Houston Texans Fantasy Sleepers

With fantasy football season coming up in a matter of months, or even weeks, several of the Texans should garner interest.

We know DeAndre Hopkins will be one of the first wide receivers off the board in most leagues. We know that Deshaun Watson will be one of the first ten quarterbacks taken. Those are easy predictions. There are no cases to be made.

I want to discuss a few sleeper picks that could help teams who need the extra boost. These are picks who won’t put the other teams in your league on notice as much and they will fly under the radar. They will give your team the extra push it needs.

1. Keke Coutee

I said a few months ago that I will be riding this train all year. Barring injury, Coutee can be a valuable bench player or a third receiver in a 12+ man league. Expect easy open field yards for him as he makes a living on flats and drag routes. His quickness combined with the other Texans’ receivers drawing most of the defensive attention will feed him plenty of targets to fill up the stat sheet. He will be tough to pass on in the later rounds. If not, he will be the ideal waiver wire pick-up for a team who suffers an injury.

2. D’onta Foreman

He’s ready to make a name for himself. Since his newborn career has been hindered by injury and riding in the back seat behind Lamar Miller, Foreman has not had a chance to put himself on the map. Foreman is a strong and beefy running back who the Texans will use to plunge through the line for touchdowns in goal line situations. The Texans will have a slightly better (but still poor) offensive line which might make Foreman’s job hard. However, he can be a value waiver wire pick. He is bound to have two to three weeks where he puts up big numbers and fantasy football players will rush to pick him up. The Achilles injury still remains a concern, but Foreman will do just enough to get himself on a lot of teams as the year progresses.

3. Zach Cunningham

This is not a sexy pick by any means. Nobody prepares for a fantasy draft by focusing on the defensive side of the ball. Most leagues have team defenses and special teams, but many others go with individual defensive players. Cunningham has shown ability to rack up tackles. The linebacker has made steady growth since he entered the league. As it pertains to average fantasy points, Cunningham was the fifteenth ranked linebacker last year. This isn’t a guy you should consider drafting. This isn’t a guy who will make rosters on 60% of fantasy leagues. This is a guy who can add a few extra points in competitive league. Much like professional sports, every point holds weight. Cunningham can be a valuable piece for a team looking to push itself slightly over the top. In a position that doesn’t garner attention, a move to bring Cunningham on your team would go unnoticed.

Plus, individual defensive players are important in the leagues that have them. From personal experience, I have fallen victim of not taking the defensive player spot seriously enough. In 2016, DeAngelo Williams put up a monster performance on opening night in Washington. I had a comfortable lead and ended up losing by about three points. My issue was not with the running backs. It was with Williams having an otherworldly performance and my defensive player scoring a whopping zero fantasy points. If I had a player like Cunningham, my fortunes that season would have been different. Don’t make my mistake. Don’t sleep on the young Texans’ linebacker.