Brandon Gibson, Ramses Barden, Patrick Turner and Devin Aromashodu all have talent. They’re young, relatively unknown receivers that are worth keeping on the radar in dynasty leagues.

There’s one difference: Gibson actually is getting an opportunity to play. Now.

Gibson is locked in as the Rams’ starting split end for the rest of the season thanks to Keenan Burton’s season-ending knee injury (and Laurent Robinson's). Donnie Avery will start opposite him and Danny Amendola will be in the slot.

Gibson had seven catches for 93 yards and led the team in targets in his debut.

“For him to come in after Keenan got hurt and play as well as he did is impressive, rookie or no rookie," Marc Bulger said, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I think we found a really good receiver there."

So if Gibson really can play, why didn’t he go until the sixth round of the 2009 draft? First of all, he would have gone much higher if he left Washington State as a junior. But he stuck around for a miserable senior season on a miserable team and had a miserable year.

Then, he pulled his hamstring in the practices leading up to the Senior Bowl and wasn’t able to play in the game. He also missed the agility tests at the Combine and at Washington State’s pro day. So Gibson went tumbling down draft boards before the Eagles, who didn’t really need a receiver, said they can’t pass on his talent and took him with the 194th overall pick.

Maybe I’m getting a little too excited about a rookie on a bad team. But the bottom line is Gibson has an opportunity right now and I’m stashing him and/or playing him until we see how this develops. The Rams play the Texans (No. 17 vs. pass) and Cardinals (No. 30 vs. pass) in Weeks 15 and 16.

What happens when a team that despises running the ball gets behind early in a game? Target report madness.

We don’t have to give the Eagles any more reason to throw. Third-and-1 has been a passing down for Andy Reid for the last five seasons. But now that Brian Westbrook is out indefinitely and the Eagles’ defense is getting leakier by the game, Donovan McNabb is going to be chucking.

So when someone like DeSean Jackson gets an absurd 16 targets and Jason Avant goes for 156 yards in Week 10, eyebrows should be raised. Even in the Eagles’ “spread it around style,” target report madness can ensue.

Anyway, on to this week’s highlights. Here are four pass-catching situations that caught our eye in Week 10:

Remember that for a complete target report, plus all the tools you need for Week 11, check out the Season Pass.

RAMS
Steven Jackson: 13
Brandon Gibson: 9
Donnie Avery: 6
Randy McMichael: 5
Daniel Fells: 3
Danny Amendola: 2
Keenan Burton: 1
Billy Bajema: 1

Maybe I’m too pumped up about Brandon Gibson, but this guy has me excited. He’s going to start the rest of the way and have every opportunity to succeed. Amendola is strictly a slot guy and Donnie Avery can stretch the field. It just feels right.

I was assigned to the Vikings vs. Lions game Sunday and got a good look at Calvin Johnson. The knee looks fine to me (For what it’s worth, Matt Stafford’s knee does not look fine to me). The Lions dropped 10 passes in this game and Bryant Johnson proved once again he’s not a good NFL player. The Lions sorely need a playmaker opposite Calvin.

COWBOYS
Miles Austin: 9
Jason Witten: 8
Roy Williams: 7
Patrick Crayton: 6
Marion Barber: 4
Tashard Choice: 2
Martellus Bennett: 2
Kevin Ogletree: 1

There’s one guy that likes all the double teams Austin is seeing -- Roy Williams, who finally hopped over the 100-yard barrier last week. Witten’s struggles are really frustrating owners and it doesn’t look like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. His targets are there, but the deeper routes and red zone looks aren’t.

CHARGERS
Antonio Gates: 8
Darren Sproles: 4
Malcom Floyd: 3
Legedu Naanee: 3
Vincent Jackson: 3
Mike Tolbert: 2
LaDainian Tomlinson: 1

No, Vincent Jackson was not hurt. Chalk it up as a fluke. Malcom Floyd continues to struggle for both targets and catches since being named a starter. He’s really the fourth option in the passing game, although he retains value as the deep threat.

