Daunte Culpepper hurt a lot of fantasy teams in the first two weeks of the season. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

By Samuel Caplan, Special to SI.com

We've selected Douglas Lee and his team the Bench Warmers as our week four makeover candidate. He contacted us indicating he felt he was in an "SOS situation," and I have to say I concur.

Doug is 1-2 and is the 10th-rated team in his 12-team league. He's also coming off a shellacking this week at the hands of team "Kellen Knievel," losing 114-66.

When taking a look at Doug's roster, I saw that he was a victim of players, including Daunte Culpepper, Andre Johnson and Domanick Davis, who are underperforming this season.

Here is Doug's starting lineup from the past week (with total points in parenthesis):

QB: Daunte Culpepper (27)

RBs: Chris Perry (0), Stephen Davis (4) and Brandon Jacobs (0)

WRs: Deion Branch (7) and Ashley Lelie (6)

TE: L.J. Smith (3)

PK: Jeff Wilkins (8)

DT: Tampa Bay (11)

His bench is as follows:

QB: Aaron Brooks

RB: Domanick Davis and DeShaun Foster

WR: Andre Johnson, Terry Glenn, Braylon Edwards

The free-agent market in Doug's league isn't that strong, so he's going to have to pull off several trades if he wants to elevate his team into the playoff mix.

Here are our recommendations:

1. Start the right players: Doug, you were no doubt hamstrung this week by the bye week but I'm not quite sure why you started two backup running backs (Jacobs and Perry) over Glenn. As you know, Glenn finished with five receptions for 137 yards. He wouldn't have made the difference between winning and losing, but you can't leave that many points in the bench. I realize it's easy for me to say it was a bad call in hindsight not to bench Glenn, but one basic principle when it comes to starting lineups is to avoid starting NFL bench players in favor of players who start for their respective NFL team. The only possible exceptions may be players such as WRs Kevin Curtis and Brandon Stokley when they have good matchups.

2. Stay the course with Domanick Davis: I haven't been impressed with Davis' running thus far but things should be different after the bye week. The Texans fired offensive coordinator Chris Palmer last week and replaced him with offensive line coach Joe Pendry. Pendry is very conservative, so expect Davis to see increased carries, equating to increased production.

3. Trim some fat: You have a lot of NFL bench players on your team which is another reason why your team isn't putting up points. I understand having DeShaun Foster since you have Stephen Davis. However, I'm not sure why you have Chris Perry on your team when you don't have Rudi Johnson. You're high in the waiver-priority list this week so I am recommending you dump Perry and pick up Marshall Faulk. I realize Faulk is also a bench player, but he could see an increased role in light of Steven Jackson's rib injury. Obviously, he's not a huge upgrade but he'll improve your team.

4. Trim some more fat: There are some intriguing free agent wide receivers available in your league. Braylon Edwards will be a great NFL wideout, but he's not going to help you in the immediate future. He's not yet a starter and even once he's promoted, I have doubts about how well he'll produce with Trent Dilfer as his quarterback. Dilfer has done well thus far but won't be a top-five fantasy QB for the entire season. I'd use your second waiver pick to add Greg Lewis as a replacement for Edwards. Lewis has been drawing a lot of single coverage lately with opposing defenses focusing a lot of attention on Terrell Owens and Brian Westbrook. If Lewis is gone, I'd give serious thought to Robert Ferguson, Bobby Engram and Lee Evans. Ferguson will catch TDs by default with Javon Walker out of the lineup; Engram could finish with 75-80 total receptions this year; and while Evans has gotten off to a slow start, he's due for a breakout game.

5. Get stability at quarterback: Daunte Culpepper and Aaron Brooks are supremely talented quarterbacks, but have been heavily unreliable this year. You need to acquire a starting QB via trade or free agency that is more consistent. I would try the trade route initially, but I wouldn't rule out bringing in Dilfer off the waiver wire as a backup even though I expect his production level to decrease.

6. Sell high with Culpepper: I realize I recommended owners to pick up Culpepper last week, but I think now's a good time to "flip" him, as I foresee more problems for the Vikings in the future. I think it would be a good idea to target either Tom Brady or Jake Delhomme. When you prepare your offer, ask for an additional player in return to add more balance to the deal. Including Branch or Lelie in your offer and asking for an upgrade at receiver might be the right direction to go in. I would approach Team "Kellen Knievel" and offer Culpepper and Branch or Lelie for Delhomme and Warrick Dunn. That may not be enough to get it done considering the week Delhomme just had, so target Brady if Team Knievel doesn't bite.

7. Sell high with Glenn: I'd hold onto Glenn for one more week and start him as your flex player. I don't like him long-term but Oakland has a weak secondary so there's a good chance Glenn will have another good game this Sunday. Once he does, move him for an underperforming receiver who is likely to step up his play. Players such as Anquan Boldin, Michael Clayton or Nate Burleson (who could return following this week's game) are excellent candidates.

8. Try and package Stephen Davis and Andre Johnson for an impact player: Davis is coming off a down week, but looked solid during the first two weeks of the season so he still has good value. I don't like Davis from a long-term standpoint because I have questions about how his surgically repaired knee will hold up as the carries pile up. Being able to throw-in Foster as an insurance policy will enhance Davis' trade value. As for Johnson, he has very little trade value right how. However, he does have name recognition value and could appeal to an owner who believes he's going to turn his season around. While Johnson won't be as bad as he was during the first two games of the season, I am convinced he won't live up to preseason expectations. I've come to that early conclusion based on the fact that Houston lacks a legitimate second receiver to alleviate the heavy coverage Johnson faces on a weekly basis. Team "FredExplosion!" started both Larry Johnson and Priest Holmes this week. Needless to say, he's probably not too happy with his backfield situation. I would recommend offering Davis and Johnson for Torry Holt. You'd have hole in your backfield (unless you get Dunn), but Holt would increase your overall scoring.

Doug, I'm confident these suggestions will help you rid your team of a lot of the bench players residing on your roster that currently makes your team name "Bench Warmers" an apt one.

Guidelines for applying to become a "makeover" candidate

Send us your sob story with background information to sam@xpertsports.com following this weekend's games. The sorrier your story is, the more likely you are to be selected.

Include your roster and scoring system.

Make sure to also include your league URL along with username and a password so we can log into your league site and get a complete picture.

Samuel Caplan is the Managing Editor of XpertSports.com, one of the Internet's leading providers of online commissioner software and free fantasy football content. He can be seen weekly on Comcast Sportsnet's "Fantasy Fix."