Last season, the entry of this article featured plenty of names who provided big fantasy production, including quarterback Matt Ryan, wide receiver Rishard Matthews, and Lions receiver Marvin Jones. Of course, there were some misses, but that has to be expected in any deep fantasy player list. In this article, I'll take a look at eight Fantasy Football sleepers you should be targeting in 2017 drafts.
1. Patriots RB Mike Gillislee
By far my favorite sleeper to target in 2017 fantasy football drafts is Mike Gillislee. He was excellent for Buffalo in his role as a backup to LeSean McCoy, and will now have an opportunity to be the workhorse in a Patriots offense that produced the 6th highest scoring running back in fantasy in LeGarrette Blount last season.
Gillislee is both younger and faster than Blount, and he's being drafted in about the 80th spot of ESPN this year. That's way too low, and players who pick him earlier will see a huge return on fantasy value.
2. Titans WR Eric Decker
Decker might be 30 years old, but that doesn't change the fact that he's a fantasy player who seems to have a knack for getting open. In 2015, he had more than 1000 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns on the New York Jets as the #2 receiver. Now he'll get a chance to play with Marcus Mariota, and if he can stay healthy, he's certainly capable of putting up that yardage total and half of the touchdown total. He's being drafted at about 100, so those numbers would provide massive return on value.
3. Chiefs RB Spencer Ware
Any Chiefs running back who is the lead back has some serious fantasy value. The Chiefs run the ball enough for him to consistently score, but the presence of new addition Kareem Hunt is scaring off fantasy owners. Why? Andy Reid is going to stick with Ware over a rookie, and that means his fantasy ADP of 65 is way too low for a running back of his value.
4. Steelers WR Martavis Bryant
There might not be a fantasy player in the world who loves Bryant more than I do. When he's on the field, he's an absolute monster. Unfortunately, he gets into trouble far too much and becomes a very risky fantasy player. But I'll take that risk if Bryant drops to the 70th spot in the draft, especially with both Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown in the fold for the Steelers.
5. Jaguars QB Blake Bortles
It's hard to recommend a player who looks so bad all the time, but the fact is that Bortles has posted two back to back top 10 fantasy seasons. You'd think that he'd be drafted as a top 10 quarterback, but instead, Bortles is the 22nd quarterback off the board in 2017 fantasy drafts. How is that possible? There's no way that Bortles should drop that far, but in some leagues he isn't even being drafted. Take advantage and draft Bortles late.
6. Bills TE Charles Clay
Tyrod Taylor started to figure things out with Clay at the end of 2017. In his last four games, Clay scored four touchdowns and double digit points three times. With Watkins gone, Clay will become an even bigger target for Taylor, and almost nobody seems to be interested in drafting the Buffalo Bills tight end in fantasy drafts.
7. Colts WR Donte Moncrief
Remember when Donte Moncrief was going to be really good last year? So do I, and I warned against buying the hype. This year though, Moncrief is properly valued and is being drafted around the 100th spot in 2017 fantasy drafts. For that price, it's worth taking a chance on the 3rd year wide receiver who has the luxury of playing with Andrew Luck.
8. Saints TE Coby Fleener.
Similar to Moncrief, plenty of fantasy players believed that Fleener would be an elite tight end simply because he was playing with Drew Brees. Instead, Fleener floundered and averaged just 4.9 fantasy points per game. Now nobody is even interested in drafting him. That's a mistake. Without Cooks, Fleener should have the benefit of much more targets, even if some of them do go to Michael Thomas. Those who do end up with Fleener will be taking a low risk, high reward player who could certainly pay big dividends in 2017.
