Last week in this space, I tried to lobby each of you to consider the schedule for fantasy purposes and presented some pretty daunting evidence as to why owners should be thrilled to see teams from the AFC and NFC West on their fantasy players' schedule. I mention this again for two very important reasons: 1) it is pertinent considering that each of the teams that I am spotlighting this week will be playing against one or the other and 2) each top-place fantasy RB finisher since the NFL moved to its current eight-division format prior to the 2002 season has seen his team play at least four games vs. the teams from the West. For the purposes of this article, that would seem to be good news for the likes of Steve Slaton, Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew and LaDainian Tomlinson, who has obviously made his living in part by feasting on his own division, scoring 53 of his 141 total TDs against the likes of Denver, Kansas City and Oakland.

But any fantasy owner worth his/her salt needs more than just a strong case for RBs as to why he/she should subscribe to my line of thinking. All I can say is this: in the passing game, fantasy owners have to trust that offensive coordinators will earn their paycheck by getting their players in the most advantageous positions to score points for us. (However, not all of them do, which is one reason why I spend so much of the offseason talking about coordinators and their philosophies in this space.) Conversely, we also have to believe most defensive coordinators will do their best to shut down said weapons, but due to any number of factors - including but not limited to lack of personnel, ineffective schemes or general breakdown in coverage - a top WR or TE may get his numbers anyway. Because very few teams subscribe to the thinking of "our best corner vs. your best WR" and even fewer teams have one specific safety or linebacker who shadows an opponent's TE, sometimes all we have is history to look back on to see how a player produced against a similar defensive approach.

But think of it this way: I don't need any of my wideouts going against the Raiders' Nnamdi Asomugha or the Jets' Darrelle Revis in any fantasy playoff game. Similarly, I'd just as soon not count on my QB or TE - no matter how good he is - to put up his new career-high total against Pittsburgh or Baltimore.

Bear in mind that while the final numbers are important, they are 15-game totals because most fantasy seasons have a Week 16 title game. For those unfamiliar with the way I project player stats and individual week-to-week consistency (or for those who need a refresher), please give my PSA: RB article a read for an introductory course in Preseason Schedule Analysis. By now, I'm hoping that each of you have a pretty good understanding of my methodology, so let's see how I think the AFC South and AFC West shake down in 2009.

Note: The grey highlight in each team’s schedule reflects a road game.

AFC SOUTH

While it may not be good for their actual playoff hopes, the Texans figure to help any fantasy owner investing in their passing game breathe a sigh of relief considering that Houston faces the Jets in Week 1 and New England in Week 17. If any defenses on the Texans' 2009 schedule have the scheme and talent in place to silence their offensive attack, those would be the two, so any owner heavily invested in Matt Schaub or Andre Johnson should consider themselves pretty lucky. As it stands, only division rivals Indianapolis and Tennessee stand out as defenses on Houston's schedule that should challenge them in the passing game, although I do expect strong defensive showings from Cincinnati and Seattle this season. Even with that, I can only identify four matchups that Johnson will be severely tested and just five games in which Schaub may struggle - and that's assuming both the Colts and Titans pick right up where they left off with new defensive coordinators! In short, Schaub and Johnson are both set up to enjoy career years if both can stay healthy, a notion that is no small concern. (Johnson hasn't put together consecutive 16-game seasons since his first two years in the league back in 2003-04 while Schaub has played just 11 games in each of his first two seasons with Houston.)

Much like the passing game, big things should also be in store for the Texans' running game. There doesn't seem to be any consensus yet on what will happen to Steve Slaton's goal-line carries. Slaton added nearly 10 pounds in the offseason in order to hopefully address the team's woes in red zone scoring (30th in the league in 2008) and red zone touchdowns (26th). Conversely, HC Gary Kubiak made several mentions during the offseason about his desire to pair Slaton up with a bigger back. The head coach usually wins these types of battles, but counting on Chris Brown for a full season would be foolish and, while the team likes undrafted rookie Arian Foster, one has to question whether the Texans will honestly feel better taking the ball out of Slaton's hands inside the five-yard line. Why does it matter? For a RB corps that accounted for over 2,200 total yards and 15 scores last season against the likes of Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Tennessee (twice), the potential is there for even more with only one negative matchup and the NFC West on the schedule. For now, I'll believe that HC Gary Kubiak lets Brown and Foster take the goal-line work, but the fact is that if Slaton beats them both out, he could easily be the No. 1 overall fantasy draft pick in 2010.

