2013 Fantasy Football Positional Rankings: Quarterback

The 2013 Fantasy Football Season is nearly here. But before you can trash talk your friends, scour the waiver wire for the next fantasy gem, and win a championship, you have to get prepared for the Draft. Bik Nizzar will get you ready for the upcoming fantasy season as The Extra Period continues its Fantasy Football Positional Rankings.

The deepest position in fantasy is our next stop as the ranks continue this week. Tomorrow will be Wide Receiver. Once again we’ll divide them into tiers. More details about some players who could regress or progress  next week . Below the ranks are some details for the current spots. Without further adieu the 2013 Fantasy Football QB Ranks:

Updated July 23^rd

1	Aaron Rodgers	16	Andy Dalton
2	Drew Brees	17	Eli Manning
3	Peyton Manning	18	Joe Flacco
4	Cam Newton	19	Alex Smith
5	Tom Brady	20	Ryan Tannehill
6	Colin Kaepernick	21	Josh Freeman
7	Russell Wilson	22	Sam Bradford
8	Robert Griffin III	23	Carson Palmer
9	Tony Romo	24	Matt Schaub
10	Matthew Stafford	25	Phillip Rivers
11	Matt Ryan	26	Jake Locker
12	Andrew Luck	27	Brandon Weeden
13	Ben Roethlisberger	28	Christian Ponder
14	Michael Vick	29	Kevin Kolb
15	Jay Cutler	30	Matt Flynn

I’m gonna burn through the QB tiers/ranks quickly because in 10 team leagues there are 12 viable fantasy QB’s so really no matter how you play this out you should be ok. I explained in the Draft Guide why we’re de-valuing QB and when you see the ranks it just shows why. There’s just no need to fret if you don’t get Aaron Rodgers. Or Drew Brees. Or Peyton Manning. You’re going to wind up with a #1QB no matter what and if you pick a later one that just means your roster is built up elsewhere.

Rodgers – Brees:

These are the only 2 I would consider drafting early. And even then barely, but they bring such stability to the position and elite quality that it might be worth it late in the 2^nd round or 3^rd round to grab them. In a world where Aaron Rodgers isn’t potentially super-human, 4300 yards, 39 TD’s, 8 INT’s along with 250 yards rushing and 2 TD’s would be a stellar year for a QB. Except we exist in this realm and that’s actually a down year for Rodgers. If that’s what you get from him, you’re not crying about it, but you know the potential for more is there. That along with his running ability is why he’s atop the rank over Brees. While seemingly a lock for 5000 yards and 35+ TD’s now, the INT total for Brees crept up ­­­to 19. It’s nice that he’ll get head coach Sean Payton back, but Rodgers still eclipses him at #1.

Manning – Luck:

With all the changes in New England, Brady slides to 5 behind Newton. Newton doesn’t have to put up gaudy passing numbers for him to be effective. What you’re really after are his rushing totals and after 2 seasons, it seems like 700 yards and 8 TD’s are in the bank for you by drafting him. He’s not your average rushing QB that comes with the injury worry because he’s built more solid than most defensive players at 6’5, 245 lbs. So tack on the close to 4000 yards passing and 18+ TD’s you should get from Cam, he turns into a marginally safer play than Brady with all the question marks about receiving options in Patriot land.

Kaepernick vs. Wilson is a battle that will rage on for years and as a Seahawks fan it was tough for me to have Kaep eke out Wilson in the pre-season ranks, but it does make sense. The baseline for Kaep is just higher. They both have enormous upside, and the concerns about losing Crabtree don’t frighten considering Kaep’s value lies in his devastating running ability. After he took over from Alex Smith he didn’t have a fantasy game with less than 14 points and he also never broke 250 yards passing. A full off-season with first-team reps with Jim Harbaugh as coach should do wonders for Kaep.

This grouping and tier is so large because really they could go in any order. Am I too low on Ryan and Luck? Probably, but from a fantasy perspective I don’t see Matt Ryan with another level to reach after putting up 4700 yards, and 32 TD’s. Those totals only netted him to be the 7^th Fantasy QB last year. The upside of the likes of RG3, Kaep, Wilson and the sheer volume of someone like Matt Stafford outweigh that floor from Stafford. So after the top 2, I’d wait till rounds 5-6 to see which are still hanging around and happily grab one now that your other positions are fully stocked.

The Rest:

Even if you’re in a 12 team league, you should be fine nabbing any of the top 12 ranked.  There’s really no sense in drafting a 2^nd QB (unless you’re worried about RG3’s health). It is possible that the top 12 ranked don’t finish as the top 12 so I’ll look at some QB’s with potential to join that group next week.

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