This coming week in addition to the bye weeks you really have to pay attention to injuries as several key players on both sides of the ball will miss action. Here is the quick rundown: Well everyone’s former top pick LT has failed to be worthy of a number 1 pick you three years now and now that he’s a #2, he comes out of the box hurt, but he will play this week but not at 100% and going against the Pittsburgh D, even without Troy, still is a risky bet. If you have the Charger D remember that Merriman is going to try and go, and is a game time decision. Going against the Pitt O with a hobbled Willie Parker may not be such a bad start. If you start the Pittsburgh D you may want to sit them one more week because they aren’t the same without TP and the Chargers may score some serious points on them.

Colts Defense : Freeney is going to try and give it a go, so he says, but the coaching staff seems to think he’s not well enough to go. If not, it make a huge difference so if your second team D is close go with them.

Lance Moore/Saints – Is probable but it’s still anyone guess how effective he’ll be, not bad as a 3rd wideout if you don’t have a tight end.

Wes Welker/Patriots – the “Slot Machine” practiced this week and should be able to go this week with the caveat on how effective he’ll be as the Pats still don’t look in sinc with Brady still working is way back into form and no he’ll have to try and get Welker’s timing down. He might play but don’t look for him to get last year’s numbers right away.

Some Running Backs that will need to be replaced:

Portis/Redskins – sore calf and is a game time decision. Even if he plyas don’t look for him to make a huge difference.

Felix Jones/Marion Barber / Dallas – Double trouble if you have either one as although the barbarian will play he’s only about 80% and the Ca’Boys may have problems moving the ball

Frank Gore/49’ers – Out so if he’s still around the SF backups should still be in free agency if you have time to go through the garbage prior to kickoff.

If your in need of a last minute pick up at quarterback, look to Kyle Boller who is going to the this week for the Lambs as Bulger will be 3rd string even if he is activated.

All of the Week 4 player projections by position.

Week 4 injury report

As the number of Fantasy Football draft parties hit their peak this weekend the jury is still out on several players some due to injury questions, some have held out and only attended a portion of training camp or none at all, and some just are not living up to expectations. So who is worth a first round pick or who can you wait on? Should you waste a pick on any TE before the 5th round? Well, we’ve put together our first three rounds of the mock draft to get you started and have ranked the top 20 in each position to get you though the lean rounds when things are not so obvious. But keep your head about you, as those are the crucial rounds when you make the crafty picks that make the difference between someone who is prepared for the bye weeks and someone who is fumbling through the garbage on the Wednesday prior, looking for a second back or WR. Let us know who you think is a diamond in the rough and who is over priced here and in the Fantasy Football Chat room.
Mock Draft by position:
Running Backs
Quarterbacks
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
Kickers
Defense

Detroit Lions have their savior in Daunte Culpepper. Certainly the 0-7 Lions are in a position to throw things against the wall and see what sticks; the signing of the former Vikings and Raiders quarterback would appear to be just that. Dan Orlovsky has shown little since replacing Jon Kitna and the signing of Culpepper could show lack of faith in rookie Drew Stanton. Culpepper would likely get on the field later in the season once he gets up to speed with the playbook, but there is no reason for fantasy owners to rush out and sign him based on what he showed in his most recent stops. The man with midget hands has had constant fumbling problems in his career, and after such a long layoff cannot be expected to do much. Lucky for him he is a potential starter for the Detroit Lions and not any other NFL team, yes even his former team, the Raiders.

