Shayne Graham (K, NO) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues

Owned in 16% of Fleaflicker leagues

ANALYSIS: When it comes to kickers and fantasy football there are really two things that make them valuable (outside of their talents/abilities). #1: their team cannot score a TD in the red zone and, #2: their team has a fantastic offense. Other factors include kicking indoors versus outdoors, but this is how we find sleepers for kickers. Item #2 is why I am recommending Shayne Graham to be picked up off waivers.  

Last season the Saints offense was ranked 4th overall and I expect them to finish in the top 5 again this year. So why is Graham available? Well throughout the preseason the New Orleans Saints seemed set to have Shayne Graham on their opening roster handing kicking duties. However, surprisingly New Orleans cut Graham at the last roster cut to see if they find a better option on the market from another team's final cut. After assessing the market for a few days, they learned quickly there wasn't a better option and re-signed Graham.    

While this shuffling was occurring, many fantasy football managers who had completed their drafts noticed they needed to drop Graham and find a replacement (due to being cut).  And then many fantasy managers forgot about Graham, and he was widely available in the few days before Week 1 of action. If you are in a league where one of the managers dropped Graham, I'd advise to pick him up as he will have plenty of opportunities to score points with the Saints explosive offense. He already showed what he can do by putting up a solid 12 points in Week 1.