TARGET REPORT QUICK HITTERS:
Laveranues Coles had nine targets last week and had his second straight nice game since Chris Henry went down. He’s not an upside guy, but he can help some owners. … Lance Long only saw four targets last week, but that number will rise with Dwayne Bowe now out. … Dallas Clark has caught 64 out of the 78 balls that have come his way, a ridiculous 82 percent. Meanwhile, Greg Olsen is at 56 percent (34-of-61). … Justin Forsett was targeted eight times last week out of the backfield. He could see even more against the Vikings’ rugged pass defense this week.

Every so often, I like to torture myself by going back to draft results and seeing what I could/should have done differently.

Today, I feel like sharing that with you. So at the risk of annoying everyone with a “We don’t care about your team” post, here’s a look back at my draft results from two leagues. One has worked out very well and one has gone straight to hell.

* This was the 10-team SOFA Industry Draft I represented Rotoworld in. It’s PPR but otherwise standard scoring. It was an online draft. We start 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 FLEX, 1 K, 1 D.

The knowledge level of the owners was obviously very strong.

My team is 5-5 but that’s misleading. I’m dead last in points and it’s been a real struggle.

I had the first pick.

1.1 – Adrian Peterson: Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew and Ray Rice all have more points than All Day. Still don’t regret the pick and he’s definitely not the reason I’m scuffling around.
2.10 – Marques Colston: It was a bad pick. The Saints spread it around style has hurt Colston and made him the No. 14 WR in this format. Could have and should have taken Roddy White or Wes Welker.

* This is a 10 team league, non PPR, standard scoring. It was a live draft. We start 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 D. No flex.

The knowledge level of the owners ranges from excellent to calling out “Bernie Wells” when he meant to say Beanie Wells.

My team is 8-2 and leads the league in points. It’s my best team of the season by far.

I had the tenth pick.

1.10 – Chris Johnson: Thank you sir may I have another?
2.1 – Larry Fitzgerald: Considered DeAngelo or Andre Johson but went with Fitz for playoff sked. So far, so good.
3.10 – Pierre Thomas: Still think it was a good pick. If he never got injured, this timeshare never would have happened.
4.1 – Dwayne Bowe: Should have taken Chad Ochocinco. Instead, I drafted a cheater (allegedly).
5.10 – Antonio Gates: Nothing to complain about. Consistently good, touchdowns will come.
6.1 – Vincent Jackson: Roy Williams went seven picks earlier. Loved V-Jax, but even I’m a little surprised by how monstrous his season has been.
7.10 – Matt Schuab: Nothing really to say here. Knew I could wait on him and get him.
8.1 – Ray Rice: In defense of the league, the draft was well before he gained a lot of momentum in the preseason. Still the steal of the draft by leaps and bounds.
9.10 – Ahmad Bradshaw: Rahsard Mendenahall was on the board but I fell into the trap of believing the Steelers when they said how much they loved Willie Parker and hated Mendy. Lesson learned.
10.1 – Antonio Bryant: Turned out to be a bad pick, but would probably do it again. Knew about the knee going in.
11.10 – Owen Daniels: It was fun while it lasted, even though he was on my bench for the most part.
12.1 – Jerricho Cotchery: Going to have to count on him now that Bowe is out. Receivers that immediately after this pick were Donnie Avery, Ted Ginn Jr, Chris Henry and Steve Breaston.
13.10 – Eagles D: Was planning on playing matchups all year, but it’s hard to bench a defense that makes so many big plays.
14.1 – Davone Bess: Took a flier and lost, especially because it’s non-PPR.
15.10 – Kyle Orton: Looking back, it was pretty risky not to back Schaub up earlier.
16.1 – Robert Meachem: Dumped him a loooong time ago.
17.10 – Peyton Hillis: Dumped him before season even started.
18.1 – Earl Bennett: Another flier that hasn’t been great.

News came screaming out of left field this afternoon that Dwayne Bowe has been suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Wow. Didn’t see that one coming. As a Bowe owner in couple leagues, it’s pretty solid straight right hand to the jaw. It’s not a knockout blow as Bowe was ranked just 26th among fantasy wideouts in non-PPR leagues this season. But it still hurts.

