Quarterbacks

Off The Top

J.P. Losman, BUF – He’s got 7 TD passes in his last three, and the Bills are playing the Titans this week. If he’s out there and you need a QB, Losman’s got a top 20 matchup this week and a bunch of footballs to throw around.

Jake Delhomme, CAR – Chances are the team that owned him in your league this year was out of the playoff picture and didn’t bother dropping him in favor of “Rip Van Weinke” when the 90-year-old backup assumed the reins. But if he is out there and he does play against the Falcons, he’s not a bad fill-in.

Digging Deeper

Derek Anderson, CLE – No word on Frye coming back, but he’s got at least one TD pass in each of his games so far and he faces the Bucs next week if the job is still his.

Tim Rattay, TB – Dude dropped a bomb on the Bears last week with 3 TDs and 268 yards. He even threw one to Ike Hilliard, who just last week was featured on Inside the NFL’s “
Where Are They Now?” segment even though he’s still playing.

Scouring The Barrel

Tarvaris Jackson, MIN – The Vikings’ second round pick out of Alabama State will start the final two games of the season. This week, he faces the Packers (who last week shut down Jon Kitna) and next week it’s the Rams. Worth a glance, but still not the QB you want to close your fantasy season with.

Updates:

Jay Cutler, DEN – Solid game on Sunday from Cutler, who might be a top 15 QB next year along with Matt Leinart and Vince Young. This week, he Cutlers his teeth against the reeling Bengals, a team that endured a sound thrashing at the hands of the Colts on Monday night.

Chris Weinke, CAR – Rip Van Weinke. That’s easily my best one of the year.

Aaron Brooks, OAK – Pulled from Sunday’s game for Andrew Walter, much to the displeasure of Warren Sapp.

Running Backs

Off The Top

Ron Dayne, HOU – The Texans face Indy this week, giving Dayne a good shot at finding the end zone. And since I dislike myself so much for being forced in default to place him as an option here, I’ll stop now.

Digging Deeper

Michael Turner, SD – The Chargers have to pull the plug on Tomlinson at some point, huh? It’s no sure thing, but I see Turner finding the end zone and a few yards against the Seahawks in garbage time this week. There’s no sense getting Tomlinson hurt during meaningless minutes, right? The shot to his jaw late in the KC game hopefully gave the coaching staff a wake-up call.

Scouring The Barrel

Mewelde Moore, MIN – As a pass catching back and the man that caught QB Tarvaris Jackson’s first TD , Moore is probably the favorite target of the rookie, and the Vikings will most likely be forced to throw the ball under when the Packers bring the heat. He’s actually not a bad option if you’re all out of them, but he’s still at the bottom of the barrel.

Updates:

Artose Pinner, MIN – With Tarvaris at the helm, Taylor back and Moore catching the passes out of the backfield, the Pinner is not really a viable option.

Sammy Morris, MIA – No longer starting, it seems.

Aveion Cason/Arlen Harris, DET – Don’t even think about it. You’ve got a better chance picking up Marshall Faulk and hoping the Lions sign him on Saturday night.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Off The Top

TE Jerramy Stevens, SEA – The much-maligned Stevens turned in a nice performance last week, including 5 catches for 64 yards and a TD. This week, Stevens faces a Chargers defense that has given up more fantasy football points to tight ends than any other team in the league. If you need a TE and Stevens is out there, go grab him just for this great matchup.

Digging Deeper

WR Arnaz Battle, SF – Another TD catch and a solid game from Battle, who has struggled to be a consistent fantasy performer. I like the matchup versus the Cards, who no doubt will try to crowd the line of scrimmage and force the Niners to throw.

Scouring The Barrel

WR Demetrius Williams, BAL – Two catches and one big game do not a wonderful fantasy WR make. But as is evidenced by the absence of solid WRs on the wire, the good ones are all gone.

Updates:

WR Ronald Curry, OAK – Made me look good last week with a stirring performance (9-87-0) that only lacked a TD.

TE Vernon Davis, SF – The best waiver option out there at TE in most formats.

WR Bryant Johnson, ARI – No big numbers last week, but there’s always Week 16.

WR D.J. Hackett, SEA – Nice numbers again from Hackett, who is coming on strong in the final few weeks. Get him if you need a solid #3.

TE Tony Scheffler, DEN – Nice option this week against the Bengals, who give up the 3rd most points to TEs. He’s still just the 32nd ranked TE in terms of fantasy points scored this season , but he seems to be Cutler’s boy. And he’s yet another option for Mike Krueger this week.

WRs Drew Carter, CAR/Drew Bennett, TEN – Screw the Drews. They certainly screwed you if you played them last week.

IDP

Off The Top

DB DeAngelo Hall, ATL – I’m confident Hall can put the TO spitting incident behind him, and a pick this week against the Panthers would help him on the road to recovery.

Digging Deeper

LB Kawika Mitchell, KC – He’s only got one sack on the year, but he makes tackles and he’s got a great matchup versus the Raiders this week and a chance to bolster that puny sack total.

Scouring The Barrel

DL Tamba Hali, KC – Same story as Mitchell. The Raiders are very bad and give up tons of points to hard-charging defensive linemen as well.

Updates:

DB Charles Woodson, GB – Gotta love him again this week.

DB Keith Lewis, SF – Nothing special last week, but he’ll get his tackles this Sunday.

LB Karlos Dansby, ARI – Eight tackles ain’t bad.

DB Will Demps, NYG – I told you to keep playing his hot hand, and I was right. An INT, a sack, six tackles and a PD make for really nice IDP numbers.

Trevor Pryce, BAL – If he’s still out there, he’s a consistent DL who scores points.