1. Jermaine Gresham – Cincinnati Bengals
Considered by many the top TE in college a year ago, Gresham suffered a knee injury which kept him out for the entire year. Healthy now, the Bengals picked him up in the 1st round of the NFL Draft and have big plans for the rookie out of Oklahoma in their passing game.
With the Bengals solid on the outside (WR Chad Ochocinco, WR Antonio Bryant), look for Carson Palmer to exploit the middle of the field and for Gresham to create mismatches against the LB’ers and Safeties opposing teams put on him.
The top fantasy football sleeper at this position should eclipse 60 catches and 8 TDs in his rookie season.
2. Jon Carlson – Seattle Seahawks
An underachiever on many levels thus far, the promising rookie out Notre Dame in ’08 couldn’t avoid the sophomore slump in ’09. Much of the drop off can be attributed to the injuries suffered by QB Matt Hasselback and along the offensive line (LT Walter Jones), which led to Carlson being kept in to block more often, and the result was just 51 catches for 7 TDs.
But the Seahawks know he’s capable of much more.
All signs point to a healthy QB Matt Hasselback in 2010 and this will result in a big bounce back campaign for Carlson provided there’s stability at the QB position. He’s extremely adept at finding openings underneath and in the middle of the field, and is a menace in the red zone.
Look for between 70-80 catches this year and potential for double digit TDs.
3. Fred Davis – Washington Redskins
His production will inevitably drop with the return of a healthy Chris Cooley, but Davis showed his potential in ’09 and caught 41 passes for 6 TDs over the final 10 games of the season. In the process, he showed excellent acceleration for a 250 lb TE as well as soft hands.
It remains to be seen how this year will play out, but Davis could become a factor in the 2nd half of the season. Donovan McNabb loves to target his TEs and the Redskins lack firepower and talent at the receiver position.
We think Shanahan will employ many two TE sets and both Cooley and Davis will have a chance to put up points. At the very least, he’s an intriguing fantasy sleeper prospect based on last year’s production, and is certainly worth a late round pick which could come into play over the fantasy playoff stretch.
Pro Football 101» 2010 Fantasy Football QB – Risers and Fallers
August 9th, 2010 at 22:19
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[...] season, it was WR Chad Ochocinco and nobody else. Now he has WR Terrell Owens, WR Antonio Bryant, TE Jermaine Gresham and WR Jordan Shipley to go along with No. 85. LT Andre Smith will be improved in year two as will [...]