1. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
Playing at home, Brees should carve up the Cowboys.

2. Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals
Ignore last week. Warner is going against the Lions.

3. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Rodgers should play well against the free falling Steelers.

4. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans
The Rams are horrible. That could be good and bad for Schaub.

5. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys
Expect the Cowboys to pass a lot trying to survive the Saints.

6. Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Look for Brady to try to quiet the whispers about Randy Moss.

7. Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles
The Niners don’t defend well on the road. McNabb should shine.

8. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
Rivers is playing really well and so are his receivers.

9. Jason Campbell, Washington Redskins
With Campbell on fire and the Giants cold, he’s a sleeper.

10. Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle Seahawks
Hasselbeck is healthier and is playing the dormant Bucs.

Donovan McNabb is a top ten option this week (Image: Zuma Press)

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QB Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals
So far, Kurt Warner has had a relatively quiet season. But in Week 9, he was great. He finished with 261 passing yards and five touchdowns passes.

RB Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons
To help power the Falcons over the Redskins, Michael Turner had 166 rushing yards and two touchdowns on only 18 rushing attempts.

WR Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals
It’s not too surprising that Larry Fitzgerald was Warner’s main target. Fitzgerald had nine receptions for 123 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

TE Dallas Clark, Indianapolis Colts
It’s becoming more and more obvious that Dallas Clark is the most productive tight end in fantasy football. In Week 9 of the 2009 fantasy football season, Clark had 14 catches for 119 yards.

Larry Fitzgerald was a star in Week 9 (Image: Zuma Press)

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QB Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals
Yes, Kurt Warner was very good last season. But though he was able to play all 16 games, his injury plagued history can’t be ignored. It was his first full season since 2001. If you pick Warner, get a quality fantasy backup quarterback to go along with him.

RB Steven Jackson, St. Louis Rams
In the last few seasons, Steven Jackson has been decent. But considering the fact that he’s been banged up in recent years and the fact that the Rams offense doesn’t look too promising, Jackson’s upside is limited and he could possible be a bust.

WR Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs
Though Dwayne Bowe is definitely a talented young wide receiver, he has struggled to mesh with the new coaching staff. There are signs he might not be a featured receiver this season. Overall, Bowe is a boom or bust player in 2009 fantasy football.

TE Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys
Jason Witten is no doubt a top three tight end heading into the 2009 campaign, however there are some things to worry about. The top issue is that without Terrell Owens, teams will be able to key in on him. That alone should nudge him under Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates.

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While it’s a lot of information to digest at once, one team that looks to have a friendly fantasy football schedule is the Arizona Cardinals. Last season, Kurt Warner and the Cardinals made it to the Super Bowl. This coming season, a lot of fantasy football owners could be counting on Warner to lead their teams to a fantasy football Super Bowl.

Here’s a look at the Cardinals schedule:

Week 1 – San Francisco
Week 2 – @ Jacksonville
Week 3 – Indianapolis
Week 5 – Houston
Week 6 – @ Seattle
Week 7 – @ NY Giants
Week 8 – Carolina
Week 9 – @ Chicago
Week 10 – Seattle
Week 11 – @ St. Louis
Week 12 – @ Tennessee
Week 13 – Minnesota
Week 14 – @ San Francisco
Week 15 – @ Detroit
Week 16 – St. Louis
Week 17 – Green Bay

Pay special attention to the money weeks of the fantasy football season — Week 14 through Week 16. Three games against bad defense during the fantasy playoffs? That fact alone just raised the stock value of everyone on the Cardinals’ offense including Kurt Warner.

Kurt Warner, Fantasy Football Star in 2009? (Image: Newscom)

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All of this comes as good news to the fantasy football world. Warner is one of the most explosive quarterbacks in the business and he showed that tendency once again in 2008. During the Cardinals’ magical trip to the Super Bowl, Warner was extremely impressive.

If Warner returns, his stock should be somewhat high. He has very good receivers and an offense that lets him toss the ball around. The negatives will be his advanced age and the fact that he is injury prone.

This is also good news for the Cardinals receivers. Larry Fitzgerald will be a top five wide receiver next year in fantasy football with Warner at the helm. Although Anquan Boldin isn’t happy in Arizona at the moment, if he changes his mind, Warner would do wonders for his production.

