Fantasy football stats: The sleepers of Week 15

The "Sleepers" post is kind of the Miss Congeniality of fantasy weeks -- Sorry, your week wasn't the best, but hey, here's a separate article where I say you were good-not-great!

Anyway, here are a few paragraphs about guys who were good-not-great:

Sleeper quarterbacks in Week 15

Matt Cassel, MIN (382 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 19 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown, 28 fantasy points)

I have said it before, and I'll say it again -- Cassel isn't a great quarterback. He probably isn't even a particularly above-average one. But it makes absolutely no sense that the Vikings took so long to go to Cassel over Christian Ponder, who ... is better than Blaine Gabbert, so yay that. Since getting back into the starting job in Week 13, Cassel has gotten steadily better, and has averaged 19 fantasy points her game. He's never going to be a top-flight quarterback, but he's earned a starting job somewhere in 2014.

Kirk Cousins, WAS (381 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble lost, 21 fantasy points)

Cousins was getting too much unnecessary hype for having won all of one game as an NFL starter, and for only being pleasantly decent in the game, not some super-stud. He showed Sunday that he can be at least fantasy productive, even if he lost to an awful Atlanta Falcons team in the process. Cousins spread the ball around nicely, with Pierre Garcon and Alfred Morris both exceeding 100 yards, and Aldrick Robinson coming in at 99. I still think NFL GMs are going to want to see more from Cousins for him to really have significant trade value, but this was a good start

Sleeper running backs in Week 15

Trent Richardson, IND (64 rushing yards, 38 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, 15 fantasy points)

It was Richardson's best game of 2013, which is both nice to see and ridiculously sad -- this is a guy who was taken in the first round of fantasy drafts, and we're celebrating 15 fantasy points, and a season-high of 64 rushing yards? But that's how far Richardson has fallen. Teammate Donald Brown left the game with injury, and if it turns out Brown has to miss time, Richardson could repeat his value in Week 16 due to nothing but attrition -- the Colts have lost Vick Ballard, Ahmad Bradshaw, and now Donald Brown. Richardson is the only one left. Unless you count Tashard Choice. Don't count Tashard Choice.

Edwin Baker, CLE (38 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown, 46 receiving yards, 13 fantasy points)

Baker, signed to the Browns only a few days ago, got his first NFL playing time in the game, and made the most of it, scoring his first touchdown. It helped that the Browns were playing against the awful-against-running-backs Chicago Bears, but hey, leading a team in rushing is leading a team in rushing. There's not much reason to expect Baker to suddenly be a big-time running back, but it's nice to see a guy rise up and have one game like this.

Sleeper wide receivers in Week 15

Andre Caldwell, DEN (59 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns, 17 fantasy points)

Everyone spent all week saying how tight end Jacob Tamme would be the Wes Welker replacement in the Denver offense; I literally don't think I heard a single person mention Caldwell as a possibility. And not for nothing, as Caldwell entered Thursday with five catches and 87 receiving yards on the entire season. He was the only successful Broncos offensive player in that Thursday game, though. If Welker misses another game, who knows, maybe Caldwell can do it again. Odds are, though, that you'd be wise to just watch him closely, and not use him quite yet.

Danny Amendola, NE (131 receiving yards, 13 fantasy points)

Amendola had his most receiving yards as a Patriot Sunday, and there were two other positives to take from the game. First, he managed to haul in 10 passes in the game with no inklings of injury afterward -- always a wild card with him -- and second, he was the guy quarterback Tom Brady was looking to in the endgame situation. The quarterback and receiver hadn't really seemed to establish a connection yet this season, their first as teammates, but if Brady trusts Amendola enough to be the guy he goes to when the game is on the line, that has to bode well.

Sleeper tight end in Week 15

Andrew Quarless, GB (66 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, 12 fantasy points)

After not much performance as the team's new top tight end in the wake of the injury to Jermichael Finley, Quarless has offered identical stat lines the last two weeks -- six catches, 66 yards, a touchdown, 12 fantasy points. The fourth-year tight end had only one career touchdown before last week's game, so things are looking up for him. It's an offense that has managed to turn just about anyone who can catch passes into some kind of weapon, so there's every chance Quarless continues to have value even when/if Aaron Rodgers returns.

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