fantasy-football-manager

Quarterback Rankings

Updated as of 8/26/2013

Every year there seems to be some debate about the overall importance of the Quarterback. I have said in the past that you should always select a Running Back in the 1st round of your draft. More and more I see this being not always the case.

Quarterbacks, Wide Receivers and Tight ends have all been in the top 10 in Fantasy Football points at the end of the 2012 season. If you have a top 3 pick, you should still take one of the top RBs. However, if you have a mid to late first round pick, you should really think about taking Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees, especially if you receive 6 points per Passing TD.

If you play in a league where the Passing TD is only 4 points, you may want to consider taking a running quarterback early, such as Cam Newton.

I have all three of these QBs being viable first round picks. This is especially true if you are able to snag a great RB or WR in the second round.

If you miss these three QBs, you should try to get Peyton Manning or Tom Brady in the late 2nd to early 3rd round of the draft.

After that, I would shy away from picking another QB a couple of rounds. Your best bet is to try to wait for the late 3rd or early 4th round and see if one of the following three QBs are still available: Matt Ryan, Colin Kaepernick or Russel Wilson.

That being said, you might not be completely screwed if you do not get one of these top 8 QBs in my rankings above as long as you can load up with quality RBs or WRs. Andrew Luck, Matt Stafford, RGIII, Tony Romo and Eli Manning will probably still help you this season.

If you get stuck without one of the elite quarterbacks, I would suggest taking a backup QB before anyone else gets one in the 9th-10th round. The odds of one of the two decent QBs having a great year is still pretty high. You can always play the matchup game with which QB is playing the weaker defense.

2013 NFL Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings

QB
Rank
Name Team Bye
Week
Average
Overall
1 Aaron Rodgers GB 4 17.14
2 Drew Brees NO 7 19.10
3 Peyton Manning Den 9 27.90
4 Cam Newton Car 4 28.62
5 Tom Brady NE 10 37.95
6 Matt Ryan Atl 6 45.57
7 Colin Kaepernick SF 9 49.14
8 Matthew Stafford Det 9 50.62
9 Robert Griffin III Was 5 53.43
10 Russel Wilson Sea 12 56.33
11 Andrew Luck Ind 8 58.48
12 Tony Romo Dal 11 64.33
13 Eli Manning NYG 9 86.14
14 Ben Roethlisberger Pit 5 107.10
15 Michael Vick Phi 12 116.00
16 Joe Flacco Bal 8 137.38
17 Andy Dalton Cin 12 137.52
18 Sam Bradford StL 11 138.57
19 Jay Cutler Chi 8 141.33
20 Carson Palmer Ari 9 153.62
21 Matt Schaub Hou 8 155.71
22 Josh Freeman TB 5 157.14
23 Phillip Rivers SD 8 164.38
24 Alex Smith KC 10 167.00
25 Ryan Tannehill Mia 6 168.57

Projected Fantasy Value: 1st 4 Weeks and Playoffs

This year I'm going to do something new. Below is the overall Quarterback rankings. However, I'm also going to include another way to rank them. Two of the most important times of the year are the First 4 weeks and the 2 Weeks of the playoffs. The chart below show the average fantasy points scored for these time periods.

