2020 Fantasy Sleepers: K
Top: Brandon McManus (Denver)
Analysis: McManus has remained decently consistent the last few years. His fantasy production has taken a hit because he hasn’t had as many opportunities. In 2017 and 2019 he had less than 30 extra point attempts and in 2018 he had 25 total Field Goal attempts. With my expectation that Denver’s offense is about to take a big step forward, I would be remiss if I didn’t include McManus’ fantasy value into that equation.
Rookie: Rodrigo Blankenship (Indianapolis)
Analysis: I don’t like the Patriots offense this year, which removed Rohrwasser from consideration, I’m not a big fan of the Rams’ offense this year either, so that took out Sloman. I like Tyler Bass who was drafted by Buffalo, but he has to get through Hauschka to win the starting job. Blankenship on the other hand only has to beat out Chase McLaughlin and he would be kicking for arguably the best offense of the four teams mentioned. Plus, he was the best Kicker in this draft class in my opinion, even if he went undrafted.
Others:
Zane Gonzalez (Arizona)
Analysis: I have a lot of faith in this Arizona offense and that organization has a lot of faith in Gonzalez. After he was cut by the Browns (THE BROWNS!) the Cards grabbed him up and stuck him on the field. It worked out really well for them last season as he went 31-35 and 2-2 on his 50+ yarders. With Hopkins in tow the Cards are lined up well to take another big step forward in Murray and Kingsbury’s second seasons, and that means more opportunities for Gonzalez.
Austin Seibert (Cleveland)
Analysis: I said it with Mayfield, I really like this Browns offense with Stefanski now calling the shots. Seibert had a solid rookie season and I think he is ready to double down on that production this year. He’s the kind of Kicker you want to target if you’re the type of fantasy coach that doesn’t draft your Kicker until round 15.
Younghoe Koo (Atlanta)
Analysis: What a find he was for Atlanta last season, am I right? 23 of 26 on Field Goals in 8(!) games. He has a chance to explode over a full 16 games provided he keeps up with the accuracy portion his game.
Deep Sleeper: Daniel Carlson (Las Vegas)
Analysis: Vegas loaded up on Receivers. Their hope has to be that if they surround Carr with enough playmakers he and the offense will take off. It’s a pretty good bet as long as they brought in the right playmakers. They certainly drafted enough talent to give one hope that the Raiders offense will be in full swing. The potential risk here is that Carlson loses the job due to poor accuracy that costs Vegas some games early. Last year he finished at 73.1% on his Field Goals. That's a year after he went 16 for 17 with the Raiders. It certainly seemed like he was heading back down the path that resulted in him being cut by the Vikings after 2 games in 2018.
