2010 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings: Part 1

Welcome to 2010 Fantasy Quarterback Rankings Part 1 of 2. We’ll take a look at what most standard rankings will look like, and if that’s all you need awesome. But then we look at a snapshot of one mock draft I was involved in and breakdown any anomalies that occurred there. In part 2, I’ll provide my drafting strategy for this year’s class of quarterbacks and see we can isolate some great value picks should you miss out on a top tier fantasy quarterback or just want depth. And let’s honest, we should all want depth. We’ll start with the consensus rankings of fantasy quarterbacks.

2010 Consensus Fantasy Quarterback Rankings

1. Drew Brees – NO
2. Aaron Rodgers – GB
3. Peyton Manning – Ind
4. Tony Romo – Dal
5. Matt Schaub – Hou
6. Tom Brady – NE
7. Philip Rivers – SD
8. Jay Cutler – Chi
9. Kevin Kolb – Phi
10. Brett Favre – Min
11. Eli Manning – NYG
12. Matt Ryan – Atl
13. Joe Flacco – Bal
14. Matthew Stafford – Det
15. Carson Palmer – Cin
16. Donovan McNabb – Was
17. Chad Henne – Mia
18. Ben Roethlisberger – Pit
19. Alex Smith – SF
20. Vince Young – Ten
21. Mark Sanchez – NYJ
22. David Garrard – Jac
23. Matt Leinart – Ari
24. Matt Cassel – KC
25. Matt Hasselbeck – Sea
26. Kyle Orton – Den
27. Jason Campbell – Oak
28. Matt Moore – Car
29. Josh Freeman – TB
30. Trent Edwards – Buf

I actually think this is a pretty solid Fantasy Quarterback Ranking. I do think a few guys are being overvalued like Rivers, Cutler, Young, and you know what even Tom Brady somewhat. Yes, Brady is great, but who is he going to throw to? And the run game is suspect still, with no help from the draft. Too big of question to take as the #4 overall Fantasy Quarterback. There are guys way after them I rather have rostered. The undervalued picks that pop out at me immediately are Sanchez and Henne. He finished strong at the end of last year and now he has Brandon Marshall. All systems are go. Now, all Sanchez did was take his team to the playoffs in his rookie campaign. I know that doesn’t matter in fantasy, but it does implicitly if you figure he conquered some major growing pains early. Consider Sanchez a Flacco proto-type, with a slightly less powerful arm. If I had to pick sleepers I might say, and starting from biggest reach downward…Leinart, remember Fitzgerald and Breaston? Alex Smith…same O-Coordinator and honestly he needs to perform or he might be done. Henne could easily out perform his rank by 4-5 spots.

Now let’s take a look at a mock draft I was involved in and see how managers selected when under a little pressure and 13 other managers are hawking after the same guys. This is a 14-team league and 15 rounds so lots of picks.

2010 Quarterback Rankings From Mock Draft Results

Round 1
6. Aaron Rodgers – GB
9. Drew Brees – NO
10. Peyton Manning – Ind

Round 3
29. Tom Brady – NE
30. Tony Romo – Dal
31. Matt Schaub – Hou
33. Philip Rivers – SD

Round 4
53. Kevin Kolb – Phi

Round 5
63. Brett Favre – Min
64. Jay Cutler – Chi
68. Eli Manning – NYG

Round 6
71. Joe Flacco – Bal

Round 7
83. Matt Ryan – Atl

Round 8
88. Carson Palmer – Cin

Round 9
120. Donovan McNabb – Was

Round 10
135. Matthew Stafford – Det

Rounds 11 – 15
Alex Smith – SF
Ben Roethlisberger – Pit
Chad Henne – Mia
Vince Young – Ten
Kyle Orton – Den
Matt Hasselbeck – Sea
Matt Cassel – KC
Mark Sanchez – NYJ
Josh Johnson – TB
Byron Leftwich – Pit

Wow, I was totally shocked that Leinart and Garrard were not drafted at all. Seriously, Leinart could prove us all stupid and just step out of the shadows and take advantage of his talented receivers. So you saw the elite 3 go in round one and I completely agree as long as those picks come after the top 6-7 running backs. Especially if you are in a league, and a lot of us are, where Quarterbacks get 6 fantasy points per passing touchdown. I think Eli Manning will repeat last years numbers, possibly increase his TD output as his young receivers improve and the running game resurfaces. So Eli is a great pick at #68.

That’s it for Part 1 of 2010 Fantasy Quarterback Rankings. Part 2 will go over some common strategies and who I plan to target this year for quarterback.