Summer Sleeper: Atlanta Falcons

Bruce Matson Posted On August 4, 2017

The Atlanta Falcons finished the 2016 season with a 11-5 record while placing first in the NFC South. Their season ended in historical fashion in the Super Bowl when they squandered a 25-point lead in the second half, causing them to lose to the New England Patriots 34-28.

The team was led by quarterback Matt Ryan who passed for 4,944 yards and 38 touchdowns while completing 69.9 percent of his passes. His main passing target was Julio Jones who finished the season ranked second in the league with 1,409 yards receiving while also finishing sixth amongst all wide receivers with 259.9 PPR fantasy points. The Falcons were fortunate to have a two-headed monster running the ball out of the backfield with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman combining for a total of 1,599 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns.

The offense appears to be stacked at the skilled positions, leaving little room for a breakout player in fantasy football. A lot can happen during the regular season – injuries, suspensions and poor play could allow a player from the backend of the roster to get the opportunity to showcase their skill set and potentially become the next breakout fantasy star.

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Brian Hill, RB ATL

Category: Deep Sleeper

The Falcons drafted Hill in the fifth round of this year’s draft to provide quality depth at the running back position. He was highly productive at the University of Wyoming where he rushed for 1,860 yards and 22 touchdowns while owning a 31.68 percent market share of the team’s offensive production during his junior season. He eclipsed the 100-yard mark 20 times during his three-year collegiate career.

Not only was he hyper productive in college, but he’s also a fairly athletic prospect. At 6’1’’ and 219-pounds, he has the size to be a three-down workhorse back at the NFL level. He tested with a 4.54 40-yard dash and was timed with a 7.03 three-cone. Hill is not a super athlete but he has enough speed and quickness to get the job done at the next level.

Atlanta has one of the best rushing attacks in the league, considering the entire unit finished the season fifth in the NFL with 1,928 rushing yards. Hill might have landed in the perfect landing spot since he may possibly get the opportunity to run behind one of the better run blocking offensive lines in the league and due to Julio Jones’ ability to take the top off the defense, Hill will rarely have to run against many stacked boxes. Matt Ryan knows how to move the ball up and down the field, leading the team to a league leading 540 points scored. The offense also ranked second in the league with 6,653 total yards. Being a part of one of the most explosive offenses in the league will provide plenty of opportunities for Hill to score fantasy points if he ever gains a sizable workload.

He’s currently penciled in as the third running back on the depth chart with Terron Ward and Tyler Renew slotted right behind him. Hill is a prime candidate to make the 53-man roster as a rookie this year and should get the opportunity to see a few carries in each game. An injury to either Tevin Coleman or Devonta Freeman could open the door for Hill to make his mark on this team by proving he can be a productive runner. Even in a part time role he has the potential to do damage in fantasy as a flex option.

Freeman finished last year ranked sixth in the league amongst running backs with 230.1 PPR fantasy points and Coleman finished as the 17th-highest scoring rusher with 160.1 PPR fantasy points. Atlanta’s offense has enough firepower to carry two fantasy relevant running backs, increasing the odds that Hill can be an impact player once given the opportunity. According to SportsInjuryPredictor.com, Coleman missed four games in 2015 and one game in 2016 due to injuries. Freeman, however, has only missed one game in the last two seasons. A full 16-game season in the NFL is a grind, and unfortunately, due to the nature of the game, it’s likely that one of the two backs will miss some sort of time during the season. If that happens, Hill will be next in line to take over some of the workload. He has enough burst and power to take advantage of the open running lanes that the Falcons’ offensive line consistently provides.

Football is not a finite game, and you can’t just simply connect the dots and expect X-Y-Z to happen. There’s a chance he could potentially get cut during preseason. His performance during mini camps provides the inference that his transition to the NFL level could be a little bit rocky. Nonetheless, he’s still has a lot of potential and still might be able to figure out a way to carve out a role with the team.

He’s an end-of-the-bench roster stash in dynasty who is worth monitoring throughout the year to see how his talents configure with the team’s offensive system and ideology. Write his name down and put him on your watch list if you don’t have the room to hoard him on your roster. More than likely, one of the other owners in your league drafted him during the rookie draft and will have him stowed away on their taxi squad. There’s a chance he may never amount to anything in the NFL, but his price tag is dirt cheap and he has enough talent to make something happen if he receives an opportunity to showcase his skill set.

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Bruce Matson

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

I'm a financial counselor for a hospital in South Central Ohio. I graduated from Muskingum University with a bachelor's in business while minoring in Economics and Accounting. I won my first fantasy football title with Jake Plummer as my quarterback.