Today, Brian Westbrook will have surgery on his ankle. There are already rumors out there that Westbrook will be out until the regular season. While the Philadelphia Eagles haven’t given specifics of when they expect Westbrook to return, it’s likely that they take things slowly with their starting running back.

In the fantasy football world, this is bad news for Westbrook owners. He has always been a fragile player and he’s now undergoing his second offseason surgery. It’s difficult to imagine that he’ll be able to play all 16 games given the amount of rehab he’ll need just to get on the field for Week 1 of the regular season.

That said, Westbrook is a very enticing fantasy football running back. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the biggest threats — both running the ball and receiving the ball out of the backfield.

Considering his injury woes, the best idea is to take Westbrook but be sure to handcuff his backup. Second round pick LeSean McCoy will likely be the backup and if he is, he’s a must own if you decide to roll the dice with Westbrook in the 2009 fantasy football season.

If you are going to be playing playoff fantasy football, you obviously should be well aware of the NFL playoff picture. Here’s the NFL playoff schedule for the first week of the playoffs so you can start to figure out which fantasy players you want to get on your team in playoff fantasy football.

Saturday, January 3rd - 4:30 PM Eastern
Atlanta Falcons at the Arizona Cardinals

Saturday, January 3rd - 8:00 PM Eastern
Indianapolis Colts at San Diego Chargers

Sunday, January 4th - 1:00 PM Eastern
Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins

Sunday, January 4th - 4:30 PM Eastern
Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings

Bye Week: Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, Carolina Panthers

Photo credit: Newscom

1. DeAngelo Williams, Carolina Panthers
It’d be difficult to get much hotter than DeAngelo Williams is right now. He has 11 touchdowns in his last six games. In five of those six games, he rushed for more than 100 yards. In the other one, he had four touchdowns.

2. Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia Eagles
Although Briant Westbrook went through a slump, he’s come up huge the last two weeks. He has six total touchdowns during the span — three rushing and three receiving. He also has more than 330 total yards in the last two weeks.

3. Pierre Thomas, New Orleans Saints
In the last four weeks, Pierre Thomas has six touchdowns. Even with Reggie Bush back in the lineup, Thomas is getting a lot of action. Although he doesn’t get as many touches as featured backs, the fact that he’s in a high-powered offense makes up for it.

4. Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons
Michael Turner has eight touchdowns in the last five weeks. In the one game he didn’t score a touchdown over that span, he had 120 rushing yards. On the season, Turner already has 12 touchdowns and 1269 rushing yards.

5. Thomas Jones, New York Jets
In the last nine weeks, Thomas Jones has 13 touchdowns to his name. He has at least one touchdown in eight of those nine games. In the one game he didn’t have a touchdown, he had a season-high 159 yards rushing.

Photo credit: Newscom

QB Matt Schaub, Houston Texans
Returning from injury, Matt Schaub showed why he’s regarded as one of the up and coming quarterbacks in fantasy football. In Week 14, Schaub played very well against the Green Bay Packers. He finished the game with 414 passing yards and two touchdowns. Plus he orchestrated a game-winning drive near the end of the game, which should help his confidence going forward.

RB Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia Eagles
When healthy, Brian Westbrook continues to be a beast. In Week 14, Westbrook had over 200 combined rushing and receiving yards and two touchdowns. More impressively, he did that damage against the New York Giants. The best news for Westbrook owners is that he looks healthy and should have a good finish to the season.

WR Brandon Marshall, Denver Broncos
Brandon Marshall had been quiet lately but he stepped up in a big way in Week 14. The Broncos wide receiver had 91 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions. Once upon a time, Marshall was the best wide receiving going in 2008 fantasy football. After this performance, he once again has to be considered elite.

TE Tony Gonzalez, Kansas City Chiefs
As has been the case often this season, Tony Gonzalez was the best tight end in Week 14 of the 2008 fantasy football season. Gonzalez finished the week with 73 yards and a touchdown. He now has at least five receptions for eight consecutive weeks. During that time, he also has five touchdowns.

QB Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles
Even though Donovan McNabb had a very good Week 13 showing, don’t bet on him to repeat that performance in Week 14. Going up against the New York Giants, McNabb’s limited mobility will be on full display. If the Giants get a good rush on him, it could be a very long and disappointing game for McNabb.

RB Clinton Portis, Washington Redskins
Clinton Portis has a lot of things going against him this weekend. First of all, he has to deal with a myriad of injuries that have slowed him in recent weeks. Equally as scary is the fact that he’s up against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14. Considering both aspects, this would be a good week to look elsewhere for production.

WR Justin Gage, Tennessee Titans
Although Justin Gage have had some big games over the last six weeks, he’s not a very good start this weekend against the Cleveland Browns. Gage is going up against a defense that has played well the last two weeks and although his stats have been good, the number of targets haven’t been enough to expect production week in and week out.

