Peterson leads pack of breakout players to pick

This will be a frequent sight when Adrian Peterson starts touching the ball more often. AP

I'm not a football coach -- though I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night --but I can tell when a coach is feeling the heat, real or media-driven, about what he should do when the ball is kicked off on Sunday. Which brings us to our number one fantasy tip.

1. Trade for Adrian Peterson right now. I mean, if you have to give up, say Joseph Addai and your second receiver, I'd do it. You can feel the pressure on Brad Childress to play Peterson more. So far, in his six NFL games, Peterson has touched the ball 20, 24, 28, 13, 21 and 13 times from scrimmage. that's 19.8 touches per game. Having Peterson run it and catch it 315 times a season is not enough. Just ask Brian Westbrook. Said Childress this week: "We are trying to grow him just like we attempt to grow all of our young guys. I am sure his role will increase." Like, this week against Philly. That's why you need to deal for Peterson now.

2. By the way, the reason you should never put the mortgage on my advice is this: Last week I told you Vince Young would play at Houston. Vince Young wanted to play at Houston, ouchy quad and all. He almost convinced the coach in his weekend warmups that he should play. But Jeff Fisher, the smart one, stepped in and said he didn't want a 10-day injury to become a six-week injury. Right call. Tennessee got a great relief job out of Kerry Collins -- the only reliever to play better in the last few days is Hideki Okajima, and even that might be a tossup -- in their 38-36 win at Houston. I'm staying on the Young bandwagon this week, though, against Oakland. Play him.

3. I've been bullish on Wes Welker since March, and I'm getting moreso. The more New England's backs take a beating, the more pitch-and-catch Welker and Tom Brady will do. Brady is so efficient with Welker that it's almost like an extended handoff when he throws to him. Welker's going to put up silly numbers this season -- like 100 catches and 1,200 yards.

4. Play the Giants' D above all other defenses this week. Should be a gimme, but they will stifle Miami for 60 minutes. Interesting little motivational subplot: Osi Umenyiora's mom, from Nigeria, will be seeing her son play football for the first time in her life, and he's jacked up about it.

5. Uh-oh. I picked the Rams to beat the Browns this week, thinking Leonard Little would suck it up and play with an injured big toe. Now it turns out he'll need surgery on said toe, and he's out this week. But I'll stick with the Rams to have their first good offensive day in a long time and edge the Brownies. Steven Jackson's going to play with his partially torn groin muscle, and Marc Bulger will have Drew Bennett back too. Finally we'll see some points out of the former Lambs.

6. Got Jag receivers? Shut 'em down in Tampa and New Orleans the next two weeks. Quinn Gray looks like a bad backup quarterback.

7. Got a quarterback on a bye? Go get new Buffalo starter Trent Edwards. His next three games: Jets, Bengals, Dolphins. That's a great way for a neophyte quarterback to not be a neophyte very long.

8. I am high on Donald Lee, the Green Bay tight end, and not just because Brett Favre loves his hands and his route-running. This week he should see the ball because the Packers will likely run lots more of the safe short and intermediate routes ... due to the noise in Denver and butterfingered Bubba Franks is hurt.

9. I may regret saying this. In fact, I probably will. But Brian Griese has some confident receivers in the huddle right now in the wake of his heroic last-minute save of the Bears' season at Philadelphia last week. I can see him going off for 340 and three touchdowns against the Lions.

10. Speaking of Bears-Leos, this could be a bustout Sunday for Kevin Jones, going against a team that is stunningly surrendering 4.7 yards per rush. I'd play Jones. Plus, with the demotion of Tatum Bell (all the way to Kalamazoo, from the sound of Rod Marinelli's words), Jones could be a 130-yard player Sunday.

(Send comments to siwriters@simail.com. For last-minute lineup questions, write to david_sabino@simail.com every Sunday morning and see the responses in his blog on FanNation.)