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

Patrick Ramsey, QB, Redskins

The Redskins are off to a disappointing 2-5 start, and QB Mark Brunell is taking a lot of the blame, at least from the fans. Head Coach Joe Gibbs has stood by Brunell so far, but it appears to be only a matter of time until Patrick Ramsey takes over. Realistically, the Redskins are already out of the running to make the playoffs, and Brunell isn't the same quarterback he was a few years ago. His 52.4% completion percentage is last in the league, and his 5.33 yards per attempt is next to last.

If Ramsey takes over for Brunell within the next several weeks, how can we expect him to fare fantasy-wise? Now in his third year, Ramsey has shown flashes of tremendous talent already in his short career, but he has been inconsistent. He has a good arm, a nice sense of timing, and excellent accuracy when he sets his feet. He can also look off the safeties and make good decisions with the ball. He is not particularly mobile, however, and appeared to have lost his confidence at times last year.

Ramsey's big-play ability was evident at the beginning of last season when he threw for 356 yards and 348 yards in back-to-back games in weeks two and three. Those would be his only really big games of the season, however, as Spurrier's team struggled the rest of the way after a 3-1 start.

Whenever Ramsey does take over - and I believe it's a matter of when, not if - he will have a couple of talented receivers to throw to in Laveranues Coles and Rod Gardner, as well as Clinton Portis as a dangerous weapon out of the backfield. And unlike Brunell, Ramsey may be able to open up the Redskins' offense by getting the ball downfield effectively. It is not a stretch to think that Ramsey could become a legitimate fantasy starter over the last third of the NFL season.

In large leagues (e.g., 16 teams), starting quarterbacks are scarce, and cannot generally be found on the waiver wire in the middle of the season. Ramsey is a QB who will probably be his team's starter down the stretch, and may still be available.

Drew Henson, QB, Cowboys

Henson spent the first six games of this season as the Cowboys' third-string quarterback, but was promoted to the number two job before last week's game.

Starter Vinny Testaverde has not been playing badly, but at 41 years old, he is not the QB of the future in Dallas. Drew Henson is. Or he might be. That's something the Cowboys ought to want to find out, to the extent they can, before this season ends.

The Cowboys currently sit at 3-4, nearly out of the running to win the NFC Eastern Division with the Eagles sitting pretty at 7-0. But they are still in the wild card hunt, and until they are out of it, Bill Parcells vows to stay with Testaverde.

If you pick up Henson now, therefore, you should expect him to sit on the bench for at least another four weeks or so. If he does get the chance to finish out the rest of the season after that, it will be during your fantasy league's crunch time and playoffs . . . and it's never too early to start planning for your fantasy playoffs.

If and when Henson is inserted into the lineup, how will he fare? The short - and honest - answer, of course, is that it is impossible to know. Most young quarterbacks struggle in their first few games, but as Ben Roethlisberger is showing, that's not a foregone conclusion.

What Henson has going for him is great size, accuracy, and arm strength. He has a quick release, and can throw on the move. He is not a major threat to take off and run with the ball, but he has adequate mobility in the pocket and is a good all-around athlete. While the physical skills are there, he may need some time to adjust to reading NFL defenses after having only two years of college football experience and then spending three years playing minor league baseball for the Yankees. What he lacks in experience he may be able to make up for with intelligence, but that remains to be seen.

Had Henson been eligible for the 2004 draft, he would likely have been the fifth quarterback taken after Manning, Rivers, Roethlisberger, and Losman. His physical skills are comparable theirs, but his time away from football would likely have dropped him into the second round.

What I said above about Ramsey applies to Henson as well: it is difficult in larger leagues to find a starting quarterback on the waiver wire. If you are in a 16-team league and you have poor depth at QB, it may be worthwhile to pick up Henson (if Ramsey is unavailable) with the expectation that he'll become the Cowboys' starter for the final part of the season.