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Team needs | Sleepers | Biggest 'freaks'
When I originally put a "sleepers" list in the print versions of my NFL draft guide many years ago, the term meant something different. For me, these were kids you'd have a tough time seeing on TV. And that sentiment holds true many years later. While it's not hard to get the film nowadays, for the average fan, these are guys they've never seen.
I wanted to maintain that concept with this list, even though "sleepers" seems to apply to many things.
A couple of notes on this list:
1. To qualify for this, you must not have played at an FBS (Division I) school in 2013.
2. I've broken it down into two categories, based on likelihood to be drafted.
With that, here are the 2014 NFL draft sleepers.
First tier
These are guys likely to get drafted, some as high as Round 2.
Offense
Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, Eastern Illinois
Jeff Mathews, QB, Cornell
It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Garoppolo go early in Round 2, and if you can go early in Round 2, that certainly opens up the possibility that you could go late in Round 1. Once Derek Carr and Teddy Bridgewater are drafted, Garoppolo could be the next name called. Mathews has good size and pretty good arm strength, and will get picked as a late-round project to develop.
Terrance West, RB, Towson
Jerick McKinnon, RB, Georgia Southern
Lorenzo Taliaferro, RB, Coastal Carolina