so who do you see that is being drafted as a back-up fantasy QB that will end up shining as a starter this season? Seems like every year a QB comes from the 10 round or below to have a very good season, so who do you think it could be this season?

Mine is Alex Smith. SF seems to be a team on the rise with some nice talent on offense. They have added DJax to their WR group and Vernon Davis should be healthy and ready to break out. Gore is coming off a break out season and will take the pressure off of him. I see Smith as a guy you can get later that will out play his draft position by quite a few rounds.

Smith, Losman(with Lynch catching lots of passes, he will get more downfield as well).

i am seeing a lot of hype for both alex smith and jp losman, and i have to admit that i just dont have a clue why. those two QBs are two of my bottom six in PPG at the QB spot. neither of them has great receivers, neither of them great blocking, neither of them in an offense built around the passer. i just dont see it.

three names come to mind for me on this one. two of them are guys going very late that i think would be great pickups: trent green and byron leftwich. im obviously aware of the injury questions on both, but both are in my top 15 based on PPG -- so when they play, they are a viable starter or great backup. for guys going in the 10th and beyond, thats pretty good stuff.

as for my real sleeper, hes a guy being consistently drafted as a backup and not talked about much, but hes my #6 QB in ppg... slightly ahead of Brady and Palmer right now. but i cant say his name just yet, cuz hes the qb i plan on taking in our new dynasty.

I also have my eye on a couple sleepers this year. Jason Campbell from Washington dispalyed a terrific arm and excellent poise while making seven starts in 2006. Now he's had an entire offseason as the Redskins undisputed No1 QB. I'm watching Jason Campbell, but I'm leaning towards Matt Leinart. He has enough quality position players in Arizona, plus an offensive-minded head coach, that Leinart could take his numbers to a whole new level this year. Leinart would be my biggest sleeper QB this year.

only problem with that is he's not sleeping anymore, he will be taken quite high in drafts this year. Expect to spend a 7th or above if you want him on your team.

Matt Schaub of course.....

I'm going to go with this Peyton Manning fellow...no one gives this man any credit at all

Shoot, I'm in a 16 team league with you jokers. Why would i devulge my sleepers? But since you asked, I'm going with travaris jackson. He has an AWESOME receiving crew and enough experience to really make it happen.

I have to say Delhomme. He still has Smith. Most of us rate Smith at #1-#3 at the wideout position. Jake has fallen off of the face of the Earth. I feel he is a very safe QB #2 that you can almost take at will in this draft. I feel he rebounds well, and outperforms more than a handful of guys taken before him.

Philip Rivers is my favorite sleeper this year, and most fantasy publications have him ranked around 15th QB. Last year, the chargers kept the training wheels on Rivers for the first half of the season, but in the second half of the season, the guy made plays that got him to the pro bowl. With Antonio Gates and LT catching passes from Rivers, plus add an emerging Vincent Jackson and the speed and hands of 1st rd. pick Craig Davis, Rivers is poised for a huge year. Also, figure in Norv Turner calling the plays, and no more "martyball", Rivers should have a huge fantasy year. They say Rivers has bulked up and added muscle to his frame this offseason, and he is one of the hardest workers on the team, in a high powered offense, with a dominant running game and a great offensive line. What's not to like?

He is getting noticed in Mocks however, and costs a pretty penny. Forgive me though for I'm not trying to get into one of those extra picky "sleeper" converstions. He is falling in the top 8 - 10 of qb's. I like his chances this year and feel he will perform in the top 7 -10.

Hey Bomb: I'm curious as to why you consider Green, a guy who's thrown over 20 tds three times this decade, and Lefty, a guy who's never thrown for more than 15 tds or 3k yards, viable options at all much less sleepers.

That's the nature of sleepers, guys who aren't expected to do anything. Green is widely considered to be too old and leftwich is coming off an injury and isn't even assured of starting. I'd call those guys sleepers.

I really don't see anybody that feels like a real solid sleeper pick. I guess, depending on where people rank him, I would consider Schaub as my sleeper pick.

