The Fantasy Football Geek Blog

Obligatory explanatory introduction for the uninitiated: If you haven’t seen my previous “shocker” posts, my definition of a fantasy shocker is a player who comes out of relatively nowhere, has a gigantic, multi-touchdown game, becomes the hottest waiver commodity the following week, and then soon sinks back into the relative obscurity from whence he came. Like I’ve said before, these are long-shot picks and I don’t expect to hit on most of them.

Last week, I had high hopes for Amani Toomer, Isaac Bruce, Priest Holmes, Devery Henderson, and the man, the myth, the Vinny Testaverde. Bruce was on pace to qualify as a shocker until he tweaked a hammy; his 62 yards and a touchdown still qualified as a decent fantasy day, though. The rest – well, hey, that’s why I say they’re long-shot picks.

Here are my shocker picks for week 11.

Ronald Curry, WR, OAK: Oakland has to do something on offense against Minnesota, and they won’t be able to run the ball against one of the best rushing defenses in the league. Their only option will be to pass the ball, something they’ve been absolutely horrible at doing all season. On the bright side for the Raiders, Minnesota’s giving up a mind-boggling 300 yards per game through the air, far and away the worst in the league. Jerry Porter’s nursing a tweaked quad, so the #1 receiving "weapon" (don’t laugh) the Raiders will be looking to is Ronald Curry. And speaking of the Raiders passing game…

Daunte Culpepper, QB, OAK: Guess who’ll be back behind center! If he’s ever going to make a case for the starting job and keep JaMarcus Russell at bay, there won’t be a better opportunity than this week.

Kyle Boller, QB, BAL: Boller gets the start this week, and at least one Baltimore sports writer is begging fans to give Boller another chance. And you have to admit, it’s not like Boller’s ever been given a chance to play on a good offense. His only consistent receiver has been the oft-injured Todd Heap, and Baltimore’s always invested more money and effort into their defense than their offense (understandable, since that’s the strategy that won them a Super Bowl). If Heap’s healthy this week, he and Derrick Mason might be more than the terrible Browns defense can handle (Cleveland is second only to Minnesota in passing yards allowed). Even without Heap, Boller’s not the worst QB you could start this week, not least of all because he’ll be looking to make a statement against a bad defense.

Dennis Northcutt, WR, JAC: David Garrard’s back this week. He and Northcutt have hooked up for a few decent games this season, and they should be able to do so again this week against the 26th-ranked San Diego pass defense. If LT blows up and Garrard is forced to pass frequently, it could turn into a big yardage day for Northcutt.

Rex Grossman, QB, CHI: I heard Ron Jaworski give the same exact speech, more or less verbatim, about Grossman on three different sports talk radio and television programs this week. In a nutshell, Jaws believes that being benched is going to bring out Good Rex and banish Bad Rex forever and ever. Maybe the creepy old guy is right. Speaking of which, does Jaws creep anyone else out? There’s just something about the way he tries a little too hard to laugh at Kornheiser’s jokes.