FanHouse Garrett Wolfe

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 percent of Fleaflicker leagues that could give your fantasy football team a big boost.

Big props go to Tom Herrera, who pegged Sam Aiken as a deep sleeper at the end of our Sunday Tailgate chat last week. Lo and behold, Aiken came through with a long touchdown. Will Tom have the magic again this week? Come by the Tailgate and see his pick for deep sleeper this week. As for my picks, read on.

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
First Chicago Bears team with a franchise quarterback since face masks were invented. A message to non-Bears fans from Bears fans: Don't bring us down. If you want to make fun of us for being a bit overzealous about Jay Cutler, then maybe you should take a gander at the load of crap the Bears have been using at quarterback. From Cade McNown to Moses Moreno to Chad Hutchinson to Peter Tom Willis to ... whatever. You get the point. Let us also remember that having Cutler doesn't necessarily make everyone fantasy gold automatically. The tremors are more real than fantasy.

---

---

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 7 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Steven Jackson, RB St. Louis (25 carries, 160 yards, 3 TDs) -- The problems in Dallas are apparent, and they deal a lot more with a porous defense than with a questionable trade deal and an injured starting quarterback. Jackson is basically the St. Louis offense, accounting for more than half of the Rams' offense in his breakout performance of 2008. His day was highlighted by a 56-yard dash through diving Dallas defenders and was the crème brûlée on an already exquisite feast. Left for dead two weeks ago, the Rams have reeled off two straight against tough NFC East opponents and are in the only division they might have a shot at winning, thanks in large part to Jackson's incredible performance.

What a crazy game.

You've got an old-school NFC North -- formerly NFC Central -- battle. The black and blue division. Two foes who like to use the "run and defense/smash mouth" method to win football games.

Or not.

Let's try 558 yards passing as opposed to 208 yards rushing. Or think about the 72 passing attempts compared to 54 rushes.

People who bet the "under" in this game could see the writing on the wall before the first quarter was over.

Let's try to sort out this mess of a game, which was by far the most fun game I've seen this season. Obviously my being a Bears fan helped, but there were so many wacky occurrences. Like ...

- The Vikings lost the turnover battle five to one, yet still only lost by a touchdown.

- Gus Frerotte threw four interceptions to a Bears secondary that has been decimated with injuries -- Nathan Vasher, Charles Tillman, and Danieal Manning all missed the game.

- It was Gus Frerotte and Kyle Orton at QB. Glance back up above at those passing vs. rushing numbers.

In the NFL, Chicago Bears running back Garrett Wolfe is a mostly anonymous special teams player. But at Northern Illinois, where he played from 2003 to 2006, he's a star. Wolfe is perhaps the best football player in the school's history, and he led the nation in rushing during his senior season.

So when a gunman killed five students and himself at Northern Illinois on Thursday, Wolfe felt personally affected, even though he didn't know anyone involved. He told the Chicago Sun-Times:

''I got a phone call, then flipped to the radio and then the words started: 'shooting,' 'injuries,' 'Northern Illinois University.' I was stunned and ran in the house just as they started to mention 'deaths' on TV. I was very shocked and very saddened.''

While Wolfe knew none of the victims, he eerily recalled taking the same class in the same auditorium inside the ill-starred Cole Hall.

''When they said 'oceanography' and 'Cole Hall,' all I could think was 'unbelievable,''' he said. ''I took that class in that room my sophomore year. I could picture every door, every aisle, the stage, everything that they were reporting on. In a million years, you would never, ever imagine something like that happening in a setting like that.''

Wolfe's words echoed those of many Northern Illinois students: "It's all so sad, so tragic. I love NIU.''

Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo met with the media in Chicago today and his mantra of the day was competition. Whether talking about quarterbacks or running backs, he stressed the need for one player to stand out among many before the team names its starter for 2008. He began by discussing Rex Grossman's future with the team.

"We would like to have Rex back. Rex showed some good play, particularly when he was coming back off his little sabbatical. We'd like to have as much competition as we can there."

I realize he's being cute with the sabbatical comment, but Grossman wasn't off studying the indigenous quarterbacking styles of the Nile Delta. He was benched and the team suffered because Brian Griese wasn't able to do any better. Kyle Orton is a fine backup option but Griese doesn't fill any need for this team going forward. That means the team needs to bring in someone who can push Grossman, rather than be a fallback if he fails again.

Angelo seems open to that idea and is open to new faces at tailback as well.

"If something were to arise and there's a good back in the marketplace or in the draft that we feel can complement the backs or give us the kind of competition that we feel [is needed], then we're going to look at that as well."

As the Chicago Bears prepare to play out the string, David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune is calling for them to start using some new players to find out what they have. Running back Garrett Wolfe, wideout Mark Bradley and linebacker Jamar Williams are all players that the Bears need to see more of to assess their future with the club.

Haugh also points to Kyle Orton as a player in need of some field time. Orton could have some trade value in the offseason. It's not a bad idea but it is looking more and more like Rex Grossman will be back next season. Since that's the case he needs as many reps as possible even at the expense of Orton's marginal trade value.

