Sleeper Of The Week: Time To Crown Fantastical Champions

We all know what Week 16 means, right? It is championship time...if you are a fortuitous fantasy football player. Fantasy football championships are happening all across the interwebs. Your humble, Vicks-using, handsome writer of this post finds himself in one such championship match (and curses Rip Jersey's 0.14 point win in the semi-final of one of the 1,293 BRB fantasy leagues).

The Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday scheduling of games is a potential danger to any roster. I will call it a mini-sleeper just because you have to make sure the roster is set ahead of time - especially if you want to utilize a Houston Texans sleeper since they take the field later tonight.

Who could be such a sleeper to help you imaginarily hoist a trophy for a fantastical league? Jump one last time with me.

You really cannot be a sleeper when you are a 10-4 division champion, with well-known fantasy names, taking on a 1-13 opponent who sits near the bottom of the league in many categories - especially since we know what kind of game Houston will want to play.

As we have seen over the past two years, the Texans will ride the running backs against the Indianapolis Colts. Running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate could find a lot of open space against a run defense that is ranked 26th, according to Football Outsiders.

If you are hoping to find a pass catcher to get you over the hump, look at tight ends Owen Daniels and Joel Dreessen. Daniels is T.J. Yates' favorite target, based on a small sample size, and Dreessen leads the team in touchdown receptions. The Colts, according to those FO guys, are among the league's worst in covering tight ends. They should be able to produce for you.

Yates and the wide receivers likely will not produce big numbers for you, but that is because of the gameplan the Texans will employ A) against the Colts and B) with a rookie quarterback.

Defensively, Brian Cushing, Connor Barwin, and Brooks Reed should be starts for individual defensive player leagues. The Colts are mid-pack in sack allowed rate, despite the smallish number of attempts, and they have shifted to running the ball more - all of which are good signs for those three men.

I would like to encourage a J.J. Watt and/or Johnathan Joseph play, but I don't know if they will make enough fantasy scoring plays in this game.

Kicker Neil Rackers is probably a good start. The offense will move the ball, which should allow him to get kicking opportunities.

If you really, really needed to roll the dice? The Colts have a terrible special teams unit. We have seen Jacoby Jones make an impact in the return game the past few years. There is a decent chance that he could have another big punt return against Indianapolis. The real question is are you that desperate to bank on a returner? These are the decisions that make or break a championship season.

How about you BRBers? Any championship contenders out there?

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