tashard choice

Every season, a few surprise studs come out of fantasy Siberia to reward savvy owners who had the foresight to select them in the later rounds of the draft. A season ago, Adrian Foster, Peyton Hillis and Brandon Lloyd come to mind. Ray Rice, Miles Austin and Sidney Rice were unlikely heroes in 2009. And so on and so forth. Midway through the 2011 season, let's take a look at this year's biggest fantasy surprises.

Carson Palmer will be a hot commodity on the waiver wire this week after the Cincinnati Bengals traded him to the Oakland Raiders for a pair of high draft picks. I can't imagine someone in your fantasy league already has him on his or her roster -- unless you're in a league with Mike Brown, who finally made a deal Tuesday.

Looking back, the 2008 NFL draft produced a strong crop of running backs. Darren McFadden, Matt Forte, Rashard Mendenhall and Jamaal Charles are all starters now. Jonathan Stewart, Tim Hightower, Felix Jones, Tashard Choice and Steve Slaton have each had their moments.