Hot pickups - Week 11

• Chester Taylor, welcome back to fantasy relevance. The Minnesota Vikings' veteran RB was a 1,000-yard rusher last year in his first season as a full-time starter, but he's been just a tad outshined by a certain rookie you may have heard of. The good news for Taylor is twofold: Adrian Peterson is out this week (perhaps longer) with a knee injury, and Taylor gets to face a subpar Raiders D this week. Yum. FIVE STARS (Out of five)

• Seems like fantasy nerds have been talking about Selvin Young all season long, but the Broncos rookie RB just busted out his first TD and 100-yard game in Week 10. Starter Travis Henry is suffering from an ailing knee and, more importantly, has a possible drug suspension looming. Better get Young if you still can. FIVE STARS

• Brodie Croyle gets his first start in an attempt to give the Chiefs "a spark." Not sure how that's gonna work out, but young Brodie does have a couple things going for him this week against the Colts: he's got emerging star Dwayne Bowe to throw to, and he won't have to worry about QB killer Dwight Freeney, who's out for the year. Croyle's really only an option in deep leagues, but he will probably hold down the starting job for the rest of the year, so he gets TWO STARS. His wife, meanwhile, gets FIVE STARS

• Anytime a little-known TE catches two TDs in a game, you have to take notice. That's the case with Leonard Pope of the Arizona Cardinals. Pope's only averaged about a catch a game in his two years in the NFL, but caught five last week, two for scores, against the Lions. It's hard to expect that kind of performance again from the big dude, but hey, if you're looking to shake your roster up this week and catch lightning in a bottle, you could do worse than this guy, especially since he faces the Bengals. TWO STARS

• You know the story with Rex Grossman at this point: he's usually good for a few bombs and a few boneheaded plays a game, and it all depends on the ratio on a given week. He's about as extreme as it gets when it comes to rolling the dice, so be warned if you're thinking about using him this week against the Seahawks. TWO STARS

• Apparently Ricky Williams has cleared his mind or found his inner self or something, because he's been reinstated by the NFL and wants to get back on the field. The real shocker is the Dolphins are willing to give him a roster spot after coach Cam Cameron met with him in person Thursday and figured he's got nothing left to lose (except all the rest of his team's games). It's anybody's guess as to whether or not Williams will even see the field, let alone be even half as effective as he once was. Jesse Chatman owners have to be a little bummed too by this development, but don't get discouraged yet. Until we see something out of him, it's hard to get too high (pun intended) on Ricky as a fantasy player. ONE STAR



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