Quarterback
1.  Kurt Warner – He has been on fire of late and playing the 4th worst fantasy passing defense in the league won’t change this.  Look for Warner to come out on top for QB fantasy football points this week.

2.  Jay Cutler – The Falcons are in the bottom of third of the league in terms of passing defense, and with Selvin Young still injured the Bronco’s have 0 running backs, which means they are looking to Cutler to carry the load, yet again.

3.  Peyton Manning - Manning is due for a big game and the Texans weak passing defense is just what is needed for this to happen.

Running Back
1.  Frank Gore – Look for the 49ers to keep the trend of rushing scores going against the woeful Seahawks rushing defense.

2.  Michael Turner – The Bronco’s achilles heel is the run game, both on offense and defense.  They can’t use it and they can’t stop it.  Look for Turner to put on a clinic against the subpar rushing d of Denver.

3.  Adrian Peterson - Tampa Bay isn’t necessarily an easy defense to infiltrate, but I can’t see it mattering against AD.

Wide Receiver
1. Steve Smith – Smith gets to play the Lions.  Enough said.

2. Brandon Marshall – No running back in Denver = more receptions and touchdowns for Marshall.  Look for a big game after some dropped balls the past couple of weeks.

3. Larry Fitzgerald – One of the top fantasy receivers in Fitzgerald, versus one of the worst fantasy passing defenses in Seattle.  I did the math.  Fitzgerald will have a big week.

Quarterback
Joe Flacco, Ravens - After a very poor start to the season, throwing 7 interceptions and 1 touchdown through his first 5 games, Flacco has become a solid starting quarterback, especially over his past 3 outtings (5 td’s, 0 ints).  Flacco has a few tougher defenses coming up than those past 3 weeks, but he would still be a great pick up if you are weak at quarterback.

Seneca Wallace, Seahawks - Wallace has got the start the past 4 weeks for the Seahawks and has put up decent numbers.  He’s not a great starter, but if you are in desperate need Wallace would be a good pickup, but only if you’re desperate.  He might not play week 11 and he’s up against some quality defenses in the next few weeks.

Brady Quinn, Browns – Even with the loss Quinn played above expectations in his first NFL start.  He’s another for if you are desperate, as he’s coming up against some tough passing defenses in the next few weeks, in the Colts and Titans.

Running Back
Ricky Williams, Dolphins – Williams had a huge game last week and it looks as though the Dolphins are trying to get him more involved in the offense.  He’s a quality 3rd running back, who you can place start to run out the season towards playoffs.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Patriots – Green-Ellis has had a touchdown in his last 4 starts and as long as Jordan and Morris are out, Green-Ellis will put up numbers.

Selvin Young, Broncos – With Turain going down with an injury last Thursday, it looks as though Young is the only back left for the Bronco’s.  The question is whether he will be healthy.  If he is look for him to get all the snaps for the Bronco’s, which will still likely be few with Cutler throwing the ball at almost every opportunity.

Cedric Benson, Bengals – If Benson wasn’t picked up last week, you will likely be able to get him this week, as he won’t be a hot topic, as he’s coming off a bye week.  Look for Benson to continue his hot performance from his past three games, but hopefully with more scores.

Wide Receiver
Mark Bradley, Chiefs - Bradley has been extremely quality in his last 3 games for the Chiefs, registering 2 scores and 188 yards.  He’s a risky pickup, but could pay dividends, and there’s almost no chance he’s been picked up yet in your league.

Michael Jenkins, Falcons – Jenkins is starting to get more touches and would be a good replacement receiver for a week or two.

Steve Breaston, Cardinals – Breaston is getting a lot of touches and will soon be owned in all fantasy leagues.  He is an instant starter against Seattle this week.

Lance Moore, Saints – With touchdowns his last two games and 12 receptions for 166 yards, Moore is showing no signs of slowing down.  Another instant starter this week against Kansas.

Tight Ends
Dustin Keller, Jets - Favre is starting to look more to Keller.  If you don’t have one of the few top TE’s, take a look at Keller for the next few weeks.

Kevin Boss, Giants – Boss has a touchdown in each of the Giants last 3 games and this trend looks to continue.  If Boss is free in your league, he won’t stay free for long.  Pick him up and start him right away.

Thomas Jones had a huge game in the Jets 47-3 domination of St. Louis.  Jones rushed for 149 yards on 26 carries, including 3 touchdowns.  After a slow start to the season Jones has been on fire of late and is an instant starter each week in any league.

Maurice Jones-Drew had a huge td performance, rushing for 3 on only 11 carries in the game.  Jacksonville kept the Lions out of the win column with a 38-14 victory.

Here is the list of the top 5 running backs in fantasy football so far this season.  Surprisingly enough the list does not include either of the top 2 ranked players on the draft cheat sheets from the beginning of the season: Ladanian Tomlinson or Adrian Peterson.  Although Peterson is not far off the list and I would not be surprised if he breaks in by the end of the season.

