2014 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings
- Bills Fanatics BF
- Jul 22, 2014
- 8 min read
by Icey Vick
Sure, it's late July and some of your earliest standard fantasy drafts are still a month away. Sure, training camps are just now kicking off. We all know how the saying goes, "the early bird gets the worm." As with most things in life, preparation is the key to success. It doesn't matter if this coming season is your 1st or 20th. If you don't know what's going on, you're already two steps behind.
If you do somehow fall behind and you need a bit of advice, don't be afraid to tweet your questions to @BFFantasyFTBL, @IceyVick or @RyanLasal. That tool along with #BillsFanatics cheat sheets such as this one will help you ascend from a fantasy peasant to fantasy royalty in no time. Of course, injuries in training camp and preseason will have a direct influence on this list come early September, but this will serve as a good foundation to plot your fantasy domination on.
1. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos: Manning makes everyone around him look great. Eric Decker is gone but someone else will step up and fill his shoes. Manning averaged a whopping 25.4 points per game (ppg) in standard ESPN leagues last season and that team as a whole only got better. Look for another huge season out of the 5-time MVP.
2. Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles: Yes. Nick Foles. Now is when I get to say, "I told you so!" Last season I preached about the Eagles' starting quarterbacks under the tutelage of Chip Kelly and everyone who didn't listen wished they did. Kelly knows how to keep an offense running. They lost DeSean Jackson, but they added one of the most comfy security blankets a quarterback and ask for in Darren Sproles and then picked up Jordan Matthews and Josh Huff in the 2nd and 3rd rounds on the draft. Foles averaged 22.4 ppg In the games he dropped back 5 or more times. That is top tier production without the 1st or 2nd round markup in most leagues. It's a win-win.
3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints: Ol' reliable will be just that; reliable. Brees is steady, doesn't miss time and you know the Saints are going to throw the ball early and often as always. He no longer has his security blanket out of the backfield after the departure of Sproles, but there are plenty of other options on that team that will keep him near the top. He's scored at least 330 points every season since 2011.
4. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers: We all know he can spin the football, but if you look closely, Rodgers in a trendy guy. By trendy, I mean his average yards per game (ypg) yo-yos. Since 2008, every year he saw an increase in ypg, he saw his ypg production decrease the very next year before rising again the season after that. So he averaged 261.5 ypg in 2010, 309.5 in 2011, 268.4 in 2012 and 281.8 in 2013. So looking at the trends, it would appear Rodgers' ypg average should take a dip down hurting his fantasy numbers. So why is he still 4th on my list and even as high as 2nd on the lists of others? It's quite simple. Despite the appearance of a yo-yo in production, he's still averaged 275.1 ypg and 31.2 touchdowns a season over that time frame -- and that touchdown figure includes last year's abbreviated season where he only threw 17 but was on pace for 30.
5. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers: Cam struggled with his accuracy early last season but found it fast enough to finish 4th overall last season. He virtually lost all of his weapons, though they weren't all that great to begin with. They did add a hulking receiver in Kelvin Benjamin via the draft but he may be a little too raw to make a huge impact as a rookie. That just means Cam will run the ball more and that's what I call fantasy money.
6. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions: Stafford, like Rodgers, has top tier potential but always needed a little help. They've had Calvin Johnson and that's about it. This off season they've added Golden Tate via free agency and the athletically talented Eric Ebron plus they still have Reggie Bush out of the backfield. Things are looking much brighter for Stafford as well as a bunch of my fantasy teams.
7. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts: Luck throws the ball as much as any other quarterback in the league and he's getting better with every passing year. Reggie Wayne should be healthy, T.Y. Hilton should be better and they drafted Donte Moncrief for another passing option. Passing yards + passing touchdowns = fantasy points last time I checked. Case closed.
8. Tom Brady, New England Patriots: Brady had a rough, rough year in '13 due to inconsistent offensive line play and inexperienced receivers. It didn't help that Gronk was hurt... yet again. Despite the questionable moves made in the draft, it is my belief that Belichick is a personnel genius so I look for the Patriots to bounce back a bit in '14. Sure, this season may be a repeat of last, but do you want to be wrong about him on your roster or your buddies?
9. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers: Will the real Philip Rivers please stand up? Rivers rewarded owners who kept faith in him last season with a 6th overall scoring season. Through there's room to go up, he'll likely come down back to earth again. He should still be a top 10 quarterback.
10. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks have not needed to rely too heavily on Wilson as Marshawn Lynch has been in Beast Mode more often than not. However, Lynch does have some considerable wear on his treads and it's only a matter of time until he starts to break down from being overworked. When that happens it will be Wilson's time to shine. Will it be this season? Perhaps not, but the guy can throw, run and manage the game without turnovers and he can do all of those things very well.
11. Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers: Kaepernick relied heavily on a read-option styled offense in 2012 and it clearly caught up with him a bit early in '13 as he only managed to muster up a total of 31 fantasy points in weeks 2-5. However, Crabtree will be healthy again, Boldin will be Boldin and they've added former Bills receiver Steve Johnson to play in the slot. Consistency should improve and so will his fantasy numbers.
12. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons: It's amazing the difference a a running back can make. With Michael Turner in the backfield, Ryan looked nearly unstoppable (not that Turner was a world beater anyway). When defenses stopped fearing the run altogether, they were able to sit on routes and expose some Ryan's flaws leading to a pretty average start to the season. Then came the injuries which made matters even worse. Julio Jones and Roddy White should be healthy come this season and they've added Devonta Freeman to the backfield. Ryan should bounce back this year.
13. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde... I mean good Andy Dalton and bad Andy Dalton. More times than not Dalton was either very, very bad or very, very good last season. I mean the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows. The Bengals didn't exactly do anything in the draft to improve the receiving core, so the inconsistencies may continue and if it does, the Bengals drafted an insurance policy in AJ McCarron. Dalton will still put up decent numbers regardless... if he plays well enough to keep the starting gig.
14. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys: Romo seems to stay around 10th overall for quarterbacks every season. Last year he finished 10th and the Cowboys didn't do much to offer him additional options in the receiving game. They did add offensive tackle Zack Martin in the draft, but I don't think he'll improve the offense enough to help increase Romo's production.
15. Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins: In 2013 Griffin was clearly nowhere near the player he was in 2012. It seemed as he was never really comfortable on that surgically repaired knee. A full year of recovery should help him get back the confidence and strength in it to make a push back towards fantasy relevance. His fantasy needle is pointing up.
16. Josh McCown, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: McCown played extremely well for Chicago last season so Lovie Smith didn't hesitate to snatch him up. He's pretty much the same type of player as Jay Cutler except he's willing to throw the ball to more than one player (ahem, Brandon Marshall) which minimizes his turnovers. The Bucs had the 6'5 Vincent Jackson and then went and added the 6'5 receiving extraordinaire Mike Evans and one of the highest rated tight ends 6'5 Austin Seferain-Jenkins in this year's draft. That is a lot of size and a lot of talent. I have McCown at 16 because I'm not sure how it will all fit together but his has top 10 potential if they do figure it out.
17. Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears: Cutler can sling the rock but his decision making has always been suspect. Too often, he locks onto Brandon Marshall and simply refuses to look at anyone else. This leads to interceptions and interceptions lead to negative fantasy points. If he learns to trust Alshon Jeffery he could have a top 12 fantasy season. I just don't see that happening.
18. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams: Bradford is another guy that could be a top 10 quarterback all day... if he could manage to stay healthy. I don't have any confidence he will, the Rams don't have confidence he will and Bradford probably doesn't even have any confidence that he will. They added the uber-athletic offensive tackle Greg Robinson in the draft and Tre Mason as another offensive threat, but will it be enough? If you take a late round flier on him you could be handsomely rewarded... or flop right on your face.
19. EJ Manuel, Buffalo Bills: I'm on of the few that believe Manuel can be a franchise quarterback in the NFL and after extensive film study I still can't deny his upside and fantasy potential. He had 17 or more fantasy points in 3 of his last 4 games and had 14 or more in 6 of his 10 games played. The Bills have heavily upgraded that absolutely porous offensive line and added the best receiver to come out of college in a while in Sammy Watkins. Quarterback guru Steve Calhoun said that he thinks Manuel "can be a Pro Bowl quarterback this year." If he can put it all together and be more consistent, the sky is the limit and he could be a surprise guy inside the top 10 at season's end.
20. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: Big Ben isn't a spring chicken anymore and the hits he's been taking year after year appear to be taking a toll. Mix in the fact that the terribly aging Steelers are virtually rebuilding, he's on the down side of his fantasy career.
27. Geno Smith, New York Jets
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