2008 Pre-Draft Rankings - Quarterbacks

It seems quarterback talent is a little thin this year. So consider straying away from the typical RB-RB draft strategy and grab yourself an elite quarter back early on. It all depends on your league settings of course. Here are your top 20 Fantasy Sports Byte ranked QBs:

1. Tom Brady (New England) - I foresee a down year, but 40+ TD’s and 4000+ yards are still pretty awesome.
   Peyton Manning(Indianapolis) - Don’t worry about the knee, it’s a non-issue. Peyton is money for 30 TDs and 4000 yards every year. Draft with confidence.
2. Tony Romo (Dallas) You won’t find this guy available in the 5th round anymore. Owens, Witten, Barber and Crayton give him many excellent targets to work with.
3. Drew Brees (New Orleans) - Adding Shockey may not help their blocking scheme, but man he just super-sized this offense. Consider his other targets in Colston and Bush and you know good things are on the horizon in the Bayou.
4. Carson Palmer (Cincinnati) - With the WR corp still intact, expect more of the same.
5. Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh) - Holmes emerged as a very reliable deep ball threat. With a shift to the West Coast style offense, Pittsburgh will be allowing Big Ben to air it out even more. Don’t forget Hines Ward, Heath Miller are still impressive targets.
6. Derek Anderson (Cleveland) - After a breakout season and just barely missing the playoffs, Anderson is ready to show he is the real deal. Edwards is a beast and Winslow, Stallworth, Cribbs and even Juravicious aren’t too shabby.
7. Matt Hasselbeck (Seattle) - Matt just missed the 4000 yard plateau last season but did set new personal bests in yardage and TDs (3996 and 28), and recorded his 2nd best completion percentage (62.6). What does this all mean? He was last years poor man’s Peyton Manning. This is a great pick in the late 2nd and3rd round.
8. Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia) - This guy killed me last year. However, you need to put your emotions aside. The shoulder is much less of a gamble this year and he did manage throw over 3300 yards for 18 TDs. Look for his TD to rise to the low 20’s, more importantly look for his total sacks to drop if your league penalizes the QB for a sack.
9. Marc Bulger (St. Louis) - I think Bulger is primed for a big year. Why? Because last year was so horrible. His O-Line is healthy, Holt and Jackson are unstoppable as well. Lots of upside for a high value pick.
10. Eli Manning (New York Giants) - He has been preaching how he needs to improve this season over last if the team wants another big playoff run. He is right. He needs to improve a lot! If he can play like he did the last 4 games of last season, he’ll end up with about half the interceptions and about 24 TDs and he should be a lock for 3200+ yards again. We’ll see though if he truly misses Shockey and if that will affect his play, but targets like Plexico Burress, Steve Smith and Amani Toomer should be pretty solid for him.
11. Jay Cutler (Denver) - Walker is gone, Marshall has been suspended for 3 games and Stokely isn’t getting any younger. Still the outlook is bright in the thin aired mile high city. In his third season now, Cutler appears to have the aptitude to lift his game another notch.
12. Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) - It looks more likey this is his team to lead. In the few snaps he took last season he was extremely accurate. If he can be anything close, Rodgers can be the biggest upset pick in the QB class of 2008. He has major weapons in Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, James Jones, Donald Lee and Ryan Grant. Consider taking him sooner after the first 10 QBs are gone if it becomes clear that he will be #1 in Green Bay.
13. Brett Favre (New York Jets) - How do you rank this guy? If he plays you can’t let him end up as someone’s backup. The question is who would he play for. Green Bay appears to be ready to trade, but not to the division rival Vikings. Possibilities include the Bucs or Jets. I honestly don’t see the same fantasy value in those two cities. UPDATE - Favre will now be throwing to the likes of L. Coles, J. Cotchery and D. Keller. Favre has had recent success at the Meadowlands and the team is excited to have a quality signal caller once again. This is the end of Pennington as a Jet for sure.
14. David Garrard (Jacksonville) - This is where it gets difficult as the talent takes a huge plummit. Garrard actual QB play was worth a lot more than his Fantasy play. He had a 102.2 QB Rating….very impressive. What did that translate to for fantasy owners? You didn’t lose too many points from interceptions thrown. His pass yards were respectable and he threw 18 TDs. I’ll be honest, i’m looking for more from my QB in Fantasy play.
15. Philip Rivers (San Diego) - A very respectable season under his belt. My guess is he throws just a tad more this year, but still this is LT’s team.
16. Vince Young (Tennesee) - At least he is off the Madden cover. We know he can run. He is a fair passer, we just need to know his recievers are going to be there for him. Justin Gage and Roydell Williams are promising and Alge Crumpler helps that sinking feeling some.
17. Matt Schaub (Houston) - If this guy had 2 Andre Johnsons he would be money, but instead he has just one and an injury prone one at that. Not to mention his own injury issues. Pray for another receiver to emerge.
18. Jake Delhomme (Carolina) - All his value rests with Steve Smith who will be missing the first game of the season by the way. Still they should hook up for enough scores to make Jake desirable backup.
19. Matt Leinart (Arizona) - Will this be the year he looks like the college QB we loved. Possibly, but Warner still lingers around to be a part of the mix. Waiting for the first signs of struggle from Leinart.
20. Jason Campbell (Washington) - With a new offense scheme Jason should have his hands full, but the design is meant to open up the passing game. Still, Cooley and Moss can’t catch everything. They need a 2nd receiver to emerge as a consistent third option.

Sleeper Pick

I honestly don’t see one that we haven’t already ranked.

On the Cusp

I’d be willing to take a shot at guys like JaMarcus Russell, Matt Ryan or Brodie Croyle for pure upside, this of course with a very late pick. OK, chime in with your feedback everyone.