Fantasy Football

With quarterbacks, rankings of these nature tend to be a lot more straightforward. Everyone, including someone as dissenting as myself, can agree to a certain extent, where each quarterback will rank amongst his peers. Not only that, but there are no more than thirty-five of them that anyone is going to draft and the variation will be diminished by default. So for other positions, when we did five to avoid, it was relative to where you would have to draft them. For quarterbacks, it is more along the lines of these guys will ruin your week should they start for you.

1) Vince Young
Do not believe that he is going to bounce back from a dismal second season. He might come through in the clutch and make big plays in big moments, and they may even go to the playoffs. But drafting him for those reasons is like seeing a Judd Apatow movie for the Oscar potential. We did elude to the Titans having an improved offense with the acquisition of Alge Crumpler when hyping LenDale White, but we suspect the improvement will be minimal, though enough that the running game can carry them even further. They still have no noteworthy receivers and the offense will still be primarily on the run.

2) Alex Smith
Stubby fingers McGee has yet to live up to his #1 overall pick hype, and even with the improvement that will come with Mike Martz play calling, we aren’t expecting Smith’s production to be proportionally improved. Basically, if he were a receiver and caught for the amount of yards he is going to pass for this season, he would be a dead lock for the pro bowl.

3) Marc Bulger
Just like with his top receiver and partner in the backfield Steven Jackson, we expect Marc Bulger to produce about the same type of season that he did last year. Long story short, Bulger was cut in our league about halfway through the season. 11 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, and under 3,000 yards, albeit that was only in 12 games, but that would only increase his interception total to twenty.

4) JaMarcus Russell
He’s in pretty much the same boat that Matt Ryan is, only with more contention within the team. Sorry Oakland fans, but Russell is a player who built his reputation off one bowl game against Notre Dame (probably one of the worst defenses to ever play in a bowl game) and your front office bought the hype. If you are in a position where you have dug yourself into a hole and are looking for a starter; and think that maybe, just maybe, JaMarcus Russell can make this offense respectable, please reconsider.

If we are comparing former SEC quarterbacks, he is no Jason Campbell.

5) Aaron Rodgers
For obvious reasons. We actually thought he would be effective and assimilate to the system he has been studying for three years quite smoothly. But his predecessor who refused to be his mentor has done everything he can to prevent a smooth transition. We are actively rooting for him, but think he is almost damaged now. Green Bay is basically the hospital in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest at this point, he wasn’t crazy until they sent him there.

Rounding out the top ten, most of these probably don’t need mentioning, but we will anyways:

6) Any QB for the Arizona Cardinals: The receivers are moody, the running backs are pedestrian, Leinhart and Warner’s positions are tenuous. It’s a poor mans Rodgers-Favre situation.
7) Either Buffalo quarterback: See #6.
Jeff Garcia: Damn near forty and adversely effected by Brett Favre melodrama. Plus his best receiver is the same age he is.
9) Either Chicago quarterback: Unless your league is relegated to NFC North players, it shouldn’t be hard to avoid Grossman or Orton.
10) Tavaris Jackson: Probably the worst starting quarterback with job security in the history of the NFL. I’m harsh but fair.

Cover tight ends, defenses and maybe kickers tomorrow.