2012 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Oakland Raiders Wide Receiver Denarius Moore

After a 7-4 start, the Oakland Raiders appeared to be on their way to an AFC West Championship in 2011 before they went on to lose four of their final eight games of the regular season. However, the Raiders have to be pleased with the type of production from Denarius Moore as the rookie–which is why the wide receiver made the cut for 2012 fantasy football sleepers pick for the upcoming season.

Moore first broke out in 2011 during the Raiders second game of the regular season against the Buffalo Bills when the former Tennessee star made his first career start and finished the game with five catches 156 yards–including a 50-yard touchdown catch. Moore went on to catch 33 passes as a rookie while recording 618 receiving yards to go along with five touchdowns in the process and enters his sophomore season with a chance to make quite the name for himself in Oakland’s passing game.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if Moore quickly emerged into a starter at wide receiver for the Raiders considering all of the questions surrounding the passing game. Plus, Carson Palmer–who missed the beginning of last season after a brief retirement–will enter training camp in much better shape and look to establish a quick connection with Moore–which fantasy owners would love.

From a fantasy perspective, Moore will fall in the later rounds for most leagues and start the season off as a No. 3 or No. 4 wide receiver. If he’s available in the later rounds, it would be wise to take a chance on Moore considering it would hopefully be a low-risk, high reward situation.