Now that the most talked-about consultant role in the history of the league has been clarified, the Colts should retain their place among the elite offenses in the league. Late last month, the league informed its teams that consultants such as former OC Tom Moore and ex-OL coach Howard Mudd would be allowed to take on as much of a role as the team wanted, meaning Moore and Mudd will be able to assume their old roles with the team, in a matter of speaking. Unlike the Texans' slate, the Colts' schedule is much more heavily backloaded with potential negative matchups. Even though Indianapolis has mostly neutral matchups in the first eight games, that fact is somewhat negated by the notion that four of the Colts' next seven games are against some fairly tough projected defenses. Note that I have the Jaguars listed as a neutral matchup as well, so Indy could easily slide a bit offensively in the second half of the season. It should come as some relief, though, that only the Jets are a team Indy is not intimately familiar with, but even then, the Colts are no stranger to Rex Ryan's pressure defense either. Fantasy owners shouldn't expect much more output from Peyton Manning, Dallas Clark or Reggie Wayne than they gave us a season ago, but a serious upgrade needs to be considered for Anthony Gonzalez, as the absence of Marvin Harrison should allow him to double the 57 targets he saw a season ago. The most likely player to step into Gonzalez's old role will be Pierre Garcon, who carries a fair amount of super-sleeper potential.

It wasn't long ago that Joseph Addai was the next big thing, but after an injury-plagued season for him and his offensive line, the former LSU standout goes from sure-fire first-round fantasy pick to a committee back. While the workload split should still be 60-40 in Addai's favor, it may not take a lot of persuasion from first-round pick Donald Brown to make this backfield a true RBBC. With that said, the schedule (and the Colts' health up front) lines up nicely for an early-season bounceback from Addai. For right now, Addai is the more complete back of the two and is certainly the most trusted option of the two in the passing game. However, while the passing game has the strength to survive the second half of the Colts' schedule, fantasy owners should be advised that a committee backfield vs. the likes of the Patriots, Ravens and Jets during the most important weeks of the season is not the ideal way to wrap up a fantasy league championship. If Addai cannot complete a full season once again, Brown has more than enough skill to step up and carry his owners, so he certainly qualifies as a fairly low-risk, potential high-reward RB.

It would come as a surprise to no one if Maurice Jones-Drew emerged as fantasy's best RB this season. He is a complete back with no viable threat pushing him for touches in the Jags' backfield. In three seasons, he has scored 38 rushing or receiving TDs, so he obviously has a nose for the end zone. Moreover, Jacksonville should start this season with a much better and healthier offensive line after adding rookies Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton along with free agent Tra Thomas. Last but not least, there is not a lot of red on MJD's schedule and he has the benefit of padding his numbers against the likes of the Rams and Chiefs. In fact, only the Jets and Patriots qualify as defenses on the 2009 schedule who strike me as teams who could bottle up Jones-Drew. But as we have seen already, "Pocket Hercules" is one of the few RBs in the league who can consistently produce no matter the opponent, much like a young Brian Westbrook. The biggest question will be whether or not the Jags elect to take some of MJD's red zone touches from him in order to preserve him (the team has some pounders behind him), but it would seem ridiculous to remove him from the goal line when he has established himself as one of the best in the league in that role and is compact enough to handle the punishment.

Assuming the Jags will return to their run-heavy ways and with the lack of an elite receiving threat, it's hard to hand out many favorable matchups to any of the members of Jacksonville's passing game. What this team does have is receiving talent, so it is conceivable that David Garrard takes advantage and puts up some surprising passing yards (like he did last year) while also posting a stellar TD:INT ratio (like he did in 2007). In all honesty, the six red matchups could end up being as few as two if the Jags open things up and teams like the Colts and Titans fail to react favorably to their new defensive coordinators. Despite being on the downside of his career, Torry Holt is undoubtedly the most dependable target (on and off the field) Garrard has enjoyed since becoming the team's #1 QB midway through the 2006 season. Pairing him up for 16 games with a healthy Mike Walker (always a question mark) would make Garrard a viable mix-and-match fantasy starter and give the running game even more opportunity to pound opponents.