Apparently, Bowe went all soccer mom on us and put on 30 pounds this offseason. That probably explains why he was in Todd Haley’s doghouse earlier in the year. Here’s the scoop from Kansas City Star beat writer Kent Babb:

“He plays a position that hinges sometimes on a swing of three or four pounds, and Bowe had packed on 10 times that amount of weight in only a few months. Haley demoted Bowe, bullied him, disparaged him, embarrassed him. Somehow, it worked. Or seemed to. Bowe lost the weight and became the chiseled wideout that Haley envisioned so many months ago. It really didn't take that long, either.”

So it looks like Bowe used PEDs to lose that weight. Allegedly, of course.

Bowe is eligible to return in Week 15. That’s the first week of the fantasy playoffs for me. Will Haley just throw him right back into the lineup in his first game back? Will he start? Will he get enough targets to be used? Should we keep him on our rosters?

Even though Haley doesn’t seem like the very forgiving type, I’m going to hang onto Bowe because the rosters are pretty deep. The Chiefs play the Browns in Week 15, so in the off chance Haley says, “He’s paid his dues, we’re going to give him 60 snaps in his first game back,” I can use him. If not, I won’t.

Considering the Chiefs play the Bengals outstanding corner duo of Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph in Week 16, Bowe will probably be on my bench that week.

So consider your roster size and what you need down the stretch if you own Bowe. We’re really just hoping against hope for one good week at this point.

* Also, click here for the player news pages for Lance Long and Chris Chambers for Chris Wesseling’s take on the short-term effects of Bowe’s suspension.

Week 10 proved to be a crazy week, mostly because of a rash of key injuries. We’ll touch on some of those briefly here as well as all the surprising stat lines.

Basically, this is a list of guys that I looked at their numbers and said “Really? Why?”

THE GOOD
Jason Snelling – 92 total yards, 1 TD: With Michael Turner reportedly suffering a high ankle sprain, Snelling is a must own.
Muhsin Muhammad – Six catches, 91 yards: I’ll guess that this will be best game of the year.
Donnie Avery – Four catches, 67 yards, 2 TD: We knew he could do this, he just hasn’t been healthy all year. The guy makes big plays.
Brandon Gibson – Seven catches, 93 yards: He was the guy the Rams really wanted when they sent Will Witherspoon to the Eagles. Gibson is legit and is worth a look in deep leagues.
Knowshon Moreno – 18 carries, 97 yards: Correll Buckhalter only got two carries because of a first-quarter fumble. It’s unclear how long C-Buck will be in the doghouse.
Jamaal Charles – 117 total yards, 1 TD: We’ve expressed our love for him in this space before, but the best sign out of this game is that the Chiefs actually agree. He had 22 touches while Kolby Smith had nine.
Justin Forsett – 17 rushes, 123 yards, 1 TD; Five catches, 26 yards: Julius Jones has a cracked rib, which will make the speedy Forsett a very hot pickup.
Beanie Wells – 16 rushes, 85 yards, 2 TD; Two catches, 32 yards: He’s gained on Tim Hightower before, but this time feels different. He’s too good to sit and watch.
Jason Avant – Eight catches, 156 yards: He’s more of a possession receiver and this can be chalked up as a fluke of sorts. Don’t add him.

