Sleeper Watch

Rookie linebacker Kirk Morrison wasn’t on anybody’s radar heading into the season. How could he be, a third-round draft pick out of San Diego State listed behind both Danny Clark and Tim Johnson on Oakland’s depth chart? Yet here we are two weeks into the NFL schedule, and Morrison is among the league leaders in tackles with 21 (14 solo stops and 7 assists), trailing only Cleveland’s Andra Davis (29) and Miami’s Zach Thomas (26).

Morrison has the toughness and speed to play linebacker at the NFL level, yet is still raw in several respects. His tackling skills still need work, and he’ll also have to learn how to evade blockers more effectively. Nonetheless, he has already demonstrated a knack for positioning himself to make plays and has left a strong first impression.

With two solid efforts in the opener against New England (six solo tackles, four assists) and last Sunday versus the Chiefs (eight and three, respectively), Morrison has earned both the coaching staff’s respect and, perhaps even more importantly, increased playing time in the weeks to come. In standard IDP leagues, he’s worth keeping an eye on to see whether he can keep up this level of play. In deep formats, he might already be worth a pickup.