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QUARTERBACKS
Assuming Mark Brunell and Josh McCown aren’t on your waiver wire, you may be looking for other options at the quarterback position. Here are a few guys that might be able to help.
Jamie Martin, STL – Marc Bulger was knocked out of the Monday night game with what is being called a “bruised shoulder.” That type of injury doesn’t sound particularly good, but he could be back next week. If he is going to miss any time, Jamie Martin will be a hot pickup. His numbers in relief were pretty good and the Rams have a QB-friendly offensive system, so he should be a good fantasy start until Bulger comes back.
Kelly Holcomb, BUF – I mentioned Holcomb in last week’s column and he performed pretty well on Sunday, throwing for 172 yards and two TDs. Considering the Bills got the win, I don’t see Holcomb going to the bench anytime soon and with WRs Eric Moulds and Lee Evans at his disposal, he will continue to put up decent numbers.
Chris Simms, TB – Well, Brian Griese’s season is over with a torn ACL and MCL, so that means Simms gets a chance to start. With a big lead Sunday, he wasn’t asked to do much (6/10, 69 yds), but he will soon have lots of opportunities to make plays. He’s the son of Phil Simms and was highly regarded coming out of high school, but has yet to make a splash in the NFL. This is his chance.
Matt Schaub, ATL – I mentioned Schaub in last week’s column and Vick re-injured his knee. Schaub is a nice play at QB depending on his matchup. He looked great against New England two weeks ago.
Jeff Garcia, DET – When Garcia is ready to play, he’ll be Detroit’s starter – that’s my guess, anyway. Harrington hasn’t been impressive and Garcia has a lot of history with HC Steve Mariucci. He should improve the Lions’ passing attack.
RUNNING BACKS
I mentioned Antowain Smith and Patrick Pass in last week’s column and both players were effective on Sunday. Assuming Corey Dillon returns after the bye week, Pass’ value should come back to Earth, but Smith has value as a #3 RB in most leagues.
Anthony Thomas, DAL – Surprisingly, Thomas got a load of carries (21) when Julius Jones was unable to play Sunday. Most pundits were predicting a lot of opportunities for Tyson Thompson, but HC Bill Parcells decided that Thomas should carry the load. I suspect Jones will be back next week, but if he isn’t, Thomas would be a decent fill-in.
Aaron Stecker, NO – Stecker and Antowain Smith split carries for the Saints. Stecker looks like he will be used more as the Saints try to come from behind in every game, but Smith will vulture goal line carries. Stecker is fairly valuable in leagues that reward one point per reception.
Chris Perry, CIN – Perry had a big receiving game Sunday, catching nine passes for 45 yards and a touchdown and continues to be a thorn in the sides of Rudi Johnson owners everywhere. He’s the reason that I didn’t draft Rudi in any leagues (save one, where I promptly traded him for Domanick Davis). Johnson will still get most of the carries but isn’t catching the ball much (8 receptions compared to Perry’s 27). It’s tough to like Perry’s value going forward, but if Rudi were to go down, Perry’s value would skyrocket.
Greg Jones / Alvin Pearman, JAX – The Jaguars surprised many by giving Jones 18 carries when Alvin Pearman was supposed to carry the load in Fred Taylor’s place. Jones responded with 77 yards and a score. If Fragile Fred misses anymore time, Jones appears to have the edge for the job after his performance Sunday. Pearman was the bigger factor in the passing game, catching five passes for 35 yards, but didn’t do much (22 yards) on the 15 carries he was given.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Doug Gabriel, OAK – Keep an eye out for news on the injury to Randy Moss, because if he misses any time, Gabriel will be the main beneficiary. On Sunday he caught five passes for 84 yards and made a couple of nice catches.
Brandon Jones, TEN – Drew Bennett is going to be out for two weeks with a broken finger, and Jones should become McNair’s go-to WR. On Sunday, he caught 5 passes for 82 yards. Don’t expect those numbers for the rest of the season, but he should be a decent fill-in for the next couple of weeks at least.
