It is important to look for players that could be sleepers and help your team every week. Let's take a look at offensive sleepers for Week 1.
Week 1 is finally here for the 2021 NFL season. That means you drafted your team and are ready to submit your lineups. If there is a last-minute injury, you may need to scramble to find a player to substitute. That is when this weekly article on offensive sleepers comes in handy. I use Sleeper rostered percentage to look for offensive sleepers and use anyone under 35% owned.
Tony Jones, RB, New Orleans Saints
Jones was very impressive in the preseason, which allowed the Saints to release Latavius Murray. He is on the high end in being rostered in 31% of leagues on Sleeper. Jones will be the second-string RB on the Saints. Additionally, in this offense, the backup to Alvin Kamara is very valuable in Fantasy.
Kamara in his career has only averaged 11 carries a game. Also, he has only carried the ball 15 or more times in 10 of 60 games played. With the injury to Michael Thomas, the Saints could run the ball even more and Jones is a sleeper that could help you in Week 1.
Adam Humphries, WR, Washington Football Team
This week Curtis Samuel returned to practice but reaggravated his groin injury. He has been officially placed on IR. We know Terry Mclaurin is the main passing option, but it is unclear what the pecking order is after Mclaurin.
With Samuel missing the game, Adam Humphries could be the second receiver that new QB Ryan Fitzpatrick targets. Humphries is only rostered in 2% of leagues. The game this week vs the Chargers could be close and the WFT might throw more. Humphries has a low ceiling but a nice floor in PPR because of his route running out of the slot.
Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
It will be interesting what this Eagles offense will look like, as we only have seen it in a couple of preseason games. Although Gainwell is technically the third-string RB, he should be on the field quite a bit. Gainwell is only rostered in 33% of leagues but I think he could be very important for the Eagles' offense.
He provides versatility and is a dual-threat in and out of the backfield. Coach Nick Sirianni comes from the Colts who ran three WR sets 77% of the time in 2020. With uncertainty at WR, Gainwell could be more involved in the slot. Because of PPR, Gainwell's floor is higher and with his speed, he could always break a short catch into a long gain.
Donald Parham, TE, Los Angeles Chargers
Hunter Henry left the Chargers in free agency, so the Chargers signed veteran Jared Cook. He is the starter, but athletic young Donald Parham surely will see his fair share of snaps. Parham is only rostered in 3 % of leagues and if you need a fill-in, he could provide some value.
Last year Justin Herbert targeted the TEs 21% of the time. With the heavy targeting, Parham likely will not be the top Chargers TE, yet could still have fantasy production. In 2020, Parham only was target 20 times and caught 10 of them, but he had 3 TDs on those limited opportunities. Parham is more of a Hail Mary play, but at TE, after the first few, it's a crapshoot anyway.
Conclusion
Those are my top offensive sleeper candidates going into the first week of the NFL season who are not highly rostered. With Covid protocols, you never know when someone is not going to be inactive on game day. These offensive sleepers could help you fill in your starting lineups for Week 1.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Sleeper article, it will be published weekly on Saturday. You can read all my work on my IDP Guys Author Page and find me on Twitter @hayeb3.Â