TE Tony Scheffler, Denver Broncos
Although the Broncos have a good matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos will likely be running a whole lot. When they do pass, they’ll probably go deep to a wide receiver. Combine those two possibilities and Tony Scheffler doesn’t seem like he’ll have a lot of chances to impact Week 14 of the 2008 fantasy football season.

QB Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles
A week after being benched, Donovan McNabb responded in a big way in Week 13 on Thanksgiving. McNabb had four touchdown passes to go along with 260 yards and no interceptions. Although he was going against the below average Arizona Cardinals defense, this performance bodes well for upcoming weeks.

RB Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia Eagles
McNabb wasn’t the only Eagles player who had a breakout game. Brian Westbrook, who had been slowed lately due to injury, had a huge day. Westbrook finished the game with four total touchdowns — two rushing and two receiving. If McNabb can get back to playing at a high level and Westbrook can stay healthy, this duo could be deadly coming down the stretch.

WR Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals
Although Larry Fitzgerald didn’t have a great amount of yards in Week 13 on Thanksgiving, he made up with it by scoring two touchdowns. Overall, Fitzgerald finished with five catches for 65 yards and those two TDs. While Anquan Boldin has overshadowed him at times this season, that wasn’t the case on Thanksgiving.

TE Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys
Since breaking a rib earlier in the season, Jason Witten hadn’t been his usual dominant self. On Thanksgiving, he finally seemed close to 100% and responded with a big game. Witten had 115 yards on nine catches and also notched a touchdown. Pencil in Witten for big fantasy football weeks for the rest of the season.

Photo credit: Newscom

QB Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals
Kurt Warner has turned back the clock this season and is reminding NFL experts why he has a pair of Super Bowl rings. He’s also reminding fantasy football owners why he used to be considered the best fantasy quarterback in the all the land. This week, against the St. Louis Rams, you have to think Warner will have even more motivation to torture the team he had his most success with.

RB Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia Eagles
When healthy, is there a better fantasy football player to own than Brian Westbrook? He’s such a multidimensional force the he’s a threat on just about every play. This week he has a good matchup and should be good for 100+ yards and a touchdown — at the very least.

WR Brandon Marshall, Denver Broncos
Brandon Marshall has cooled off as of late but this week against the Miami Dolphins he should rev it back up. Marshall has the perfect frame for a wide receiver and Jay Cutler loves throwing it to him. A touchdown and 100+ yards is very much a possibility.

TE Owen Daniels, Houston Texans
Owen Daniels continues to work himself up the tight end charts and this week he finds himself on the top. Against the Minnesota Vikings, you can expect the Texans to pass, pass and pass some more. With Andre Johnson getting a lot of the attention, Daniels should be able to roam free.

Santana Moss leaves the competition behind once again.

QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
Playing in London, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was phenomenal. Brees finished the game against the San Diego Chargers with 339 yards and three passing touchdowns. He also completed 30 of his 41 pass attempts. Brees has quickly become arguably the best fantasy football quarterback in 2008.

RB Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia Eagles
After missing a few weeks due to injury, Brian Westbrook was back in action and looking 100%. In a dominant performance against the Atlanta Falcons, Westbrook had 167 yards rushing, 42 yards receiving and two total touchdowns. Any injury questions should be muted after this performance.

WR Santana Moss, Washington Redskins
Coming into the 2008 fantasy football campaign, Santana Moss was a fantasy question mark. This year, he has exceeded virtually all expectations. In Week 8, Moss was again dominant as he had nine catches for 140 yards and one touchdown. He now has five touchdowns in his seven games.

TE Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers
Antonio Gates has once again claimed his spot at the top of the tight end mountain. It’s no surprise that he was the top performer in fantasy football for all tight ends. He finished Week 8 of the 2008 season with a touchdown to go along with 96 receiving yards.

Photo: Newscom

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

QB Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles
Coming off of a bye week, Donovan McNabb should have a fine week in fantasy football. Not only will he be rested, but his wide receiving corps seems to be getting healthy. Expect McNabb to have at least two touchdown passes against the Atlanta Falcons.

RB Clinton Portis, Washington Redskins
Not only has Clinton Portis been the best running back in fantasy football, he is going against the Detroit Lions this week. That combination makes Portis a fantastic start in Week 8. Over a hundred yards and at least on touchdown should be his minimum production.

WR Andre Johnson, Houston Texans
As of late, Andre Johnson has been on fire. The Cincinnati Bengals, his Week 8 opponent, won’t be able to do much to slow him down. Expect Johnson to get at least six catches and at least 90 yards receiving this week.

TE Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers
Playing in London against the New Orleans Saints, Antonio Gates is the best tight end for Week 8. He has overcome his early season injuries and has regained his footing as a top flight fantasy football tight end.