As is usually the case with HC Jeff Fisher's teams, the offense begins and ends with the running game, all the while hoping the passing game does just enough to get by. The same could be said for the Titans' first-half slate, which presents the team with the stiffest challenges it figures to face all season. The Steelers, Jets and Pats are three of Tennessee's first four road games, all of which come prior to the team's Week 7 bye. As a result, a slow start by Chris Johnson and LenDale White (to a lesser degree) should not be ruled out. With that said, the post-bye slate opens up quite nicely for Johnson as only the Dolphins and Chargers (during the fantasy playoffs) project as defenses that should be expected to mount any kind of resistance against the Titans' running game, although the Jags and Niners could stand up to them more than expected. Johnson has as strong of a case as Jones-Drew or Slaton for becoming not only the division’s best fantasy player, but also the league's most valuable fantasy property at RB. He is an adept receiver while his offensive line – which returns in full after a dominant showing from last season – is the most established of the three.

Just like the running game, the Titans should be forgiven if the Steelers, Jets, Colts and Pats stymie their passing game before the bye. Nate Washington and Justin Gage will go up against some solid CBs after that, but it could be argued the Cardinals and Chargers have the most talent in the defensive backfield of any team Tennessee faces in the second half. While I expect a return to form from San Diego, Arizona seriously downgraded in my opinion when it fired former DC Clancy Pendergast and hired Bill Davis as his replacement. Thus, only two teams strike me as opponents who will serve as a serious deterrent when the Titans want to go play-action and hit Washington (and possibly rookie Kenny Britt) down the field. It should be noted that while I expect Bo Scaife and Gage to lead the team in receptions, it would not be a bit surprising to me if Washington scores 6-7 times and becomes the receiver opponents start game-planning for late in the season. Given the nature of the offense and the likelihood that Kerry Collins makes it through another full season at his age, he shouldn't be counted on for much in fantasy circles. However, with better weapons and a full training camp as the starter under his belt, his per-game numbers should markedly improve in 2009.

AFC WEST

Earlier in the offseason, I made a bold statement when I proclaimed that Kyle Orton would outproduce Jay Cutler. I may need to reverse course on that one (right now I have them finishing in the same neighborhood), but not because I believe Cutler is that much better. As with just about every judgment I make in fantasy football, I base my opinion on the schedule and current events. As schedules go, this entire division will have it rough in 2009, especially the Broncos. The Bengals got a neutral ranking, but could easily finish as a top 10 defense this season. Cleveland and Oakland should give Denver a bit of a break, but after that, the Broncos embark on an unforgiving nine-week stretch that any offense would find difficult, let alone one trying to find its way with a new offensive system. During the run, the Broncos face three of the four teams from the NFC East, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, New England and San Diego (twice). To top things off, they have two more challenging road contests vs. the Colts and Eagles during many owners' fantasy playoffs. Regarding the current events I mentioned above, Brandon Marshall's recovery from offseason hip surgery further complicates matters as he is having trouble making it through a full practice so far in camp. A full recovery from his surgery is supposed to take between 6-12 months and September only gets him to most optimistic outlook (no wonder he wanted a new deal done over the summer). Because Denver has such a deep and talented offensive supporting cast, Orton could actually see his way through and put up some decent fantasy performances, but I no longer am entertaining any thoughts of him emerging as a top-10 QB option this season. If Marshall is only a shell of himself for 2009, Eddie Royal stands to benefit the most although Jabar Gaffney would likely become a starter if the man-child WR needed to miss time. In the off chance Marshall completely overcomes his injury woes and contract squabbles, he and Royal should maintain some semblance of fantasy relevance but the schedule could potentially squash the value of the rest of the passing game. The one saving grace for Orton, Marshall and Royal is that since the Broncos defense figures to finish among the league’s worst again this season, the trio may be able to pad their passing and receiving totals while attempting a late comeback or during garbage time.

