Bowe will miss Week 11 against the Steelers, Week 12 against the Chargers, Week 13 against the Broncos and Week 14 against the Bills. Considering that many fantasy football leagues have their playoffs scheduled to begin in Week 14, this is devastating news in the fantasy world.

On the season, Bowe has 33 catches for 466 yards and 4 touchdowns. While he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations, he’s definitely a player who is capable of starting on a weekly basis.

Now the question is whether or not it makes sense to keep Bowe or to release him. The answer to that question depends on your specific fantasy football team. If you don’t have depth at wide receiver and you are likely to make the playoffs, keeping Bowe around makes sense. However, if you have wide receiver depth or you need a late season push to make the playoffs, it’d be best to cut ties with Bowe.

Who sees their stock improve due to this news? Chris Chambers. He’s a similar player and could become Matt Cassel’s main target when looking downfield.

Are those biceps artificially enhanced? (Image: Zuma Press)

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QB Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs
After being traded to the Chiefs in the offseason, big things were expected from Cassel. So far, not so good. In Week 3, he passed for only 90 yards. While he did have two touchdowns, that type of yardage makes him a questionable fantasy start at quarterback for the time being.

RB Matt Forte, Chicago Bears
In most fantasy football drafts, Matt Forte was picked in the top five. After three weeks, that looks like a bad selection. He’s not producing much and his chemistry with Jay Cutler doesn’t appear to be great.

WR Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals
After being the top wide receiver in many fantasy drafts, Larry Fitzgerald has been good but hasn’t lived up to the hype. With all the receiving options in Arizona, there’s no guarantee that he’ll be able to reach that level.

TE Zach Miller, Oakland Raiders
Many fantasy experts thought that Zach Miller would have a breakout season. However, with JaMarcus Russell stinking up the joint, Miller has definitely been underwhelming leading into Week 3 of the 2009 fantasy football season.

Larry Fitzgerald - Arizona Cardinals (Image: Zuma Press)

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In Kansas City, Cassel is all but assured of being the starter. With new management in town, the Chiefs wanted a proven signal caller to run their offense — and they got one.

The good news for Cassel is the fact that the Chiefs have some talent on that end of the field. Wide receiver Dwayne Bowe is a big play threat and tight end Tony Gonzalez is still arguably the best player at his position in the NFL.

Cassel’s fantasy football value will be that of a top end backup quarterback heading into the 2009 fantasy football season. Some fantasy owners will roll the dice and hope that Cassel can have the success he had during the second half of the season with the Patriots. While that’s not overly likely, he is definitely a high-risk, high-reward type player.

As far as the Patriots are concerned, the trading of Cassel indicates that the team is happy with where Tom Brady is in his recovery. Brady has insisted that he’ll be ready to begin the 2009 fantasy football season and this move proves that the Patriots are confident in that happening.

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While we’ll obviously know more nearer to start of training camp, this has to be classified as good news. If Brady is able to return by the start of the regular season, he will once again be one of the most sought after fantasy football quarterbacks. In dynasty leagues, even though his status is uncertain, Brady still holds a lot of value.

The question is what his redraft value will be for the 2009 fantasy football season. In 2008, Brady was a first round pick in most league. If healthy, there’s a chance that fantasy owners will once again consider making him a first round pick. However, more likely is Brady becoming a second round fantasy draft pick next season.

With the way Matt Cassel played this year, he’ll become an automatic handcuff for those teams that draft Brady — especially early on in the season. Cassel showed he’s more than capable of filling in and running the Patriots’ offense.

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RB Dominic Rhodes, Indianapolis Colts
The Colts were without Joseph Addai in Week 15. No worrise, Dominic Rhodes was more than able to pick up the slack against the Detroit Lions. Rhodes finished Week 15 with two touchdowns to go along with 116 yards.

WR Andre Johnson, Houston Texans
Andre Johnson had a huge game against the Tennessee Titans in Week 15. In the first half alone he had 150 yards receiving and a touchdown. In the second half he added more than 50 yards to finish the game with 207 yards receiving and a TD.

TE Dallas Clark, Indianapolis Colts
If you had Dallas Clark on your Week 15 fantasy team, you are very happy. Clark had a monster game — finishing with 12 catches for 142 yards and a touchdown. Both the catches and the yardage are easily season-highs for Clark.

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RB Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons
In many fantasy football drafts this year, Michael Turner was a third rounder. Those fantasy owners who drafted him have to be very happy, especially in Week 12. He finished the week with 117 yards and four touchdowns. Turner has official established himself as one of the best running backs in the fantasy football world.

WR Terrell Owens, Dallas Cowboys
Since Tony Romo broke his pinkie, Terrell Owens had been pretty quiet. But in Week 12, he exploded onto the scene. Against the San Francisco 49ers, Owens finished with seven catches for 213 yards and a touchdown. If you are an Owens owner, this was the game you have been waiting for.

TE Tony Gonzalez, Kansas City Chiefs
Tony Gonzalez is having another fantastic season. He continued that in Week 12 of the fantasy football season by catching 10 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. From now until the end of the year, it’d be impossible to bench Gonzalez. He’s just too good and although the Chiefs are struggling defensively, their offense looks surprisingly sharp.

