2013 Fantasy Football Preseason Rankings: Quarterback (QB)

This article is a continuation of RotoBaller’s 2013 fantasy football rankings.  Today we’ll be taking a look around the NFL at quarterbacks (QB) to give you our QB fantasy rankings and analysis.  

If you like this article, check out the rest of our fantasy football analysis: rankings, sleepers, running backs, wide receivers,  quarterbacks and of course our live fantasy football chat, the best football chatroom on the internwebs.  RotoBaller will be releasing more fantasy football content daily to help you prepare for the 2013 NFL Fantasy Football season so stay tuned!

 

Quarterback Rankings – 2013 Fantasy Football

QB1: Probable Supernovas

1. Aaron Rodgers - Of all the players in the top half of this list, Rodgers is the only one unquestionably in his prime. That prime has produced top-tier consistency every year since 2009. If your league penalizes guys who put up 4,000 yards, 35+ TDs, and a passer rating of 100+, don't draft this guy.
2. Drew Brees - No one will chuck the rock more than Brees. He's a known stat-padder, and now he's piloting the Saints offense for Sean Payton's vengeance tour.

 

QB1: Rock Solid

1. Tom Brady - He'll put up a few clunkers this season against teams that have his number, such as Baltimore, but for every one of those, he'll give you eight or nine games of merciless shredding, toying with the opposition in vintage Golden Boy fashion.
2. Peyton Manning - He's old now, so gone are the days when he could string together four-play TD drives with ease. He can't throw with the deep accuracy that he once showed. Still, he has perhaps the league's best set of receivers, terrible divisional opponents and a banged-up defense that may get him into shootouts pretty often.
3. Matt Ryan - Ryan's trajectory is on the upswing. His outside WRs are probably the best pair in the league. Atlanta also added a pass-catching element in Steven Jackson that Michael Turner couldn't provide last year. Tony Gonzalez's age is a concern, as he was such a big red-zone weapon a year ago.

 

QB1: High upside, Slight Risk

1. Cam Newton - He's his team's goal-line option, probably the only one on this list for whom that is consistently true. That's because he stands 6'6" and weighs 240 lbs. On the downside, he simply is not an accurate enough passer to be able to toy with defenses week in and week out.
2. Matthew Stafford - Stafford has the ultimate receiving weapon at his disposal in Calvin Johnson. That's enough to book 1,600 yards and 16 TDs with a single player. The addition of Reggie Bush adds another explosive element to the mix. On the downside, Stafford has battled health and consistency issues in his young career.
3. Robert Griffin, III - He is the most athletically gifted QB in the league, and that means he has virtually unmatched upside in this tier. However, he has now torn ligaments in his left knee twice in a four-year span. Since so much of his value was linked to rushing yardage, questions abound as to how many points he can actually accrue on the ground to offset mediocre passing totals.
4. Colin Kaepernick - Kaepernick might not be quite the sprinter that Griffin is, but he is more sturdily built. He also is playing under the tutelage of Jim Harbaugh, one of the most respected minds in the coaching ranks. He now needs to show that he can sustain a high level of play for more than half a season.
5. Tony Romo - Dez Bryant is going to be a monster this season, and Romo will be the man delivering him the ball. Romo also has nice targets to throw to when Dez is triple-teamed. The risk lies in the inescapable fact that he's, well, Tony Romo, i.e., perceived as a choke artist.
6. Russell Wilson - On yet another list, Wilson is knocked a peg below RGIII and Kaepernick because of height and arm strength. It will only be fitting then when Wilson will runs away with the MVP award this year and shoves it in everyone's faces.

 

QB2: Unsexy, But Dependable

1. Andrew Luck - People are on Luck's jock way too early. They're seeing what Peyton Manning did in his second season and assuming Luck will do the same. The problem is that Luck's new offensive scheme calls for a power running game, rather than the spread attack that Manning mastered. He's not totally unsexy, especially since he is tremendously skilled, but the offensive system he finds himself in could limit his fantasy upside.
2. Eli Manning - He's the most dependable player on this list in at least one regard: health. No current QB has started more consecutive games than he has. He also has a top-10 scoring offense. He just needs to cut down on turnovers.
3. Andy Dalton - Is there anything unsexier than a redhead who refuses to take off his rubber wedding ring during training camp? He'd be sexier if he shaved tiger stripes into his ginger head. Nevertheless, a slew of weapons led by A.J. Green gives Dalton some solid upside.

 

QB2: Good Upside, Notable Risk

1. Michael Vick - Chip Kelly's offense may come in and revolutionize football, giving Vick top-tier pass attempts. It could also expose his injury-prone frame to more season-ending hits.
2. Carson Palmer - New coach Bruce Arians is know for throwing deep, and Palmer also finds himself playing with the best WR of his career. He's a capable gunslinger, and though he takes too many sacks and puts too few points on the board, he could nevertheless have a resurgent year in Arizona.
3. Ben Roethlisberger - Pittsburgh has virtually no running game to speak of, so Big Ben will need to shoulder the load. Unfortunately, he also can't stay upright.
4. Joe Flacco - His Super Bowl momentum, an admittedly dubious expectation, is what bumps him up from QB3 territory, despite the losses of Anquan Boldin and Dennis Pitta. He still has Ray Rice, one of the best all-around RBs in the game, and Torrey Smith, a true burner.

 

QB3: Could Produce, But Can’t Trust

1. Jay Cutler - CFL offense
2. Matt Schaub - Scheme issues
3. Josh Freeman - Coach chemistry?
4. Alex Smith - Checkdown champ
5. Sam Bradford - Still waiting

 

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