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When considering Warner’s 2009 fantasy football outlook, the first major obstacle is obviously whether or not Warner is even coming back to the NFL next season. After the Super Bowl, he was non-committal either way. Since the Super Bowl, Warner has said that his return could be dependent upon whether or not Anquan Boldin stays or not.

If Warner does return, the next thing to worry about is his age. Warner will be 38 years old by the time next season begins. While other quarterbacks have had success at that age, Warner’s would definitely be an injury concern. Plus if he loses any velocity on his throwing, he could begin struggling — much like Brett Favre in 2008.

All that said, if Warner returns in 2009, he’s going to be a very interesting fantasy football quarterback who could build upon his 2008 success. In the playoffs, he played much better than he did to end the regular season. Next season, a healthy Warner definitely has a chance to throw between 35 and 38 touchdowns.

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RB Willie Parker, Pittsburgh Steelers
No running back in the Super Bowl had much of an impact. Willie Parker was the best but he didn’t help out too much. In 19 rushes, Parker picked up 53 yards. The Steelers had a rushing touchdown but it came courtesy of backup RB Gary Russell.

WR Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals
Early on, it looked like the Steelers might be able to take Larry Fitzgerald out of the game. But late, Fitzgerald found room and ended up with very good stats. In the Super Bowl, Fitzgerald finished with nine catches, 127 yards and two touchdown grabs.

TE Ben Patrick, Arizona Cardinals
Although Heath Miller of the Steelers had a decent game, Ben Patrick was was able to score a touchdown from the tight end position. The Cardinals backup caught a one yard pass to give Warner his first touchdown pass and Arizona’s first points on the night.

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Although the former NFL MVP and NFL Super Bowl champion with the St. Louis Rams has been extremely hot as of late, it’s easy to forget how cold he was not too long ago. Between Week 11 and Week 16, he had more than one touchdown in a game just one time. During that stretch, he had 7 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.

That said, most of the attention is focused on how hot Warner has been lately. In the last game of the regular season, Warner had four touchdowns and more than 260 passing yards. In the three games in the 2008 NFL playoffs, Warner has a total of eight touchdowns and has at least 220 passing yards in each game. Almost equally as impressive is the fact that he has only two interceptions and no fumbles in the playoffs.

What should we expect from Kurt Warner in the Super Bowl? Logic tells us he shouldn’t be overly explosive in the Big Game. The Pittsburgh Steelers only allowed 157 passing yards per game during the regular season and only 12 passing touchdowns. However, even with that in mind, if there’s one quarterback who could figure out a way to excel against Pittsburgh, it’d be Warner — especially considering how well he has played as of late.

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1) Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
Manning is on a role and should slice up the Chargers.

2) Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
Rivers should be good for a couple touchdowns.

3) Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals
Warner has been cold but thrives on big stage.

4) Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles
Should throw plenty of passes this weekend.

5) Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
Rookie keeps on surprising.

6) Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens
Not a great start but could do well.

7) Chad Pennington, Miami Dolphins
Going against a tough defense.

8) Tarvaris Jackson, Minnesota Vikings
Not very good.

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RB Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants
There are a lot of reasons to be wary of Brandon Jacobs this week. First of all, he’s coming off of an injury and there’s no telling how healthy he really is. Secondly, the Giants are facing the Carolina Panthers this week. Last but not least, Jacobs doesn’t have a 100+ yard outing since Week 10.

WR Laveranues Coles, New York Jets
Laveranues Coles has had a relatively good fantasy football season, but he simply hasn’t been consistent enough to trust as of late. In two our of his last three games, he has less than ten yards receiving. He also only has one touchdown in his last seven games. Even this week’s solid matchup against the Seattle Seahawks doesn’t make him a very good start.

TE Chris Cooley, Washington Redskins
Even though he’s a well known player, Chris Cooley isn’t giving fantasy owners much reason to believe in him. During the entire 2008 NFL season, Cooley has only one touchdown grab. Last week against a bad Cincinnati Bengals defense, the Redskins managed only 13 points. Going against a tough Philadelphia Eagles defense this week, it’d be best to look elsewhere for tight end production.

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