2012 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Kansas City Chiefs Wide Receiver Jon Baldwin

Jon Baldwin of the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t have much success in his first year in the NFL. However, there are plenty of reasons to believe he’ll among the list of 2012 Fantasy Football Sleepers.

The Chiefs finished the 2011 season with a 7-9 record and ranked 25th in the passing department. He missed the first six games of the season due to a thumb injury. 21 catches for 254 yards and a touchdown wasn’t what the Baldwin had in mind for his rookie campaign. He’s certainly capable of contributing much more in 2012. Especially considering the Chiefs star receiver, Dwayne Bowe still hasn’t sign his tender and continues to hold out of Chiefs training camp.

Chances are Bowe will be in uniform for the first week of the season, but there’s no way of knowing how effective he’ll be initially. Even if Bowe does come to play at the level we expect, that can only help to open things up on the other side of the field for Baldwin.

That being said, the Chiefs certainly have high hopes for their former 1st round draft pick coming into his second season, and by the looks of it, Baldwin is focused and ready to contribute. He’s impressed Matt Cassel and the Kansas City coaching staff so far in OTA’s and training camp.

Cassel and Baldwin have been working very well together and have hooked up on multiple deep passes with the first-team offense; the Chiefs can only hope Baldwins relationship with his QB strengthens once the season begins. He’s got excellent size at six-foot-four and good speed so the tools are there for him to put up some big fantasy numbers. If Jon Baldwin is on the board, he’s definitely worth taking a close at for a late-round pick. Keep an eye on him during the preseason, because we could see his stock rise even more.