He may never be a top-tier fantasy WR, but Cankosyan thinks Deion Branch has become a very serviceable fantasy option.

QB Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers
I’ve been telling anyone that would listen that Big Ben would have a strong comeback season, so it’s time for me to tout my own horn.  Roethlisberger has formed a close bond with new coach Mike Tomlin and seems to embrace his tough ways.  He was never himself last season after the horrible pre-season motorcycle crash.  Roethlisberger is a legitimate QB1 this year, and you could never say that in the past. 

WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Bengals
T.J. is having a great year as evidenced by his lofty second-place standing (behind Randy Moss) in HEAT leagues to date.  He’s taken full advantage of Chris Henry’s suspension to form the best 1-2 punch with Chad Johnson.

WR Deion Branch, Seahawks
Branch is rewarding fantasy owners that showed him some love.  He’s taken advantage of Darrell Jackson’s absence to firmly establish himself as Matt Hasselbeck’s favorite target.  He’ll probably never justify the first round pick that they gave up for him, but he could turn into a quality receiver in fantasy land.

WR Derrick Mason, Ravens
Mason is quickly making up for a disappointing 2006 season with a fine showing thus far.  He is racking up the receptions regardless of who’s throwing him the ball (McNair, Boller).  Mason will never garner as many catches as he once did for the Titans, but he’s a strong WR2 if he keeps this up.

TE Dallas Clark, Colts
I thought that a close friend of mine was absolutely nuts to trade Jason Witten for this guy, but I may yet eat my words.  Clark already has four touchdowns, and Manning is looking for him more than ever.  I don’t see him passing Antonio Gates or Kellen Winslow, but he could be a top-five tight end by year’s end.

Stock Down

RB Brian Westbrook, Eagles
I remember catching some heat from The Headless Honcho and the Geekmaster on our radio show when I said that I would never use a high first round pick on Westbrook.  You should NEVER use a high pick on players that consistently fail to play sixteen games.

RB Frank Gore, 49ers
A lot of pre-season magazines had Gore leading the NFC in rushing this year.  Four games into the season, he’s yet to crack 100 yards rushing in a single game.  To make matters worse, he hasn’t had more than three receptions in a game either.  It’s an understatement to say that Gore has been a huge bust.

RB Brandon Jackson, Packers
I thought that he had a chance to put up decent numbers on a Packers team with no other real running back.  Well, I was wrong, because no one on the Pack has been able to revive a listless running game that’s one of the league’s worst.

WR Darrell Jackson, 49ers
Jackson is partially suffering from playing with that bum Alex Smith.  Well, the guy that I keep telling you who won’t amount to anything hurt his shoulder last week, but it won’t get any better with Trent Dilfer.  The latter is a classy guy, but he doesn’t have the passing skills to connect with his wide receivers on a regular basis.  Sorry, Darrell, you should have kept your big mouth shut and stayed in Seattle!

TE Chris Cooley, Redskins  
Is it just me or has he been invisible all season?  I keep waiting for the breakout game, but it never seems to occur.  You know it must be bad, because right now I would trade him in a heartbeat for Todd Heap.  He’s the 19^th rated tight end in HEAT at the moment, and he’s behind such household names as Jeff King (Panthers) and Justin Peelle (Dolphins).