Week 4: Pickups of the Week

QB Mark Sanchez, ---

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New Orleans, Miami (twice), Buffalo (twice), Jacksonville, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Atlanta -- all teams in the bottom half of the league in terms of stopping the pass; all teams Mark Sanchez will get to face this season. He's handled the pressure of the NFL spotlight well so far and is starting to look like a safe bye week replacement or even spot starter. If you're an owner who was counting on Chad Pennington or (ugh) Mark Bulger, go out and pick up Sanchez.

RB Ahmad Bradshaw, ---

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Bradshaw has performed his complimentary role well so far this young season. He romped all over the Buccaneers in week 3 and gets a similarly soft opponent in the Chiefs for week 4. Bradshaw is a decent flex play right now, but he'd vault to must-start status if something were to happen to Brandon Jacobs. While it seems impossible that anything short of a torch and pitchfork-toting mob could do damage to the monstrous Jacobs, he has missed eight games over the last three seasons. Bradshaw is an intelligent plan B for fantasy owners.

RB Donald Brown, ---

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Brown looked explosive at times, slicing through the Cardinals for 112 total yards. So far, Brown has been on the short end of the 60-40 split with backfield-mate Joseph Addai. It's not the kind of formula that will last. The Colts made Brown their first round choice for one reason: they don't see Joseph Addai as a long-term answer at RB. Brown should see an increase in playing time as the season winds on and could overtake Addai soon with more performances like last Sunday's.

RB Glen Coffee, ---

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Sprain, strain... let's just call it an ongoing ankle concern. In any case, Frank Gore is limping again and his backup needs to be owned. Coffee -- the preseason standout -- has been quiet so far, but could be primed to give fantasy owners a welcomed jolt if, as seems likely, Gore misses the next few weeks. Coffee had to fight for every inch in Minnesota, but the yardage should be much easier to come by this week. Whoever starts at RB for the 49ers makes for a particularly compelling play the next two weeks against St. Louis (who have given up almost 150 rushing yards per game, and in week 5 against Atlanta gave up 136 rushing yards per game).

RB Fred Taylor, ---

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New England has spread the carries around and will continue to do so, but it looks like the majority of handoffs will still to go to Fred Taylor (who turned back the clock last week with 105 rushing yards against the Falcons). At 33, Taylor is the oldest starting RB in the league. He'll be a gamble some weeks (week 4 against the Ravens, for instance), but should pay dividends as the weather starts to turn and the Patriots look for ways to help take the pressure off their passing game. The image of Tom Brady in a snowy Gillette stadium might be refreshing to some New England fans, but most would be happy to see him able to hand the ball to a trusted RB when the elements get nasty.

WR Donnie Avery, ---

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Yes, he was probably dropped in your league due to his terrible start. Yes, he has already lost two fumbles. Yes, as the team's supposed #1 receiver, he recorded a grand total of one catch for four yards against the lowly Redskins. Yes, he's still worth picking up. Until a block-gone-wrong prematurely ended his season, Laurent Robinson had been picking up Avery's slack. Now Avery will have to rediscover some of the flash he showed last season. With Keenan Burton and Ruvell Martin as the remaining alternatives, the Rams will have no choice but to keep going to Avery until it works. This is a team that has been playing from behind all season long. Sooner or later, the garbage-time passes and touchdowns will start falling into Avery's hands.

WR Davone Bess, ---

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With Ted Ginn Jr. doing nothing to inspire their confidence, Miami quarterbacks have been turning to Davone Bess. Bess hasn't seen the end zone yet, but has been a major PPR asset. In his six starts last season, he averaged almost six catches per game. He already has 17 catches this season and is firmly entrenched as one of the league's smallest possession receivers. Buffalo is tied with Jacksonville for a league high in completions allowed. That makes for fertile ground in which to plant the seeds of a promising QB/WR combo. New starter Chad Henne will do well to take advantage of the reliable Bess.

TE Todd Heap, ---

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He is a former two-time Pro Bowler and, at just 29 years old, holds the Ravens all-time record for yards and touchdowns by a receiver. Why, then, are fantasy owners so reluctant to give him a second chance? Heap missed most of 2007 with a hamstring injury and posted fairly pedestrian numbers in 2008, but 2009 will be different. QB Joe Flacco was a first-year starter last season and was on a tight leash. This year, he's been authoritatively unleashed and every Ravens receiver stands to benefit. Heap has two TDs already. On a newly potent passing attack, this one-time elite TE should not be ignored.

PK John Carney, ---

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Thanks to the Saints' high-powered offense, Carney is averaging an obscene 5 PATs per game. Tack on two field goals per contest and you've got yourself a fantasy X-factor. Nobody likes relying on kickers -- especially kickers who are older than dirt, but you should make an exception for Carney. He finished third in league scoring as a Giant in 2008. At a grizzled 45 years of age, the exceptional Carney could very well pace the league in points this season.

Cincinnati

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The Bengals have a new edge this season. They have one of the league's top young cover corners in Leon Hall, one of the league's most violently athletic linebackers in rookie Ray Maualuga, as well as the league's most up-and-coming pass-rushing threat in Antwan Odom. Add to that a massive and mobile defensive front anchored by Peko and Johnson, a playmaking linebacker in Rivers and two of the most imposing headhunters in the league in Williams and Crocker, and you've got a defense that inspires respect. Don't believe me? Test-drive them against the woeful Browns this week.