The Tribune

By INIGO 'NAUGHTY' ZENICAZELAYA

WITH Fantasy Football Drafts fast approaching, here are three late round steals that could bring you a championship.

Just have a look at the first name on my list. I put my money where my mouth is.

I took Tampa Bay RB Peyton Barber in the 9th round on Sunday night, in my first fantasy football draft of the season.

You can never say I don’t walk it, like I talk it!!

PEYTON BARBER RB - TAMPA BAY BUCS:

Confirmed as the clear cut starter, third year Bucs RB Peyton Barber is a late round steal in fantasy football drafts.

Running with power, balance, patience and speed, Barber gutted the Lions’ starting defence for 34 yards and a touchdown on five carries on the Bucs’ opening drive in last Saturday’s NFL pre-season game.

What made the performance even more eye catching is that he ran behind a patch work offensive line, missing three starters, including both guards.

After an impressive 14-yard jaunt through the right side of the Lions’ defence, Barber sat on the bench.

His night was over — and his role as the ‘starter’ was locked up.

Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter said: “We had initially planned to play him a little bit longer, but he looked so good on that first drive, you do start getting a little bit paranoid the closer that you get and especially with our offensive line being a little bit banged up, we decided to pull him.

“I just told Peyton that I thought he’d done what he needed to do. From now on we’ll just be getting him ready for New Orleans.”

The only real competition Barber has had was Ronald Jones, the Bucs’ rookie second-round pick.

Once considered a slam-dunk starter, Jones struggled for the third straight game to run without hesitation. He had seven yards on six carries, however he did blow past a Lions linebacker and caught a gorgeous 37-yard pass from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Barber will get plenty of work to start out until Jones proves himself, he’s unlikely to see more than seven or so touches per game.

Barber now enters the late Round 6/early Round 7 discussion in all leagues.

Jones has faded fast into the Round 9 neighbourhood.

KENNY GOLLADAY -

WR DETROIT LIONS

Golladay has been playing in two wide receiver sets opposite Marvin Jones and ahead of Golden Tate.

Now, don’t expect that to be the norm and Tate obviously excels in the slot.

However, Detroit wants to get Golladay on the field as much as possible.

Golladay showed flashes of his upside last year when he had four catches for 69 yards and two touchdowns on seven targets against the Cardinals in Week 1, and he had two catches for 80 yards and a touchdown on three targets against Green Bay in Week 17.

And then there were nine other games for Golladay where he had six Fantasy points or less, and he missed five games with a hamstring injury.

Hopefully he can stay healthy in 2018 and play at a more consistent level. He’s definitely someone to gamble on at his current ADP of No. 136 overall.

GEORGE KITTLE - TE SAN FRANCISCO 49ers

Kittle led the 49ers in red-zone targets last year with 16, and he should have the chance to be a significant factor for San Francisco this season. His pre season shoulder injury is fine for Week 1, which is the report after he was hurt in the first pre-season game against Dallas.

We will have to see if Kittle can pick up where he left off last season with QB Jimmy Garoppolo.

In the final three games of 2017, with Garoppolo under centre, Kittle had 14 targets for 11 catches, 194 yards and one touchdown.

He notched double digits in Fantasy points in standard leagues and scoring at least nine points in PPR in all three games.

I think Kittle is a starting option this year, and he’s a tremendous value at No. 133 overall.

If he’s healthy as expected, look for Kittle to have a big year.

• Naughty presents ‘Mischief and Mayhem in da AM’ from 6am to 10am, Monday to Friday and ‘The Press Box’ sports talk show on Sunday from 10am to 1pm, on KISS FM 96.1.Comments and questions to naughty@tribunemedia.net