If you are setting your fantasy football rosters, here are some players you should definitely avoid starting:

Quarterbacks - Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle Seahawks
With so many injuries at wide receiver, it may be best to give Hasselbeck the week off until he adjusts to his new options.

Running Backs - Darren McFadden, Oakland Raiders
While Darren McFadden will likely have a very good season, he’s playing behind Justin Fargas for the moment.

Wide Receivers - Anthony Gonzalez, Indianapolis Colts
Last season Anthony Gonzalez was very good at the end of the year. However, now with Marvin Harrison back in the fold, things may change.

Tight Ends - Vernon Davis, San Francisco 49ers
Mike Martz is now the offensive coordinator in San Francisco. He doesn’t have a long history of utilizing tight ends, so proceed with caution.

Kickers - Mason Crosby, Green Bay Packers
The Packers are going against a strong defense in the Vikings and will they may struggle to move the ball with Aaron Rodgers at the helm.

Defenses - Chicago Bears
The Bears should finish the season as a top ten fantasy football defense, but don’t play them this week against the Colts.

Wait a few weeks before unleashing Darren McFadden.

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Who will the top players be in 2008 fantasy football in Week 1? Here is our guess:

Quarterback - Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys
Even though he’ll be out on the road, expect Tony Romo to have a lot of success in Week 1. He’s going against the Cleveland Browns and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if this game turned into a shootout. Romo was very good in the beginning of last year and should start off well again.

Running Back - LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers
The Carolina Panthers aren’t the defensive juggernaut they used to be. For that reason, and the fact that he’s very good, LaDainian Tomlinson should come out of the gates on fire in 2008. If you have him on your fantasy team, start him with the highest level of confidence.

Wide Receiver - Terrell Owens, Dallas Cowboys
With Romo poised to have a big game in Week 1, expect many of those passes to be headed to Terrell Owens. TO will have a very good chance of getting at least one touchdown against the Browns. He’s the best receiver to have to begin the fantasy football season.

Tight End - Kellen Winslow, Cleveland Browns
On the other side of the coin, the Cowboys haven’t always been very good against tight ends. The Browns now this and will look to Winslow early and often. Winslow had a big year this year and should have an even better season in 2008.

Kicker - Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots
The Patriots will probably be rusty going into the regular season. While that is bad news for most fantasy players, that is actually good news for Gostkowski. If Tom Brady and company can’t guide the ball into the end zone, they will have to ride Gostkowski to victory.

Team Defense - Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have a great matchup in Week 1 when they play the Chicago Bears in front of their home crowd. With home cooking in their favor, expect the Colts to come out amped up and ready to try to get back on the Super Back track.

Washington Redskins at New York Giants
The New York Giants will try to defend their Super Bowl title this season. In their first game, expect the Giants to win a close game against the Redskins.

Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons
2008 promises to be a long season for the Falcons. The Lions should be able to go to Atlanta and get a win in Week 1.

Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills
The Seahawks are the better team but Buffalo will play inspired football at home. Expect the Bills to come up with big defensive plays to pull out the W.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans
This should be a very physical game. The game will be decided on whether or not the Titans will be able to run the ball.

New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Brett Favre will be on the road but he gets an easy matchup against the rebuilding Dolphins. Expect Favre to start off 1-0 with the Jets.

Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
The Chiefs will put up a fight early on but the Patriots should eventually blow them out. Expect New England to score at least 31 points.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
New Orleans will be fired up at home and will be looking to start 2008 off on the right foot. The Bucs won’t be able to handle the feisty Saints and will lose by double-digits.

St. Louis Rams at Philadelphia Eagles
This will be a battle of two potentially underrated teams. The Rams will want to show that their high-powered offense is back but the Eagles will prevail.

Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers get a good start to their season by drubbing the Texans. Houston won’t be a serious threat until a legit running back emerges.

Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
Chad Johnson (or is it Chad Ocho Cinco?) will won’t to start off on a good foot but the Ravens could very well surprise. At home, the Raves have a 50-50 chance of pulling this one out.

Carolina Panthersat San Diego Chargers
If the Panthers had Steve Smith, they’d likely win this game. Without Smith, the Chargers will be able to outscore the Panthers.

Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers should be an exciting team this year but don’t be surprised if the Cardinals go into San Francisco and escape with a victory.

Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns
Most people have the Cowboys winning this game but the Browns will be a tough test. In fact, I think the Browns win this game by converting on long passing plays.

Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts
The Colts are banged up and Peyton Manning hasn’t even played yet this season. But don’t worry, they’ll get it in gear fast enough to take down the Bears.

Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
The Packers will try to survive their post-Brett Favre existence but it won’t be easy. I expect Aaron Rodgers to struggle mightily against the stout Vikings defense.

Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders
The Raiders have a lot of good, young talent but the Broncos will be able to establish the running back. Expect the Broncos to pull away for good in the third quarter.

Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
In the offseason, Peyton Manning underwent a relatively serious surgery on an infection in his knee. While he didn’t play in any of the preseason games, everyone with the Colts expects Manning to be ready once the real games start.

Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Tom Brady has been suffering from an unspecified leg injury for much of training camp and preseason. While the Patriots are being secretive of his health status, expect him to be ready to go when the games begin to count.

Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers
Perhaps the most mysterious injury of them all, Antonio Gates still hasn’t played after undergoing offseason toe surgery. While many expect him to play in Week 1, there is growing speculation that the Chargers may sit him until he’s 100%.

Jerry Porter, Jacksonville Jaguars
Jerry Porter has a hamstring injury that is being slow to heal. Although he should be able to come back pretty soon, it is looking doubtful that he’ll be ready to roll in Week 1.

Reggie Brown, Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles are reportedly concerned about Reggie Brown’s status for their opening week game. Brown is dealing with a hamstring injury that doesn’t appear to be healing quickly enough.

Jeremy Shockey, New Orleans Saints
Although Jeremy Shockey didn’t play at all in preseason, he’s very likely to play in Week 1. Shockey is still recovering from the leg injury he suffered last year with the New York Giants.

Bernard Berrian, Minnesota Vikings
Dealing with a condition that has been described as something close to turf toe, Bernard Berrian has missed a few preseason games. The good news is it appears he’ll be ready for opening weekend.

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Pacman Jones, who now insists on the name Adam Jones, has been reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Jones had been suspended from the NFL for numerous run-ins with the law.

In terms of fantasy football, Jones makes the Dallas Cowboys defense much more dangerous. He’s a big play threat that can intercept a pass and score a touchdown at any given moment. He should help make Dallas a top five defense in the 2008 fantasy football season.

Jones is also very valuable as a kick returner. If you get kick returner points for yardage or touchdowns, Jones being reinstated is very good news. Outside of Devin Hester, few players are in Jones’ class of raw speed and ability.

Expect Pacman Jones (or Adam Jones) to make more and more of an impact in fantasy football as the season progresses. The only thing that could hold him back is if he gets in trouble with the law again.

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Fantasy Quarterback Sleeper
Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals - Kurt Warner has 27 touchdown passes last season, even though he entered the season as the backup to Matt Leinart. This season, Warner enters the season as the starter and could get 30+ touchdown passes. However, keep Leinart on your team because Warner tends to be fragile.

Fantasy Running Back Sleeper
Selvin Young, Denver Broncos
While you can expect Selvin Young to have to split carries, he’s a player who could very easily finish 2008 with 1,200+ rushing yards. His touchdowns might not come as regularly as you’d like but he should be a solid option as a third running back on a fantasy football team.

