By John Nemo

The sudden rash of injuries to superstar running backs - Priest Holmes, Edgerrin James, Deuce McAllister, Shaun Alexander - has fantasy owners scrambling and guys like Derrick Blaylock, Larry Johnson and Ki-Jana Carter becoming hot commodities.

HOT BOX

Gotta play: Rod Smith, WR, Broncos. He's getting tons of looks and putting up respectable numbers, and Denver should have its way with San Diego. Stay away: Fred Taylor, RB, Jaguars. Colts RB Edgerrin James shredded the Titans last week, but Taylor and the Jags don't have Peyton Manning at QB to keep the Tennessee defense honest this week. Worth watching: Eric Parker, WR, San Diego. He has put together a pair of nice games and could make for a solid pickup. Don't expect much this week against a solid Denver secondary, however.

Also, guys nobody drafted keep putting up incredible numbers.

All smiles

Curtis Martin already has scored four times while leading the NFL with 157.5 yards rushing per game. But after this week's bye, Martin has Miami (twice), Buffalo (twice), Baltimore and New England on the docket.

Thomas Jones finally escaped Arizona and is becoming a fantasy superstar. Warrick Dunn has scored four times in the first two weeks. The only negative for Dunn owners is that he injured his left knee last Sunday and could miss some time.

The replacements

Keep an eye on Indy's Dominic Rhodes (at home against Green Bay) and Kansas City's Derrick Blaylock and/or Larry Johnson (home against Houston). They'll be worth a starting nod if James or Holmes can't go this week.

The Saints have re-signed Carter to split time with Aaron Stecker while McAllister misses the next four to five weeks with an ankle injury. Stecker isn't good enough to be a feature back, so expect Carter to get the bulk of the work with Stecker being the third-down/change-of-pace guy.

Another guy who might have been available as recently as last week, DeShaun Foster, ran for 174 yards and a score against Kansas City's matador defense last Sunday. With starter Stephen Davis out for several weeks with a bum knee, Foster makes for a solid starter.

Committee chaos

Even though Ron Dayne continues to steal all the goal-line carries, Tiki Barber is finding a way to provide decent stats for his owners. In Cleveland, Lee Suggs has gone from sleeper to scrub thanks to a neck stinger injury. William Green has done little as the feature back, and James Jackson looked explosive against Dallas last Sunday.

Pittsburgh's Jerome Bettis didn't get to steal any of Duce Staley's touchdowns last week, but when Staley was given some goal-line carries against Baltimore, he couldn't punch it in. Rev up the Bus.

In Minnesota, it looks like Michael Bennett is almost ready to return. In St. Louis, Marshall Faulk will keep rookie Steven Jackson waiting in the wings for at least another Sunday or two. Meanwhile, the Julius Jones era ended before it began in Dallas, and rookie ReShard Lee will get a chance to compete with Eddie George.

John Nemo can be reached at

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