RB Jackie Battle (Kansas City)

Percent owned (ESPN): 0.4%

Thomas Jones and Dexter McCluster haven’t fared that well this season running the ball so Todd Haley decided to give career backup Jackie Battle a shot. He turned 19 carries into 119 yards and also caught 2 balls for an addition 21 yards. If Haley is smart (questionable), Battle will be the lead back the rest of the way.

RB Bernard Scott (Cincinnati)

Percent owned (ESPN): 4.4%

At some point Cedric Benson is going to start his suspension. It might be this week against Indianapolis. Bernard Scott will be the lead back in his absence, 3 games. He’s worth a pickup for that reason. You’ll be able to drop him once Benson returns.

WR Darrius Heyward-Bey (Oakland)

Percent owned (ESPN): 2.4%

For the first few weeks of the season, it was flavor of the week at wide receiver for Oakland, Denarius Moore, Jacoby Ford, Derek Hagan all had big games. However, Heyward-Bey has had 2 straight strong weeks now with 7 catches for 99 yards and a score last week after 4 catches for 115 yards the week before. He is arguably the most immediately criticized top 10 pick of all time, but he was a borderline first round pick going into the draft so he does have talent and he appears to be breaking out in his 3^rd year, a year when a lot of young receivers break out. He’s got upside going forward as potentially Jason Campbell’s favorite target.

QB Tim Tebow (Denver)

Percent owned (ESPN): 2.8%

It’s Tebow Time! We’ll presumably it is. John Fox has not officially named him the starter going forward, but he is expected to do so, otherwise he’s a moron because Tebow almost led a 16 point comeback against San Diego after he was put in during the 3^rd quarter last week. Tebow is good. He’ll put up stats for you with passing and rushing touchdowns.

RB Delone Carter (Indianapolis)

Percent owned (ESPN): 1.7%

Joseph Addai left last week with an injury (what else is new). He is expected to miss a few games. In his absence, Carter and Donald Brown split carries, but Carter led the way with 12. He only turned that into 22 yards, which is why he’s not higher on this list, but that is probably a fluke. The rookie is reportedly very talented.

 

WR Doug Baldwin (Seattle) 

Percent owned (ESPN): 0.8%

The Seahawks broke the bank to get Sidney Rice, but Seattle quarterbacks seem to prefer throwing to former undrafted free agent Doug Baldwin. He has 80+ yards in 3 of 5 games this year and has scored twice. Last week he had a career high 8 catches for a career high 136 yards. He’d be higher on this list if he wasn’t so inconsistent (23 or fewer yards in his other 2 games), but he’s put together two straight good games so he’s worth mentioning.

WR Kevin Walter (Houston)

Percent owned (ESPN): 2.0%

It was Kevin Walter, not Jacoby Jones, who stepped up in Andre Johnson’s absence last week, leading Houston wide receivers with 5 catches for 81 yards and a score. Johnson should miss at least another week so Walter is worth picking up.

TE Jared Cook (Tennessee)

Percent owned (ESPN): 6.6%

In 2 games without Kenny Britt, Cook has 6 catches for 152 yards and a score. The talented 3^rd year tight end could be breaking out so he has upside moving forward.

WR Early Doucet (Arizona)

Percent owned (ESPN): 9.7%

Doucet caught 8 passes for 92 yards and a score last week to give him 21 catches for 309 yards and a score in 5 games this year. He doesn’t have a lot of upside, but he’s worth a look in deeper leagues.

WR Damian Williams (Tennessee)

Percent owned (ESPN): 0.1%

With Kenny Britt out, there’s no true #1 receiver in Tennessee. I really liked Damian Williams coming out of USC in 2010 and he caught 6 passes for 66 yards and a score last week. There’s some upside here.