THE BAD
Bernard Berrian – Three catches, 22 yards: He’s getting phased out with the emergence of Sidney Rice. That’s what happens when your hamstring nags you all season.
Cedric Benson – Seven rushes, 22 yards: Left with a hip injury, tried to return but couldn’t. Early reports are that he’ll play next week, but that seems pretty optimistic to me. Bernard Scott is the add.
Rashard Mendenhall: 13 rushes, 36 yards: Nothing wrong with Mendy, it’s just this Bengals defense is really something.
Chad Ochocinco: Two catches, 29 yards: Chad was looking fresh and good, but the Bengals grinding out the win. He’ll be fine.
Marshawn Lynch: Nine carries, 37 yards: He’s back in an even timeshare. Avoid the situation.
Darren McFadden: Four rushes, 11 yards: Michael Bush and Justin Fargas carried the majority of the load. The Raiders obviously aren’t ready to just throw him back in the mix.
Marion Barber – Five rushes, 26 yards: The Cowboys got behind and gave up on their running game. He’ll get his 15 touches next week against the Skins.
Miles Austin – Four catches, 20 yards: Again Austin faced double teams and again he struggled. Roy Williams is liking it though as he finally got over the 100-yard mark.
Vincent Jackson – One catch, 10 yards: No, he was not hurt at all. Just a weird, fluke of a game for V-Jax. He’s still a fine WR1.

In case you haven’t been constantly refreshing our Player News Page (shame on you), here’s the latest news on all the injuries for Week 10.

*** Designates a true game-time decision.

Check that player news page about an hour before each game’s kickoff to find out the final inactives.

Also, use Gregg’s updated rankings and Evan’s matchup column for help with lineup decisions.

FALCONS at PANTHERS
- Jerious Norwood (hip) is not expected to play.
- Jason Snelling (ankle) is expected to resume his third-down duties.
*** Roddy White (knee) was limited all week. We expect him to go, but check back to be sure.
*** DeAngelo Williams (knee) is a full blown game-time decision.
- Muhsin Muhammad (knee) will almost certainly start but isn’t a fantasy option.
- Dante Rosario (knee) will play.
- Jonathan Stewart (heel) will play and is a very nice fantasy option if DeAngelo can’t go.
*** Brian Finneran (knee) is expected to sit out.
*** Michael Jenkins was a late addition to the report with an illness.

BUCS at DOLPHINS
- Antonio Bryant (knee) is out and Maurice Stovall will start.
*** Derrick Ward (knee) was a late addition to the injury report and is very questionable.
- Michael Clayton (knee) will play but isn’t a fantasy option.
*** Anthony Fasano (hip) is a game-time decision but also isn’t a fantasy option.

JAGUARS at JETS
- Brad Smith (quad) is a go despite being called a “long shot” earlier in the week.

BENGALS at STEELERS
N/A

SAINTS at RAMS
- Lance Moore (ankle) is out.
- Marques Colston had the flu this week but is good to go.

BILLS at TITANS
*** Terrell Owens (hip) says he’s going to play, but coach Dick Jauron doesn’t sound convinced. Owens hurt his hip because he slept on his couch this week. No, we’re not kidding.
- Trent Edwards (concussion) is fully recovered and will start.
- Shawn Nelson (concussion) is a go.
- Justin Gage (back) is out.
- LenDale White (illness) missed a couple practices this week but will play.

BRONCOS at REDSKINS
*** Ladell Betts (ankle) is expected to start even though he isn’t 100 percent.
- Jason Campbell (ankle) is ready to go in a brutal matchup.

CHIEFS at RAIDERS
- Darren McFadden (knee) will make his return, although it’s unclear if he’ll start.
- Chaz Schilens (foot) is expected to finally make his 2009 debut.

SEAHAWKS at CARDINALS
- Matt Hasselbeck (shoulder, ribs) continues to rest during the week but he’s a full go and a sneaky fantasy play.
- Anquan Boldin (ankle) practiced without limitations all week and is certain to start.

COWBOYS at PACKERS
- Jermichael Finley (knee) is out once again.
- Aaron Rodgers (foot) was a little limited this week, but seems to be in better shape than he was last week.
- Jordy Nelson (knee) is set to return as the fourth receiver and returner.

EAGLES at CHARGERS
- Brian Westbrook (concussion, ankle) will play.
- LaDainian Tomlinson (hip) practiced fully Thursday and Friday after sitting out on Wednesday, but he isn’t much of a fantasy option.

PATRIOTS at COLTS
- Brandon Tate (knee) is out for the season.
- Sammy Morris (knee) is out for this week, but is thought to be targeting a Week 11 return.
- Anthony Gonzalez (knee) is out.