A third of the way through the Fantasy season and anyone in a league where you hold over the players from one year to the next is in deep trouble if they don’t have any cap room left to make some moves. Here are some of the biggest year-to-year disappointments a third of the way into the season:
LT – No doubt many team’s number one pick and highest cost has just 4 TDs in 7 games this year. In his 23-14 loss at Buffalo LT had just 41 yards on 14 carries and 26 yards on six catches with no single touch good for more than 9 yards. If you are holding him do you sit him? You may have to cut your losses and make a move. Now, we’re not pickin’ on LT, rest assured he is not the only first-rounder that is disappointing right now, the list is long but distinguished. How about Peyton Manning? 7 ints the last 5 games and averaging only 20 points in most leagues? Are you kidding me? Not for a number one pick! The next tier of disappointments includes Braylon Edwards, who was also a first round pick in most leagues, a opening day starter on 98% of teams, and with only ONE game posting more than 15 points. Next, Frank Gore who showed so much promise at the end of last season and only seems to have good games when going up against weak opponents. Last of the huge disappointments is Plexiglass with his daunting 3 TD catches this year not to mention all of his off the field problems. So where can you go if one of the picks you needed to bring 20-30 points per game isn’t showing up? Well this season’s “Willy Parker” is the afore mentions backup Mewelde Moore averaging 25+ since becoming a starter a nice find for those looking through the discarded pile. Need to replace a Brady or a Manning? How about Kyle Orton? C’mon, that’s why it’s called Fantasy Football, but over the season they are both averaging 21 and imagine who you could have taken with the Manning pick or money? I know it’s not an entire season but the owner that usually wins is the one taking the time to make some quality moves. This weeks diamonds in the rough? How ‘bout taking another look at the “Deuce” now that Bush will be in Ibiza rather than London, or Jamal Charles because of the Johnson suspension. Shhhhhhh Antiono Bryant going against the CaBoys’ with no Romo and NO OFFENSE on the field.

These are our Week 4 Fantasy Football Top 5 Rankings. Let us know what you think:

QB:

1 Tony Romo DAL WAS 20.5
2 Drew Brees NO SF 18.9
3 Jay Cutler DEN @KC 18.8
4 Donovan McNabb PHI @CHI 18.2
5 Aaron Rodgers GB @TB 16.2

RB:

1 Ladainian Tomlinson SD @OAK 21.7
2 Brian Westbrook PHI @CHI 20.7
3 Adrian Peterson MIN @TEN 18.1
4 Reggie Bush NO SF 17.6
5 Frank Gore SF @NO 16.8

WR:

1 Brandon Marshall DEN @KC 14.8
2 T.J. Houshmandzadeh CIN CLE 12.2
3 Anquan Boldin ARI @NYJ 11.3
4 Steve Smith CAR ATL 11.2
5 Terrell Owens DAL WAS 11.1

Passing
Philip Rivers, SD, 21-33, 377 yards, 3 TDs
Kurt Warner, AZ, 19/24, 361 yards, 3 TDs
Jay Cutler, Den 36/50, 350 yards, 4 TDs
Aaron Rodgers, GB 24/38, 328 yards, 3 TDs
Tony Romo, Dal 21/30, 312 yards, 3 TDs

Rushing
Darren McFadden Oak 21/164 yards, TD
Adrian Peterson, Minn 29/160 yards,
Julius Jones, Sea 26/127 yards, TD
Earnest Graham, TB 15/116 yards, TD

Receiving
Greg Jennings, GB 6/167 yards,
Brandon Marshall, Den 18/166 yards, TD
Santana Moss, Was 7/164 yards, 1
Isaac Bruce, SF 4/153 yards

Top 8 Quarterbacks Weekly Scoring NFL Points Stats
Player Ave F-League Points
McNabb, Donovan QB PHI 44.0
Brees, Drew QB NO 39.0
Cutler, Jay QB DEN 29.0
Rivers, Philip QB SD 28.0
Manning, Peyton QB IND 26.0
Pennington, Chad QB MIA 26.0
Romo, Tony QB DAL 26.0
Kitna, Jon QB DET 26.0

Top Running Backs Ave F-League Points

Turner, Michael RB ATL 58.0
Bush, Reggie RB NO 41.0
Parker, Willie RB PIT 37.0
Gore, Frank RB SF 28.0
Forte, Matt RB CHI 27.0
Barber, Marion RB DAL 25.0
Westbrook, Brian RB PHI 25.0
Johnson, Chris RB TEN 23.0
Jones, Thomas RB NYJ 22.0
Peterson, Adrian RB MIN 21.0
Morris, Sammy RB NE 19.0
Norwood, Jerious RB ATL 19.0

Top Wide Receivers Ave F-League Pts

Royal, Eddie WR DEN 39.0
Burress, Plaxico WR NYG 33.0
Johnson, Andre WR HOU 29.0
Wayne, Reggie WR IND 28.0
Moss, Randy WR NE 25.0
Ward, Hines WR PIT 25.0
Baskett, Hank WR PHI 21.0
Johnson, Calvin WR DET 20.0
Jackson, DeSean WR PHI 19.0
Owens, Terrell WR DAL 19.0
Lewis, Greg WR PHI 18.0