Sleeper Watch

When your nickname is Automatica, you should really make more than 61.5% of your field goal attempts, shouldn’t you? Yet that’s all Tampa Bay’s Martin Gramatica managed last season, nailing only 16 of 26 tries, with a long of 50 yards. With 81 points scored, the former Pro Bowler fell to 25th in the NFL among kickers, and fantasy owners expecting Gramatica to anchor their kicking game were left scrambling for the waiver wire.

Gramatica didn’t simply randomly implode, however. Many of his struggles can be traced back to nagging hamstring problems. Jon Gruden and the Buccaneers seem confident that their kicker will be fully healthy again this year, and will once again take his place among the league’s elite kickers.

With memories of his 2003 letdown still fresh in fantasy owners’ memories, he may well be among the last kickers drafted this season, but if the team’s assessment is correct, Gramatica’s numbers might again resemble those of 1999-2002, when he averaged 114 points per season and never posted an accuracy rate below 79.3%. Keep a close eye on his performance in training camp. If he looks like the Automatica of old, he could be an excellent pick in your draft’s closing rounds.

When ranking kickers, also be sure to keep an eye on the schedule. While others are facing winter’s icy touch in Green Bay or New England, Gramatica’s plans for December and January, playoff time in fantasy football, include three home dates in sunny Florida, as well as away games against San Diego and Arizona.