Eye on the Prize: Hail Mary Candidates for Hardcore Fantasy Footballers

First, a disclaimer. This list is not necessarily a go pick this guy up right now type deal. If you play in an 8-12 team league and you don't have injury or ineffectiveness issues, this list is not for you. If you, however, play in a 16 or more team league with a deep bench, and you have been sitting there waiting on Willis McGahee to show up with a pulse for the past couple weeks, well, I may have something for you.

We call them "Hail Mary" choices because picking up some of these guys would be like throwing a Hail Mary pass. The odds of it winding up helping your team are slim, but there's enough of a chance FTW to hurl it up there. If you have dead weight on your deep bench, let us consider the following dudes.

I've attempted to list them in the order of their likelihood at helping you.

And, actually, the top guy is a sleeper is most leagues for this week ...

Maurice "MoMo" Morris, Seahawks
He's overtaken Julius Jones in the Seahawks backfield. Sure, he's done very little all season -- save for a 100-yard game in Week 12 -- but he gets the hapless Rams in Week 15. You could do worse.

Reggie Williams, Jaguars - Matt Jones is suspended, so someone will have to account for the nine targets a game Jones averaged. Williams caught 10 touchdown passes from David Garrard last year, so he's the obvious choice.

Ahmad Bradshaw, Giants - If Brandon Jacobs is held out of any games, Bradshaw is definitely usable in large leagues. I don't believe the Giants would put the game solely in Derrick Ward's hands, and they are predominantly a running team.

Brandon Jackson, Packers - I missed the mark badly last week on him, but he has looked like a better back than Ryan Grant -- in my humble opinion -- when given carries this season. If anything happens to Grant, Jackson's an immediate stud.

Desmond Clark, Bears - Kyle Orton loves his tight ends, especially in the red zone. The Saints and Packers aren't exactly faring well defensively of late, so you could do worse.

Brandon Jones, Titans - The Texans can be thrown upon, so Jones is a deep sleeper for Week 15. I would not, however, expect him to record more than a catch or two in Week 16 against the Steelers.

Fred Jackson, Bills - For some reason, Jackson's been getting most of the red zone touches instead of Marshawn Lynch lately. Up until this past week -- where he didn't touch the ball -- Jackson usually received at least five touches. Don't look at him this week against a solid Jets run defense, but in Week 16 against the atrocious Broncos run defense he's worth a flier.

J.J. Arrington, Cardinals - I don't expect the Cardinals to run the ball very well in the next two weeks (home against Minnesota and a trip to New England), and Arrington is the pass-catching back.

Steve Smith, Giants - The Giants offense was stagnant this past week. They'll look to get it back on track, and they'll need to find a reliable receiving option for the times they do go through the air. Why not Smith?

Jordy Nelson, Packers - You could find a lot tougher passing defenses than the Jags and Bears. Here's a gamble with huge reward potential because I expect the Pack to be passing frequently.

Harry Douglas, Falcons - Speaking of huge upside gambles, you can do much worse than trying to use a young speedster who is liable to take it to the house from any point on the field.

Patrick Cobbs, Dolphins - While the Niners are vastly improved under Mike Singletary, they still grade out as a subpar defense overall. The Chiefs defense is, well, pretty pathetic. Those are the Dolphins' opponents for the next two weeks. Cobbs went nuts one time this year. If you want to gamble with your championship that he does it again in Week 16, now is the time to stash him on your bench.

Jamaal Charles, Chiefs - Maybe I'm just hoping the Chiefs finally wash their hands of Larry Johnson. Whatever. Charles rushed for over 100 yards against the Bucs -- which would have meant a ton more if I said that last week -- so why not build for the future around a young and exciting back?

Adrian Peterson, Bears - If the Bears get scared about Matt Forte's workload, Forte gets injured, or the Bears blow out the Saints or Packers at home, then Peterson is the guy who gets the touches. Last year against Green Bay at home, Peterson went for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Ken Dorsey, Browns - He's terrible. I know, but we're getting to the bottom of the barrel here. You know what else is terrible? The defense the Bengals run out every week. That's who Dorsey and the Browns get at home in Week 16.

Quinton Ganther, Titans - He had three carries for 23 yards on Thanksgiving. The Titans are one win and one Steelers loss away from clinching home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. If they decided to rest LenDale White and Chris Johnson anytime, Ganther should get around 10 touches.

Todd Collins, Redskins - If the Redskins bench Jason Campbell, Collins jumps in.

I seriously just unearthed some sleepers for those of you playing in 24-team leagues with the last three picks. I can't reiterate the point enough that you have to be in a huge league or have a really deep bench -- probably both -- to check out the bottom of this list.

Either way, it's always fun to think about possible breakthrough guys where you can tell your league how sagacious you are, right?