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Week 3 Fantasy Football: Top 5 Dark Horse Sleepers To Pick Up
Top 5 Dark Horse Sleepers To Pickup For Week 3
The 2013 fantasy football season is really picking up steam, and like most seasons, the injuries have really started to pile up. Guys like Ray Rice, Steven Jackson, Reggie Bush, Andre Johnson, Vernon Davis, Brandon Weeden, and Eddie Lacy have all had minor injuries already them playing time.
Naturally, this has left countless fantasy owners searching the free agent pool. Some leagues do weekly wavier wire pickups based on record, while others simply have a free agent free-for-all in which the first guy to click “submit” gets the flavor of the week. Either way, a free agent pickup can be a godsend to a fantasy owner that just lost one of his best players.
This week there are several big name free agent picks that have been all over the web. The offensive explosion by the San Diego Chargers has caused the value of QB Philip Rivers and WR Eddie Royal to skyrocket this week. However, those two will likely be among the top players grabbed this week, so I would hardly consider either of them a dark horse sleeper to look for.
To help you out more thoroughly this week, I have constructed a list of my top five dark horse sleepers to grab off the waiver wire this week in deeper fantasy football formats.
Related Articles:
Fantasy Football 2013: The Wavier Wire Edition 2
Fantasy Football: Week 3 Wavier Wire Pickups
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
5. RB Felix Jones, Pittsburgh Steelers
Felix Jones, Pittsburgh Steelers – The revolving door at running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers continued on Monday night, as Jones received the majority of the carries out of the backfield. He rushed the ball for just 37 yards on 10 carries, but he still looked much better than Isaac Redman or LaRod Stephens-Howling. Pittsburgh desperately needs to get something going on the ground and at the moment Jones seems like their best bet.
4. RB Jason Snelling, Atlanta Falcons
RB Jason Snelling, Atlanta Falcons – With the news that RB Steven Jackson will miss 2-4 weeks with a thigh injury, the fantasy football community instantly locked onto RB Jacquizz Rodgers. However, the running back most likely to fill the void left by S-Jax would be veteran Jason Snelling. The 234-pounder is much bigger than Rodgers and will fill in as a goal line back for Jackson, much like he did when Michael Turner was still around. Atlanta is one of the highest scoring offenses in fantasy and Snelling has potential to score some touchdowns. If you are in need of a back that can get into the end zone, look no further than Snelling.
3. WR Aaron Dobson, New England Patriots
WR Aaron Dobson, New England Patriots – Dobson may be not be the favorite wide receiver in New England after all his dropped passes last Thursday night, but he still caught a 39-yard touchdown and finished the game with 10 targets. QB Tom Brady wasn’t exactly hitting his receivers in the numbers, so it wasn't all the rookie's fault. Dobson still has amazing size and athleticism, which could flourish in this system. The team desperately needs a reliable wideout with Danny Amendola’s season in question and if Dobson can ever get on the same page with Brady, the former Marshall standout could become a legitimate downfield threat for fantasy owners.
2. RB James Starks, Green Bay Packers
RB James Starks, Green Bay Packers – Starting running back, Eddie Lacy, likely won’t be much of a factor in this week’s matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals after suffering a concussion last Sunday, which opens the door for Starks to have another big game. The former University at Buffalo standout rushed for 132 yards last week and scored a 32-yard touchdown, but yet the back continues to be ignored by a large number of fantasy owners this week. It is true that Starks won't have much long-term appeal, but he could surprise people in Week 3 with around 15-19 carries.
1. RB Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants
RB Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants – Jacobs hasn’t even been with the team for a week and he has already scored more touchdowns than supposed starter, David Wilson. New York desperately needed a tough, inside rusher and Jacobs was a valuable pickup considering his previous experience in the offense. Jacobs may be somewhat out of shape still, but he will only get more carries as the weeks go on. If you can get your hands on him, do it now before the word gets out that Jacobs is officially back in the Big Apple.
