Each week I will write about one or more players unfamiliar to many fantasy owners, but who have a chance to become worthwhile fantasy producers this season. I will not always recommend them as immediate waiver-wire pickups, but I do recommend knowing who they are and following their weekly progress.

Eric Parker, WR, Chargers

Eric Parker leads the Chargers' group of unheralded wide receivers this year. He is currently in his third season; his playing time over the past two seasons has been limited, but he has made plays when given the chance. Undrafted after an injury-marred career at the University of Tennessee, Parker was worked into the rotation late in his rookie year after Curtis Conway was injured, and he immediately became the team's clutch receiver. He finished the year with 17 receptions, many coming on key third down plays, and zero drops. Parker's second season was cut short by a shoulder injury, but he again made plays when called on. In Parker's career, he has turned 37 receptions into five touchdowns, and has only one drop.

Parker has a very small frame and has been injury-prone throughout his career. But when he's been healthy, he's done everything asked of him. Being a productive wide receiver means getting open and catching the ball, and Parker can do both. He has adequate deep speed with exceptional quickness. He changes direction on a dime, and runs deceptive patterns that keep defenders off balance. Moreover, he has excellent concentration and will make the tough catch in traffic. He also has excellent open-field run skills, as he demonstrated during last year's preseason when he returned several punts for touchdowns.

Watching Parker play, it is hard to question his skill. He has the route-running ability and hands to be a go-to NFL wide receiver. There are, however, several factors working against him as a fantasy receiver:

1. In his first two seasons, Parker has made his contributions primarily as the third wide receiver rotating into spot duty. Does he have the size and strength to fend off physical corners every play over the course of an entire game? While doing so, can he stay healthy?



2. The Chargers will probably finish in the bottom half of the league in pass attempts; and the passes they do attempt will be disproportionately intended for Antonio Gates and LaDainian Tomlinson instead of the wide receivers.



3. Although Eric Parker is the most polished wide receiver on the Chargers' roster, he is not the most physically gifted. Reche Caldwell is blessed with better physical tools, and if he lives up to his potential, could emerge as the Chargers' go-to receiver at some point in the season.

Overall, you should be happy if you've spent a late-round draft pick on Eric Parker; and if he's available on your league's waiver wire, he is worth picking up. He was targeted only five times last week, but as opposing defenses begin to give Antonio Gates more attention, things will open up on the outside for the wide receivers. I would expect Parker to end up with roughly Eddie Kennison-like numbers, maybe slightly better: 850-900 yards receiving and 6-7 touchdowns.

Reche Caldwell, WR, Chargers

Like Eric Parker, Reche Caldwell is also in his third season with the Chargers. While Eric Parker has been a pleasant surprise as an undrafted free agent, however, Caldwell has been a disappointment thus far, having generally failed to live up to his second-round draft position.

Caldwell is rich with physical tools. He has good size (5-11, 215), fine speed, excellent quickness, and nice strength. He is a smooth athlete with good open-field run skills. He also has large, naturally soft hands and can pluck the ball.

It's the mental aspects of the game in which he's been lacking.

As a rookie, Caldwell had trouble lining up in the correct position and running the right patterns. He also had lapses in concentration leading him to drop easy passes, and this carried into his injury-shortened second season as well. He has always caught the ball well in practice, but has seemed to lose his focus in games. (While Parker has five career TDs and one drop, Caldwell has four TDs and five drops.)

Caldwell worked hard this past offseason, gaining nearly 20 pounds of muscle without sacrificing any speed, and had a very good preseason. With Tim Dwight nursing a hamstring injury, Caldwell got the start in week one and responded with four catches - no drops - for 65 yards and a touchdown. His score came on a double-move versus man-to-man coverage that left rookie CB Dunta Robinson literally in the dust.

If Caldwell continues to play well, he should keep his starting job over Tim Dwight, and he has the potential to put up decent numbers in any given week. He is worth considering for a fantasy roster spot because he has the physical talent to become the Chargers' top receiver later in the season. For now, though, despite his better week one statistics than Parker's, he is still a complimentary receiver in a run-first offense. He would be on my list of possible waiver-wire acquisitions . . . but he would be behind David Terrell, Cedric Wilson, Eric Parker, David Patten, Keary Colbert, and perhaps Doug Gabriel - more in the range of Az-Zahir Hakim and Antonio Bryant.