Fantasy Football: Week 10 sleepers

Fantasy geeks, pay attention.

Sunday morning will be here faster than you can say "alcoholic haze" and you don't want to be stuck starting Rick Mirer at the QB spot.

Doze off on these fantasy sleepers and you'll be cellar dwellin' with the Silver & Black and the Vick-less Falcons.

Here's this week's Fantasy sleepers.

Quarterbacks

Chad Pennington, Jets @ Raiders

The Jets' franchise QB returned from a broken wrist sooner than anyone expected, so don't be surprised if he is sitting on your league's waiver wire. In his college days at Marshall he hooked up with Randy Moss on a weekly basis, but last week Chad turned his cousin Santana Moss into fantasy's hottest commodity. The Raiders will be keyed in on stopping mini-Moss, so look for Pennington to make the smart throws as usual and spread the ball around, giving Oakland something to publicly whine about besides their lack of faith in head coach Bill Callahan.

Kerry Collins, Giants vs. Falcons

Throw out the one hellish game Collins had this year against the Patriots (4 INT, 0 TD) and his TD-INT ratio almost becomes a respectable 2:1. Throw in the fact that the G-men are facing the league's worst pass defense in the Falcons and the former Nittany Lion could be on his way to a career day. Atlanta's secondary is so bad that Dan Reeves benched the ENTIRE unit last week in an attempt to light a fire under them. Now that William Green is suspended this week and Nate Newton is out of the league, the only thing getting lit up will be the Falcon DB's. Collins is good for 300 yards and three scores this week.

Running Backs

Anthony Thomas, Bears @ Lions

It appears the Bears have finally put their offense in the hands of the A-train, and for now he has saved the job of head coach Dick Jauron. He has averaged over 100 yards in his last four games and had the first multi-TD game of his career last week. The Lions are middle of the pack as far as their run defense, but with Thomas returning to the state where he played his college ball, look for him to run with the same swagger that he did in the Bears' miracle season of 2001. Put him down for 120 and a score.

Curtis Martin, Jets @ Raiders

It's hard to recommend a player who has yet to reach the end zone this year, but that's exactly what I'm doing. The return of Pennington has sparked the entire offense, and the proof is in the puddin'. Martin notched his first two 100 yard games of the season in the two games that Pennington has played, so expect him to continue that streak against a Raider defense that has allowed 131 yards per game. (30th in the NFL) C-Mart is this week's Green Light special, so if an owner in your league was foolish enough to cut ties with him while he was struggling, then do yourself a favor and add him to your squad.

Wide Receivers

Darrell Jackson, Seahawks @ Redskins

Heading into the season, the duo of unheralded Darrell Jackson and overhyped Koren Robinson was supposed to be one of the top tandems in the league. But Robinson hasn't lived up to his end of the bargain, failing to catch more than three balls in each of his last four games, and is questionable to play this weekend with an ankle bruise. Even if Robinson can go, he will be limited and that will lead to D.J. getting more looks from quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

Ike Hilliard, Giants vs. Falcons

Not to beat a dead horse, but the Atlanta secondary is absolutely worthless. Until they show us they can stop someone, keep plugging their opponents in your lineup and keep winning your weekly fantasy matchup. I like Ike because he's Collins' favorite red zone target; five of his six touchdowns have come inside the 20. He has reached paydirt thrice in his past two games, with two of them coming against a stingy Viking secondary. Start all Giants you can get your hands on short of Mark Bavaro.

Peter Warrick, Bengals vs. Texans

Look out for the Bengals. Jon Kitna looks like the second coming of Boomer Esiason all of a sudden, so it looks like we'll have to wait a while before we see what the Trojan Man Carson Palmer can do. Kitna's main deep threat is Chad Johnson, but a guy that got overlooked in a lot of drafts is Peter Warrick. The guy was a fourth overall pick so you know he has talent, and it's very possible that he's a free agent in your league. This is the week to take a flyer on him- the Texans have allowed the most touchdowns through the air of any team and are 30th in passing yards allowed.

Tight End

L.J. Smith, Eagles @ Packers

The Eagles love this guy, but he wasn't a factor up until last week when he caught six balls for 97 yards. It doesn't seem like McNabb trusts his receivers in the red zone, as evidenced by the 1 total touchdown that their wideouts have collectively. That's right, one. Good tight ends are few and far between so keep your eye on Grandmama this week. If L.J. has another solid game, don't be afraid to drop whichever slow, bulky white man you currently have occupying the position.

Speaking of slow, bulky white men, you can e-mail me any questions regarding who to bench or start at kerrywoood@yahoo.com and I'll get back to you by game time Sunday. Good luck to everyone this week and remember, "You PLAY to WIN the game."