Projected 1st 4 Weeks

Projected
1st 4 Weeks
Quarterback Yards TDs Int Rush
Yards
Rush
TDs
Fum
Lost
1 Drew Brees NO 1,194 10 4.3 7.1 0.3 0.8
2 Colin Kaepernick SF 901 5.8 1.9 201 1.5 2.5
3 Peyton Manning Den 1,177 8.7 3.1 6.1 0.1 0.5
4 Tom Brady NE 1,095 8.3 2.3 10.7 0.5 0.4
5 Robert Griffin III Was 902 6.7 1.7 148 1 2.5
6 Matt Ryan Atl 1,186 7.8 3.6 25.9 0.1 0.7
7 Russell Wilson Sea 914 6.6 1.9 117 0.7 1
8 Matthew Stafford Det 1,169 7.1 3.9 27 0.4 0.9
9 Michael Vick Phi 960 5.2 4 186 0.7 2.3
10 Tony Romo Dal 1,138 6.8 4 13.8 0.2 0.9
11 Andrew Luck Ind 975 6.4 2.6 58.7 0.5 1.5
12 Eli Manning NYG 1,048 7.2 3.9 5.6 0.2 1
13 Aaron Rodgers GB 821 6.8 1.5 49.4 0.3 0.7
14 Alex Smith KC 1,022 5.3 2.8 53.7 0.2 1.2
15 Joe Flacco Bal 1,009 6.2 2.3 11.4 0.3 1.4

Projected Playoffs (Week 15 and 16)

I play in a league where the top 4 make the playoffs which start in Week 15 and end Week 16. We never play on Week 17 and I suggest that you never play in a league that decides it's champion when a lot of NFL teams are no longer trying as hard. If you are going to have 3 weeks of playoffs, start in Week 14.

Week 15 Projections

Projected
Week 15
Quarterback Yards TDs Int Rush
Yards
Rush
TDs
Fum
Lost
1 Aaron Rodgers GB 272 2.4 0.5 16.3 0.1 0.2
2 Drew Brees NO 299 2.5 1.1 1.8 0.1 0.2
3 Colin Kaepernick SF 224 1.4 0.5 48.5 0.4 0.6
4 Peyton Manning Den 295 2.2 0.8 1.4 0 0.1
5 Tom Brady NE 281 2 0.6 2.4 0.1 0.1
6 Matt Ryan Atl 295 2 0.9 6.6 0 0.2
7 Cam Newton Car 221 1.4 0.8 40.5 0.3 0.3
8 Robert Griffin III Was 225 1.6 0.4 36.7 0.3 0.6
9 Russell Wilson Sea 219 1.7 0.5 29.6 0.2 0.2
10 Matthew Stafford Det 293 1.7 0.9 6.8 0.1 0.2
11 Michael Vick Phi 240 1.3 1 44.9 0.2 0.6
12 Tony Romo Dal 289 1.8 1 3.3 0.1 0.2
13 Andrew Luck Ind 249 1.5 0.6 14.5 0.1 0.4
14 Eli Manning NYG 265 1.6 0.9 1.5 0 0.3
15 Joe Flacco Bal 251 1.6 0.6 2.7 0.1 0.3

Week 16 Projections

Projected
Week 16
Quarterback Yards TDs Int Rush
Yards
Rush
TDs
Fum
Lost
1 Aaron Rodgers GB 272 2.3 0.5 17 0.1 0.2
2 Drew Brees NO 299 2.5 1.1 1.8 0.1 0.2
3 Colin Kaepernick SF 220 1.5 0.4 51.8 0.4 0.6
4 Peyton Manning Den 299 2.1 0.8 1.2 0 0.1
5 Tom Brady NE 281 2 0.6 2.4 0.1 0.1
6 Cam Newton Car 225 1.4 0.8 40.8 0.3 0.3
7 Robert Griffin III Was 225 1.7 0.4 37.1 0.3 0.6
8 Matthew Stafford Det 293 1.8 0.9 7.2 0.1 0.2
9 Matt Ryan Atl 300 1.8 0.9 6.1 0 0.2
10 Russell Wilson Sea 215 1.7 0.4 30.2 0.2 0.2
11 Michael Vick Phi 238 1.2 0.9 46.8 0.2 0.6
12 Tony Romo Dal 284 1.8 1.1 3.3 0.1 0.2
13 Andrew Luck Ind 245 1.7 0.7 14.8 0.1 0.4
14 Eli Manning NYG 261 1.8 1 1.3 0 0.3
15 Ben Roethlisberger Pit 254 1.6 0.7 7 0 0.3