Losman will most likely put up decent fantasy numbers on occasional games, but I really don't see where the hype is once again coming from. Been hearing talk on ESPN and other places where the radio guy are talking about him and how he is an upcoming "star" in the league. I just don't see it. The guy has spare written all over him.

i have both of them in my top 15 in PPG at the QB spot, which makes them usable backups and spot starters. leftwich always has pretty decent numbers if he gets playing time. he also gets a couple rush TDs every year and has a lot of good redzone options to throw to. considering hes generally taken as about the 25th QB off the board, if that, id definitely rather have him than a handful of other guys folks are wasting picks on beforehand.

trent green if healthy is a viable starter option in my eyes. he was hurt last year but had thrown for 4000 yards the previous three seasons -- the only player in the entire NFL to do so. he also averaged 24 TDs a year the previous four years. before last year, he was always one of those guys in the #6-10 range for starting QBs, old faithful if you will. now he is recovering from a concussion, but several qbs (young, aikman come to mind) have lasted past one and he has much better receivers around him now than he ever did in KC. im not saying slam dunk, but he has to qualify as a sleeper.

Well, lets see...

Improvement over the year was shown. Improvement of the OF line was made this offseason. Rb was drafted who will be more dynamic in and out of the backfield as a reciever so better outlet for Losman. Another year under the same offense, which also will promote stability.

Had they been able to score a solid #2 wr, or receiving Te, I wouldn't list him as a sleeper.

Flip a coin, I'm keeping them both.
Jon Kitna, 11 yr. Vet who had his best year since 03' in Cin.
Was this a fluke, or can he duplicate or better last years #'s
He has thrown for over 3000 yds. 4x but only had 3 20+ TD's(99,03,06)
He should do better with his second year in the system.

Jay Cutler, threw 9 TD's in 5 games. All were 10+ yds. His total yds. 1001
was not all that much at 200 yds. per Gm. Now if you take these stats and multiply them over 16 Gm. would be: 27 TD's, 3203 yds. Passing, 15 INT.
Not bad stats for a Sophomore QB. Now all I need is for Cutler to do it.

My other QB's - Jake Plummer(RET. or is he?)
Andrew Walter (#2 at the moment) Hay, I thaught he was the next big thing for OAK. He may still be a big thing. Time will tell, but not on my team at this time.

I've always liked Kitna as an NFL QB and a fantasy QB. I've had him as a backup several for several years now - including last year and wound up using him to finish the season when McNabb went down - and have often found myself putting him in my starting lineup as he, almost always, puts up consistent number.

He way never have a breakout game, but it's rare that he has a particularly bad game. I can't say that I blame you for keeping him on your roster, hell, I would do the same.

FWIW. I've made fun of all the articles that have been raving about what a leader Matt Schaub is because it is easy to be a leader if nobody is really rushing you:

Matt Schaub for President - Sports Blog - The FanHouse

Recently I got some information from a player. He says that Schaub has a hunger to get better and to get the team better. That his command/leadership thing really standsout, he shows up ready to work (gets there before the coaches), and wants to know everything that is going on with the team.

He says Carr had the physical ability but not that drive to be the best, and that he believed that Carr was never taught to read defenses and never really learned it last year.

I posted some similar stuff that came out publicly from Andre Johnson on this subject:

Andre Johnson Doesn't Want to Dump David Carr in the Grease, Does Anyway - Sports Blog - The FanHouse

I'm not blogging about this recent stuff I heard from another player because it will just seem like I'm piling on.

The other things to help Schaub is that Ahman Green (if healthy) really can make a difference with protection. Reportedly, Favre isn't so fond of an all inexperienced line with inexperienced running backs. The Texans struggled with the rookie running backs trying to block during passing plays.

Basically, the entire Texans team is an enigma. Because nobody has seen much of the Texans offense without Carr playing, so it is mostly impossible to see how they could play without him. Carr was out only a couple times last season.

During the preseason, Rosenfels made the offense look better but of course against second string opponents. Carr got killed in the first half of the Titans game, got benched, and Rosenfels almost got the Texans a win. (BTW, TE Owen Daniels breakout game against TN [99 yards, 9 catches, 2 TDs] happened when Sage Rosenfels was in that game--he looked good in the first half and amazing in the second. Offensive line looked better too. It's not dispositive because they changed the offensive sets to a more spread out one in the second half based on what they saw in the first half.

The worst thing that happened to the Texans last year was punter Chad Stanley having a cut on his hand. He couldn't hold for a field goal during the Jets game, so Rosenfels does it instead and breaks his handle tackling. Carr had enough rough games after that that Rosenfels would have certainly got playing time. At least by the Raiders game. It would have been nice to try out the offense with a different QB.

I think they are going to play really good or really bad, and not anywhere in the middle. Either the new Sherman offensive playbook is going to work or it really isn't. Either Schaub has it, or he doesn't. Either Green has something left in the tank, or he doesn't. Either the offensive line is going to look better with a new quarterback, or it's not.