1.  Clinton Portis, Washington Redskins
Portis leads the league in rushing yards by over 150 yards (given he has played an extra game over most guys) and is also tied for second in the league with 7 rushing touchdowns.  I think its suffice to say if you are 1 and 2 in these stats you are the man to beat when it comes to rushing the football.  Portis put up a few big games, but even on his off games without a touchdown he was still able to put up big numbers.  This should continue for the rest of the season.

2.  LenDale White, Tenessee Titans
White has by far the most rushing td’s in the league with 10, and this is a huge stat, especially when it comes to touchdown heavy fantasy leagues like the one I’m currently in.  White had the one huge 3 touchdown, 149 yard game that may have put him higher on this list than he should be, but lighting can strike twice, and if it does I would want White starting for my team.

3.  Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia Eagles
Brian could be much higher on this list if he did not miss those two games this season.  He was shutdown twice out of the games he has played, but the other 4 games were huge, with Westbrook rushing for 6 touchdowns and 349 yards in his big games.  So by my math 4 out of 6 games played were big, thats 66.67% of Westbrook starts will pay off in a big way.

4.  Marion Barber, Dallas Cowboys
On his rushing stats alone Barber would not be on this list.  But when you combine his receiving yards with his rushing yards you have a dominant fantasy player.  With 2 reception and 5 rushing touchdowns and 264 receiving and 665 rushing yards through 9 games Barber is a threat all over the field and a guy who can explode for huge games when the time is right.

5.  Ronnie Brown, Miami Dolphins
Ronnie made this list from his one big game against the New England Patriots.  I considered not putting him up here, because I don’t believe that game can be repeated.  However, we have to pay tribute to the man who has had the biggest one game output out of all running backs this year.  Four touchdowns against a team that went 16-0 last year is no easy feat, but now that the direct snap play is out of the bag its unlikely another team will get burned by Brown again this year.  Thats not to say don’t play him, as he is still a threat for about a touchdown and 50 yards a game.

*These picks are based on a touchdown heavy fantasy league.

After 9 weeks of the season have passed certain quarterbacks have emerged as the top performers in fantasy football leagues.  These QB’s are must starters every week, no matter what defense they are playing.  (Well unless you are lucky enough to have more 2 of these top 5 )

1.  Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
Brees has consistenly had big games all season long with only a couple subpar performances.  He has the most passing yards/game in the league and if your fantasy league is yard heavy he is by far the best quarterback to have.

2.  Phillip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
Rivers has the most touchdowns in the game after 9 weeks, and as we all know touchdowns are huge in fantasy football.  There is always the chance the Rivers will bust out for a big game, which he has done pretty much every other game this season.

3.  Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals
Warner rounds out the top 3, which are in my opinion in a league of their own this season.  Warner, who had to fight to keep his starting job at the beginning of the year has been on fire all season long, without any truly bad games to speak of.  Even on his off games he is near the average in fantasy points.  Warner is a consistent performer and if you want sure points, he is your man.

4.  Jay Cutler, Denver Broncos
Cutler started off the season on fire and was fighting for the top spot in fantasy football quarterbacking with Phillip Rivers.  However, after the first 3 huge games Cutler dropped off the raider a little bit just putting up average numbers followed by a bad game where he only earned 1 fantasy point.  But Cutler came back in a big way last Thursday earning 25 points in a big crucial win for his team, which slid him past Rodgers into 4th on this list.

5.  Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Stepping into Favre’s position was done seemlessly by Rodgers, with the Green Bay faithful all but forgetting about Brett already.  Rodgers is consisently in double digits in my fantasy points pool, and 13 touchdowns in 8 games is a solid stat.

*All fantasy point stats are from my RTsports.com pool.

Cutler had one of the bigger games of this NFL fantasy season for a quarterback on Thursday night!  The game didn’t start off too well for Cutler or the Bronco’s with Cutler throwing an early interception and the Browns gaining an early lead with a couple Brady Quinn – Kellen Winslow touchdowns.  I was watching the game and cringing in the first half as both my players (Cutler & Jamal Lewis) were not having the big games they were supposed to against the weak passing defense of the Browns and rushing defense of the Bronco’s.  Both of the Browns early touchdowns were passing, leaving Lewis off the score sheet, while Turain plowed in a rushing td for the Bronco’s.

Luckily, the fourth quarter came around and all this changed for the better, for my fantasy team at least.   Cutler threw a 93 yard td pass to Royal to start the change in my fortune and in the game.  Cutler threw another couple touchdowns when his team needed him to pull out the win for the Bronco’s.  Jamal Lewis’ powerful one yard touchdown also helped me out huge, as he had only scored 3 touchdowns in 8 games all season, so I’m happy with a touchdown from him when I can get it.

Cutler finished the game with a whopping 447 yards passing, 3 TDs and 1 interception on his way to netting me 25 points in my fantasy league!  Cutler tied himself for the second most fantasy points in one game in my pool, second only to Favre’s 30 point explosion in week 4!