Sleeper Watch

With the 2005 regular season drawing to a close, fantasy owners are already thinking ahead to next year, and that includes speculating about the upcoming rookie class. Naturally, the focus is on elite running backs such as Reggie Bush and passers like Matt Leinart (so what else is new?). That doesn’t mean that other positions aren’t important, however. Just ask those who drafted Pittsburgh rookie Heath Miller this year.

Miller tailed off in the second half, but he still managed to compile 397 receiving yards and six touchdowns, the fourth-highest-total among tight ends. Who has the best chance of being next year’s Heath Miller? It’s too early to say for certain, of course, but it wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye on Maryland product Vernon Davis in the months ahead.

Davis declared for the draft following a season in which he found the end zone six times and led the Terrapins with 871 receiving yards (79.2 yards per contest, tops in the ACC), highlighted by a 158-yard outburst against West Virgina. Slightly undersized at 6′3″, 250 lbs, Davis is nonetheless widely considered to be the most talented pass-catching TE in the college ranks, and could wind up as a nice fantasy sleeper if he lands in the right situation in the upcoming draft, where he is projected to be chosen in the first half of the opening round.

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