Priest Holmes and Ahman Green owners slept better Sunday night. And if somebody in your office seems extraordinarily happy, it might be because Marvin Harrison finally started looking like Marvin Harrison.
This was a week for some of the lackluster fantasy players to start producing as expected. In Holmes' case, the disappointment had only been because of the staggering numbers he's put up in recent seasons.
Holmes had been respectable in the past month, scoring three touchdowns in his last four games. After his four touchdowns against Atlanta on Sunday, however, he's back in the NFL lead with 10 touchdowns, putting him back on pace for a Holmes-like 26 this season. He's still no Daunte Culpepper , but you shouldn't feel too bad if you drafted him No.1.
Green became a favorite component of dump trades by impatient owners, having gone five games without a touchdown and four without a 100-yard effort. He bounced back with 163 yards and two touchdowns. Owners who picked him up cheap should be excited about the Packers offense, which has put up 79 points in two games.
Harrison, amazingly, still hasn't had a 100-yard game this season, even though teammates Reggie Wayne and Brandon Stokley have two each. Harrison came into the week as the 26th-best fantasy receiver, but we're lobbing praise at him for simply catching two touchdowns in one game. In each of the past two seasons, he's had just three multi-TD games, so in fantasy terms, he shouldn't be included in that top tier reserved for Minnesota's Randy Moss and Philadelphia's Terrell Owens .
NEW WORLD ORDER: In recent years, most fantasy draft cheat-sheets have been stacked with as many as eight running backs at the top before any other positions are represented. If this season's strong passing statistics continue, it'll be curious to see how that impacts next year's draft order.
Only four of the top 14 point producers in ESPN.com's scoring system are running backs: Holmes, the Giants' Tiki Barber , the Jets' Curtis Martin and the Chargers' LaDainian Tomlinson . Culpepper leads the quarterback charge, having scored 20 percent more fantasy points than any other player in the league, despite having played his bye week.
WHY NOT?: Holmes' backup in Kansas City, Derrick Blaylock , had four touchdowns Sunday, impressive considering he totaled two in his 33-game career going into the game. He's not a viable fantasy player unless Holmes goes down, and it looks like the ankle injury that sidelined him in the second half Sunday isn't serious.
Blaylock's 90-yard performance shows that he could handle starting in Holmes' absence, so he's a smart pickup for Priest owners as an insurance policy. Along the same lines, we'll plug San Diego's Jesse Chatman , who has rushed for 217 yards and three scores in mopup duty and could put up big numbers if Tomlinson were ever sidelined with an injury.
STILL WAITING: Santana Moss , Laveranues Coles , Peerless Price , Amani Toomer , Marty Booker , Willis McGahee , Travis Henry , David Terrell , Peter Warrick , Todd Pinkston . What do these 10 have in common? Seven weeks into the season, they're still waiting for their first touchdown.
Congrats to Oakland's Jerry Porter , Detroit's Kevin Jones and Cleveland's William Green for sneaking off that list with their first touchdowns.
THIS AND THAT: I'm kicking myself for adding Jerry Rice soon after he was dealt to Seattle, but not doing the same when Keenan McCardell was traded last week to San Diego. He's the best fantasy option of the four receivers dealt at the trading deadline, stepping in immediately as Drew Brees ' No.1 receiver. It doesn't look as promising for Rice in Seattle, but it's too early to write him off. ... It's downright odd if you had Arizona kicker Neil Rackers on your roster, but you deserve to win if your fantasy kicker hits three from 50 yards or longer. If your league doesn't give bonus points for field goals from 50 and out, it should. It's an easy tweak that makes the kicking position more interesting. ... Keep an eye on second-year Rams receiver Shaun McDonald , who has three touchdowns in the last four games and is emerging as the No.3 receiver and a future star in St. Louis.
- If you have a fantasy question or comment, e-mail staff writer Greg Auman at auman@sptimes.com
