NFL fantasy roundtable: Moss, Brown emerge as early sleepers

After not playing in 2011, Randy Moss is poised to become a needed target for Alex Smith and the Niners in 2012.

AP

Fantasy football draft season is here. To help you make the right choices, SI's Fantasy Roundtable weighs in on some of the more intriguing topics and players to consider.

1. What sleeper do you have rising up your draft boards after Week 1 of the preseason?

Will Carroll: The more I think about Randy Moss, the more I think this could work from a fantasy perspective. I'm not saying he's a WR1, but he's a guy who could be a late round pickup who could put up 8-10 TDs and some mid-range catches. Alex Smith is mobile and Moss is big enough to be an easy target. He can still post up and jump in the end zone as well. If Jim Harbaugh's mojo is still working with that team, I have to think that Moss is precisely the kind of guy who'll work there. I'm also very curious about Ryan Williams in Arizona.

Eric Mack: Well, Ronnie Brown might go from rags to riches if Ryan Mathews cannot make it back early in the season -- or worse, continues to prove to be the injury-prone bust he has been in his first two seasons. The debut of Andrew Luck was the most awe-inspiring performance in Week 1, though. He sure looks like he is going to be a real tough hombre in a lot of wide-open games like Cam Newton was in his record-setting rookie year for a quarterback. Luck has weapons and his situation might be perfect for a lot of garbage-time yardage and touchdowns.

David Sabino: You have to take preseason results and stats with a grain of salt as many of the league's biggest preseason performers are simply fighting for a roster slot and will have trouble getting any offensive snaps in the regular season. The exception is when fortunes change due to injuries. Given the state of the Chargers backfield since Mathews suffered a broken clavicle on his first carry of the preseason, both Ronnie Brown and Curtis Brinkley should move up the rankings; Brown to borderline starter the first few weeks and Brinkley to late-round flier. Also, Saints running back Travaris Cadet out of Appalachian State has opened my eyes as a possible 14th- or 15th-round roll of the dice.

2. What expected star are you having doubts about?

Carroll: Reggie Bush. He showed last year that he can put up good fantasy numbers, but the QB issues, the WR issues, the growing pains of a new coach ... it all just seems to work against Bush's kind of game. If he's the only guy on an offense, I just don't think he can do what Maurice Jones-Drew did last season, which is basically take the focus and score anyway.