Fantasy Football Tonight 8/22
BACKUP QB'S
It's time to take a spin around the world of backup QB's. So much research and time is taken when deciding on which starting QB to draft to lead your fantasy team, but rarely do we consider who the backups are and what they may be capable of. As I always say, the system ultimately defines how big of a fantasy impact players at all offensive positions will have in a season and there is no more direct correlation than the QB. Anybody remember where Tom Brady was drafted before Josh McDaniels and his spread-like pass heavy offense was implemented? Brady was a solid backup fantasy QB and now he is one of if not the top QB on most boards. Remember also that Brady was a backup QB too at one point. So was Jake Delhomme, Matt Schaub, Kurt Warner, Trent Edwards, Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers, David Garrard, Matt Cassel, Matt Hasselbeck, Jason Campbell, Kerry Collins, Marc Bulger and Shaun Hill. Now these guys are all starters and some of them are very high fantasy picks on a regular basis. So please do not ignore the backups going into your drafts this year. There are some real quality players who are ultimately better than some starters around the league. If you are not going to take either Peyton Manning or Drew Brees in the first two rounds, then it would be a good idea to sit back and take one of the under the radar QB's who play in a system suitable to their talents, with big play WR's lining up with them and who have a backup that could step in tomorrow and run the offense just as well if not better. This way you can avoid drafting 3-4 QB's hoping one of them hit. All you really need are 2 capable QB's on your roster providing their backups are quality. If you have a ton or roster space then spend your last pick or so on the backup in order to save yourself a roster move later. Here are the best backup QB's in terms of fantasy potential for this year:
1) Kyle Boller -- Rams -- This was a great get for the Rams. Boller is a good QB who was always on the outside looking in while in Baltimore mostly because one Ray Lewis didn't like him. This quickly caught on with the coaching staff and next thing you know, Joe Flacco is drafted. Boller has a big arm, has a fluent throwing motion, is mobile in the pocket and has can hit any moving target on the football field. The move to St. Louis will allow him to rebuild some of the confidence that was lost in Baltimore. He was bred to be an NFL QB after all and with Marc Bulger's injury prone existence being the only roadblock, I believe Boller will eventually lead the Rams.
2) Matt Leinart -- Cardinals -- Matt Leinart will start more games for the Cardinals this year than Kurt Warner. Warner's tender ligament in his right thumb is always a problem that flares up constantly during the season and I just don't see him making it through another season without getting injured. Warner waits too long in the pocket and winds up taking some massive hits as well. He cannot scramble and has awful lapses in judgement which lead to interceptions and injuries. Leinart had a epiphany this offseason. He realized that his golden NFL career that he thought was a given could be over with before he knew it. He spent the offseason getting focused on the things that were important to him. He spent a ton of time learning MMA with Jay Glazer among others and got impressively stronger both mentally and physically in the process. Anybody who has seen Leinart in training camp this year knows the young man now has the eye of the tiger. He is confident and his strong preseason has shown that he indeed has the skills to be a quality NFL starter. With Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin in Arizona whoever is the starting QB is automatically a top 10 if not top 5 fantasy QB. Whatever you do this year, do not forget about Matt Leinart.
3) Sage Rosenfels -- Vikings -- This guy just cannot get a break. The only worry for me is if Brad Childress and Darrell Bevell destroy both his confidence and his mechanics. See, Rosenfels has always had a good arm and showed flashes while in Miami but it wasn't until hooking up with Gary Kubiak in Houston that he began to take off. Kubiak and his staff cleaned up a few mechanical flaws in Rosenfels throwing motion most importantly in his feet. The corrections gave Rosenfels more range on his deep ball and most importantly improved his accuracy. He is a big guy who stands 6'4" and has no problems seeing downfield over the line. Many will remember the breakdown he had in trying to finish off the Colts last season in Houston when he turned the ball over on 3 consecutive possessions to let a comfortable lead sink into a tragic loss. Well forget about that because it means nothing. Even after that game there were coaches, players and fans in Houston that believed Rosenfels should be the Texans starter ahead of Matt Schaub. Coaches around the league recognize him as maybe the most ready backup QB in the NFL. The Vikings gave up a 4th round pick and signed him to a $9 million deal with the idea he would be their franchise QB going forward. Of course, the whole Brett Favre saga ensued and again, Rosenfels is left to be the good soldier and be the backup. Well, I bet he gets plenty of time this year as Favre is coming off of biceps surgery and has a partially torn rotator cuff.
