Sleeper Watch

The state of Louisiana has had a tough time this year dealing with Hurricane Katrina. However, things are beginning to look up for Louisiana and especially the New Orleans Saints in 2006. They have the second pick in the NFL draft, a new coach, their star running back Deuce McAllister coming back from injury, but most importantly a new quarterback, Drew Brees. With Drew Brees at the helm, many Saints players are bound to reap the benefits, none more so then tight end of the New Orleans Saints Zach Hilton.

We have all witnessed what Drew Brees did to help Antonio Gates become the top tight end in the league. If he can do the same with young Zach Hilton, the sky is the limit. Brees is not the only reason to believe in Hilton; Hilton put up nice numbers at the end of the year for the Saints with incumbents Aaron Brooks and Todd Bouman. Zach Hilton put up a very respectable 373 yards and a touchdown in the second half of last season. His average reception went for 11.7 yards during this span and shows his big play potential.

Again looking ahead to 2006, Zach Hilton appears ready to bust out. If you take away his one poor outing during the last seven games of the year and project that for sixteen games the result may be surprising. He would be on pace for 944 yards and about three touchdowns. Those yards would be second only to Antonio Gates, the man that Drew Brees made such a dominant machine. If you take into account Brees loves to look for tight ends in the red zone, you can see how truly valuable Zach Hilton can become.

If high-priced tight ends like Gates, Jeremy Shockey, or Tony Gonzalez don’t fall to you, no need to fret. You can take Zach Hilton much lower and possibly even as a backup and potentially ride a magical year like Antonio Gates had with Drew Brees in 2004 to your fantasy football championship.

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