In The Big Lead’s intern system, one of the three is Stephen Montemayor, a senior at the University of Kansas and sports editor of the Daily Kansan. Fantasy football magazines hit newsstands around July; the genre is so popular that there’s a fantasy football draft weekend in Vegas.

The “Wildcat” offense aside, 2008 also ushered in a new crop of fantasy football studs. Gone are the drafts where one could throw a dart at a list of LT2, LJ, Portis and Westbrook and feel safe.

An abnormally-high five rookies (Jonathan Stewart, Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, Steve Slaton and Tim Hightower) scored at least 10 TDs while three rushed for at least 1,200 yards. Don’t expect the same out of this year’s rookie class, but do target second-year backs Forte, Slaton and Johnson early.

Larry Fitzgerald’s GONZO postseason (30/546/7) landed him on the cover of most publications. He (and in some cases Drew Brees) are this year’s non-RB first round picks by some accounts. I’d still go RB if I’m in the top half of the order but if you’ve got a few top-tier WRs looking at you and you’re picking, say 8-12, why not grab the best available if the draft snakes right back to you soon anyway?

Adrian Peterson’s looking like the popular choice for overall No. 1. Tough to argue, although the pass-catching abilities of Forte, Steven Jackson, Maurice Jones-Drew (another multiple-cover boy and top pick), Slaton, Johnson or Westbrook (IF healthy) could prove more valuable in a PPR format.

I was raised with a Fantasy Football Index in the house each fall, so by default the mag is always my first buy. Great read as always and good to finally see an addition of customizable cheat sheets online.

Also gave Sports Illustrated’s first full-length fantasy football yearly a look.

The best looking I’ve seen, SI’s mag caters to both the stat-starved diehard and the beginner too proud to confess to never playing before. It boasts a coffeenerdness-free Peter King 10 Things I Think I Think Fantasy Edition, 439 players rated, a nice matrix of the productivity of the ever-clustering NFL backfield and team profiles that include opposing scouts’ takes on players – something few other publications can offer.

Of course if you’re not nostalgic for print or just want to save money to blow on draft-night debauchery, there’s a dearth of free web content – Fantasy Football Whiz, KFFL, Fantasy Football Nerd, Football Diehards, Draft Sharks, and so on.

Your preseason weapon(s) of choice?