Amid drops, T.O. is a catch on fantasy league waiver wire

By Sal DeFilippo

Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 | 10:13 a.m.

I was perusing through the waiver wire one of my fantasy football leagues this week, as I do every week, foolishly hoping another team owner in our league would have foolishly dropped Dallas Clark instead of Desmond Clark or something.

That never happens, but once in a while you find a player on there who you have a hard time believing was simply discarded.

This week, I picked up Terrell Owens. Yeah, that Terrell Owens, the guy who’s scored 140 touchdowns in his career, including 38 the previous three seasons.

How could T.O. be there? And more surprisingly, why he didn’t hold a press conference to draw attention to the fact that he was on our league’s waiver wire? Owens has been as quiet off of the field this season as he has been on it.

That’s almost as uncharacteristic as the reason behind him being a fantasy football reject – the fact that he’s scored only two touchdowns all season – including a 29-yard rushing TD last week -- and has very pedestrian receiving totals halfway through the season with only 23 catches for 281 yards.

I’m sure people in our league were curious why I’d grab Owens going into his bye week, but I figure his statistics from this weekend won’t be much different from previous weeks, so why not?

I know fantasy football is all about guys who are performing now and not relying on what someone did last year (who out there has LenDale White?) and that playing on a team with a good supporting cast can make a big difference in your stats (Matt Cassel), but it’s so bad for Owens these days that Roy Williams, the underachieving Cowboys receiver, said during interviews about his lack of production and subsequent discussion in the media about how he’s simply not on the same page with quarterback Tony Romo: “I’m not a T.O… I’m not trying to be a T.O.”

Ironic, considering his statistics are actually a little worse than that of Owens. And the pickup probably won’t do much for my team, but keeping that second kicker on my bench wasn’t doing a whole lot, either.

Sal’s picks: Another candlestick week – 1-1-1 against the spread – has me sitting at 12-10-2 for the season. This week, I’m going with the Falcons -10 against the Redskins; the Cowboys-Eagles over 47½ and the Jaguars -6½ against the Chiefs.

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The media/celebrity picks:

Lance Burton, Monte Carlo master magician (15-9)

Falcons -10 vs. Redskins

Panthers +14 at Saints

Steelers -3 at Broncos

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Anthony Crivello, star of "Phantom -- Las Vegas Spectacular" (14-10)

Jaguars -6½ vs. Chiefs

Ravens -3 at Bengals

49ers -4 vs. Titans

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Carrot Top, Luxor headliner (16-8)

Colts -9 vs. Texans

Falcons -10 vs. Redskins

Bears -3 vs. Cardinals

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Terry Fator, Mirage headliner (12-12)

Packers -10 at Buccaneers

Steelers -3 at Broncos

Eagles-Cowboys over 47½

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Oscar Goodman, mayor of Las Vegas (13-11)

Ravens -3 at Bengals

Falcons -10 vs. Redskins

49ers -4 vs. Titans

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Ryan Greene, Las Vegas Sun sports writer (11-12-1)

Jaguars-Chiefs under 42

Packers -10 at Buccaneers

Steelers -3 at Broncos

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Alicia Jacobs, KVBC entertainment reporter (13-11)

Bengals +3 vs. Ravens

Steelers -3 at Broncos

Cardinals +3 at Bears

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Kevin Janison, KVBC meteorologist (11-13)

Ravens -3 at Bengals

Packers -10 at Buccaneers

Cowboys-Eagles over 47½

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Christine Killimayer, Greenspun Interactive sport reporter (11-13)

Bengals +3 vs. Ravens

Saints -14 vs. Panthers

49ers -4 vs. Titans

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Wayne Newton, "Mr. Las Vegas" (11-12-1)

Cardinals +3 at Bears

Cowboys-Eagles over 47 ½

Titans +4 at 49ers

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Frank Caliendo’s Fantasy Studs of the Week

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay and D’Angelo Williams, Carolina

Did you hear that 13 fans were arrested at Lambeau during the Vikings/Packers game? I can think of 5 people Aaron Rodgers should be able to file attempted manslaughter charges against. His offensive line. This week it should be a lot

safer, as he faces a bye week, you know, the Bucs.

Tampa is so pathetic that the Somalian Sailors have sued to keep the Buccaneers out of the Pirate union.

The Panthers will run D'Angelo Williams at the Saints, trying to keep the ball out of Drew Brees’ hands and more importantly, Jake Delhomme's.

Last week’s rating:

FIELD GOAL. Frank correctly predicted that Steven Jackson would find the end zone for the first time this season, and he did much more than that, rushing for 149 yards. But Jay Cutler wasn’t so spectacular, throwing for a pedestrian (in fantasy circles, anyway) 225 yards and no touchdowns with an interception.