Fantasy Football 2011: The Top Ten Quarterbacks to Draft

Forget the lockout and the Draft, none of it will have much of a bearing on the top tiers of quarterbacks available in Fantasy Football this year. While the late start, free agency and the lineup shuffles may affect other positions, you can always come away from your Fantasy Football draft with a solid pick at quarterback by just keeping an eye on the draft board and acting before the top dozen are gone. Here then are the top 10 quarterbacks available in 2011.

Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts)

For year in year out consistency in Fantasy Football, it's kind of hard to top Manning. Coming off what for him would be an off season, Manning still threw for 4,700 yards and 33 touchdowns. While the yardage was a career high, it was the fifth time in the last seven seasons that Peyton has throw for over 30 touchdowns in a season. Sitting on 399 career touchdowns and close to 55,000 yards passing, Manning shows no signs of slowing down. If you are looking for a sure thing, then Peyton's your man.

Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers)

His consistency passing the ball, along with his ability to run (over 850 yards and 13 touchdowns rushing over the last three seasons), makes drafting Aaron Rodgers a no-brainer. If you miss drafting Manning , then Rodgers is a good consolation pick; So expect 4,000 yards passing along with 30-32 total touchdowns this season from the Packer quarterback, and take him as high as you dare during your Draft.

Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints)

Sure he threw for a career high 22 interceptions last season, but Fantasy wise Brees also delivered his fifth straight season of +4,000 yards passing, and his third with over 30 touchdowns. After Peyton Manning, no other quarterbacks has been as consistent as Brees, and there is no reason to believe that he will slow down any this season. As solid a quarterback pick as there is in Fantasy Football.

Tom Brady (New England Patriots)

Brady led the NFL with a 111.0 QB rating and 36 touchdowns last season. Along the way he was consistent enough to throw for at least one touchdown in every NFL game he played, all while throwing only four interceptions all season. Still, he ended the season throwing for exactly 800 yards less than Manning and he's only had two seasons in which he has thrown for over 30 touchdowns. So while Brady will always win more than his fair share of games, in Fantasy Football he is merely a top 5 quarterback.

Michael Vick (Philadelphia Eagles)

Limited to only 12 games last season Vick finally delivered the type of season that was expected of him since he came into the league. There is little doubt that if he continues were he left off last season, Vick can post better Fantasy Football numbers than any other quarterback in the league. Unfortunately the Eagles QB is going to have to prove that his 2010 season wasn't a fluke. Still, with his ability to run and pass the ball, and with the offensive weapons at his disposal, it may be fair to expect a +30 touchdown season, 500-600 yards on the ground, and another 3,700 yards passing. If you are into high risk, high reward quarterbacks, then Vick is your man.

Phillip Rivers (San Diego Chargers)

Rivers has had a three year run of fantastic Fantasy Football numbers, passing for close to 13,000 yards and 92 touchdowns during that span and never having a QB rating of under 101.8. He would rate a tiny bit higher on this list if not for the feeling that Rivers will be hard press to top the 4,710 yards and 30 touchdowns season he had in 2010. Still, on any given day, Rivers is a top 3 quarterback in this league, so drafting him is no gamble.

Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys)

Never mind that he is coming off an injury and that his post season record is dismal; Tony Romo is still an excellent Fantasy Football quarterback. Before he went down in the 7^th game of the season, Romo had thrown for 10 touchdowns while posting games of 374 and 406 yards passing. The fact that he has Dez Bryant, Miles Austin and Jason Witten to throw to doesn't hurt either.

Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcon)

After a season in which he threw for 3,705 yards and 28 touchdowns last season, "Matty Ice" is closing in on being a top five Fantasy Football quarterback. If he keeps improving at the same rate he has since he came into the league in 2008, Ryan can end up posting a 4,000 yard, 30 touchdown season, especially since he will now have Julio Jones to throw to, along with Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez. If you are looking for a quarterback with a sky high ceiling this season, then take a chance on Matt Ryan.

Eli Manning (New York Giants)

Let's face it, he will never have his brother's Fantasy Football numbers, but Eli still posted his second straight season of 4,000 or more yards, adding 31 touchdowns in the process. That and the fact that he has a trio of top notch receivers in Steve Smith, Hakeen Nicks and Mario Manningham may mean that Eli's numbers in 2011 will be closer to Peyton's than anyone expects.

Matt Schaub (Houston Texans)

Yes his numbers were down a bit in 2010 after having thrown for 4,772 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2009, but 24 touchdowns and 4,370 yards were not that far from his career high. However the emergence of Adrian Foster as a top flight running back may mean that Schaub's final numbers this year will end up closer to what they were last year.

Sources:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/stats/

http://espn.go.com/nfl/