They might be the four biggest offensive stars in the NFL galaxy: Tom Brady. Peyton Manning. LaDainian Tomlinson. Randy Moss. Mention them to an opposing defensive coordinator, and he probably will respond with a frightful shudder. List their names to a fantasy owner, and you will get a dreamy stare.

Well, guess what, folks? After two weeks, the league’s poster boys are being upstaged by the young (Jay Cutler), the ageless (Kurt Warner) and the relentless (J.T. O’Sullivan), among others. Many others.

As you may have heard, Brady is out for the season with a knee injury, and Manning, Tomlinson and Moss have been slowed by injuries or injuries to key members of their supporting cast, clearing the stage for the newbies.

Say hello to the Bears’ Matt Forte, the Raiders’ Darren McFadden, the Titans’ Chris Johnson and the Panthers’ Jonathan Stewart — rookie running backs all on pace for 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

Please greet a former understudy who finally has a leading role, the Falcons’ Michael Turner, who toiled for years behind Tomlinson in San Diego. Turner is only one yard behind the league’s rushing leader, the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson.

Let’s take a peek into the orchestra pit and meet all the up-and-coming conductors — the Broncos’ Cutler, the Bills’ Trent Edwards and the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers, who has the difficult job of replacing future Hall of Famer Brett Favre.

Finally, put your hands together for the guys with the best hands — the Lions’ Calvin Johnson, the Eagles’ DeSean Jackson and the Broncos’ Eddie Royal. They’re some of the league's fastest-rising receivers.

Everywhere you look, there are fresh faces, and that’s a good thing for the sport. The NFL took a big hit with Brady, arguably the biggest name, but the league has the ability to regenerate. What makes it so compelling is that you never know how — or where — it’s going to happen.

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Take Warner and O’Sullivan. They went into training camps as the underdogs in their respective quarterback battles, behind Matt Leinart and Alex Smith, respectively — a couple of former first-round picks. But you never know in this business.

O’Sullivan, no doubt benefiting from his pre-existing relationship with offensive coordinator Mike Martz, unseated Smith with a strong preseason. Much like Warner, the inspiration for overlooked quarterbacks, O’Sullivan never quit on his dream, even after not playing in 2005 and 2006. He hooked up with Martz last year in Detroit, and Martz obviously saw something in the undersized, former sixth-round pick of the Saints in 2002.

As for Warner, he’s playing like it’s 1999. Or 2000. Or 2001. In those days with the Rams, he was perhaps the best quarterback in the league, an MVP and Super Bowl champion. He was booted out of St. Louis, replaced in New York by Eli Manning and considered a hold-the-fort guy in Arizona when Leinart was drafted. Now, at 37, Warner is living a career renaissance, and has led the upstart Cards to their first 2-0 start since 1991.

“When people are talking about prosperity at 2-0, it almost makes me laugh,” said Warner, who compiled the third perfect passer rating of his career with a 361-yard, three-touchdown outing against the Dolphins. “Hopefully, we have the mindset here that this is where we expected ourselves to be, so why are you excited about some thing you expected?”

Warner has benefited from a soft schedule, but there’s every reason to be believe he can maintain this level — or close to it. He has two terrific receivers, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, and a creative offensive coordinator, Todd Haley. Mark this down: In a month, Warner will be one of the hottest stories in the league.

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O’Sullivan won’t be as fortunate. His supporting cast is nearly as talented, plus he doesn’t have Warner’s track record, so his plummet back to earth is inevitable. The other hot quarterbacks, Cutler, Edwards and Rodgers, definitely have the staying power, especially Cutler, who has everything working in his favor — supporting cast, coaching and talent. He will be the league’s next big quarterback star; everybody loves the guy with a big arm. It’s why Favre has captivated the masses for so long.

We’ve seen so many flash-in-the-pan types over the years, but this crop of young runners isn’t going away. Forte, Johnson and Stewart play for defensive-minded head coaches that want to play ball-control, so as long as they stay healthy, they’ll keep getting the ball. McFadden, too, is a gifted runner, but the Raiders are so dysfunctional that it’s hard to predict anything in Al Davis World. The man calling the plays, Lane Kiffin, might not be around much longer. Like a player with a cranky hammy, he’s day-to-day.

Outside Oakland, where things never change, the landscape is shifting. Manning, Moss and Tomlinson will revert to their playmaking ways, count on it, but there’s a new generation emerging.

Generation Y, as in, “Y not us?”

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