4) Daunte Culpepper -- Lions -- There is a strong possibility that Culpepper wins the Lions starting QB job at least to open the season. But Matthew Stafford was drafted for a reason and he is going to be the guy there eventually. I think Culpepper will surprise people this season especially if he wins the job right out of the gate. He is now a full 2+ years removed from major knee reconstruction (Hear that Tom Brady fans?) and has lost nearly 30 lbs this offseason. His arm strength is back finally and he appears very determined to get as close to the level he was back in the Minnesota days. Whoever is playing QB for the Lions this year is automatically a fantasy sleeper. This offense, heck this team is going to be greatly improved across the board. Jim Schwartz and Scott Linehan have implemented a quality system on both sides of the ball and improved both the talent level and work ethic there in Detroit. Culpepper to Megatron (Calvin Johnson) will remind us of the Culpepper to Moss days only with blue jerseys instead of purple.
5) Jeff Garcia -- Raiders -- This is almost completely by default. On my personal fantasy board I have Garcia rated ahead of JaMarcus Russell. Russell has all of the talent in the world but it just a giant dope who has not work ethic and cares little about his own development as a QB or the future of the silver and black. The Raiders have a good offensive line. They will be able to run the ball at will this season against most defenses and that should allow for a QB to make some plays downfield to Calvin Johnson Jr. (Chaz Schilens) and the crazy fast Darrius Heyward-Bey. I have no confidence in Russell mostly because few of his teammates do either. If Garcia gets in there, he has shown that he can do more with 1/8 of the talent JaMarcus Russell has. Garcia will move the ball and throw some TD's and run for a couple more. The fact that he is basically the starter in Oakland already gives him the final spot on this list.
I feel like I am just getting started here as there are several more backups that I am excited about. What do you guys think? Who are the backups that you have your eyes on or think may win a job outright this summer? Send me an email or post your comments below and let's have some discussion about who the next wave of fantasy QB's might be.
Got a tip or a question for me? Email me at thefantasyscout@gmail.com
Sign up TODAY for the Fantasy Football Search Season Pass
Follow me on Twitter: fftonight
It's time to take a spin around the world of backup QB's. So much research and time is taken when deciding on which starting QB to draft to lead your fantasy team, but rarely do we consider who the backups are and what they may be capable of. As I always say, the system ultimately defines how big of a fantasy impact players at all offensive positions will have in a season and there is no more direct correlation than the QB. Anybody remember where Tom Brady was drafted before Josh McDaniels and his spread-like pass heavy offense was implemented? Brady was a solid backup fantasy QB and now he is one of if not the top QB on most boards. Remember also that Brady was a backup QB too at one point. So was Jake Delhomme, Matt Schaub, Kurt Warner, Trent Edwards, Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers, David Garrard, Matt Cassel, Matt Hasselbeck, Jason Campbell, Kerry Collins, Marc Bulger and Shaun Hill. Now these guys are all starters and some of them are very high fantasy picks on a regular basis. So please do not ignore the backups going into your drafts this year. There are some real quality players who are ultimately better than some starters around the league. If you are not going to take either Peyton Manning or Drew Brees in the first two rounds, then it would be a good idea to sit back and take one of the under the radar QB's who play in a system suitable to their talents, with big play WR's lining up with them and who have a backup that could step in tomorrow and run the offense just as well if not better. This way you can avoid drafting 3-4 QB's hoping one of them hit. All you really need are 2 capable QB's on your roster providing their backups are quality. If you have a ton or roster space then spend your last pick or so on the backup in order to save yourself a roster move later. Here are the best backup QB's in terms of fantasy potential for this year:
1) Kyle Boller -- Rams -- This was a great get for the Rams. Boller is a good QB who was always on the outside looking in while in Baltimore mostly because one Ray Lewis didn't like him. This quickly caught on with the coaching staff and next thing you know, Joe Flacco is drafted. Boller has a big arm, has a fluent throwing motion, is mobile in the pocket and has can hit any moving target on the football field. The move to St. Louis will allow him to rebuild some of the confidence that was lost in Baltimore. He was bred to be an NFL QB after all and with Marc Bulger's injury prone existence being the only roadblock, I believe Boller will eventually lead the Rams.
