Sleeper Watch

Before the season, we recommended Vikings tight end Jermaine Wiggins as a sleeper, but something happened on the way to fantasy success. The vaunted Minnesota offense sputtered out of the gate, scoring 14 points or more just once in five games, and Wiggins has yet to find the end zone. Understandably, his owners are starting to feel more than a little frustrated.

You can tell where this is headed, can’t you? The time may be ripe to buy Wiggins low. No, not because we’re stubbornly sticking to our preseason prediction while Wiggins produces numbers that aren’t enough to crack the ranks of the top dozen fantasy TEs, but because there’s more to those numbers than the bottom line of fantasy points.

Wiggins ranks 13th among tight ends in receiving yards with just 203 through five contests (11th in the league in yards per game, thanks to the Vikings’ week 5 bye). Yet he ranks fourth in receptions with 26, just three behind league leader Erron Kinney. Last week, Wiggins padded his total with ten catches in Chicago, and while he was once again held out of the end zone, he received a whopping 15 looks from his quarerback. Needless to say, that’s a lot of looks. In fact, it tied for the highest total among all receivers – not just TEs – in the league last week. The only other tight end who came within five of that mark was Jeremy Shockey, who finished the day with ten.

Wiggins is clearly a key component in Minnesota’s current offensive game plan, and if he continues to see such a large number of passes thrown his way, the touchdowns should eventually follow. For now, however, he may be available for less than he’s worth.