Fantasy

Fellow owners of Hakeem Nicks, I feel your pain. I can also relate to what you're going through if you own Greg Jennings, Reggie Wayne or even Anquan Boldin. Those fantasy maestros have been outscored by second fiddles this season with Victor Cruz leading the way. When Cruz burst onto the scene earlier in the season, I was worried the Giants receiver would cut into the targets for Nicks, whom I ranked as a top-five wideout before in the preseason. I never thought for a second that Cruz would actually out-produce Nicks, but he has. Cruz ranks fourth among wideouts with 131 fantasy points (based on ESPN standard scoring)

The timing is a little peculiar, but the Denver Broncos said adieu to former starting quarterback Kyle Orton on Tuesday. He had a good fantasy run under Josh McDaniels, but turnovers did him in with new coach John Fox. Where will Orton wind up? We will find out in the next few days. But Houston and Chicago lost their starting quarterbacks to injury, as did Kansas City, which isn't in the playoff hunt. Teams with worse records than the Texans and Bears get first dibs, but if the bottom-feeders pass, those two teams are intriguing destinations.

Grumpy Ravens coach John Harbaugh on Monday had to answer a few questions about the use of Ray Rice in Sunday's 22-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Based on the line of questioning from reporters, I'm guessing at least one of those guys has Rice, who had 27 rushing yards on a season-low five carries, on their fantasy team. Sunday was the fourth time this season that Rice got fewer than 15 carries (uncoincidentally, the Ravens are 1-3 in those games). He got eight carries against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and afterward, Harbaugh vowed to get him more.

The Philadelphia Eagles haven't been the team we expected (I'm no longer using the 'D' word when talking about the Eagles, and you're welcome). They are 3-5 at the midway point of the season, and their margin for error to make it into the playoffs is slim. But have the Eagles been dreamy from a fantasy perspective? (Crap, I slipped up already. Dream Team. Dream Team. Dream Team. Now it's finally out of my system.) Michael Vick was right there with Aaron Rodgers in preseason rankings in most fantasy football publications, and ESPN's Matthew Berry said Vick should have been considered with the first overall pick.

Last week, we looked at the biggest surprises of the 2011 fantasy football campaign . This time around, we will hand out dishonors to the disappointing (non-injured) players who have torpedoed our seasons so far. Try not to cuss too much in the comments section below after reading this list, OK? Quarterback: Philip Rivers, Chargers. His miscues were on display Monday night, but he has been stinking up the joint all year, with 11 interceptions to go with seven TD passes.

Every season, a few surprise studs come out of fantasy Siberia to reward savvy owners who had the foresight to select them in the later rounds of the draft. A season ago, Adrian Foster, Peyton Hillis and Brandon Lloyd come to mind. Ray Rice, Miles Austin and Sidney Rice were unlikely heroes in 2009. And so on and so forth. Midway through the 2011 season, let's take a look at this year's biggest fantasy surprises. If one of these guys is on your team, give yourself a pat on the pack (but don't do it as hard as Jim Harbaugh did to Jim Schwartz)

Carson Palmer will be a hot commodity on the waiver wire this week after the Cincinnati Bengals traded him to the Oakland Raiders for a pair of high draft picks. I can't imagine that someone in your fantasy league already has Palmer on his or her roster -- unless you're in a league with Mike Brown, who finally made a deal Tuesday. So what's his fantasy value? At the very least, he should be as productive as Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell, who suffered a broken collarbone Sunday, an injury that set the gears in motion for a deal.

In last week's installment of Fantasy Fodder, I cautioned you to not panic and trade away one of five notable early-season disappointments if your team was stuck in the cellar. I hope this past week was better for you. This week, we're going to turn the tables. If you're in first place in your league and closing in on a playoff spot, don't stand pat. Now is the time to feed on the desperation of owners who feel their season slipping away. If you have depth to burn, start working the phones -- or the Internets if you are socially awkward -- and try to set up a 2-for-1 or a 3-for-2 trade to upgrade your starting lineup.

Desperation might be setting in inside your fantasy locker room if your squad is 1-3 or 0-4 at the quarter pole, especially if you're in a cutthroat league where only four or six teams make it into the playoffs. We have enough data to see that trends are developing, and it looks as if some big names in fantasy are on track to be big busts. But in some instances, it's too soon to push the panic button on certain players likely drafted in the early rounds. When your fellow owners try to prey on your desperation, here are five players you should hang on to tightly: 1. Philip Rivers: The Chargers quarterback has thrown more interceptions (six)

Torrey Smith torched the Rams in Week 3, catching five passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns. Now he is burning up the waiver wire, and you can be sure that someone will claim him in your fantasy league. I got a text message shortly after midnight early Monday morning from a friend from Pittsburgh who wanted to know what the deal was with Smith so he could put in a waiver claim. It wasn't hard, but I convinced the Steelers fan to drop Hines Wards for Smith (of course, only a Steelers fan would own Ward at this point)