RAVENS at BROWNS
*** Jamal Lewis (ankle) is questionable, but expected to play.

There are a lot of big questions surrounding fantasy football this season. Who is that man dressed up as Cedric Benson? Will Steve Slaton ever get his job back? Is Adam Levitan the sexiest fantasy writer alive?

All are interesting questions. But perhaps the biggest question is what the heck is wrong with Matt Forte and the Bears’ running game?

Well, maybe there is nothing at all wrong with Forte. He’s not a high yards per carry (YPC) kind of back anyway. He’s not a Chris Johnson or Maurice Jones-Drew, or even a DeAngelo Williams that will bounce one to the outside and go to the house. Even last year, Forte averaged just 3.9 YPC.

Perhaps Forte just isn’t the kind of back that gets much more than what is blocked. And this year, the Bears’ revamped offensive line isn’t blocking much. That wasn’t supposed to be the case when they revamped their line around left tackle Orlando Pace.

It’s hard to see exactly what goes on in the trenches, so former NFL center and current NFL Network analyst Jamie Dukes’ words really ring true.

“What I look at is they’re a passing team now. Orlando is built to pass block. So don’t beat your head against the wall when the running game isn’t going,” Dukes told the Chicago Tribune.

After Thursday night’s 20 rushes for 41 yards performance, Forte’s YPC stands at 3.4. The Bears already benched left guard Frank Omiyale in favor of Josh Beekman a couple weeks ago. Their line is what it is and there’s virtually no chance Forte is going to snap out of his funk on the ground.

On Monday night, Miles Austin encountered something he had never seen before. It was - gasp - a double team!

Austin and the Cowboys shouldn’t have been surprised at all. The Eagles’ game plan was to take Jason Witten and Austin out of the game and dare Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton to beat them. And the Eagles were very successful at it. If Sheldon Brown doesn’t blow his assignment and bite on a Tony Romo pump fake, Austin would have very likely gone without a catch in the game.

Coach Wade Phillips downplayed Austin’s struggles, saying that the breakout receiver was open plenty. Then why was he only targeted four times all game?

“They doubled him some, which we hadn’t seen, but a lot of the time he was open. It just wasn’t the read that Tony had,” Phillips said, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I feel good about him being consistent in that he is running good routes and he is hard to cover. Hopefully, we will hit him some more times when he has those openings.”

OK, fine. But the point is that Austin better get used to seeing double teams. It comes with the territory of being a No. 1 receiver. Ask Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Johnson how often a safety is rolled to their side. Austin needs to learn how to get through that, and when you go from the No. 4 receiver to the No. 1 receiver in a couple weeks, it could be a struggle.

I love Miles Austin -- he’s extremely talented and explosive after the catch and is in a great situation. But before we put him in that every week group of WR1’s, let’s see him deal with the attention for a few weeks.

Last week, I posted about the teams with the best schedules in the fantasy playoffs. (Here’s the link if you’re too lazy to scroll down, or if your computer can only handle the most miniscule of tasks like mine right now.)

I mentioned the teams with the worst schedules in Weeks 15 and 16 in today’s Dose, but here’s another look with some different points. Again, anticipated weather plays a part.

1. BEARS - @ Ravens, vs. Vikings: The Ravens have been susceptible to the pass this season, but weather is going to be a factor here. Devin Hester gets a slight downgrade and Matt Forte, well, you know.
2. PANTHERS - vs. Vikings, @ Giants: The Giants are really struggling against the pass without Kenny Phillips, but that won’t matter if Jake Delhomme doesn’t snap back to his former self.
3. REDSKINS - vs. Giants, vs. Cowboys: Ladell Betts is deservedly a hot pickup this week, but it’s hard to see him doing anything spectacular behind that line in these matchups.
4. RAVENS - vs. Bears, at Steelers: The home game against the Bears shouldn’t be a problem, but that fantasy Super Bowl game in Pittsburgh in late December is brutal. Good thing Ray Rice is an indestructible force that can not be phased by anything, man or beast.
5. JAGUARS - vs. Colts, @ Patriots - A lot here will depend on if their opponents are locked into playoff seeding. If they are, this could become a favorable schedule. If not, it’s trouble.

