during practices to get back on the field. Ultimately, the Texans coaching staff decided to take a chance on Foster for the final two games, giving him the primary RB duties for the final two weeks of the season. All Foster did with his new found life was run the ball 39 times for 216 yards and 3 TDs, adding 3 receptions for 26 yards during those two weeks. It appears the Texans backfield is in a bit of a mess going into this offseason, especially since both team owner Bob McNair and head coach Gary Kubiak have recently publicized their desires to add depth at the RB position. But if the last two weeks of the regular season are any indication, I'd say it is a safe bet that
Arian Foster will play no less than a regular short-yardage role for the Texans, and there is a decent chance that Foster and Slaton will be the main components of a committee rushing attack.
Dustin Keller
~~Many people slated this to be his breakout year, especially with the rookie Mark Sanchez at the helm. As most of you know, a TE tends to be an inexperienced QBs best friend on the field. Keller was considered the best TE prospect from the 2008 class of rookies and put up some pretty strong numbers (with Brett Favre at the helm) as a rookie TE. He was predicted by many "experts" and fantasy footballers to have a breakout sophomore year with the rookie QB under center. He was supposed to be the proverbial security blanket for Sanchez. What he ended up being was more of a bust for about twelve games out of the regular season, with the other four random games being decent but unspectacular performances. Once the Jets entered the playoffs, Keller suddenly became the go-to-guy for Sanchez, catching a TD in each of his playoff games and totaling 12 receptions. Sanchez will be a very good QB in the NFL and he will continue to improve over the next several years, while Keller has all the talent and athleticism to become an elite receiving TE. Also, Keller will be entering his third year in the NFL, which is usually the magical breakout year for receivers (mainly WRs, but TEs can also fall into this category) who have stud potential. Keller's performances in the playoffs gave us a little taste of what we could see a lot more of in 2010. He should have extraordinary value in your drafts this summer.
~~I will begin this entry by smacking myself on my head. Why? When I joined what is still currently my only dynasty league (I plan to either join or start another one soon), at its inception in 2008, I drafted Finley as my third TE in the twenty-third round. When I decided to draft him, Fred Davis, who was considered a better receiving TE than Finley, was still on the board. One of my tools to scout Finley was watching as many highlight reels of him (and Davis for comparison) on Youtube.com. Even after reading every scouting report grading Davis higher than Finley, and even after Davis (and Martellus Bennett...and Brad Cottom) got selected before Finley in the 2008 NFL Draft, I still liked Finley's athleticism more than Davis'. He showed great hands on acrobatic catches, an ability to find seams in the opponents' defense and the awareness to avoid defenders. With some of the plays he made at Texas, I thought he was comparable to Antonio Gates, having a similar skill set. I believe I even mentioned that I thought he would be the next Antonio Gates to my fellow league-mates. Well, after all that, I traded him away during the next rookie/FA draft (2009) for a pair of late fourth round picks...SMACK! Honestly, I thought Donald Lee had proven to be relatively dependable, Finley wasn't able to see the field much during his rookie year, the speed he has now didn't seem to be as good back then, I had already drafted Chase Coffman--the rookie TE out of Missouri--and there was another prospect still available in the fourth who I had good interest in drafting. Besides, I already owned Chris Cooley, Davis (I ended picking him up when he was dropped by another team at that time), and was using free agency fodder for Cooley's bye week replacement. I knew Finley would turn into a starter eventually, but I was thinking of production more like Ben Watson, not my original, somewhat jokingly prognostication of Gates. After he ended this regular season with 38 catches for 416 yards and 4 TDs over the last seven weeks, and then added 6 catches for 159 yards as a huge exclamation point in the Packers playoff loss, Finley has made his presence felt and is due for a huge breakout season. Did I forget to mention that this next season will be Finley's third year in the NFL?
Mike Wallace
~~With the Steelers drafting this speedy, deep-threat WR, they pretty much had little hope for Limas Sweed to develop into the big play receiver and the third option in the passing game they had hoped for when they drafted him in the second round of the 2008 draft. Wallace came in and immediately saw regular action on the field, while Sweed kept dropping passes in his very limited action on the field. All year, Wallace was hit or miss with his production, and if you plugged him into your lineup as a bye-week/injury replacement, you were taking a pretty sizable gamble. His inconsistencies were indicative of a rookie WR still learning plays, routes, and formations. However, he was able to prove one thing emphatically--he is capable of big games for fantasy owners. He had very nice outputs here and there throughout the season, and he started to get more involved on scoring plays during the last three weeks of the season. During that three week stretch, he may have had only 7 catches, but they went for 226 yards and 3 TDs. Already showing big-play capability as a rookie, Wallace is in line for more catches and more involvement in the Steelers' offense as he continues to mature.
Julian Edelman
~~Coming out of Kent State as a QB in the seventh round of the NFL draft, the Patriots converted him into a slot WR and essentially created the second coming of Wes Welker. When Welker missed time due to injuries, the segue from Welker to Edelman was practically seamless. He has very similar mobility and quickness as Welker, and worked very well as Tom Brady's short route possession WR. If he wasn't 3 inches taller than Welker, you could easily mistake the two on the football field without seeing the uniform numbers. This is good for the Patriots, but not so good for fantasy owners. Noticing Edelman's effectiveness replacing Welker would lead me to believe he will see increased playing time next year, even when Welker returns from his knee injury. That could cut into a healthy Welker's production, while at the same time, Welker's return could drastically hinder Edelman's production. This of course would depend on the recovery of Welker's shredded knee, which got injured in the meaningless week 17 game. Given that Edelman ended the season strong with 10 catches for 103 yards in week 17 and 6 catches for 44 yards and 2 TDs in the playoff loss to the Ravens, both games with Welker on IR, he should be in line for increased work next season. In fact, if Welker is able to recover before the start of next season and still get drafted as a WR2, Edelman may be the first ever, highly recommended WR handcuff.
Devin Aromashodu
~~Who??? He sounds like a guy whose name was only known for one of those "say his name 5 times fast" gags. I was aware of him during preseason only because he was fighting for a roster spot on the Bears against other WRs like Brandon Rideau (recognizing no-namers like these guys is an added benefit of doing extensive dynasty rankings for this blog). However, I don't think most dynasty owners were aware of his presence on the Bears' roster until week 14 of the regular season. Before week 14, Aromashodu had 2 catches....that's right, 2 catches on the year. During the four week span from week 14 through week 17, he ended up posting 22 receptions for 282 yards and 4 TDs. Where the hell did all that come from??? Needless to say, he absolutely exploded onto the fantasy scene with those season-ending performances, and has become the epitome of what I am blogging about during these postseason exercise articles. With the Bears adding Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator, we could see more production in the passing game especially from a WR like Aromashodu, who is quick, has great hands and can make plays. Chances are you will still see Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, and/or Greg Olsen taken off the board before Aromashodu, which in my opinion will make him an excellent value pick late in your drafts.
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