Empty the Bench

- Daunte Culpepper: elite NFL quarterback. Well, his fantasy stats were elite this week, but he still stunk. As a quarterback he was 5-for-12 (41.7 completion percentage) and only completed four passes to his wide receivers all day, finishing with a pathetic 75 yards passing. That didn’t stop 2004′s fantasy football MVP from contributing 5 total TDs on the day though. Jerry Porter converted two of his three receptions into TDs, and looking a bit like the Pep of old, Daunte rushed 7 times for 28 yards and 3 TDs. Insanity. Any team that started him likely won their matchup this week. Miami is quickly becoming a defense to exploit, especially if Zach Thomas misses any more time.

- Wide receivers typically endure somewhat of a painful learning curve during their rookie seasons, but this year a trio of guys are bucking that trend by making immediate contributions to their respective teams. Yesterday we saw third-round pick James Jones catch 4 passes for 49 yards and his first NFL touchdown for the Green Bay Packers, which gives him 18 catches, 232 yards, and 1 TD through the first four weeks. He’s now scored more fantasy points in ETB’s league than Marvin Harrison, Larry Fitzgerald, etc, and is a viable flex play even with Greg Jennings healthy and back in the lineup.

In San Diego, the KC Chiefs’ late first-round pick Dwayne Bowe helped push his team to an improbable road win with a monster effort: 8 receptions, 164 yards, and a TD. Bowe was forced into a starting role with injuries to Samie Parker and Eddie Kennison, but he’s made the most of his opportunity and will remain a starter when Kennison returns. Without question, he should be owned in all leagues (18 catches, 299 yards, 3 TDs) at this point. In addition to Jones and Bowe, the Detroit Lions’ Calvin Johnson (10, 189, 2 TDs) has also been as good as advertised, though we didn’t get to see him yesterday against the Bears (lower back).

- That might be it for Tampa Bay Bucs’ running back Carnell Williams, who suffered a gruesome torn patella tendon against the Panthers that had some of us recalling that equally disgusting bend of the knee last year by the LA Clippers’ Shaun Livingston. He’s done for the season at a minimum, and some are speculating that he may never return to the field; either way, he has a long road of recovery ahead of him. Earnest Graham and Michael Pittman will step in and share the load in Tampa Bay’s backfield. Right now it’s too early to tell who will have the fantasy edge over the other, but whichever wins the starting job will likely be a RB3 at best. We’ve long been fans of Pittman, however, and feel like he’ll eventually claim at least a 60/40 split over Graham in terms of touches. Both are probably worth looking into for your fantasy team, though the Bucs’ offense did take another hit yesterday when starting LT Luke Petitgout tore his ACL, ending his 2007 season.

- The injuries piled up elsewhere around the league with potentially heavy fantasy consequences. Marvin Harrison, Joseph Addai, Isaac Bruce, LaMont Jordan, Alex Smith, and Travis Henry all missed time during their respective games, with some injuries (namely, Jordan and Smith) appearing worse than others. Jordan was said to be in severe pain after the game, was on crutches, and could miss some time with his recurring back problems; Smith has been diagnosed with a separated shoulder. Jordan owners need to be all over Dominic Rhodes and/or Justin Fargas now, while Trent Dilfer–who looks more portly than ever–will take over for Smith. A word about Dilfer: don’t.

- That’s fantasy football for you, Terrell Owens and Marion Barber III owners. The Cowboys’ home game against the bumbling St. Louis Rams looked like a cakewalk fantasy matchup on paper, and the 35-7 final score proved it was indeed. Surely T.O. and Barber got in on the action, right? Wrong. Owens was dead quiet with 3 catches for 33 yards, while Patrick Crayton exploded for 7 receptions, 184 yards, and 2 TDs a week after we dogged him in our Week Four Stock Report. Out of the backfield, Julius Jones got five more carries than Barber despite suffering a concussion last week, and also put one into the endzone. On a personal note, I’m very pleased with my decision not to add Crayton and instead start Arnaz Battle. That worked out rather well.