2) Matt Leinart -- Cardinals -- Matt Leinart will start more games for the Cardinals this year than Kurt Warner. Warner's tender ligament in his right thumb is always a problem that flares up constantly during the season and I just don't see him making it through another season without getting injured. Warner waits too long in the pocket and winds up taking some massive hits as well. He cannot scramble and has awful lapses in judgement which lead to interceptions and injuries. Leinart had a epiphany this offseason. He realized that his golden NFL career that he thought was a given could be over with before he knew it. He spent the offseason getting focused on the things that were important to him. He spent a ton of time learning MMA with Jay Glazer among others and got impressively stronger both mentally and physically in the process. Anybody who has seen Leinart in training camp this year knows the young man now has the eye of the tiger. He is confident and his strong preseason has shown that he indeed has the skills to be a quality NFL starter. With Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin in Arizona whoever is the starting QB is automatically a top 10 if not top 5 fantasy QB. Whatever you do this year, do not forget about Matt Leinart.
3) Sage Rosenfels -- Vikings -- This guy just cannot get a break. The only worry for me is if Brad Childress and Darrell Bevell destroy both his confidence and his mechanics. See, Rosenfels has always had a good arm and showed flashes while in Miami but it wasn't until hooking up with Gary Kubiak in Houston that he began to take off. Kubiak and his staff cleaned up a few mechanical flaws in Rosenfels throwing motion most importantly in his feet. The corrections gave Rosenfels more range on his deep ball and most importantly improved his accuracy. He is a big guy who stands 6'4" and has no problems seeing downfield over the line. Many will remember the breakdown he had in trying to finish off the Colts last season in Houston when he turned the ball over on 3 consecutive possessions to let a comfortable lead sink into a tragic loss. Well forget about that because it means nothing. Even after that game there were coaches, players and fans in Houston that believed Rosenfels should be the Texans starter ahead of Matt Schaub. Coaches around the league recognize him as maybe the most ready backup QB in the NFL. The Vikings gave up a 4th round pick and signed him to a $9 million deal with the idea he would be their franchise QB going forward. Of course, the whole Brett Favre saga ensued and again, Rosenfels is left to be the good soldier and be the backup. Well, I bet he gets plenty of time this year as Favre is coming off of biceps surgery and has a partially torn rotator cuff.
4) Daunte Culpepper -- Lions -- There is a strong possibility that Culpepper wins the Lions starting QB job at least to open the season. But Matthew Stafford was drafted for a reason and he is going to be the guy there eventually. I think Culpepper will surprise people this season especially if he wins the job right out of the gate. He is now a full 2+ years removed from major knee reconstruction (Hear that Tom Brady fans?) and has lost nearly 30 lbs this offseason. His arm strength is back finally and he appears very determined to get as close to the level he was back in the Minnesota days. Whoever is playing QB for the Lions this year is automatically a fantasy sleeper. This offense, heck this team is going to be greatly improved across the board. Jim Schwartz and Scott Linehan have implemented a quality system on both sides of the ball and improved both the talent level and work ethic there in Detroit. Culpepper to Megatron (Calvin Johnson) will remind us of the Culpepper to Moss days only with blue jerseys instead of purple.
5) Jeff Garcia -- Raiders -- This is almost completely by default. On my personal fantasy board I have Garcia rated ahead of JaMarcus Russell. Russell has all of the talent in the world but it just a giant dope who has not work ethic and cares little about his own development as a QB or the future of the silver and black. The Raiders have a good offensive line. They will be able to run the ball at will this season against most defenses and that should allow for a QB to make some plays downfield to Calvin Johnson Jr. (Chaz Schilens) and the crazy fast Darrius Heyward-Bey. I have no confidence in Russell mostly because few of his teammates do either. If Garcia gets in there, he has shown that he can do more with 1/8 of the talent JaMarcus Russell has. Garcia will move the ball and throw some TD's and run for a couple more. The fact that he is basically the starter in Oakland already gives him the final spot on this list.
I feel like I am just getting started here as there are several more backups that I am excited about. What do you guys think? Who are the backups that you have your eyes on or think may win a job outright this summer? Send me an email or post your comments below and let's have some discussion about who the next wave of fantasy QB's might be.
Got a tip or a question for me? Email me at thefantasyscout@gmail.com
Sign up TODAY for the Fantasy Football Search Season Pass
Follow me on Twitter: fftonight
posted by Jeff Mans at
10:07 PM
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