Fantasy Football Top 10 Quarterbacks

Fantasy football season is approaching quickly and it is time to begin preparing. Your fantasy football league (FFL) will probably be drafting in the near future and it is important to look at the players you might be targeting with your picks.

There are only a handful of elite quarterbacks, followed by several serviceable ones. After that, there is a rather steep drop off at the position. Unlike running backs or wide receivers, the odds are not great of landing a top-10 quarterback beyond the middle rounds. It does happen (in his breakout year with New Orleans, I drafted Drew Brees in the 14th round and he ended the season as a top-3 quarterback), just not terribly often. For this position, you want to stay safe and grab a proven commodity.

The position you are drafting from and your fantasy league's settings will impact the quarterback you will want to target. With regard to position, if you have a top-five pick, you would be best advised to stay away from the position this early and draft a running back or, if you are truly daring, a top-end wide receiver (but only if the WR's name is Fitzgerald or Randy Moss) (see my article on WR's). If you are toward the end of the first round, though, you may want to consider grabbing a top-tier quarterback. Beyond that, look for the rest of these guys during rounds 2 - 6.

1. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints. Brees had a near-record setting season last year by passing for over 5,000 yards. He has an athletic, accomplished stable of wide receivers, including Marquis Colston, who will grab a lot of passes for him. The New Orleans offense is already clicking in the preseason and you can expect that success to carry into the regular season. The Saints will put up a lot of points and your fantasy football team will also put up a lot of points if you have Brees as your QB.

2. Tom Brady, New England Patriots. Brady would be the number one quarterback in these rankings, but don't think he is ranked behind Brees on account of last year's injury. Mr. Gisele is healthy and a safe bet to put up monster numbers for your fantasy team. These top rankings merely relate to the emergence of the New Orleans as the premiere offense in the NFL. Expect Brady to easily top 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns.

3. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers. Rodgers is the reason Green Bay was willing to put you-know-who (his name has already been mentioned more than enough the past couple of years...) behind them and move on with this youngster. Last year, Aaron Rodgers had an absolutely brilliant season in his first year as starter. Expect even bigger things from him this year. He has experience under his belt and a group of wide receivers which is near the top of the league as a collective unit in terms of talent.

4. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts. Manning established himself as one of the preeminent quarterbacks in the league years ago and is showing little sign of slowing down. Manning is perhaps one of the absolute safest picks one could make for fantasy football purposes (or if you are playing a game of pick-up football and he's in the group of guys playing). He also has a nice corps of wide receivers, although there is more drop-off for the third and fourth WR's in Indy than there is in New Orleans, New England, or Green Bay. That doesn't mean you shy away from him, though.

5. Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals. Warner is blessed with the greatest duo of starting WR's in the game. Fitzgerald and Boldin are huge offensive threats from the wide receiver position. In addition to those two All-Pro caliber receivers, Steve Breaston emerged as a 1,000 yard WR last year. Warner has the arm to air it out and is throwing to athletic, tough wide receivers, so why isn't he higher on this list? Well, Warner has terrific upside, no question about that, but he is getting up there in age and is a potential injury risk. No one can say definitively if a QB is going to get hurt or not (ask anyone who drafted Brady last year...), but the possibility of Warner getting hurt seems more likely than it does for the previous quarterbacks.

6. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys. Everyone in America knows, thanks to his countless self-promotional exploits, that Terrell Owens is no longer in Dallas. Owens is an incredible WR, even at the age of 35, but this is a case of addition by subtraction. TO was a constant distraction and negative presence in the Dallas locker room. With Owens in Buffalo, Romo can establish himself as the team leader and resume putting up solid fantasy football numbers. Don't forget, he still has Witten, Roy Williams, and Patrick Crayton to catch the ball. Additionally, the Dallas RB's play a decent role in the passing game and give Romo extra options.

7. Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles. McNabb is getting up there in age and might not be as mobile as he was years ago, but the Philadelphia offense will be rather pass-heavy. Last year, DeSean Jackson emerged as a playmaker for the Eagles and should take further strides in his second season. The drafting of Jeremy Maclin gives McNabb another speedy option in the passing game. And even though he hit the dreaded 30-year-old mark, Westbrook will catch a lot of passes out of the backfield.

8. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans. Much like other players in the league, the knock on Schaub isn't his talent. Everyone knows he can put up great passing numbers and is surrounded by a lot of talent (Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter, and Steve Slaton). Rather, the drawback to Matt Schaub is the same as Warner, which is to say that he's an injury risk. Schaub has missed five games in each of the past two seasons. It should go without saying that you want your fantasy quarterback to actually be playing in the real NFL games. If he can stay healthy, Schaub has the potential to be in the top-5. Don't forget to keep that "if" in mind when you draft.

9. Phillip Rivers, San Diego Chargers. Rivers is ranked higher in many other lists, but his coach has came outright and said they intend to run the ball this season a lot. Last year, their main playmaker, LaDanian Tomlinson, was hurt and they had to air it out more frequently. Also, the SD defense was rather banged up and teams were practically scoring at will. This season, LT and the collective defense are in better shape than they were a year ago. Expect a more ball-control kind of game from the Chargers and lower numbers for Rivers.

10. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons. Ryan came out swinging in his rookie season last year for Atlanta and he hasn't looked back. He entered the league looking polished, took the reins to the team, and is now primed for an equally-impressive sophomore campaign. The Falcons already had excellent wide receivers in Roddy White and Michael Jenkins, but this off-season they were able to acquire perennial All-Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez. With Michael Turner giving the opposition a huge reason to not sit back in pass coverage all day, the receiving corps will give Matt Ryan lots of opportunities to find them and this will lead to solid yardage and touchdown numbers for him.