In today’s NFL, it’s as much about betting and fantasy football as it is about actually rooting for your real life team, if you even have one. Each week, I will be giving my fantasy advice on weekly waiver pickups, starts, and sits, but now, it’s time to go over the fantasy football draft. I will be giving my rankings for QBs, RBs, WRs, and TEs, while grouping them by tiers. Today I’ll be starting off with the guys who get paid the big bucks, the QBs. So without further ado, let’s get right into the rankings.
Remember, these rankings are in the order of my personal preference, so if they are within the same tier, I think all of them will be around the same range for fantasy point projections, so feel free to choose who you prefer.
Tier 1 – The Elite
Aaron Rodgers
Peyton Manning
Drew Brees
These are the only 3 QBs that are likely to go within the 1st three to four rounds of your fantasy draft. Rodgers, in my opinion, is the best overall QB in the league. His combination of size, arm, and mobility puts him there in my book. Manning, coming off the record breaking year, likely has the most upside, but also is the biggest injury risk. Brees always has two or three bad games a year, the rest are very good. Hopefully he just doesn’t have that bad game when you most need him.
Tier 2 – The Likely Stars
Matthew Stafford
Cam Newton
Jay Cutler
Colin Kaepernick
Andrew Luck
Nick Foles
Tom Brady
Stafford reminds me a lot of a young Romo, great numbers, but doesn’t win. Fortunately in fantasy football, whether their real team wins or not, doesn’t matter. Cam Newton doesn’t have much to throw to, but his rushing stats more than make up for it. Cutler has the best WR duo in the league and a goo catch RB. Kaepernick has a great supporting cast and Luck may be the best young QB in the league. Foles has the pleasure of being in a Chip Kelly ran offense, and Tom Brady may not put up his usual numbers, but he will always be a threat.
Tier 3 – Starting Talent
Carson Palmer
Philip Rivers
Tony Romo
Robert Griffin III
Matt Ryan
Eli Manning
Ben Roethlisberger
Palmer has been going very late, sometimes even undrafted, but I expect a big year from him. He could easily be in the 2nd tier if it wasn’t for age. Rivers was great last year, can he duplicate? Romo and RG3 are both big question marks that if healthy can easily be top 5 type QBs. I don’t believe in Ryan that much, but he’s surrounded by 2 great WRs. If the Giants go to a three or four wide offense, Eli may have a big year, as long as he cuts down on the turnovers. Big Ben doesn’t have a huge wealth of options, but, he’s consistent and Pittsburgh wants to run more of a hurry up offense.
Tier 4 – Bye Week Replacements
Ryan Tannehill
Russell Wilson
Alex Smith
Jake Locker
Andy Dalton
Sam Bradford
Joe Flacco
Tannehill and Wilson have the most upside, but their every week numbers are not consistent. Smith will not hurt you, but he’s in a heavy rush offense. Locker has good ability, but is injury proned, if he can stay healthy, he could move up in the top 15-20. Dalton is in a slightly conservative offense and has primarily just 1 big time WR, that doesn’t lead to much consistency. Bradford is a forgotten man, but the Rams have the easiest pass schedule in the league despite 4 games vs. the Seahawks and the 49ers. Flacco has dropped big time lately. Not consistent and the team just seems to be on the verge of breaking down.
Tier 5 – Best of the Rest
Josh McCown
EJ Manuel
Matt Cassell
Geno Smith
Matt Schaub
Chad Henne
Brian Hoyer
Ryan Fitzpatrick
I think it’s pretty even between McCown and Manuel, just a flip of the coin. Cassell is up there cause he has G.Jennings, C.Patterson, K.Rudolph, and of course, Adrian Peterson on the field with him. Geno and Schaub are also pretty even, both being average QBs in average offenses. The Jaguars and Browns both lack weapons, which hurt 2 QBs that are below average in Henne and Hoyer. Lastly, Fitzpatrick takes my Tim Tebow award as the worst starting QB in the league this year.
Tier 6 – Best Backup QBs
Michael Vick
Kirk Cousins
Brandon Weeden
Teddy Bridgewater
Mark Sanchez
Johnny Manziel
Derek Carr
Blake Bortles
The 2 “stars” of this group is Vick and Cousins. We all know the ability of Vick and Cousins would be thrown into a top 10 offense. Weeden isn’t a great QB and Bridgewater is a rookie, but both would have three to four weapons at their disposal, very promising. Even in a Chip Kelly offense, I’m not sure Sanchez can put up big numbers, but he’d be worth a shot. Manziel, Carr, and Bortles are all rookies in average or below average offenses, but I do think that all three will start around or below the middle of the year, so they aren’t bad for 2 QB leagues.
Next up for the rankings articles are the core of what makes a fantasy team, the RBs. The 1st two rounds of every draft will be very RB heavy, so if you want to know how to start off your draft, pay close attention to that article. Until then, if you have a draft before then, good luck. If you have any questions, I can be reached on twitter with the handle @Pacman453323, good luck.
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