Fantasy Wide Receiver Sleeper
Devin Hester, Chicago Bears
As we’ve been saying for the last couple months, Devin Hester is a low risk, high reward type player for 2008. He’s going to start at wide receiver for the Bears and will likely see a lot of balls thrown his way. As we all know, once he has the football in his hands, he’s as dangerous as anyone in the game.

Fantasy Tight End Sleeper
Owen Daniels, Houston Texans
Owen Daniels is getting ignored a bit due to not scoring many touchdowns last year and playing on a team that didn’t get much fantasy attention. However, Daniels ended last year with 63 catches and 768 yards for the Texans. In his third year, he could really start to blossom.

Fantasy Kicker Sleeper
Josh Scobee, Jacksonville Jaguars
If you want to wait on drafting your fantasy kicker, consider taking Josh Scobee late in the draft. He was injured for much of last season but kicked very well once he got healthy enough to play. This season, the Jaguars should be able to move the ball offensively quite easily.

Fantasy Defense Sleeper
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens have long been considered an elite fantasy football defense. This year, a lot of experts are saying they will be sub par. While they may struggle at times, the Ravens are too talented to totally fall out of the top ten.

1. New England Patriots - The Pats won’t be perfect but expect greatness.
2. Dallas Cowboys - Terrell Owens and Tony Romo will be a dynamic duo.
3. Indianapolis Colts - Indy has been overlooked but should still be good.
4. San Diego Chargers - Injury concerns leave the Chargers vulnerable.
5. Jacksonville Jaguars - Is there a more solid unit in the NFL?
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Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals finds his name in the lights once again. This time, the news is bad. According to a report, the Bengals have learned that Johnson has a partially torn labrum.

This type of shoulder injury could require season-ending surgery, however initial reports indicate that Johnson will instead try to play with a shoulder harness. Last season, Kellen Winslow of the Cleveland Browns suffered from a similar injury and was able to make it through the season with a harness.

In terms of fantasy football, this is bad news for Chad Johnson fantasy owners. Johnson is now a big injury risk and one bad hit and he could be out several weeks. Combine that with Johnson’s ankle surgeries and Ocho Cinco’s unhappiness with the Bengals, and Johnson now appears to be a wide receiver to avoid.

Unless Chad Johnson drops far in your fantasy football draft, go ahead and let another fantasy owner in your league deal with the headaches. Besides, we also had Chad Johnson as overrated even before this news.

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Kurt Warner beat out Matt Leinart to be named the starting quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals. While Leinart has shown flashes of competence in his NFL career, his uneven play during preseason combined with Warner’s solid play made the decision easy for the Cardinals coaches.

This news is devestating for anyone who expected Leinart to produce this season. Especially if you own Leinart in a dynasty league, you may want to start planning on life without him. Part of Leinart’s problem so far in his NFL career is immaturity. Leinart and his partying ways this offseason probably didn’t help his standing with the coaches.

Warner, on the other hand, instantly becomes a fantasy football sleeper. At times last year, Warner was a very good fantasy quarterback. If he can remain healthy and the Cardinals can give him time in the pocket, he should have some big weeks in 2008 fantasy football.

Consider Warner a solid backup at fantasy quarterback, while Leinart becomes undraftable.

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In a somewhat surprising move, the San Francisco 49ers have handed the keys of their offensive over to quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan, who spent last season with the Detroit Lions, will start Week 1 for the 49ers.

The big loser in this announcement is obviously Alex Smith. The former first overall draft pick is now looking like a certified bust. He’s been bad during his NFL career and this might be the final nail in his coffin as a 49er.

The fantasy football impact of O’Sullivan being named the starter shouldn’t be too powerful. O’Sullivan is an unproven talent on a team with questionable offensive talent. The best thing he has going for him is that Mike Martz is famous for helping quarterbacks succeed.

In a 2008 fantasy football draft, select O’Sullivan only if you have a very good other option and you can survive if he fails as a starter. O’Sullivan is definitely a low-risk, medium-reward type pick at this point in fantasy football.

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