FanHouse BillyVolek

Waiver Wire Wonders is your weekly guide on how to use/abuse those pesky waiver claims that come with every fantasy football league.

The beauty of fantasy football is that this late in the season, there are always people of relative importance popping up. Sometimes it's because they took a while to develop, and sometimes they emerge because of early season injuries that turned them into cast offs and pariahs. Yet, here you are, still desperate after all these weeks. Go ahead, don't be shy. You can admit you're at least intrigued by Cadillac.

Cadillac Williams, RB, TB
Yes, that's right. The old car that your grandmother drives is suddenly relevant again. Why? Because he's coming off the PUP soon and Jon Gruden has shown little to absolute zero care about how he manages his roster in the name of winning. (What? Don't believe me? How about starting Brian Griese and putting Earnest Graham in at fullback?) And yeah, Caddy has talent. He's hurt, sure, but, hey, so is Ryan Torian. Sigh. Not your top priority, but certainly worth a claim.

Deion Branch, WR, SEA
Just like this guy. Branch hasn't garnered much attention this year because he hasn't done anything other than pretend he might come back. But he will be back in Week 11, presumably, and that's why you want to grab him now -- if you're hurting at WR and Matt Hasselbeck happens to make it back about the same time, suddenly you're staring at a poor man's Billy Volek - Drew Bennett combo.

Last offseason, the Rams let slot receiver Kevin Curtis sign with Philadelphia but thought that they had covered their tracks by signing Drew Bennett (because, as we all know, white receivers are all exactly the same). That turned out to be, uh, not so smart -- Curtis had 1,110 yards and six touchdowns, Bennett had 375 and three.

Of course, the situations they were in played a part in that discrepancy -- it's naive to think Curtis would have had such a great season if he stayed in St. Louis -- but Bennett just isn't a very good player. He's still living off the reputation the briefly-prolific Billy Volek-Bennett connection produced, when the duo caught fire towards the end of the 2004 season, but you don't see anyone arguing for Volek as a legitimate starting quarterback. Other than that aberration, Bennett is an average third option who routinely sits near the bottom of the league in catch percentage.

Which is why it makes perfect sense that the Rams handed him a starting job this season. Actually, it's a promotion borne out of necessity, as the team doesn't have any other viable option opposite of Torry Holt. Bennett is saying all the right things about bouncing back, but I'm dubious. Sure, I expect the offense to be better, but with Holt's knee deteriorating the team doesn't have a receiver to draw attention from Bennett.

Maybe he doubles his numbers from last year, which is a step in the right direction, but falling in line with his career thus far -- serviceable, yet wholly overrated.

The Rams saved themselves some cash earlier today by restructuring Leonard Little's contract. The plan was to get Isaac Bruce -- you know ... future Hall of Famer, third in all-time receiving yards, sixth in all-time receptions ... yeah, that Isaac Bruce -- to take a pay cut. Bruce wasn't too receptive to that idea.

So the Rams cut loose the 35-year-old former second-rounder who has spent all 14 of his seasons in St. Louis rather unceremoniously. The dispute was a $2 million roster bonus. The Rams wanted Bruce to forget about that and just play for his $3 million salary.

Bruce had game last year, putting up solid numbers in a terrible offense, but he's obviously at the age where each season is one season closer to a plummet in ability. He'll find work -- and probably pretty quickly -- from someone willing to believe he has another year, and he's a great locker room presence for young receivers. An amateur connect-the-dots places him in San Francisco, where the 49ers need receivers badly and Mike Martz will probably make a push for him. But who knows.

The Rams, meanwhile, better take some of the money they're creating to go find another receiver. If they're planning on going into the season with Torry Holt and his deteriorating joints, the remarkably below-average Drew Bennett (where for art thou, Billy Volek), and that collection of backups ... Chip Rosenbloom's not going to enjoy his first season.

I'm guessing Don Banks' editor suggested a "how the Chargers can win" column, but I give the guy credit for coming up with five semi-plausible ways it could happen.

1. LaDainian Tomlinson must be a difference-maker
2. A surprising contribution from an unsung player
3. Keep those turnovers coming
4. Harrison and Seau play more like old Patriots rather than ex-Chargers
5. History to repeat itself

Let's see: the Patriots will certainly focus on stopping LdT first and worry about Philip Rivers/Billy Volek a distant second. Which makes No. 2 even more important. And while New England hasn't been prone to turnovers this season, windy conditions might also help with No. 3.

And I'd say that both Harrison and Seau are capable of playing like they've been in the league a combined 30 years: they've done it for most of the last month or so. Harrison is a liability in coverage and good for at least two personal-foul penalties a game; Seau doesn't have the lateral mobility he once did, so if LdT, Michael Turner or Darren Sproles can turn the corner, there could be yards there. Concerning the last point, it's worth remembering that Drew Brees was still with the team.

Still, none of this is earth-shattering stuff, but it doesn't need to be -- it's going to come down to execution. A cliche, yes, but also the truth.

When it was all said and done, it was Billy Volek who scored the game-winning touchdown. Yes, that Billy Volek. How many of you saw that coming?

It was necessary for the Chargers, though. LaDainian Tomlinson was on the sidelines with a bruised knee, Philip Rivers left the game with a leg injury after throwing a touchdown pass to Darren Sproles. Bob Sanders and Reggie Wayne both got hurt, and Marvin Harrison spent the last half of the 4th quarter on the bench.

So in the end, Volek and Michael Turner proved to be the 4th-quarter heroes for San Diego in their 28-24 win over Indianapolis. A.J. Smith look like a genius for keeping Turner around for another year, doesn't he?

As for the Colts, it all came down to turnovers. Despite an otherwise sensational day, Peyton Manning watched two passes bounce off his receivers' hands and into the hands of Chargers defenders. That plus Marvin Harrison's key fumble killed three potential scoring drives for the Colts. Converting only 3 of 11 3rd downs didn't help Indy's cause, either.

So the Patriots-Colts rematch that everyone was expecting has been spoiled, and guess what? A team coached by Norv Turner spoiled it. I bet you didn't see that coming, either, did you?

The headline in Friday's Chicago Tribune: "Bears Could Get New Blood at QB in '08."

Now there's an idea that makes you think: Hey, this would've been great, say, LAST YEAR. But as everyone remotely affiliated with professional sports is seemingly fond of saying these days: it is what it is. Rex Grossman is in the last year of his rookie deal, and if things continue on this southward trajectory (and why wouldn't they?), it's fair to think that the Bears won't re-sign him, and even if they offered, Grossman might decline.

Anyway, Dan Pompei lists the top candidates for Bears' job in 2008:

* Derek Anderson
* Brian Brohm
* Daunte Culpepper
* Josh McCown
* Donovan McNabb
* Chad Pennington
* Jake Plummer
* Tony Romo
* Chris Simms
* Billy Volek

Jeebus, I'd love to see the guys who didn't make the cut. A couple of thoughts: you know the current quarterback situation is dire when Anderson (will lose Browns job before the season's out) McCown (about to lose Raiders job), Plummer (retired, really into handball), Simms (recovering from spleen surgery) and Volek (red-headed backup) all make the list.

Second, Brohm, McNabb and Romo are such long shots, it makes you wonder what, exactly, Chicago's front office has planned. Or, more importantly, what they've been doing the past few drafts. Good news, though: I hear Kordell Stewart and Erik Kramer are available.