Ah, it’s that time of year again. Football season is right around the corner and I’m gearing up for another year of dominance. Here are my thoughts on this season’s crop of QB’s.
*I’m going by basic fantasy scoring settings
1. Drew Brees
2008: 34 TD, 17 INT, 5069 Passing Yards, 1 Fumble Lost
Threw the ball more times than anyone else and completed 65.0% of them. The weapons around him make for another great year.
2. Tom Brady
2008: 76 Passing Yards
The ACL and MCL tears don’t worry me. We all know about Brady’s work ethic and competitive nature. He’ll get himself where he needs to be. Besides, the Patriots’ offense that features Moss and Welker is heaven for any QB.
3. Peyton Manning
2008: 27 TD, 12 INT, 4002 Passing Yards, 21 Rushing Yards, 1 TD
Dungy’s departure may cause a little concern but a healthy Manning overrides that. The loss of Marv isn’t anything to lose sleep over either. At this point, Gonzalez is a much better option.
4. Aaron Rodgers
2008: 28 TD, 13 INT, 4038 Passing Yards, 207 Rushing Yards, 4 TD, 3 Fumbles Lost
Rodgers’ first year as a starter was a big success. Things should only get better.
5. Phillip Rivers
2008: 34 TD, 11 INT, 4009 Passing Yards, 84 Rushing Yards, 4 Fumbles Lost
A breakout year for Rivers landed him among the NFL’s elite. His league high 105.5 passer rating was done with injuries to both Gates and Tomlinson.
6. Tony Romo
2008: 26 TD, 14 INT, 3448 Passing Yards, 41 Rushing Yards, 7 Fumbles Lost
This guy receives too much heat in my opinion, at least from a fantasy standpoint. He threw for 36 TD’s in ’07 and 26 TD’s in ’08 (where he missed 3 games). Sure he doesn’t have T.O. anymore, but Roy Williams won’t play like he did during his time with Dallas last year.
7. Kurt Warner
2008: 30 TD, 14 INT, 4583 Passing Yards, 7 Fumbles Lost
Age (38) and a nagging hip are two big drawbacks to Warner. However, Fitzgerald and company in a pass-happy offense are just to good to resist.
8. Carson Palmer
2008: 3 TD, 4 INT, 731 Passing Yards, 38 Rushing Yards
You may think this a little high for someone playing for the Bengals and coming off of an elbow injury. Palmer insists he’s fine and all signs point to a better year in Cincinnati. Let’s not forget, we’re talking about a guy who’s averaged 28 TD’s and 4,000 yards during the three years he played all 16 games.
9. Donovan McNabb
2008: 23 TD, 11 INT, 3916 Passing Yards, 147 Rushing Yards, 2 TD, 5 Fumbles Lost
Nabb’s yards and touchdown totals were the highest since his 2004 season. The additions of Maclin and LeSean McCoy only help his case.
10. Matt Schaub
2008: 15 TD, 10 INT, 3043 Passing Yards, 68 Rushing Yards, 2 TD, 4 Fumbles Lost
If this guy could stay healthy (11 games in both ’07 and ’08), he could put up some serious numbers. He threw for 3,000 yards in only 11 games and has one of the best receivers in the league in Andre Johnson.
11. Matt Ryan
2008: 16 TD, 11 INT, 3440 Passing Yards, 104 Rushing Yards, 1 TD, 1 Fumble Lost
You don’t see a rookie come in and do what Ryan did last year. How can he not improve from his first year in the league?
12. Ben Roethlisberger
2008: 17 TD, 15 INT, 3301 Passing Yards, 101 Rushing Yards, 2 TD, 7 Fumbles Lost
101.3 QB rating, 49 TD’s, and 20 INT’s in odd years (’05 & ’07). 84.5 QB rating, 52 TD’s, 49 INT’s in even years (’04, ’06, & ’08). 2009 should be a good year.
13. Jay Cutler
2008: 25 TD, 18 INT, 4526 Passing Yards, 200 Rushing Yards, 2 TD, 2 Fumbles Lost
Cutler leaves a 2nd ranked offense with Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal for a 26th ranked offense in the Windy City with… Devin Hester. Cutler’s 4,000 yard passing seasons are long gone.
14. Matt Hasselbeck
2008: 5 TD, 10 INT, 1216 Passing Yards, 69 Rushing Yards
Another guy I expect a nice bounce back year from. Hasselbeck had absolutely no one to throw to during the 7 games he played last year. The offensive line has improved and the addition of T.J. Houshmandzadeh should be the recipe for success.
15. Matt Cassel
2008: 21 TD, 11 INT, 3693 Passing Yards, 270 Rushing Yards, 2 TD, 4 Fumbles Lost
The Chiefs are far from a Patriot offense so how Cassel will do is awfully hard to predict. Thigpen was able to go for 18 TD’s and 12 INT’s in 14 games, though, so $63 million says he should be able to top that.
16. Kyle Orton
2008: 18 TD, 12 INT, 2972 Passing Yards, 49 Rushing Yards, 3 TD, 5 Fumbles Lost
Orton should receive a boost playing in Denver’s offense. I expect 20 TD’s and 3,000 yards.
17. Eli Manning
2008: 21 TD, 10 INT, 3238 Passing Yards, 10 Rushing Yards, 1 TD, 2 Fumbles Lost
See Wait A Second, Eli Is The Highest Paid Manning? to see how I feel about Eli. The loss of Burress is going to hurt more than people think (see his numbers without him). The team doesn’t have a number one and even in one of the best years of Manning’s career he still only threw for 3,328 yards and 21 TD’s.
18. David Garrard
2008: 15 TD, 13 INT, 3620 Passing Yards, 322 Rushing Yards, 2 TD, 3 Fumbles Lost
He should receive a boost from a revamped offensive line. He was sacked 42 times last year, double the amount he was sacked in ’07 when he threw 18 TD’s and 3 INT’s. Let’s just hope he will have a healthy Torry Holt to throw to.
19. Trent Edwards
2008: 11 TD, 10 INT, 2699 Passing Yards, 117 Rushing Yards, 3 TD, 5 Fumbles Lost
Not a big fan of Trent but I do like seeing Owens and Evans on the field together with Lynch (who’s out the first three games) and Fred Jackson behind him. We have seen improvement in Edwards since his rookie year, though, so that’s a good sign.
20. Jake Delhomme
15 TD, 12 INT, 3288 Passing Yards, 21 Rushing Yards, 2 TD, 3 Fumbles Lost
He can’t keep playing this bad can he? There are too many weapons in Carolina for him to keep playing like Joey Harrington.
Kyle Orton is in your top 20? If you don’t like Edwards and he has T.O. and Evans, how could you think Orton with Marshall and Royal is better? Orton should be playing in the United Football League as a backup. Cutler at 13 isn’t horrible with the question marks surrounding him, but he could easily be a top ten QB this year. I think Ryan and Warner should be above Romo and Rivers, but that’s just a gut feeling.
Orton is now playing in a real offense. Topping the 18 TD’s he threw last year to the outstanding group of WR’s the Bears have should be an easy task.
Rivers is the real deal. His four bowl games MVPs, and the season he had last year prove that. Too much talent on that team for him to not succeed.
anyone check out my boy aaron rodgers stat line for the preseason……… watch out NFC north, bears and vikings made all the noise in the off season with cutler and favre but rodgers will be a stud and our defense will be better in my opinion, lost alot of close games last year i dont think that will be the case this year, hopefully dom capers 3-4 will pay some dividends.
A-rod is right behind Manning and Brady for the best in the game, no question about it. Absolute stud.