1. Drew Brees — With any luck, you'll still have some Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge at the end of the weekend and can curl up with a nice big turkey sandwich to watch the much-anticipated duel between the Saints and Patriots on Monday night. Fans and oddsmakers alike are expecting a shootout. The over/under number on this one is about 56, which is around 10 points higher than the next-highest NFL over/under number on the board for this week. If the Saints and Pats oblige, Brees and his New England counterpart, Tom Brady, should both produce boffo fantasy numbers. Brees has never faced the Patriots as a member of the Saints. His last game against the Patriots was early in the 2005 season, when he completed 19-of-24 passes for 248 yards and two TDs to help the Chargers score a 41-17 blowout victory in New England.

2. Wes Welker — Earlier this season Welker missed two games due to a knee injury. He now has 79 receptions in eight games, which means he's averaging just a smidge under 10 catches per game. Marvin Harrison set the record for most receptions in a single season in 2002, when he had 143 catches to shatter Herman Moore's old record by 20. If Welker can pick up the pace just a wee bit and average 10.8 catches a game the rest of the way, he'll break Harrison's record ... despite missing those two games. Welker has 53 receptions in his last five games, averaging 125.4 yards per game over that span. Is there any question that this little stick of dynamite will play a major role in the Monday-night shootout between the Pats and Saints?

3. Ben Roethlisberger — Big Ben is expected to play this week despite sustaining a concussion in Pittsburgh's overtime loss in Kansas City last week, and he'll be facing the Steelers' archrivals, the Ravens, in front of a bloodthirsty crowd in Baltimore. Steelers-Ravens games are always wars. Last season's AFC championship game between these two teams was so violent it should have been rated R. The Steelers now find themselves desperate after losing two straight and falling to 6-4, and the Ravens are one game more desperate than the Steelers. Roethlisberger's backup, Charlie Batch, was also hurt last week and is expected to be out for a month or more, so Big Ben's survival in this game is critical. Roethlisberger is always willing to hold on to the ball in the pocket and let his receivers work deep, but can he afford to do that Sunday night in Baltimore, or will the Steelers draw up a battle plan that calls for their quarterback to take shorter drops and try to hit receivers in rhythm on quick little slants and outs? Roethlisberger's fantasy owners don't like that idea, since a conservative game plan would hurt the QB's numbers, but the Steelers may have little choice.

4. Greg Jennings — This guy has been hard to figure. Jennings had 1,292 receiving yards and nine TD catches last season, and with Packers QB Aaron Rodgers having a full season of starting experience under his belt, one might have expected Jennings' numbers to be even better in 2009. Not so. With 669 receiving yards, Jennings ranks 21st in the NFL in that category, and he has only three TD catches. Against the 49ers last week, he rang up his first 100-yard game since Week Three, and he scored just his second TD since Week One. You'd think that a Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Lions and their league-worst pass defense would bode well for Jennings, but he had only 64 receiving yards and no touchdowns against Detroit in Week Six, despite the fact that Rodgers threw for 358 yards and two TDs in that game.

5. Terrell Owens — Just when most of Owens' fantasy owners had written him off and left him out of the starting lineup, T.O. erupted for nine catches and 197 receiving yards (including a 98-yard TD catch) in Buffalo's loss to Jacksonville last week. And of course, T.O. managed to be abrasive even while basking in personal glory. He none-too-subtly hinted that recently fired Bills head coach Dick Jauron had been holding him back, and even when he complimented QB Ryan Fitzpatrick for being smart and knowing how to read defenses, it came off as a backhanded shot at former starter Trent Edwards. But then, is it all true? Was the notoriously conservative Jauron responsible for shackling T.O.? And is Fitzpatrick a better quarterback for Owens than Edwards was? Another big game for Owens this week against Miami would help make the egomaniacal wideout's case.

6. Chris Chambers — What's gotten into this guy? Chambers was awful early in the season, so the Chargers released him. While unemployed, he had his hands surgically reattached, and he has flourished since joining the Chiefs, catching 10 passes for 249 yards and two TDs in three games with his new team. This week, Chambers will try to get back at the Chargers for cutting him loose. They say revenge is a dish best served cold, in which case Chambers will need to pack a cooler with ice - the game will be played in San Diego.

7. Joseph Addai — Let's talk in whispers for a moment: Addai is quietly putting together a fine fantasy season. The Colts' running game is routinely dismissed as anemic, and indeed the team ranks 31st in rushing, but Addai has been productive nevertheless. He has 757 combined rushing-receiving yards. Addai also has 10 TDs, ranking behind only Maurice Jones-Drew (13) and Adrian Peterson (11) in that category. The Colts visit Houston this week, and in a Week Nine meeting with the Texans, Addai had 112 combined yards, a TD run and a TD catch.

8. Michael Crabtree — Despite his lengthy holdout, Crabtree has fit into the 49ers' offense seamlessly. Project his numbers through the first five games of his career over a full season and you get about 70 catches and 900 yards. Not bad. One gets the feeling that a breakthrough performance is just around the bend. Crabtree had his first professional TD catch last week, a 38-yarder against the Packers. It seems like just a matter of time before he starts scoring them in bunches, and I like his odds of finding the endzone this week against Jacksonville's 25th-ranked pass defense.

9. Steve Smith (Panthers) — He's in danger of having his streak of four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons broken, but at least Smith has been scoring touchdowns lately. He's caught four TD passes in his last four games, and he's scored three times in the last two weeks. But Smith has also faced some shaky pass defenses lately. Those four recent TDs came against Arizona, Atlanta and Miami, which rank 27th, 29th and 22nd, respectively, in pass defense. This weekend, Smith will face the fourth-ranked Jets pass defense, which has given up a league-low seven aerial TDs. Smith will also have to lock up with the Jets' ace cornerback, Darrelle Revis.

10. Marion Barber — As much as the Cowboys and their fans talk about getting Felix Jones and Tashard Choice more involved in the rushing game, the workhorse role seems to suit Marion Barber. The fifth-year veteran with the violent running style has gotten more than 15 carries in a game on two occasions this season. The first time was in Week Two, when he tore up the reasonably competent Giants run defense for 124 yards and a TD on 18 carries. The second time was last week, when he had 20 carries for 99 yards against the Redskins. Barber's fantasy owners would love to see their guy get a cornucopia of carries against the Raiders on Thanksgiving Day. If the Cowboys gave him 20 attempts against an Oakland defense that's giving up 157.7 rushing yards per game and has yielded a league-high 16 TD runs, there's little doubt Barber would feast.

PFW has launched its brand-new NFL Draft Newsletter series, with the second issue being released later this month. Produced by PFW's player personnel department under the direction of Nolan Nawrocki, the series consists of four information-packed issues. For more info or to subscribe — click here for PDF e-pub or here for print format.