Sunday's game provided ample evidence that the Bears believe their offensive future is in Grossman's arm. Why else would they pass the ball on nine of 13 plays after taking a 16-7 lead against the Giants on Sunday? Adrian Peterson carried the ball twice with the lead in the fourth quarter, bizarre play calling when you're trying to outlast your opponent but even stranger when you factor in your line's inability to protect Grossman.

It could be that Ron Turner knows that the team won't want to install a new offense if they keep Grossman. What better way to ensure that choice then calling tons of passes to show off Rex's cannon and keep your job in the process.

Earlier this morning Michael David Smith called the Bears decision to enter the 2007 season with the same three quarterbacks as last year the worst of the NFL offseason. After Brian Griese's three interceptions in yesterday's 37-27 loss to the Lions it's hard to argue with that. But poor offensive decision making wasn't limited to the quarterback position.

While standing pat at signal caller the Bears chose to make a change at tailback. After splitting the workload in 2006, Thomas Jones was allowed to leave as a free agent and Cedric Benson ascended to the starting job. Jones hasn't worked out as expected for the Jets but Benson's been an out-and-out disaster for the Bears. He's averaging just 3.2 yards per carry and has scored one touchdown through four games.

Even worse he can't hold onto the ball. Benson has fumbled three times in 74 carries, including one in the second quarter yesterday that led to his benching for two series. The rookie Garrett Wolfe took his place in the lineup for two series but Benson returned in the second half. He won't keep getting that chance if he doesn't treat the ball with more respect. The Bears simply can't afford a quarterback and a running back who give the ball away as often as their current ones.

He played better in the second half, picking up 47 of his 50 yards after the break, but its clear that the Bears aren't running the ball with the same authority this year. The blame can be spread around to the offensive line and defenses that know they aren't going to get beat via the air but its clear that giving Benson the job all by himself isn't paying any dividends.

Just because you've never heard of anybody in the MAC Conference, doesn't mean there isn't anybody worth watching. With the college football season beginning soon, FanHouse gives you "MAC Daddies," a look at some players you may not yet know about but should.

If the Ohio Bobcats are going to make a second straight appearance in the MAC Conference championship game, it's going to be by riding on senior running back Kalvin McRae's shoulders. All the talk surrounding running backs in the MAC may have been on Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe last season, but don't think opposing defenses aren't fully aware of who McRae is.

If it wasn't for Kalvin McRae, the Bobcats would not have played in their first bowl since 1968, and he'll be looking to get them back to another one this season.

Last season McRae became the first Ohio running back to post back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons in thirty years, finishing up with 1,252 yards rushing, and a school record 15 touchdowns. As he enters his senior year, McRae finds himself only 1,009 yards shy of becoming the school's all-time leading rusher, a position currently held by the legendary Steveland Hookfin. We really need more people named Steveland Hookfin in this world.

If McRae doesn't break the record, it will probably be bad news for the Bobcats. He set yet another school record with eight 100-yard games last season, and Ohio went 8-0 in those games. When he finished under the century mark, Ohio was 1-5. As if that wasn't enough, Kalvin also led the Bobcats in receiving with 29 receptions and 280 yards.

In other words, the kid is good. Very good. You may not get to see much of him on television this season, but you'll probably be seeing him on an NFL field next season.

A few quick thoughts on the win over Northern Illinois:

• There's going to be a lot of hand wringing over a defense that allowed Garrett Wolfe to rack up nearly 300 all purpose yards, but I really don't think it's warranted. Wolfe is a heck of a player and deserves a lot of credit, as does the NIU offensive line. That being said I really believe the Bucks went to pretty vanilla schemes on offense and defense after quickly going up 28-0. It's not in Tressel's nature to run up the score, and he substituted pretty liberally as the game went on. I'm not saying I feel any better about the defense, but I don't feel any worse either. What we saw on Saturday won't be at all what we see against Texas.
• Troy Smith is an absolute beast. Watching him hook up with Ted Ginn Jr. was like watching Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson go to work. This offense is going to be a blast to watch this year.
• Ted Ginn Jr. might deserve some Heisman hype this year. Too early to really be talking about it, but he looked awfully good, and he was extremely involved in the Buckeyes offense which was great to see. He can't pull any disappearing acts this season.
• I'm not going to judge the kicking game just yet. The field was damp, and Pretorious' kick was extremely long. Pettrey's field goal attempt was really bad, as bad as anything I've seen a Buckeye kicker do in years and years, but hopefully they'll be able to get it together. The pressure is going to be intense this weekend, and I'm not sure I wouldn't rather have the 27 year old, former pro athlete, Ryan Pretorious doing the field goal kicking in that situation. Kickoffs were fairly good though, the more touchbacks the better, and I think Pettrey will be fine in this area.
• The running game was terrific, and I'm even more pumped about Chris Wells now, even with the fumble. He's going to be the face of the Buckeyes starting next season.
• And on the lone bit of controversy, Justin Zwick was clearly down before the fumble.

Overall a good win. Probably not as dominating as some Buckeye fans would have liked, but I'm happy with the majority of what happened on Saturday.

I'm already feeling a little nervous in anticipation of Texas. Going to be a long week waiting for this one.