First Cut

It's time to play the games for real

By Kirk "Dr. Football" Bouyelas, Special to SI.com

The preseason is officially over, but not soon forgotten. Memories, or better yet nightmares, were ingrained in the minds of several coaches who were hit hard with key injuries. Gone for the year are RB James Stewart, WR Kevin Dyson and K Mike Hollis. Other notable injuries include QB Michael Vick (4-6 weeks), QB Chad Pennington (12 weeks), RB Michael Bennett (8-10 weeks) and TE Eric Johnson (10-12 weeks).

For those fantasy owners who had the unfortunate pleasure of drafting these players, depression may have already set in. However, as with most adversities, it's not always as bad as it appears.

Vick probably will return after the Falcons' bye week. In the interim, Doug Johnson will start and perform exceptionally well. Trust me on this one. While Michael Bennett will be hard pressed to return this year, the Vikings have a plethora of capable backs to carry the load in his absence. Chad Pennington won't be back soon, so the immortal Vinny Testeverde steps back into the starting role. OK, you may have me there. If you have to depend on Vinny, then you need to start worrying. Might I suggest a good anti-depressant?

Intensive Care Unit

For this inaugural article, let's take a look at a few players that have lost their jobs, suffered injuries or been suspended. In the future, we'll highlight players who are dying in terms of fantasy production and have little hope of recovering.

The Browns have decided to bench QB Tim Couch for Kelly Holcomb. While Holcomb is not that much better than Couch, the Browns finally realized that the team responded better to him. Even after Jake Delhomme's perfect outing in his last preseason performance, the Panthers have elected to start Rodney Peete. I have said all along that Delhomme won't start the season, but will take over the starting role in roughly Week 4 of the season. So far I'm half right. The Ravens seem content with starting rookie QB Kyle Boller over incumbent Chris Redman. Coach Brian Billick obviously realizes that Boller is the quarterback of the future and the future is now.

What is a team to do? The Lions lost RB James Stewart for the year with a shoulder injury. Even though the team attempted to secure a capable back-up for Stewart prior to the season, they are still left scrambling for a warm body. Newly acquired Olandis Gary looks like the best option for the team, but it will take him about a week or so to get situated. Shawn Bryson and Avon Cobourne will share time this week, with Bryson seeing the majority of carries. The Steelers have decided to in effect semi-retire RB Jerome Bettis. This was accomplished by naming Amos Zereoue as the starter. Coach Bill Cohwer did soften the blow by stating that the Bus will see some action along with Zereoue. Thanks, coach!

The nominations for "bad boy" of 2003 have started to roll in. The preliminary nominees are WR Jimmy Smith and TE Byron Chamberlain. The Jaguars will be forced to go without Smith for four weeks, due to a suspension for a violation of the league's substance abuse policy. Chamberlain was also suspended for four games after testing positive for ephedra.

Recovery Room

Starting next week, the players highlighted in this section will be deemed to have strong vital signs in terms of fantasy production. This will be based on past performance, schedule, position changes, injuries, etc. For now, let's cover a few of the players who I think will be sleepers for your team.

Marc Boerigter and Robert Ferguson may be names you have never heard of, but that will likely change by the end of the year. Last year, Boerigter caught 20 balls and scored eight touchdowns. This year he is primed to leave Johnnie Morton and Eddie Kennison in the dust. Boerigter has surprising speed and is a huge target for QB Trent Green. While the focus may be on Javon Walker in Green Bay, Robert Ferguson will steal the spotlight soon enough. Ferguson will start opposite of Donald Driver and should shine with Brett Favre under center.

He's not heavy -- he's my brother. That's the song that was playing in Dallas back in May. RB Troy Hambrick was being called Ham-bone and found himself in Bill Parcells' doghouse. At that time Hambrick was over 250 pounds and looked sluggish. Since then, Hambrick has lost weight and gained quickness. He's down to 236 pounds, the lightest he's been since his junior year at Savannah State. Look for Hambrick to surprise in 2003.

J.J. Stokes is now the No. 1 wide receiver in Jacksonville by default. With the suspension of Jimmy Smith, the short-term value of Stokes shot up dramatically. Even though some may suggest staying away from this situation, I think Stokes could be an option for some owners. Mark Brunell has been named the starter and is playing for a job next year. He's highly motivated and Stokes will be his only real target.

Giants receiver Ike Hilliard might have slipped through some cracks because he was injured for most of last year. Don't let that fool you though. Hilliard is healthy and steps right back into his starting role opposite of Amani Toomer.

Under the Microscope

Under the Microscope examines the recent developments in the league, situations to watch and key matchups to exploit or avoid. Let's take a look under the microscope to see what matchups we can exploit this week.

New Orleans at Seattle: While I'm not a Matt Hasselbeck fan, he should have a great week against the Saints secondary. Let's put it this way: If Hasselbeck can't get it done this week, he'll have a long year ahead of him. Since Hasselbeck has to have someone to catch those balls he'll be chucking, you should also start Koren Robinson. Look for K-Rob to enter his first 100-yard game in the record books for 2003.

Houston at Miami: Ricky Williams at home versus the Texans defense -- does it get any better than this? Last year, the Houston ranked 28th against the run. Without any major upgrades on defense, you should expect more of the same. Ricky will have little trouble racking up the yardage on the Texans.

San Diego at Kansas City: The Chiefs will face their division rivals this week at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chargers pass defense is very suspect and could be worse than last year. Imagine that! At any rate, Chiefs QB Trent Green should be a very good play this week. His offensive line will be able to protect him all day long and the Chargers secondary is ripe for the picking.

Minnesota at Green Bay: This is a perfect opportunity for both Donald Driver and Robert Ferguson. They have one of the league's best quarterbacks throwing to them and face a porous Vikings secondary. The Vikings only hope is to keep the pressure on Favre, but that's not a given. Obviously, Driver is a much better play here. He would be a starter on my roster this week in any type of league.

Kirk "Dr.Football" Bouyelas is the co-owner of FantasyAsylum.com. Kirk originally founded Dr.Football five years ago. This offseason, FantasyAsylum.com merged with Komments.com, DrFootball.com and David Grey's Fantasy Football Report.