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RB DeAngelo Williams, Carolina Panthers
Early in the season, it appeared as if DeAngelo Williams would never live up to his expectations. Now, Williams is regarded as one of the best fantasy football running backs in 2008. In Week 11, Williams finished the game with two touchdowns and 120 yards rushing on 14 attempts. Combining with Jonathan Stewart, the Panthers have a very formidable one-two punch.

WR TJ Houshmandzadeh, Cincinnati Bengals
Even thought the Bengals have been a big disappointment and quarterback Carson Palmer has missed a lot of time, TJ Houshmandzadeh has actually been quite good. He still has been able to get open and he still has very good hands. He finished this week’s game with 12 catches for 149 yards and a touchdown receptions. If it wasn’t clear last year, it’s clear this year — Houshmandzadeh is simply a better wide receiver than Chad Johnson.

TE Benjamin Watson, New England Patriots
Cassel’s main target against the Jets was tight end Benjamin Watson. Watson has very good ability to go along with great size and athleticism, however he’s had a difficult time putting it all together. For a week, at least, he did just that. He finished Week 11 with eight catches for 88 yards and a touchdown grab to be the top fantasy football tight end for the week.

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Don’t sleep on Kolby Smith in Week 8.

QB Matt Cassel, New England Patriots
Last week, Matt Cassel finally looked like he was getting comfortable as a NFL quarterback. This week, Cassel will go up against the Rams and try to prove that last week wasn’t a fluke. While the Rams are actually playing well right now, Cassel remains a sleeper who could bust out in a big way in Week 8 fantasy football.

RB Kolby Smith, Kansas City Chiefs
With Larry Johnson being held out once against for the Kansas City Chiefs, Kolby Smith will get the start. Last week, in a similar situation, Smith played poorly. But it must be noted that Smith was going against the Titans, who happen to be the best defense in the NFL. Smith should do much better this week.

WR Kevin Curtis, Philadelphia Eagles
Don’t forget that last year with Kevin Curtis was healthy that he was a good fantasy football player. Curtis hasn’t been healthy much in the 2008 fantasy football season, however he is getting close to 100%. Look for him to have a breakout week soon.

TE Marcedes Lewis, Jacksonville Jaguars
Prior to Jacksonville’s bye week, Marcedes Lewis had put together back-to-back games with a touchdown. Lewis will try to make it three games in a row with a touchdown. With Matt Jones’ future in doubt, Lewis’ value is definitely on the rise and he’ll remain a sleeper for the time being.

Photo: Newscom

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QB Matt Cassel, New England Patriots
Not too long ago, fantasy football owners were rushing to get their hands on Matt Cassel after Tom Brady went down injured. Now his fantasy stock has plummeted. But give the guy time and remember, he still has Randy Moss on his side.

RB Ryan Torain, Denver Broncos
Currently, the Broncos are using a three-headed monster at running back with Selvin Young, Andre Hall and Michael Pittman. That could all change when Ryan Torain comes back if he’s able to impress the coaches again.

WR Chris Henry, Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals offense looks dead in the water. Chad Ocho Cinco doesn’t play like he’s related to Chad Johnson. That said, once Chris Henry comes back for Cincinnati following his suspension, he could become a very important part of that offense.

TE Dustin Keller, New York Jets
Brett Favre typically loves to pass to his tight ends, especially close to the end zone. While Dustin Keller has started off too amazingly, the rookie tight end for the Jets is starting to show signs of life. Keep an eye on him.

K Matt Prater, Denver Broncos
Jason Elam was the kicker for the Broncos forever. However, Matt Prater has stepped in and already has Broncos fans forgetting all about Elam. Prater has a strong long and should get plenty of opportunities in Denver’s high powered offense.

D New York Jets
The Jets defense hasn’t been too impressive yet this season but with all their free agent signings, this is a team that was bound to get off to a relatively slow start. Once they begin to mesh together, expect the Jets to become much better — especially defensively.

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Matt Cassel, Quarterback – New England Patriots
With Brady out for the season, Matt Cassel is now the quarterback for the Patriots. While you can’t expect Brady-like numbers from him, he could develop into an above average fantasy QB.

Kerry Collins, Quarterback – Tennessee Titans
Vince Young will be out for around a month and Kerry Collins will fill in. Collins still has a big arm and can put up stats for the Titans while Young is sidelined.

Steve Slaton, Running Back – Houston Texans
In Week 1, Steve Slaton was a surprising starter. Neither he nor the Texans looked good against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he’s worth having on your roster.

Shaun Alexander, Running Back
Although he’s not currently with a team, there are strong whispers that he can be signed soon. If you have a deep roster and can take a gamble, consider Alexander.

Courtney Taylor, Wide Receiver – Seattle Seahawks
With Nate Burleson out for the season and Deion Branch, Bobby Engram and Ben Obomanu already injured, someone will have to step up for Seattle. It might be Courtney Taylor.

Hank Baskett, Wide Receiver – Philadelphia Eagles
Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis are injured, which means that Hank Baskett currently has a starting gig. In the Eagles’ pass happy offense, that makes him a threat.

Anthony Fasano, Tight End – Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins traded for Anthony Fasano and he immediately paid dividends. Chad Pennington likes throwing to tight ends and Fasano looks like his top choice.

Dante Rosario, Tight End – Carolina Panthers
While things may change when Steve Smith returns to the lineup, Dante Rosario appeared to be a big part of the offense in Week 1.

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