With fantasy football drafts and auctions now upon us, it’s time to update our quarterback rankings. The rankings haven’t changed dramatically since our last update, with most changes being a position or two at most. The biggest news is that it now appears Matthew Stafford has an above average chance to open the season as the starter in Detroit and Byron Leftwich now appears likely to start in Tampa Bay.
- Tom Brady, NE – No change at the top.
- Drew Brees, NO
- Philip Rivers, SD – Moves up a notch with all of the Chargers skill position players healthy.
- Aaron Rodgers, GB – Down a notch due to concerns about offensive line.
- Kurt Warner, ARI
- Peyton Manning, IND
- Donovan McNabb, PHI
- Matt Hasselbeck, SEA – Moves ahead of Romo and Schaub because receiving corps looks good and Seattle running game looks awful.
- Matt Schaub, HOU
- Tony Romo, DAL
- Jay Cutler, CHI
- Carson Palmer, CIN
- Matt Ryan, ATL – Moves up mostly due to others dropping. Still not sold that Ryan is due for a breakout fantasy season.
- David Garrard, JAC – With Troy Williamson appearing the best option to start alongside Torry Holt, Garrard moves down the list.
- Matt Cassel, KC – Moves lower due to poor preseason and concerns about offensive line.
- Ben Roethlisberger, PIT – Big Ben moves up a couple of spots with the running game perhaps not being as formidable as in prior years.
- Jason Campbell, WAS
- Trent Edwards, BUF
- Chad Pennington, MIA
- Jake Delhomme, CAR
- Eli Manning, NYG
- Brett Favre, MIN – Biggest mover with a five spot leap. Percy Harvin looks exciting and Bernard Berrian figures to provide solid deep threat not to mention the running game is exceptional.
- Joe Flacco, BAL
- Matthew Stafford, DET – Rookie now appears ready to open the season as the starter and has the arm to take advantage of Calvin Johnson‘s deep ball skills. Buyer beware in leagues that takes points away for interceptions.
- Brady Quinn, CLE
- Kerry Collins, TEN
- Kyle Orton, DEN – Drops a few notches after a horrible training camp thus far.
- JaMarcus Russell, OAK
- Shaun Hill, SF – Was annointed the starter by head coach Mike Singletary but hasn’t looked good and won’t get much help from 1st round pick WR Michael Crabtree, if any at all.
- Byron Leftwich, TB – Looks like the Bucs starter but not very exciting as a fantasy option.
- Mark Sanchez, NYJ
- Marc Bulger, STL – Down a couple spots to 32 with Donnie Avery‘s status in doubt for the first couple of games.
Current backups who could produce if given an opportunity include Sage Rosenfels, Matt Leinart, Chris Simms, Daunte Culpepper, Derek Anderson, Alex Smith and Vince Young.