Thankfully, the running game doesn't have it quite as tough as the passing game, but I am also not quite as high (as I was earlier this summer) on this part of the Broncos' offense. Because the Broncos have such a proficient run-blocking line, they should be able to get Knowshon Moreno near the 1,000-yard mark despite six poor matchups, although he needs to report to camp soon and assert his rightful place as the unquestioned lead back for that to happen. While I don't believe it would be in the team's best interests to pull the rookie out and insert LaMont Jordan for short-yardage work, apparently the team does, so Moreno could disappoint in the scoring department. If his fantasy owners can deal with a rollercoaster ride during the heart of Denver's schedule, he could reward his owners over the final four weeks when he should have a couple of opportunities to shine against division rivals Kansas City and Oakland. Indy may also struggle against the run and it would come as no surprise to me if the passing of DC Jim Johnson leaves the Eagles as an unpredictable defense week in and week out in 2009. Given his abilities as a receiver, I expect Moreno to be much more consistent in PPR leagues for the simple fact that: 1) he will be the team's third-down back and 2) considering the number of aggressive defenses on the schedule, Denver will probably run its fair share of screens and swing passes on the early downs to slow down the pass rush.

As I mentioned in earlier columns, the Chiefs cleaned house at the top. But, as we know with any project worth doing right, it's going to take some time to get Arrowhead Stadium rocking again eight or more times a season. And as far as the schedule, new HC Todd Haley couldn't timed his first head coaching job any worse as far as walking into a situation in which he was able to build his team's confidence early on with a few hard-fought wins against some weak opponents. By the time Kansas City hits its Week 8 bye, it will have faced five of last season's top eight defenses (Baltimore and the entire NFC East). As a result, it is really hard to find much to love about the running game. It appears that Haley will let holdover OC Chan Gailey make the play calls with the team operating out of the spread more often than not. While Larry Johnson was able to enjoy moderate success out of the spread, he isn't a good fit for the scheme and his schedule doesn't figure to help him out any in that regard. Depending how healthy (physically and emotionally) they are after the break, the Chiefs do get a bit of a reprieve in the second half of the season as four of the worst run defenses (according to my projections) make up half of the remaining slate of games. But because I know of no fantasy owner who can afford to sit his RB2 for 50% of the season in any year, draft LJ as a RB3 if you decide to take him. The fact he is turning 30 during the season, is unpredictable off the field and runs behind a below-average line should only convince you further that he isn't worth the trouble in 2009.

Things weren't going to be easy for the Chiefs this season even with Tony Gonzalez, but trading away the most complete TE of his time will only put more burden on the passing game. While the trade was the right thing to do to help a team icon play for a contender and a good move for the Chiefs’ future, the team has put an inordinate amount of pressure on Matt Cassel - who is already learning a new offense, along with the rest of the team - but also Dwayne Bowe, who should now be mercilessly double-teamed. When healthy, Mark Bradley is a more-than-capable real-life WR2 for this team while free agent pickup Bobby Engram is only a season removed from a 94-catch campaign in Seattle. Unfortunately, the former can't seem to consistently stay on the field and the latter is a 36-year-old who played hurt last season but also looked nothing he did in 2007. If that wasn't enough, Kansas City gets even fewer breaks from its schedule. When they aren't facing the likes of stellar team defenses like Baltimore, Philly, Pittsburgh or the Giants, Bowe gets the pleasure of facing Asomugha and Antonio Cromartie twice as well as Rashean Mathis and Champ Bailey. Because he is such a talent and KC has few other attractive options, Bowe may very well set career highs all across the board despite all the attention he will receive. My biggest fear for this offense, however, is the likelihood that Cassel will miss some games. While there is something to be said about a new QB having a full offseason and training camp knowing that he is the starter, Cassel took 47 sacks behind a pretty good Patriots line. Therefore, it is conceivable that if he doesn't speed up his reads for this season, he could give David Carr's record-breaking 76-sack season in 2002 a run for the money. While the left side of KC's line is strong, the right side will be where opponents attack and neither LJ nor Jamaal Charles will be mistaken as great pass blockers in blitz pickup. The point to all this is that while I have Cassel projected for 15 games above, I highly doubt he will make it that far.

