If you are like me, once Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck are off the board, QB takes a back seat to WR and RB in the first few rounds of the draft. Then when you look up around the 5th or 6th round you have some decent options under center, but even then you may want to wait. The question then becomes what QB’s can you get later in the draft that have a chance of sneaking into the Top 10 or 12 QB’s by the end of the season. Let’s take a look at 5 guys who I think fit the bill of guys that are Sleeper candidates at QB.

Sam Bradford
He hasn’t played much the last 2 years due to injuries, but Bradford still has a skill set that with the right team around him could mean a ton of fantasy points.

Welcome to the Philadelphia Eagles Sam!

Chip Kelly’s offense has been one of the more productive in all of football in his 2 years in the NFL. He brought in Bradford for his talent and surrounded him with offensive depth as far as the eye can see. The Eagles will put up a ton of points and yards. Bradford is absolutely a Top 12 QB candidate.

However it will all come back to health with Bradford. To me you have to draft him as a 2nd QB with the thought that he takes over as your starter almost immediately.

Ryan Tannehill
I love Tannehill this season. Love him! Every season in his career he’s gotten better. Granted it hasn’t been by leaps and bounds but the progress has been there every year with his passing statistics.

You also have to factor in rushing stats, which have also improved every year. Seeing him take off and run some games, I wonder why it hasn’t happened more. Granted he’s no Russell Wilson, but his 311 rushing yards last year ranked him 5th among QBs behind Wilson, Colin Kaepernick, Cam Newton and Blake Bortles (I thought that one was odd). So any kind of improvement there, which he has show every season could potentially put him in the Top 3 in that category.

With the addition of Jordan Cameron, Kenny Stills, Greg Jennings and Devante Parker with Jarvis Landry already in place, Tannehill has some targets that he really hasn’t had in the past. Granted they aren’t ultra premium guys but they are better targets than he’s had. He’ll have to face some tough defenses in the AFC East but who cares? I like him for another year of improvement. He finished 8th among QB’s last season by my rankings and he could easily move into the Top 5.

Derek Carr
Don’t sleep on Carr this season. That would be a mistake. While you don’t want to be stuck with him as a starter in Week 1, he’ll be a guy I think you’ll be smiling about by season’s end. Carr’s rookie season was one that surprised some people. It wasn’t great with a 58.1% Completion Percentage, 3,270 yards, 21 TDs, 12 Ints and a QB Rating of 76.6. However, that’s not all that terrible either for a guy nobody expected anything of. I mean he was quarterbacking the Raiders for God sake.

He didn’t have one receiver crack 700 yards and his best target was James Jones. That sentence bares repeating, his best target was James Jones.

The Raiders went out this off season went out and did some smart things when it came to the Receiving game which I know is hard to believe. First and this seems like a small move, but they signed Michael Crabtree. His statistics were almost identical to Jones, who’s moved on. He has had an up and down career and it always seems like he should be a lot better. This off season didn’t work out for him in terms of a long term big money contract somewhere, so he’s looking for a big year on a one year deal with the Raiders. To sum it up, he’s motivated.

The most important thing the Raiders did was they drafted Amari Cooper 4th overall. He is an absolute stud, beast…whatever you want to call him to say he’s awesome go for it. His addition gives Carr’s numbers a chance of going way up. Carr is worth grabbing as your 2nd QB with potential for a lot more.

Eli Manning
I know, how does a guy with 2 Super Bowls and a year like last year end up on the sleeper list? Well when your numbers fluctuate as wildly as Manning’s over his career you tend to have people look at you as an afterthought. Not this year for Eli.

Last year despite a slow start he finished with one of his better seasons. What’s the reason for the improvement you ask? I could give you mumbo jumbo about new systems and better decisions but it really comes down to two words and an abbreviation: Odell Beckham Jr.

It’s not a coincidence that Manning started playing better when Beckham Jr. started playing. All of Manning’s production last season was without one of his targets Victor Cruz, who missed 10 games.

With Cruz’s return, Beckham Jr potentially having a full 16 games, the addition of James Jones and Rueben Randle still around Manning could be in for a career year.

Matthew Stafford
Right now he’s got an ADP of 75 and is the 10th QB off the board in most drafts. Now while last year’s performance says that’s about right, the upside for Stafford says that’s a bargain. He has been frustrating to own because every year it seems like his numbers are worse than the year before. It seems that way because it’s reality.
2011 was the high water mark for Stafford with 41 TD’s and 5000 Yards. Every year since has been down from that total.

The explanation for last year was simple. Megatron was hurt and their line was terrible. If Johnson stays healthy his numbers should improve. If their line play improves (and let’s be honest it can’t get much worse than last year) his numbers should improve. In addition, it’s his second year in Offensive Coordinator Joe Lombardi’s system so a comfort level should set in.

For the price you have to pay for Stafford, which is low, he’s worth taking a chance on. The potential upside is pretty high.