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.

One thing I want to clarify is why I decided to make these picks a weekly feature. I certainly don’t expect to get these right anywhere close to half of the time. These seemingly crazy suggestions are meant to help owners who find themselves in a rough spot due to bye weeks and/or injuries, and don’t see any reasonable plug-in options on their bench or the waiver wire. I try to find players who are completely overlooked, but might have significant upside for one reason or another. On my own teams, I prefer to start high-risk, high-reward players over the known-mediocre-commodity types. If you’re the same way, these picks are meant for you.

Oh, and because trying to predict the unpredictable is a lot of fun.

With that out of the way, let’s see if I had any success with last week’s picks…


Last Week’s Shocker Picks

Joe Jurevicius, WR, CLE: I said, “…If he’s got another 2-TD performance left in him, this is probably the week it’ll happen." Five receptions for 76 yards is a nice day on the football field, but not so great in the fantasy football world. St. Louis seemed ripe for the picking, and he did wind up with more receptions and yards than he’d had in any previous game, but Braylon Edwards is a stat-hogging machine.

Drew Bennett, WR, STL: I said, “…Bennett’s hammy is OK, and he could re-establish himself as a dangerous NFL receiver if Bulger resembles anything close to his usual self.” Again, I was right to like Bennett’s chances as he recorded more catches (6) and yards (63) than he had all season, but he didn’t find the end zone.

Cedric Benson, RB, CHI: I said, “Every NFL expert’s favorite whipping boy has to have one big game this season, doesn’t he?” Apparently not.

Devin Hester, WR, CHI: I said, “If the Bears were ever going to try to get Hester more involved in the offense, they’d do it this week, at home against a divisional opponent with a weak defense.” Hester’s one reception pretty much cements it – he’s not ready to be a major part of the offense this season.

Josh Reed, WR, BUF: I said, “I expect Trent Edwards, who played great in his NFL debut against the Jets in week 3, to have a good game either way, and Josh Reed will produce if the Jets focus on Evans.” Edwards went down and was replaced by Lee Evans’ best buddy Judas Priest Losman, so that effectively killed that theory.

I like that I called the increase in production from Jurevicius and Bennett, but I’m still hankering to call a monster shocker game. Like they say, there’s always next week…

And speaking of next week (I hope you enjoyed that silky-smooth segue), here are my shocker picks for week 9.

Chris Henry, RB, TEN: I’m willing to bet that if you sent NFL coaches this poll question: "Who’s the better running back on the Titans, Chris Henry or LenDale White?" a majority would pick Henry at this point. White’s had nice numbers in the past two games, but they pale in comparison to what Henry has done with his limited number of touches: 105 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries (a 7.0 YPC average). Those are Michael Turner-type numbers, and LenDale White is no LaDainian Tomlinson. Besides, White has always been a time-share type of back, and he depends upon having a guy like Reggie Bush or Chris Brown to share the load. Look for White to come back to Earth this week, and for Henry to get 8-10 carries against Carolina, turn them into 60-70 yards and a TD (or two?) and become one of the top waiver-wire commodities going into week 10 (and a contender in the hottest RB competition in the league).

Brandon Jones, WR, TEN: If Henry doesn’t score those touchdown, Brandon Jones might. He’s obviously a very high-risk play in his first game back from a knee injury, but answer me this: Why couldn’t the best receiver on the Titans have a big game against a team that gives up an average of 232 yards through the air? Vince Young has to throw it to someone.

D.J. Hackett, WR, SEA: Deion Branch still isn’t healthy, but it looks like Hackett is, so he and Bobby Engram will be the starters against the more-than-suspect Browns secondary. Engram’s a good receiver, but Hackett’s younger and can do more after the catch. If there was ever a player who could have a monster game out of nowhere, it’s Hackett in week 9.

Vincent Jackson, WR, SD: Did the Jackson owner in your league drop him after Chambers came to town and he didn’t catch a ball last week? They might regret that decision soon: Jackson’s still as talented as he ever was, and Minnesota’s NFL-worst passing defense will forget about him at their peril. (An aside: The Vikings are giving up 305 passing yards per game. That’s absurd. The number for the next-worst team, the Lions, is 278. Last year’s worst team in the passing-yards-allowed category was Cincinnati, which gave up 252 per game. Is their rush defense really even all that good, or are teams just not even bothering to run the ball because they know they can throw it on them?)

Joe Jurevicius, WR, CLE: You know what? I liked him last week, and I like him even more this week against the 29th-ranked Seattle pass defense. Like I mentioned above, he stepped it up last week, but failed to have a truly "shocking" performance, and probably barely registered as a blip on most fantasy owners’ radar. I think he’ll improve on last week’s performance and find the end zone this week.

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