- Who is that NFL quarterback in Atlanta and what oh what have you done with our beloved Checkdown Joey Harrington? It was Invasion of the Body Snatchers all over again this week for the Falcons, as for the second straight game they actually got a bigtime performance from their much-maligned QB and, wouldn’t you know it, their first W of the year. On the heels of his 361 yards and 2 TD Week 3 effort against Carolina, Harrington followed it up by completing almost 80% of his passes in finishing with 223 yards and 2 TDs. His average QB Rating over this miraculous two-game stretch now sits at a lofty 115.9, and it’s at the point now where you’d have to at least consider him for a spot start if you’re in a bye-week bind. I can’t believe I just said that.

- We already mentioned it last week when he tied the record, but another congrats to Brett Favre for becoming the NFL’s all-time leader for touchdown passes. He passes Isotoner Marino on the list, and currently sits at 422 for his career. By the way, that pre-taped Marino congrats video was cheesy.

- With two more touchdown catches yesterday, Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark has now found paydirt four times already and trails only Antonio Gates in fantasy production at his position. Like Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison, Peyton knows he can count on Clark to get open and catch the ball, and we see no reason why Clark won’t continue to get redzone looks on his way to a potential Pro Bowl selection. On the season, he has 19 catches for 251 yards and 4 TDs.

- We mentioned in our Week Four Cheat Sheet that the Detroit Lions’ Kevin Jones would be a strong weekly flex play no later than after the team’s bye in Week 6. In his second game back on the field after last year’s Lisfranc fracture, KJ carried the ball 10 times for 38 yards and a TD (and caught two short passes) and continued to show no ill effects from the injury. Jones seems healthy and is getting back into “football shape,” so look for offensive coordinator Mike Martz to fully exploit KJ and make him an integral part of the offense, including in the passing game, as soon as this week against the Redskins.

- We were skeptical of Ronnie Brown‘s huge performance last week, but he followed it up with another convincing showing: 15 rushes for 134 yards (8.9 YPC) and a touchdown, and 6 reception for 73 more yards. It’s the second-straight week he’s gone over 200 total yards and found the endzone, with 4 TDs in the last two games. Brown is starting to look like the versatile, every-down running back we all expected to see after Ricky Williams’ departure. With 4 TDs on the season he needs just one more to match the 5 TDs he’s posted in each of his first two seasons. It’s too late to buy low on this guy, but Brown owners are feeling pretty good with their second-round pick right about now.

- We had a reader question this week and due to his dearth of options I was forced to recommend he start Derek Anderson. I wasn’t exactly comfortable with telling anybody to start Anderson, but on Sunday he made us look good and proved that the Ravens passing D is nothing to fear right now. They’re extremely beatable for big plays and they just can’t keep up with big, strong receivers. Anderson found his big guys for a modest 204 yards and a pair of touchdown tosses. Braylon Edwards (3 receptions, 97 yards, 1 TD), Kellen Winslow (4 receptions, 96 yards) and Joe Jurevicious (2 receptions, 10 yards, 1 TD) all had serviceable fantasy days.

- Even with the return of Chester Taylor, Adrian Peterson proved that he can be a solid option in a RBBC situation. He had 10 rushes for 108 yards at the half, and looked dominant in gaining them. That 55-yard run in the second quarter put all of his skills on display as he made two beautiful cuts in traffic and was then off to the races. At the end of the run, he literally carried a Green Bay defensive back for 10 yards before the rest of the Packers secondary caught up to him, and it seems like the defender always takes more punishment every time AP is taken down. While Peterson did get get four more touches than Chester Taylor, curiously he only got two carries in the second half. If the Vikings offense can’t put points on the board and keep getting down big, that may be a recurring theme. Chester also managed 40 yards on 8 carries, but one carry went for 37 and the other seven went for just 3 total yards.

- Congrats to Trent Edwards for throwing his first career TD pass and leading the Bills to their first win of the season. The game plan was painfully simple, but Edwards did what was asked of him very well and completed 78.6% of his passes. Is it crazy to think there could be a quarterback controversy brewing in Buffalo with another strong showing or two?

- Hmmm, perhaps we owe Devin Hester owners an apology. Nah, we still don’t buy him as a fantasy option, but those of you who started Devin Hester are probably feeling pretty smug this morning. His 97-yard touchdown return was simply incredible–he was all over the place, juking hapless Lions’ special teamers out of their shoes and breaking tackles. Maybe the Bears passing game could use him after all.

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