FanHouse Mike Thomas

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 ...
New wide receiver corps! Jacksonville rightly saw a huge amount of turnover at wide receiver this year, jettisoning off-the-field scoundrel Matt Jones, draft bust Reggie Williams, free-agent bust Jerry Porter, and slot receiver Dennis Northcutt. To replace that group, the team drafted three wideouts and brought in veteran Torry Holt to lead this new-look attack. Of the rookies, Jarett Dillard looks like a good bet to eventually start, while Mike Thomas should see plenty of time in the slot. Holt makes for a nice fantasy value pick, and Mike Walker could be a great end-of-the-draft flier that pans out in a big way.

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Mike Stoops was on the proverbial hot seat before last season. After all, his Arizona Wildcats bumbled to a 17-29 mark in his first four seasons in Tucson. Fans were impatient and the pressure was beating on Stoops like the unrelenting desert sun. Stoops, whose brother Bob is the head coach at Oklahoma, finally found on-field success in 2008, leading UA to a 31-21 Las Vegas Bowl victory over favored Brigham Young, securing his job and giving the once downtrodden a program a boost.

Arizona has a chance to consistently compete with the second tier teams in the Pac-10 -- there is one top-tier team, USC -- and perhaps challenge the Trojans with some consistent recruiting classes fueled by the bowl win.

If Mediocrity had a football team, its mascot would most likely wear a giant foam Mike Stoops head

Ahhh, mediocre college football. Three words that go together like turkey, gravy, and stuffing.

While the majority of space here at FanHouse and on every other college football publication will be focused on the Top 25, season after season a huge slice of the college football fan pie (mmmm...fan pie) find themselves supporting a team who would most aptly be described as thoroughly mediocre, at best. I'd venture to guess that for every legit contender, there are probably three teams with a couple of flaws so glaring that only those blinded by the partisanship of homerdom can pretend their team's downsides won't inevitably sabotage any hopes of playing in a bowl of even moderate respectability.

And therein lies one of the most cruel realities of the college football landscape: winning 6 or 7 games is no small feat, and yet every year coaches and players around the country will be abused for achieving that very milestone. Of course, when you play in a conference like the Pac 10 -- who rewards its third place finisher with a December 31 game in El Paso's Sun Bowl -- can you really be that surprised when fans and pundits are critical of barely topping out above .500?

Who from the Pac 10 will slide to the middle of the pack in 2008? Here's a quick rundown of the leading candidates for Pacific time zone mediocrity this season.