Fantasy football sleepers: DT - Week 17

December 29, 2011 @ 12:45:12

By Tim Heaney
Edited by Cory J. Bonini

Fantasy football sleepers: QB | RB | WR | TE | PK | DT

In this article KFFL breaks down the fantasy football sleepers of the week. We will avoid marquee names because players of that caliber are rarely benched, regardless of their matchup. Instead, we will focus on the players that make your fantasy lineup decisions stressful each week. Read on to learn which midrange to low-end players you wouldn't necessarily consider that you need to get into your lineup.

Note: All statistics are from Week 13 to Week 16, unless otherwise stated.

Fantasy football sleepers: Defensive teams

Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets

Sacking Sanchez

Fantasy value: Midrange No. 1

• Miami has averaged 3.25 sacks per game, which ranks in the top five, to go along with 1.50 takeaways per contest. Their pass defense has improved leaps and bounds as cornerback Vontae Davis has become healthier.
• Mark Sanchez has been sacked 12 times over the last three games and lost a fumble in each of those contests, to go along with two picks in each of the last two. It took him 59 attempts to amass 258 yards in Week 16. Miami's run defense should quell the Jets' ground game.

Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears

Fantasy value: Low-end No. 1

• The Vikes have logged just 1.50 takeaways per game, but they've contributed in the sack column with 2.50. Their secondary belittles whatever accomplishes they have in registering fantasy points otherwise, but if points allowed isn't an exaggerated penalty in your league, you can work around it.
• Even though Josh McCown posted an improvement over Caleb Hanie for directing the Chicago Bears' passing game, he's still prone to mistakes and incompetence. The Vikes' defense shouldn't be on the field for that long, especially if Toby Gerhart and the run game can get it going.
• Minnesota is a waiver wire add for your fantasy championship week.

Fantasy football sleepers: QB | RB | WR | TE | PK | DT

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Tim Heaney

Since the Boston University alum joined KFFL in 2006, his work has been featured by USA Today/Sports Weekly and Yahoo! Sports, among numerous publications.

Tim competes in Tout Wars and LABR and appears every Wednesday on 1570 AM WNST in Baltimore, as well as frequently on Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio.

Follow him on Twitter.

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