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We continue our preseason fantasy football sleeper series with a look at Green Bay Packers wide receiver Geronimo Allison.
While the first few rounds of every draft are essentially a wash-rinse-repeat of the consensus top-36, we can always count on those middle and late rounds to cement our confidence in this year's sleepers. The definition of the fantasy football sleeper has changed over the years, with the emergence of the industry itself on social media. The common sleeper today isn't a player that is being 'slept on' by the community. They're more like a player in a great spot to outperform his average draft position based on a plethora of factors.
Let's see why Allison could fit that bill in upcoming fantasy drafts.
Editor's Note: Identify fantasy football draft busts, overvalued ADPs, and key players to avoid so you can draft with confidence this season.
2018 Sleeper - Geronimo Allison
2017 was not the sophomore season Geronimo Allison wanted in the NFL. With Aaron Rodgers injured and the terrible Brent Hundley leading the offense, no one could have looked good. In 15 games last season Allison had 23 receptions for 253 yards and no touchdowns while with Aaron Rodgers on the field in his rookie season of 2016 he caught two touchdowns on his 12 total catches over 10 games played.
Now, Aaron Rodgers is back in the fold and on a mission to show he is the best in the game meaning Brent Hundley is back on the bench where he belongs and thus allowing for Allison, currently the third receiver but with the ability to move up to the number two receiver, some room for improvement and fantasy relevance.
With Jordy Nelson gone to Oakland, Davante Adams and his league-leading 24 touchdowns over the last two seasons is the entrenched number one receiver. Aaron Rodgers though has shown his entire career an ability to support two top-20 receivers. While Randall Cobb is slated to be the second receiver at this point, with Allison as the three, Cobb’s injuries and uninspiring play since his 2015 breakout do not give secure feelings that the job will be his for long, especially if the third-year breakout happens for Allison. If Cobb falters, Geronimo Allison can slide right in as at 6’3 and 210lbs, he has the size to line up in the slot while at 4.67 in the 40-yard dash also having enough speed to go outside and provide a downfield threat alongside Adams.
With a current ADP of 14.5, he is currently going behind players such as Christian Kirk and Calvin Ridley. While people are always enamored by rookie talent, Allison should easily outperform both of these players as well as many others, who find themselves in difficult situations to break out behind the likes of Larry Fitzgerald and Julio Jones. Allison will have a lot more opportunity and he surely is a high upside, low-risk play with the potential to finish the 2018 season as the wide receiver two in a Packers offense which should be clicking behind a hungry and mad Aaron Rodgers. Just think of the beatdown the Patriots put on the league after Tom Brady returned from his suspension.
If you are still hesitant to draft Allison, there is a likely chance you will be able to watch him for a few games before signing him from the waiver wire. Beware though, if Randall Cobb does get hurt while you are waiting, you better have the number one priority or you will not get him. What better place to find a sleeper than in the last round of your draft. This is exactly what you will find in Allison. If you are in Dynasty leagues, the 24-year-old could be next in line if the Randall Cobb experiment takes another nosedive in 2018. If this happens, the Packers may be forced to move on from Cobb allowing Allison to assume the wide receiver role in 2019. If you are getting long in the tooth with players like Jordy Nelson or Larry Fitzgerald in your wide receiving corps, you could probably flip them for Allison in a trade. If you can do this and trade for him now, it may look like a bargain come next year when he could really break out.
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