Preseason Fantasy Update

It’s hard to get a sense of how a fantasy player will produce in preseason football. All the real plays are tucked away for the regular season, so you have to be more intuitive when scouting for sleepers and ranking players. Watching a player run or read a defense is always something I look for. Here are my thoughts on a few standouts over the weekend:

Tom Brady- The Mike Vick signing definitely stole away from Brady’s excellent performance against the Eagles. Despite making one bad throw that was picked off, Brady looked very accurate. Brady’s value may take a week or two before people realize that he is back to his old self and move him up their draft boards.
Kevin Smith- We had written an article on Smith a couple of weeks back about his sleeper value in Detroit; seeing him in a brief appearance this weekend has backed up our prediction. Kevin Smith is a real RB threat and should not be knocked down due to being a stinky Lion.
Donald Brown- After a terrible start for the offensive line, Brown had 5 carries for 58 yards including a 38 yard scamper. It’s hard to gauge whether the Vikings starters would have allowed such a performance, but either way he was impressive in his debut.
Sage Rosenfels- The numbers weren’t huge, but a couple of his throws were bang on, including a few on the run. I saw a lot of Travis Jackson last year and in my opinion Rosenfels has the edge for the starting job.
Aaron Rodgers- Our prediction of Rodgers becoming a top 5 QB is on pace, he was excellent against the Browns on Saturday.
The Baltimore Ravens- I know it’s preseason, but when a team puts up 500 total yards of offense and is considered a defensive team, you have to take note.

The Tennessee Titans- Both rookies Kenny Brit and Jared Cook had solid performances against the Buccaneers. TE Cook was our favorite pick of the Titans draft and looks to be a deep sleeper pick despite Scaife being the starter.
The Oakland Raiders- Early impressions were good all around; the team needs to continue pounding the ball with their arsenal of running backs and use Russell exactly as they did, a work in progress leader.