Justin McCareins, NYJ – There was a Justin McCareins sighting on Sunday. After getting blanked by Tampa Bay the week before, McCareins caught five passes for 116 yards against the Bills.
Jabar Gaffney, HOU – With Andre Johnson out with a calf injury, Gaffney caught 10 passes for 87 yards. If Johnson misses more time, Gaffney could be a nice pickup, especially in leagues that reward one point per reception.
TIGHT ENDS
Heath Miller, PIT – The rookie has played well in the last two games, catching eight passes for 108 yards and two scores. With Hines Ward out with an injury, Miller is getting a lot of the underneath stuff, and should post decent numbers until Ward returns (and maybe after).
Tony Dungy showed why he’s one of the most liked coaches in football, calling Marvin Harrison’s number late in the fourth quarter for a record-setting TD. Harrison and Peyton Manning now have hooked up in the end zone 86 times, and the fans really wanted to see them break the record at home. With less than 10 minutes left in the fourth, the surging Colts already up 31-20 and a trip to Houston next on the schedule, Peyton threw a fade to the right corner of the end zone and Harrison, in one of the prettiest TD receptions you’ll see all year, caught the ball firmly in his hands while dragging his right foot up against the sideline. Live action, I didn’t think there was any chance he got both feet in. But he did. Teammates congratulate. Crowd goes crazy. Madden gushes. Beautiful.
The Colts actually looked like they were in some serious trouble early on, with the Rams scoring the first 17 points of the game. Manning made a terrible throw to Harrison in the third quarter on what was a sure TD, and later Peyton was shown arguing with an Indy coach and then with one of his offensive lineman. But with Mark Bulger out, the Colts defense started creating turnovers and the offense found a groove, resulting in a 45-20 score (as of now — it’s still the fourth quarter).
End result? The Colts are now 6-0, and if teams are going to continue to force them to win on the ground instead of through the air, they’ve proved that they won’t have a problem doing just that.
I’m sitting here watching the White Sox celebrate their 6-3 win over the Angels in Game 5 of the ALCS and I’m thinking, is this really the same team that nearly blew a 15-game lead in the AL Central?
Jose Contreras was brilliant tonight, giving the Sox their fourth complete game of the series. In fact, the entire Chicago rotation was unbelievable, sporting a 2.23 ERA against the Angels to go along with those four complete games. That was the strength of the team through the spring and summer months, and while it abandoned them late in the year, Contreras, Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland and Mark Buehrle all came up big when it mattered most.
But I wonder how Cubs fans will feel about this. How long have people been waiting for a World Series in Chicago? It’s happening this year, but not the way North siders have been hoping it would.
Newsflash: The Vikings are in trouble. Of course, you knew that. Everyone knew that after the news got out about their floating sex party. Of course, just when you thought that maybe — maybe — the Vikings would respond by playing some inspired football, they instead get embarrassed by the Bears in a 28-3 loss. The box score is terrible: Daunte Culpepper threw two picks and completed just 26 of his 48 attempts (54%), no Minnesota WR topped 41 yards, and while Mewelde Moore had 109 total yards (57 rushing), he obviously failed to reach the end zone. Meanwhile, TE Jermaine Wiggins caught 10 passes, which is great in point-per-reception leagues, but with just 68 yards, Wiggins hardly set the world on fire this weekend.
At this point, it’s hard to recommend starting any Minnesota player. Travis Taylor has delivered some big games with Nate Burleson on the shelf, but he, like every other Vikings receiver (including Burleson, when he comes back), is far too inconsistent to be anything more than a last-ditch option. Moore is capable of putting up some impressive yardage totals but has failed to reach the end zone now in 15 career games. By default, Culpepper remains the team’s most attractive starting option, but with four TDs and 12 interceptions on the season, it may very well be time to bench all your Vikings, including Culpepper, until further notice.
