The Shot Caller's Report strives to identify players that are borderline fantasy plays and clarify whether they should be started or benched. Rather than telling you to start Peyton Manning and bench Joey Harrington, the Report looks at those "stuck in the middle" guys and evaluates if they will help your team win.

Bye weeks and injuries continue to take their toll on fantasy teams. Hopefully you planned well in advance to deal with your players’ scheduled time off. This week finds the Bears, Dolphins, Giants, and Rams all on byes. The good news is that those teams aren’t exactly rich with fantasy potential, with a handful of obvious exceptions. The best news is that the dreaded bye weeks are almost done, with Week Ten being the final one. At that point owners can start the lineup they envisioned during the draft. Until then we will help find the correct warm body to fill in the Eli Manning, Torry Holt, or Cedric Benson shaped hole in your starting lineup.

Quarterbacks

Must Start:

Philip Rivers @ MIN: The San Diego running game hasn’t been as dominant as in years past, much to LaDainian Tomlinson owners’ dismay. As long as LT isn’t allowed to run for 200 yards and three touchdowns every game, Rivers will throw touchdown passes pretty regularly. The Chargers have too much talent on the offensive side of the ball for the Minnesota defense to keep them out of the end zone and the addition of Chris Chambers to the team’s list of weapons helps Rivers immensely.

Matt Hasselbeck @ CLE: For the first time in seemingly forever, Hasselbeck is expected to have his full complement of receivers. Since he has been doing an adequate job without his top two guys, it only makes sense that he will do even better with some more talent out on the outside. And he travels to Cleveland this week, where the Brownies defense has been seen only on the back of milk cartons.

Jay Cutler @ DET: Cutler is a starting option only when the match up is in his favor and it doesn’t get much better than Detroit. When the opposing defense is giving up more than 250 yards through the air on average and has allowed wide receivers to routinely score, I call that a pretty good match up. Cutler’s upside is limited because he really isn’t very good, but the Lions are in the habit of making opposing QBs look awesome.

Brett Favre @ KC: That overtime pass to Greg Jennings certainly seemed to take the edge off all the Favre haters out there. Maybe he does have some life left in that 38 year-old arm. The Chiefs boast a solid defense, but expect Favre to quickly figure it out and exploit any weaknesses. Remember not that long ago when the pundits were complaining Favre had no one to throw the ball too? Times have changed with the emergence of Jennings and James Jones.

Going Out On a Limb:

Jason Campbell @ NYJ: Who watched the New England Patriots humiliate the Redskins on both sides of the ball last week? After that, Campbell needs a confidence-boosting outing, a specialty of the Jets defense. It would certainly help if the Washington wide receivers decided to play a little and make a few catches since they are out on the field anyway.

Grab A Clipboard:

Kellen Clemens v. WAS: Clemens finally takes over the helm after watching Chad Pennington dink ‘n dunk his way to the bench. At least Clemens can throw a deep ball, something his predecessor struggled with. Unfortunately, this new era of youth and optimism will get crushed by a very good Washington defense. Don’t let their performance last week against the Patriots fool you; playing a normal NFL team, the Redskins are an elite defense.

Tarvaris Jacksonv. SD : Sure, he has been banged up, but that doesn’t give him a free pass to suck. In the four games he has played, Jackson has three touchdowns, five turnovers, and has yet to throw for more than 170 yards. On a team devoid of quarterback talent, he may not even be the best QB there. Meanwhile, there are whisperings that the Tarvaris Jackson experiment may be ending before the season does.

Vince Young v. CAR: Young has taken up permanent residence in my “don’t start” room. For all the hype, you would think he has done something with the passing game or at least ran the ball effectively. Fantasy owners don’t really care how you get the job done as long as you put it into the end zone. Young has tallied four total touchdowns this season and posted a whopping 53 yards last week against Oakland.

Damon Huard v. GB: Somehow the Kansas City Chiefs are leading the AFC West. This is the only reason Huard hasn’t been benched for quarterback of the future Brady Croyle. The Chiefs offense is close to the bottom in points scored and most other offensive categories so a change can’t hurt the rest of the team too much. Huard is just keeping the seat warm until KC is eliminated from any realistic chance to make the playoffs.

Steve McNair @ PIT: According to Matt Waldman, I am contractually obligated to write something about McNair in each of my articles. Waldman’s man-love aside, McNair has sucked this year. In his four games, McNair has two touchdowns and six turnovers. Lack of ball security is expected in a rookie, not a grizzled veteran like McNair. His luck won’t change against the Steelers.

Running Backs