Your Fantasy Football Reality Check #2 – Quarterbacks
July 17, 2008Welcome Ladies, Gentlemen, and fantasy leaguers of all ages to the QB installment of Gridiron Goddess’ Your Fantasy Football Reality Check!
This week we’re going to start talking about the specifics of each position.
Let’s begin with the field generals of football — the quarterbacks. Now I know that the standard thinking in approaching a fantasy football draft is to draft running backs first, running backs second, and take whichever best QB is left- but I just don’t buy into that conformist style.
Fantasy football scoring systems in head to head leagues are predicated on scoring touchdowns.
Who else on any team has the likelihood of consistently putting up 20+ TD’s in a season outside of the QB? I realize that not all fantasy league scoring formats are the same — a lot of leagues award less points for QB TDs than the other positions — but that still places the quarterback as one of your steadiest producers.
It seems strange to say this but QBs are a slightly undervalued commodity come draft day in most leagues. That’s why I’m going to stress the importance of acquiring a true #1 QB.
Believe me; you don’t want to have two marginal fantasy quarterbacks that you’ll have to shuffle between each week. There have been a couple of seasons when I didn’t go out of my way to draft that sure-fire producer, and not coincidentally one of those seasons was my only year at .500 or less.
You need to draft a quarterback you feel absolutely comfortable with every week regardless of the matchup. Attempting to play the “who has a better matchup this week” game, trying to determine who will have the better scoring week due to their upcoming opponent is the most sure fire way of insuring a mediocre outcome.
If your dilemma post draft day is “Do I start Clemens or Garcia?!” I really don’t need to tell you that you’re entering a world of pain.
Hopefully by reading this column we’re preventing that potential disaster from occurring.
Before I list the Gridiron Goddess Fantasy-Reality Check quarterback rankings I need to make something clear — It is imperative to have one of the QBs listed in the top 8 at best and top 10 at worst in order to alleviate any concerns about what to expect from this vital position. Make no bones about it — they WILL require a top draft choice.
I’m addressing this position first so the idea of spending one of your top 3 picks (and in many cases top 2 picks), has sufficient time to settle in before any ‘08 drafts ensue.
QBs you’ll relish owning:
From Fantasy royalty to a steady hand
1) Tom Brady
2) Peyton Manning
3) Tony Romo
4) Drew Brees
5) Carson Palmer
6) Ben Roethlisberger
7) Derek Anderson
8 ) Matt Hasselbeck
9) Donovan McNabb
10) Brett Favre- only if he is starting for the Pack though!
QB’s you’ll have to live with:
One week on- one week off- some upsides
11) Jay Cutler
12) Marc Bulger
13) Eli Manning
14) David Garrard
15) Jake Delhomme
16) Matt Schaub
17) Jason Campbell
18 Philip Rivers
19) Aaron Rodgers
20) Jon Kitna
Good luck! The rest of the field doesn’t require ratings as far as I’m concerned.
Your starter and backup are hopefully both amongst the first twenty named here. If one is in the top ten and the other in the 11-20 range- you’re gold!
However, if both your QBs are listed in the second tier you could have that week to week match up problem I mentioned earlier. With so much parity in the NFL schedule you’re better served by taking my advice and drafting the unquestionable #1 QB who you start EVERY week.
That’s it this week everybody, visit Gridiron Goddess for the Running Backs preview next Thursday.
-Stephen Lamare
This post sponsored by NFL Odds and Betting.
[...] unknown . Excerpt: Let’s begin with the field generals of football — the quarterbacks. Now I know that the standard thinking in approaching a fantasy football draft is to draft running backs first, running backs second, and take whichever best QB is left- … [...]
Assuming QB rushing yards count the same as RB yards and the normal 4 pass/6 run scoring, Garrard looks low. I wouldn’t be ashamed to start him in deep leagues.
Without an improved rushing game, Anderson drops as defenses will learn to adjust – check out CLE’s DVOA last season (11th overall, large drop-off at end of season).
I’d much rather have McNabb and risk than Hasselback – he’s trending the wrong way.
Lastly, only the top two guys are rd1/rd2 guys – you can play waiver wire hero with QBs to a point, they’re all about equivalent injury risk minus McNabb, and if you’re swapping in the Justin Fargases of the world you’ll hate yourself much worse. Just saying.
LOVE
REV RUN
I do agree only Brady and Manning are early considerations. Once the running back situation is addressed first, you certainly would look to them if they are still on the board…but never are. At that point, most of the rest of the QB’s look to be similar in production and you have to know your league’s scoring rules to parse out which is possibly the best fit for your team. I do like to get at least two solid QB starters on the roster, and pulling the trigger on drafting them depends when the inevitable “run on QB’s” starts.