1)Drew Brees - Why not? Brees is a model of consistency and directs one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL. The guy averages 4575 passing yards and 31 TD's in four years with the Saints. How much more can you reasonably expect from anyone else?2)Peyton Manning - Are you sensing a theme here? Consistently great. Loaded offense. Sounds familiar doesn't it? In my mind, Peyton is 1B to Drew's 1A. They are the surest bets on the board at QB and there's a reason they opposed one another in last season's Super Bowl.
3)Aaron Rodgers - The NFL's version of A-Rod is everyone else's number one fantasy QB. With good reason too. The kid has skills and weapons and helms a team on the rise. I just can't see his ceiling being as high as my top two guys, hence Rodgers lands at number three for me.
4)Tom Brady - Brady is as competitive as any player, not just QB, in the entire NFL. He knows how disappointing last season was. He also knows that the window for another Patriots Super Bowl run is closing quickly. Expect him to demand one more huge season from Randy Moss and utilize his talented new TE's a lot in the red zone.
5)Matt Schaub - I've always liked Schaub. But I'll always be skeptical about his ability to stay healthy too. He finally had the season in '09 that so many people had been expecting from him since he joined the Texans. In order for Schaub to have a strong follow-up in 2010, he'll need Owen Daniels to get healthy and a receiver(Jacoby Jones, perhaps?) to step his game up.
6)Tony Romo - Romo has been anything but consistent since taking over at quarterback for the Cowboys. Lack of reps with future star Dez Bryant and the current lack of a dependable WR2 option, I'm looking at you Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton, have Romo slipping. If somebody doesn't do something soon(more reps for Kevin Ogletree?) to improve Dallas' aerial attack, this could become a full blown slide.
7)Philip Rivers - Rivers, to me, is a much better NFL quarterback than he is a fantasy QB. For example, his QB rating in 2009 was third in the league while ranking in the lower half of starting fantasy QB's. Don't fall too in love with this guy. With star WR Vincent Jackson holding out into the season, who knows if Malcolm Floyd can ascend to the heights of an NFL number one receiver. Look for Rivers to find Antonio Gates in the red zone more often this year and Legedu Naanee to possibly take off as a fantasy player.
8)Jay Cutler - First of all, if your league penalizes for interceptions you may disregard this ranking. However, the overwhelming majority of my leagues these days are not negative points leagues and, based on that scoring, Cutler's "disastrous" 2009 season still ranked him among the Top 12 QB's. He clearly developed a rapport with Devin Aromashodu last year and now has Mike Martz' aerial show coming to the Windy City. Johnny Knox is ready to explode a la DeSean Jackson in '09. Consider this a pure upside play.
9)Kevin Kolb - I'm buying on Kolb in 2010. He and his weapons in Philly are all in the same age range and these kids are going to get every chance to grow up and grow old together. The Eagles nucleus is flat-out scary and Kolb gets to direct them. As good as some of the other young QB's around the league have looked, none have the fantasy upside of Kolb. I'm not willing to compare him to A-Rod, but the situation is similar and his mobility is very underrated.
10)Joe Flacco - Nobody was happier than Flacco to welcome Anquan Boldin to Baltimore, right? "Joe Cool" has made an impressive impact on the NFL despite never having a true number one wideout at his disposal. Boldin brings that to the Ravens and should provide the impetus for Flacco to become a regular starting fantasy QB in 2010 and beyond. He'll probably never be a top 5 guy, but he should be dependable.
11)Brett Favre - Brett's back. Bad wheel and all. He's still a fantasy starter, but nowhere near his final ranking from 2009. My heart says Favre has another run in him. My head, however, thinks the future HOFer is finally going to miss some games this season before he hangs 'em up. Missing Sid Rice for at least eight weeks is going to hurt almost as bad as that ankle.
12)Eli Manning - The younger Manning bro put together his first start-to-finish campaign last season and I expect him to improve along with the development of future fantasy star WR Hakeem Nicks. Steve Smith is Eli's go-to guy and should contribute at least 90 more receptions while Ahmad Bradshaw's increased playing time will provide more options in the short passing game. An improved defense and heavier emphasis on the run could cost Eli opportunities, though.
13)Carson Palmer
14)Matt Ryan
15)Matthew Stafford
16)Vince Young
17)Chad Henne
18)Donovan McNabb
19)Ben Roethlisberger
20)Alex Smith
21)Matt Cassel
22)Derek Anderson
23)Jason Campbell
24)Matt Hasselbeck
