TC: Sleepers from 2004 Draft Class

The NFL kicks off tonight, finally! Over the past six months, we have been bombarded with coverage of the Combine, Draft, Senior Bowl, OTA's, training camp, and preseason football. Added to the normal coverage, this year has also been filled with headlines of tragedy, scandal, tweets, and blogs. Of course those things help keep us in the loop and entertained, it's just fluff until we get to watch and enjoy the real deal. With only hours to go until kickoff, why not add another piece of fluff to the onslaught of media coverage of the NFL, a breakdown of a "sleeper" draft pick from 2004.

There is hype that surrounds each and every NFL draft and the 2004 had its fair share of drama. This was a class that has produced 24 Pro Bowl players, 2 Super Bowl quarterbacks, and plenty of guys that have produced much more than experts expected. Obviously, one of those players was Chris, after he was picked as the 6th tight end in the draft.

As you can see, the stats don't lie. Chris has played in more games and caught more passes for more yards and touchdowns than all these guys. In all honesty however, had Kellen Winslow Jr. not been injured for much of his time in the league, he would undoubtedly top that list. Fortunately for the Redskins, they decided against picking Winslow. From that decision they were able to get from Chris double the games and nearly triple the touchdowns, making Chris the obvious sleeper of a pick in his draft class.

It is easy to look at this in hindsight, but each year has its sleepers. The others from '04 would have to be Michael Turner, Jared Allen, Nathan Vasher, Wes Welker, and Willie Parker. To continue the amount of speculation that already takes place, who do you think will be the sleeper picks of the '09 class?

By Tanner Cooley

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