As the 2012 NFL playoffs get underway and four teams advance on to the divisional round, the savvy fantasy owner have already turned their attention to the 2013 season. Taking careful notice of players that may be able to help take their fantasy teams to the championship and finding excellent sleeper candidates is a year-round task. They will often turn late-season opportunities for playing time into a chance to move up the depth chart for the following season or at least the chance to garner more snaps. The Individual Defensive Player (IDP) side of fantasy football tends fluctuate more from year to year than the offensive oriented formats, and deducing who is likely to sneak up draft boards before next August can never be started too early. As we sit back and enjoy some excellent NFL playoff action, let's also look ahead at some names that could be sneaky good fantasy sleepers on the IDP side of things. As it is very early in the ‘offseason,' we'll sprinkle in a few names at each defensive alignment and examine their fantasy appeal for the 2013 season. Don Carey, FS, Detroit: The Lions brought Carey on board in early November to help bolster a secondary beset by injuries and he produced some very nice totals down the stretch. He finished the season with 39 total tackles and a pair of interceptions while appearing in nine games. He was solid in run support and surprisingly effective in coverage with five passes defensed and allowed the Lions to release veteran safety Erik Coleman during the season. Carey recently signed a one-year, $630,000 contract extension and is thought to be slotted into a reserve and special teams role for 2013. Louis Delmas has trouble staying healthy and is a free agent who may not be brought back, and the rest of the Detroit safeties are a motley group in disarray. Keep Carey in mind late in fantasy drafts as a stash with nice upside. Nigel Bradham, SLB, Buffalo: Bradham stepped in Week 6 to replace Arthur Moats at the SLB position for Buffalo and looks to have cemented a starting gig heading into 2013. His Week 17 total of 11 combined stops helped him reach 57 for the season along with a pass defended. The entire Bills defense played much better as the season progressed and Bradham led the way. He also produced his numbers in limited playing time as the rookie out of Florida State averaged only 30 snaps a game, leaving the field when the Bills employed their nickel package. He was a solid compliment to veteran WLB Nick Barnett, and an entire offseason to work with the coaching staff (whoever that ends up being) on his pass defending skills will only help Bradham improve in Year 2. He has the potential to secure an every down role for 2013 and his fantasy value will increase substantially once he does. Kendall Reyes, DE, San Diego: The Chargers selected Reyes in the second round of April's draft out of Connecticut and he had a very solid rookie campaign on a struggling team. His 3.5 sack explosion against the New York Jets in Week 16 brought his season total to 5.5 and he added 28 combined tackles. The Chargers moved him around a lot early in the season until finally settling on utilizing him from the left defensive end position starting in Week 10. Reyes finished with the third-most sacks for San Diego last season and combined with right defensive end Corey Liuget for a total of 12.5 quarterback takedowns. There will be a new coaching staff in San Diego for the 2013, and look for them to put the 6-foot-4, 300-pound Reyes front and center in the pass rushing plans. The kid is poised for a breakout campaign next season. Olivier Vernon, DE, Miami: Vernon saw his snap count fluctuate from week to week as a pass rushing specialist for the Dolphins, and he ended his rookie season averaging 27 snaps per game. He finished the year with 3.5 sacks from the right side of the Dolphins defensive line and was surprisingly effective in run defense. Vernon totaled 25 solo tackles and 31 combined stops for the season and even held his own when forced to drop into coverage on occasion. He looks to be in line to snag the starting defensive end position opposite sack master Cameron Wake moving forward, and that means plenty of singled up opportunities against offensive linemen as Wake draws the double teams. Vernon has the skill set and size to be the compliment to Wake that Miami has been searching for. Andre Carter, DE, Oakland : The Raiders signed Carter in September to bolster a miserable pass rush and though he would finish with only 2.5 sacks, by season's end he finally looked be healthy. Carter had posted 10 sacks in 14 games for the New England Patriots in 2011 before tearing a quad and landing on the Injured Reserve. He did not see a snap for Oakland until Week 6 of the season. He ended up playing more than 320 snaps at the defensive end position for Oakland and would be credited with eight quarterback hurries and another five quarterback hits to accompany his 2.5 sacks. The