It’s hard to believe in this day and age that an NFL offense could be inept at passing the football. Believe it or not, it doesn't figure to get any better so long as JaMarcus Russell continues to pretend he never left college. Until football becomes important enough to the talented signal caller so he shows up to camp in shape and spends his offseasons working on routes with his receivers, all he will be is an enigma at best. Russell shouldn't be handed all the blame; he has arguably the least talented group of receivers in the league catching his passes and an owner who believes that upgrading that position means finding the fastest player. Russell does have TE Zach Miller, however, who is a stud trapped in a running offense with an inaccurate QB. Interestingly, the lack of receivers actually works in Miller’s favor, though, so not all is lost. In the Raiders' passing game, he is the one player opponents need to game plan for each week. Since the AFC West was a pretty gracious division when it came to defending the TE a season ago and Kansas City and Denver should remain as shaky on defense, Miller should have enough opportunity to repeat his 2008 numbers, at the very least. Unfortunately, there are at least six teams that should have the personnel necessary to keep him in check, so the onus falls back on a receiving corps that is hoping for a dramatic increase of production from young wideouts Chaz Schilens and Johnnie Lee Higgins. Help is one the way, but the most immediate impact player may very well be rookie Louis Murphy, not 2009 No. 7 overall pick Darius Heyward-Bey or 2008 prize free agent Javon Walker. Fantasy owners should consider 2009 a redshirt season for DHB because it is becoming fairly obvious he is every bit as raw as his consistency in college suggested he was. As for Walker, he is saying all the right things after undergoing a top-secret offseason surgery, but it is anyone's guess what his future holds in Oakland.

Any improvement the passing game makes over 2008 should only benefit a healthy Darren McFadden. While he will contribute to Russell's bottom line and could possibly be the team's second-leading receiver this year, it would be a major upset if he doesn't see something in the neighborhood of 225 carries. The second-year speedster was hobbled by a toe injury for most of last season, but HC Tom Cable saw enough in last season's game tape to convince himself the Raiders were noticeably better when McFadden was in the game. So assuming a similar injury doesn't befall him in 2009, the former Razorback should start living up to his draft position this year. If the Raiders have anything going for them on offense, it is the fact they can run block and feature a zone-blocking system that complements DMC's athletic ability well. His role seems to be secure; he will get his touches. The great debate appears to be who will share his workload more often: Justin Fargas or Michael Bush. Bush impressed during a brief stint late last season and is easily the more gifted of the two backs, but Cable loves the lift that Fargas brings to the team with his hard-charging style. How much it will matter again depends on the passing game, because a repeat of 2008 won't allow any Oakland RB to score all that much if Russell & Co. doesn't pick it up. Schedule-wise, things get interesting during Weeks 15-16, when Oakland should have ample opportunity to dominate on the ground in road games vs. Denver and Cleveland. Just like the rest of their division, the Raiders have to contend with some of the best defenses in the league from the NFC East and AFC North, so a repeat of a top-10 finish in rushing appears unlikely.

Over the years, San Diego has become more proficient in the passing game, probably to the point now where it relies on Philip Rivers just as much as it does on LT, if not more so. That point has really been driven home over the past couple of seasons, especially since Rivers has matured into one of the league's best QBs, in part because any of his three main receivers could go for 100+ yards, two TDs or both in any game. Turner has long been able to get the best out of his QBs and another year with Rivers should only mean more headaches for opponents. Last season could have been a career year for Rivers - as a repeat of seven 3-TD games seems unlikely against the aforementioned schedule - but it could have just as well been a launching-off point for him, too. For now, I've conservatively predicted a small dropoff in the TD department for him (mostly because I expect the Chargers to run more effectively), but an injury to LT or a repeat of the run-blocking issues from a season ago could easily boost Rivers' totals on the levels they reached last season. With the talent and depth San Diego has, only the Steelers and Giants strike me as teams that may hold this offense down for four quarters. Gates is said to be healthy as well, so I have little reservation saying he could reclaim his title as fantasy's best TE. With Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers around, Gates will no longer monopolize all the receiving scores from Rivers as he did earlier in his career. But, just like LT, Gates is in good shape after an offseason to recover from a lingering toe injury - I fully expect his end-of-the-year numbers will reflect that.