The Dolphins put up 35 passes in Week 9. Surprisingly, 14 of those were targeted for our old friend, Davone Bess. It’s a surprise because Chad Henne is not the right quarterback for Bess -- Chad Pennington was. Henne’s big arm likes to go deep, which isn’t Bess’ game.

So after totaling just 66 yards in Henne’s first four starts, Bess had six grabs for 56 yards last week. His 72-catch pace isn’t quite what we hoped for, but it’s not too shabby either. We’ll see if Henne locks on to Bess again this week.

Anyway, on to this week’s highlights. Here are four pass-catching situations that caught our eye in Week 9:

Remember that for a complete target report, plus all the tools you need for Week 9, check out the Season Pass.

CARDINALS
Larry Fitzgerald: 14
Steve Breaston: 6
Early Doucet: 4
Tim Hightower: 3
Anthony Becht: 2
Ben Patrick: 2
Jerheme Urban: 1

We learned on Sunday that Doucet is the Cards’ No. 4 receiver, not Urban. It’s worth nothing because Anquan Boldin is so injury prone and could easily miss more games this year. Also, Breaston was not a target monster just because Boldin was out. Arizona attacked Charles Tillman, who was shadowing Fitzgerald. Then Zack Bowman came on for an injured Tillman, and they attacked that matchup some more.

Since Vince Young took over in Week 7, Gage has been targeted 13 times. Washington has gotten seven looks and Kenny Britt has seen one. There’s not much upside with this passing game, but the only one worth anything right now is Gage.

STEELERS
Hines Ward: 9
Mike Wallace: 8
Santonio Holmes: 6
Heath Miller: 4
Limas Sweed: 1
Rashard Mendenhall: 1

There’s a lot of panic out there about Holmes, but he’s still an excellent WR3 or a low-end WR2. If you don’t believe that, ask Champ Bailey.

REDSKINS
Santana Moss: 8
Fred Davis: 4
Mike Sellers: 3
Antwaan Randle El: 3
Devin Thomas: 2
Malcolm Kelly: 2
Marko Mitchell: 2
Ladell Betts: 1
Todd Yoder: 1
Rock Cartwright: 1

Davis’ target total was pretty disappointing and the fact that one of his drops led directly to an interception is a bad sign. One interesting name on here is Marko Mitchell. It’s painful to say it, but the rookie seventh-rounder is probably a better prospect than Thomas or Kelly.

TARGET REPORT QUICK HITTERS:
Maurice Stovall led the Bucs with seven targets last week and there are calls for him to replace Mark (Oops, Michael) Clayton in the lineup full time. … Malcom Floyd saw seven targets but caught just two balls. Meanwhile, Chris Chambers got four targets in his first game as a Chief and turned two of them into touchdowns. … Miles Austin saw double teams and ended up with just four targets.

One of the things I worry about with stars on bad teams is motivation. When Weeks 15 and 16 roll around, are they going to be there, play the whole game and give their all?

So you can call me crazy, but I felt warm and fuzzy inside when I read this story about Chris Johnson wanting to run for 2,000 yards, courtesy of the Nashville Tennessean:

“It’s a goal of mine. It’s really a goal of the offensive linemen because I told them if I get to 2,000 yards I’d buy them all a car. They want me to get to 2,000 yards more than I want to get it,” Johnson said.

Johnson could be joking, but from reading some of his wild Tweets (here, here and here) he’s probably serious. Johnson is on pace for 1,918 rushing yards at the halfway point, making 2,000 a somewhat realistic goal. What’s not realistic is his absurd 6.7 YPC average. That just can’t continue.

What could continue is Johnson’s workload. He is averaging 22 carries per game over his last three games. LenDale White is getting phased out, even on the goal line. Here’s a quote about why from Jeff Fisher in today’s Tennessean:

“I’d like to see LenDale get more carries but it’s the nature of the teams we play. We feel like we need to beat them with speed.”

