Dream Team: Grass Was Greener

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Is your fantasy football team a nightmare? Express' Chris Mincher gives his advice on who to play and who to bench.

THE TRADING DEADLINE has probably passed in your league, meaning you're stuck with what you got from here on out. It's kind of a scary feeling, but buck up — you've spent all season meticulously crafting your squad just for this moment. Or... you just got lucky, and now you need a few wins to secure one of the last playoff spots, but you have no solid players.

Clearly, Player B has cause for concern. But you cocky LT and Peyton Manning owners out there should be alarmed as well. How are you going to win playoff games if you're top starters get rested for the NFL playoffs? It might look intimidating in your lineup, but you might as well have drafted Quincy Carter as your top quarterback, as much good as it does you now.

That's why now is the time to start making sure you've got backups in place, in case the worst-case scenario comes to light. Be prepared, that's what the Boy Scouts always say. ("I know how to tie 398 different types of knots," is another thing they often say.) So here's a few guys that might still be sitting out in free agency that might be worth a bench spot while taking the wait-and-see approach. Better to have someone now, rather than desperately looking 10 minutes before gametime.

» TRENT GREEN, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
Apparently, Green's brain has found a nice place in his skull to settle back into, as he's felt more and more comfortable throwing the ball in each game back from dropped to the turf in Week One like a point scored in Nintendo's "Duck Hunt." He's no Damon Huard yet, but a couple wins should bolster the veteran's confidence and his experience in coach Herman Edwards' we-pass-because-we-can-run offense.
TAKE: Green's not going to have his fourth straight year with 4,000 passing yards, but it's pretty easy to rack up stats when every player on the field is looking at your running back instead of you.

» LENDALE WHITE, RB, Tennessee Titans
White's value immediately soared among rookie-worshipers when ex-starter Chris Brown yapped his way into pre-free-agency purgatory. But White's had only 43 yards total in his last four games as now-starter Travis Henry has single-handedly resurrected the Titans' ground game. Considering how much consistent run support has shortened the learning curve for quarterback Vince Young — look Ma, no receivers! — don't expect coach Jeff Fisher to jeopardize his re-secured job by messing with the moves-devoid, inexperienced White.
TAKE? In every game in which White has ran more than seven times, the Titans have lost. He's insurance for Henry only. And not even very good insurance. The type of insurance you'd see on poorly produced local-access commercials involving dancing women in tight clothing.

» BRANDON JONES, WR, Tennessee Titans
Now that free-agent-head-scratcher David Givens' now-you-see-it-now-you-don't season with the Titans is permanently over, Jones has become the starter — and, last week, he had his most catches in any game this season and a touchdown. It just goes to show that Vince Young has learned a valuable truism of life: When life hands you Brandon Joneses, make Brandon Jonesade.
TAKE? Earlier this year, Titans wide receivers had the approximate expected longevity of success as a Pamela Anderson marriage, but one can't deny that the team's offense as a whole is on the up and up.

» ASHELIE LELIE, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Ah, Atlanta, where receivers' careers go to die. Consider: Only three wide receivers currently active have a catch this year. None of them have at least 325 yards on the season. None of them have at least 30 catches. Now that's he's been promoted to the starting lineup over first-round-pick-flushed-down-the-toilet Roddy White, the only stat that will go up for Lelie is the number of blocks he makes for a scrambling QB Michael Vick. (Side note: At first, I didn't realize Vick was giving double middle fingers to the crowd after last week's game — I thought he was holding up his number of passing yards.)
TAKE? If the Falcons were a rock band, Lelie would be the group's new maracas player.

» JEFF GARCIA, A.J. FEELEY, QBs, Philadelphia Eagles
Garcia was signed in the off-season to help complete the team's collection of QBs disliked by Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens. (Excuse me, Andy Reid, but Drew Bledsoe is on the phone for you. Should I tell him to hold?) Now that surgeons have to make starter Donovan McNabb a new knee — from scratch, just like Grandma used to make — Garcia finds himself as the starter of his fourth team in as many years. Of course, if he loses one more game, the Eagles will be effectively out of the playoffs and possibly tempted to play A.J. "Guess I'll Go Eat Worms" Feeley. If there's any Eagles fans still reading at this point, we're glad you're still with us. Not so much as an reader, but as a person who hasn't thrown himself or herself off a balcony.
TAKE GARCIA? He's having his best season in five years and hasn't thrown an interception yet, for what's that worth (not much). If there's anyone who could take the Eagles undefeated for the rest of the season, it's him ... but you ex-supermodels out there might want to hold off a few games before trying to get his number.
TAKE FEELEY? Feeley and the Eagles are like that twice-broken-up couple that everyone knows is only back together because she couldn't find someone better when they had split up.

Photos by Brian Bahr and Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images.