Week 4 Oct 6, 2004 | More

Going into the season, the expectations were pretty low for the San Francisco 49ers.  With guys like TO, Garcia, Hearst and Streets moving on to other teams, the starting offense from last season was decimated.  One potential bright spot was supposed to be Kevan Barlow getting out from Hearst’s shadow to be the full-time runningback.  He was probably drafted early in the second round of most drafts. 

However, the 49ers’ offense is dreadful, and the lack of a passing game has hurt Barlow’s value.  Kevan struggled again this past week rushing for only 42 yards on 15 carries.  In our competition, he beat out injured RB Domanick Davis with 75% of the vote and has been eliminated.

At the top of the stats sheet was a blast from the past this week.  The ageless Emmitt Smith rushed for 127 yds, scored 1 TD and passed for a TD.  The passing touchdown was the first in Smith’s distinguished career.

Another couple of backs showed up this week filling in for their injured starters.  Amos Zereoue took over from Tyrone Wheatley early in the game and rushed for 117 yds and 2 TDs.  Jonathan Wells took the rock from Domanick Davis to pile up 105 yds and a TD.  Both of these guys will probably be atop the waiver wire pickup requests going into week 5.

One last guy to acknowledge this week is Priest Holmes, who made a statement that he hasn’t lost his prowess for big games.  He blasted through a tough Ravens defense to rush for 125 yds and 2 TDs on Monday night and led the Chiefs to their first victory. 

Now onto the nominees for this week’s Ultimate Fantasy voting.

Current contestant list:

Shaun Alexander      Tiki Barber                Kevan Barlow

Domanick Davis        Stephen Davis          Corey Dillon            

Marshall Faulk          Ahman Green            Travis Henry

Priest Holmes           Edgerrin James          Rudi Johnson

Jamal Lewis             Deuce McAllister        Clinton Portis

Fred Taylor             LaDainian Tomlinson    Brian Westbrook

Each week we’ll take the 2 lowest fantasy producers based on the Fantasy Sharks scoring system and put them up for an elimination vote.

This week you will have the pleasure of 3 candidates to vote for.  Domanick Davis is out on the injured list and will join the 2 lowest scorers for your voting.

Fred Taylor has been a disappointment so far this season.  This past week he rushed for 68 yds and caught 3 passes for another 31 yds for 9 fantasy points.  

Travis Henry had a decent game against the Patriots as he attempts to hold onto the starting job in Buffalo.  He rushed for 98 yds on 24 carries for 9 fantasy points, but still did not reach the endzone. 

So we have two disappointing performances and one injured player. You can only vote for one to be eliminated.  Place your vote now.