SUNDAY HEADLINERS
Mark Brunell: 331 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
Wow, who saw this one coming? Brunell was awful last year in nine starts for the ‘Skins, completing 118 of his 237 attempts for 1,194 yards, seven TDs and six INTs. That’s all good for 63.9 QB rating. This year? Try 85.7…and that’s before Sunday’s game. Brunell has now thrown for 300-plus yards each of the last two weeks and has at least two TD tosses in each of his four starts on the year. Of course, Santana Moss’ breakout season is probably making Brunell look better than he really is, but at this point, there are few safer fantasy QBs out there.
ALSO: Carson Palmer (272 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT), Drew Bledsoe (312 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), Jake Plummer (262 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT), Tom Brady (299 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT)
Shaun Alexander: 22 carries, 141 yards, 4 TD
LaDainian Tomlinson is having another monster season (and delivered another monster performance this week), but Alexander is every bit as reliable and valuable as LT2. The Seattle back has always been a TD machine but after this game against the Texans, Alexander now already has 12 touchdowns on the season, a pace that would leave him with 32 for the season. Tomlinson, meanwhile, has 11 TDs and a slight edge in total yards. Any way you slice it, Alexander is an elite fantasy back and any talk of anyone other than LT and Alexander going 1-2 in drafts this year seems ludicrous in hindsight.
ALSO: LaDainian Tomlinson (31 carries, 140 yards, 1 TD; 2 catches, 39 yards, 1 TD; 1 passing TD); Willis McGahee (29 carries, 143 yards, 1 TD; 3 catches, 24 yards); Curtis Martin (18 carries, 148 yards, 1 TD); Tatum Bell (13 carries, 114 yards, 1 TD; 3 catches, 20 yards)
Santana Moss: 10 catches, 173 yards, 2 TD
The Redskins took a lot of heat for trading Laveranues Coles for Santana Moss straight up, but look at the numbers: Coles has 26 catches, 289 yards and one TD for the Jets, while Moss now has 33 catches, 631 yards and four TD in Washington. That’s a 2,019-yard, 12-TD pace, and that’s a great trade for the ‘Skins. For those of you who snagged Moss late, congrats.
ALSO: Chad Johnson (8 catches, 135 yards, 1 TD); Jeremy Shockey (5 catches, 129 yards, 1 TD); Steve Smith (6 catches, 123 yards, 1 TD); Rod Smith (6 catches, 123 yards, 1 TD)
SUNDAY FLATLINERS
Trent Dilfer: 147 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
Considering Dilfer came into today’s match-up with the Ravens averaging 260 yards and better than a touchdown a game, the Cleveland QB was probably in a fair amount of starting lineups this week, especially with Brett Favre and Donovan McNabb both on byes. Granted, it’s not exactly surprising that Dilfer laid an egg against the Baltimore D, but owners who started him in a pinch were at least hoping for one TD. So were Browns fans.
ALSO: Daunte Culpepper (237 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT); Vinny Testaverde (161 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT); Tommy Maddox (154 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT); Trent Green (181 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT)
Ricky Williams: 5 carries, 8 yards, 0 TD; 6 catches, 22 yards
If you watched ESPN this morning, you saw a report that said you could expect Williams to get plenty of work in his first game back from suspension. Maybe I misinterpreted that statement, because Ricky and Ronnie Brown each had 11 touches, with the rookie getting nine carries to Williams’ five. The Dolphins fell behind early in Tampa Bay, which could partially explain Ricky’s lack of carries, but until (unless?) Nick Saban establishes a starter, neither Miami back is a safe start.
ALSO: Jerome Bettis (4 carries, 4 yards, 0 TD); Kevin Jones (12 carries, 21 yards, 0 TD); Stephen Davis (13 carries, 27 yards, 0 TD); Anthony Thomas (21 carries, 47 yards, 0 TD)
Laveranues Coles: 4 catches, 33 yards, 0 TD
Coles has had games of 17, 16 and 33 yards, has topped out at 89 yards this year, and has scored just one touchdown. That translates into a 770-yard, two-TD pace, not to mention a terrible trade for the Jets.
ALSO: Randy Moss (0 catches – injury); Eddie Kennison (0 catches); Lee Evans (3 catches, 22 yards); Mike Williams (2 catches, 27 yards)
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