FanHouse Dennis Northcutt

Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.

Sunday's Top Riser: We've seen this Tom Brady before, and it was in 2007 when he threw for almost 5,000 yards and totaled 50 touchdown passes. So far in 2009, he'd been good, but not great. And we drafted Brady for great in fantasy football. Enter the Tennessee Titans and the worst pass defense in football. Brady, despite playing in a quasi-blizzard, completed 29-of-34 passes for 380 yards and six touchdowns. That's all he'll need to get that swagger back. Next week against Tampa Bay, he's going to put on a show across the pond in London's Wembley Stadium, and he's a bonafide top-three fantasy QB again -- you can take that to the bank.

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Need a last-minute fill-in for this week? 4th and 26 is here to throw you a couple deep sleepers, guys available in at least 90% of Fleaflicker leagues that could give your fantasy football team a big boost.

If you're looking for sleepers, check out our weekly Passed Out at Your Desk column. If that well has run dry (and seriously, David Clowney is claimed in your league?), you're now in the right place. We'll throw a couple obscure darts at the board and see if any stick.

Remember, if you want specific advice tuned to your fantasy situation, drop by the Sunday Tailgate chat today. We always have a lot of fun and answer a ton of fantasy questions leading up to kickoff.

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

We kinda saw this coming. Wouldn't it be nice if Calvin Johnson could transform like the real Megatron and withstand even the most crushing blows? Alas, he's human just like the rest of the stars our fantasy football team depends on. After taking a beating against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Johnson limped off the field with a right knee injury, his second ailment in the past two weeks. Now his status is very up in the air heading into what would be a great matchup with Green Bay. Is it time to get worried about our silver-and-blue crusader?

Weeding through those unwieldy waiver wires requires a keen eye and a quick trigger. Thus, Waiver Wire Wonders provides a weekly snapshot of players worthy of consideration who should be available on a good portion of league waiver wires.

Rarely does the old waiver wire produce the type of numbers it did in Week 5. While a couple of Sunday's performers come as no big shock, the talk of the day comes with regard to the two monumental breakouts: a pair of receivers starting in place of injured teammates to the tune of 250 yards and 142 yards respectively, both with a pair of long touchdowns. Beyond that, we have the usual mix of old dogs coming back out to show they still have it and some sleepers to mark on the radar screen.

About the last thing the Detroit Lions can afford is an injury to a prominent player. You don't go 0-16 if you have a long line of top-notch talent on the roster. For the Lions, there's no doubt that wide receiver Calvin Johnson is one of few players with All-Pro talent.

While it's still early in camp, the Lions got a bit of a scare Sunday, as Johnson left practice after jamming his thumb. On Monday, he was still sporting a cast.

One of my favorite moves on fantasy football draft day is taking a late-round gamble and letting everyone else laugh at me. You can have the first round, just let me pick late. To illustrate, here's an actual message board post last season after one of my drafts: "Commish Snyder purposefully did not draft a kicker so he could take a flier on yet another long shot (Steve Slaton of the Texans). I'm sure he'll say it will pay off in the long run."

My response? "I'll end up dropping Patrick Crayton (my fifth WR) for a kicker before week 1 when Slaton wins the Houston gig -- unless someone suffers a season-ending injury, in which case I'll drop that person."

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A little more than a week before the start of training camp, the Rams ensured that they'd have a wide receiver whose name isn't meant with blank stares. St. Louis dealt defensive tackle Orien Harris to the Lions on Wednesday for Ronald Curry, a rare swap of two players who have never played a regular-season snap for the team that traded them.

Curry should slot in alongside Donnie Avery in the Rams' starting offense, which is a lot better situation than the one he left in Detroit. The Lions signed him in April, but he became an unneeded part after the team dealt for Dennis Northcutt in late June.

Following a historic 0-16 season, the Detroit Lions have undergone a franchise makeover -- both on and off the field. Martin Mayhew has taken over for the maligned Matt Millen and Jim Schwartz is now the head coach. They have made myriad changes via trade, free agency and the draft.

Thus, they look toward training camp with a new motto. Detroit is "The Land of Opportunity." The meaning to the phrase is that Schwartz and Mayhew have instilled a new philosophy, which they are calling "no starters, no depth chart." The theory is that nothing is set in stone and anyone can win a job in training camp (though I'm guessing Calvin Johnson is quite safe as the starting WR1).

Multiple sources are reporting that Jacksonville has agreed to send wide receiver Dennis Northcutt to Detroit in exchange for safety Gerald Alexander.

The Jaguars were rumored to be shopping Northcutt recently -- a notion confirmed by Northcutt's agent (who, incidentally, is also Alexander's agent). The 31-year-old receiver is scheduled to make $2.75 million in 2009. But it was the presence of rookies Jarret Dillard, Mike Thomas and Tiquan Underwood, along with the free-agent signing of Torry Holt, that made Northcutt expendable for Jacksonville.

In fact, despite his 44 catches for 545 yards last season, the Jags were prepared to release Northcutt if a trade partner could not be found.