Raiders are looking to bring him back in 2013, and a fully healthy Carter should have at least one more productive season left in him. It is vital that wherever he signs next season Carter is lining up at his natural defensive end position and not being utilized as a 3-4 outside linebacker. Don't fall asleep on the veteran next draft day as he represents excellent late-round value as a big play specialist. Tavon Wilson, SS, New England: The Patriots rocked the 2012 NFL Draft when they took Wilson in the second round when most ‘draft experts' had him slotted as a Day 3 selection. Turns out that coach Bill Belichick once again was the smartest guy in the room as the rookie out of Illinois finished the regular season with 41 total tackles and four interceptions. He also managed to post these numbers while averaging only 29 snaps per game. Working in Wilson's favor is that he played well during a four-game stretch where he played 267 of a possible 273 snaps, being especially effective against the run. He also played in all 16 games and showed his versatility by switching between strong and free safety. Incumbent starting strong safety Patrick Chung's inability to stay healthy and the fact he is a free agent at season's end both bode well for a bright fantasy future for Wilson. The Patriots may decide to let Chung walk if they feel Wilson is ready to assume the starting strong safety position in 2013. Da'Norris Searcy, SS, Buffalo: Searcy had worked himself into a rotational role with George Wilson at the strong safety position before injuring his groin in Week 16 and missing the season finale. He amassed 39 total tackles in his second season in Buffalo and it appeared as if he was being groomed to replace Wilson sooner rather than later. There will be a new regime in charge for the Bills heading into the 2013 season and just how they plan to utilize Searcy is yet to be seen. He has the size and strength to be an in the box run stuffing safety and can hold his own when forced into a coverage situation. Training camp and preseason action will be telling in how the new coaching staff values Searcy versus Wilson moving forward, and the smart money says that they will find a way to get the athletic Searcy on the field in an every down role. Brad Jones, ILB, Green Bay: Jones found himself as the starting inside linebacker for the Packers after he replaced D.J. Smith, who himself was replacing the injured Desmond Bishop. Not only was Jones starting, he also inherited the defensive play calling duties and was utilized as an every down player. He'd finish the regular season as the third-leading tackler for Green bay with 77 combined stops, two sacks with four passes defended. Jones is a free agent heading into the 2013 season and should have quite a few suitors after racking up 24 solo and 35 total tackles in the season's last four regular season games. The Packers will look to lock him up as insurance in case Bishop goes down again and may even find a way to get both Bishop and Jones on the field together next season. He's a sneaky good late-round pick with definite upside depending on where he lands. Danny Trevathan, WLB, Denver: Trevathan was selected in the sixth round by the Broncos last April and looked to be mainly a special teams contributor in his rookie season. He didn't register a snap for the defense until Week 4 and then was methodically worked into the Broncos linebacker rotation as a passing down specialist. The pair of suspensions that veteran MLB D.J. Williams would sit out forced the Broncos to mix and match their linebacker corps and Trevathan found himself on the field for more than 240 snaps. At 6-foot, 240 pounds, Trevathan is built in the mold of his fellow Kentucky alum and current Denver linebacker, Wesley Woodyard. Both are undersized, high motor players with exceptional quickness to the ball. Trevathan needs to see his playing time on early downs increase to post higher tackle numbers than the 33 total stops he amassed in 2012. With the Broncos unlikely to bring back the oft-troubled Williams at the $6 million price tag he is due in 2013, Trevathan is on track to get that playing time increase which boosts his fantasy value next season. Michael Brockers, DT, St. Louis: An ankle injury suffered in the preseason finale delayed Brockers from hitting the field until early October and he started slowly by posting only two assisted tackles in his first two games. In Week 7 against Green Bay he would rack up his first sack and four solo tackles and continue to impress as the season progressed. He would finish the season with 31 total tackles, four sacks with a forced fumble and one pass batted down pass while averaging 47 snaps per game. Brockers is a physical beast at 6-foot-5 and better than 320 pounds who is stout against the run and showed a pass rushing presence from the interior that was better than anticipated. With the pass rushing threat that defensive ends Chris Long and Robert...