The bottom line here is that NFL players, and especially running backs, are constantly getting little nicks. They play through those bumps and bruises 95 percent of the time. But when it’s Week 15 and a star like Chris Johnson has a sore ankle, what’s the point? Why not lessen his workload or even sit him out.

Will Johnson get to 2,000 yards? Probably not. But the mere fact that he’s going for it - and he’s going to get enough reps to go for it - is great news for his owners.

As you all probably know by now, Larry Johnson has been released by the Chiefs. It’s not a surprise at all - when you’re not good at football anymore and continue to be a bad guy, these things happen.

Due to L.J.’s salary, attitude and playing level, he can safely be dropped in redraft leagues. There’s a small chance a team will pick him up, but even then it’s unlikely he would have value. A change of scenery next season could lead to some value, but I'm skeptical.

We talked a lot about Jamaal Charles leading up to Week 9 and it was really, really disappointing that he only got nine touches. Of course, he picked up 55 yards on those nine touches, but the Chiefs were hesitant to use him between the tackles. They used him almost exclusively on draws and perimeter plays, according to the Kansas City Star.

That’s really disappointing because I still think Charles is the Chiefs' best option. As Evan pointed out in his game recap on Charles, his ability to make guys miss is huge when your offensive line is a complete disaster. Kolby Smith is a more straight ahead, grind it out runner and that doesn’t fit here. Johnson was averaging 2.7 yards per carry as he plowed into the line time after time.

We’re expecting an even timeshare between Smith and Charles, with Smith getting the goal-line and early-down work. Personally, I think Charles will emerge as the much more valuable player, but it’s hard to be sure after seeing the way he was used Sunday.

Both guys are worth owning for now, especially with that Week 15 home game against the Browns looming in the fantasy playoffs.

This is not a list of who played well and who didn’t Sunday. For example, Matt Forte didn’t have a great game, but is that really a surprise? Same goes for Dallas Clark’s 14-catch performance.

This is a list of the unexpected heroes and unexpected duds in Week 9:

THE GOOD
Ladell Betts - 15 rushes, 70 yards, 1 TD: Will be a hot waiver pickup with Clinton Portis (concussion) likely to miss at least Week 10.
Laveranues Coles - 6 catches, 72 yards: Even though Chris Henry is probably done for the season, this is probably Coles’ ceiling.
Lance Long - 8 catches, 74 yards: It was speculated that he would take over for Bobby Engram in the slot, and that prediction came to fruition.
Josh Freeman - 205 passing yards, 3 TD: Let’s see him do it again before we upgrade anyone on the Bucs’ offense, but this was really, really unexpected and impressive.
James Jones - 4 catches, 103 yards, 1 TD: He’s a boom or bust type, but he did get six targets.
Brandon Pettigrew - 7 catches 70 yards, 1 TD: Clearly talented enough to have these type of games, but he’ll have some airballs as well.
Jason Hill - 4 catches 50 yards, 2 TD: Don’t react to this. It’s likely Hill’s best game of the season.

THE BAD
Roddy White - 3 catches, 27 yards: We don’t think the knee was an issue. Just a bad game.
Derrick Mason - 3 catches, 33 yards: Let’s chalk this up to a Bengals’ secondary that is no joke.
Jamaal Charles - 9 touches, 55 total yards: If he can’t exploit this matchup, he’s not a flex option.
Marques Colston - 1 catch, 45 yards: Just a fluke as he had a couple big drops. Colston is the only Saints receiver playing 80 percent of the snaps.
Calvin Johnson - 2 catches, 27 yards: His knee injury was not the reason for this. A rookie quarterback was.
Malcom Floyd - 2 catches, 29 yards: Couldn’t connect on his deep patterns. When that happens, stat lines like this happen.
Brandon Jacobs - 11 rushes, 67 yards: A minor knee injury was a little concerning, but we expected more in this favorable matchup. His two rushing touchdowns on the season is most surprising.