2010 Fantasy Football Preview – Quarterbacks

The 2010 NFL Fantasy Football season is now just a few short weeks away. For Fantasy Freaks, the down time has been excruciatingly.

The NFL is constantly changing and evolving. As yesterdays stars get ushered out, a new eager crop of players is waiting to replace them. Veterans become bit players while their understudies or rookies take over on center stage.

Top Ranked 2010 Fantasy Football Quarterbacks

The 2010 fantasy football season opens with an even mix of top veteran fantasy quarterbacks combined with rising stars at the position.

Veteran players like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Donovan McNabb will try to close out a stellar decade of fantasy dominance. Of the 32 starting quarterbacks in 2010, that foursome are the only ones who have recorded fantasy stats in each of the past nine seasons.

Manning, Brady and Bress are all in line for another big year as their teams return in tact or better than they were in 2009. McNabb left a young and talented core of receivers in Philadelphia to join a young but less promising core in Washington. Of the big four, McNabb stands the best chance of wearing the bust tag in 2010.

Young 2010 NFL Quarterbacks With Veteran Experience

The top overall scoring player during the 2009 fantasy season was Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers with 402.3 fantasy points. There aren’t very many pundits who see Rodgers slowing down and he is currently ranked as the top QB prospect in 2010.

Matt Schaub, Philip Rivers, Tony Romo and Matt Ryan are all forecasted to have great seasons and they all have four years or less experience as a starting quarterback. Schaub and Romo will be playing in high powered offenses are both in line for a big year.

Rivers is dealing with disgruntled WR Vincent Jackson, a rookie running back in Ryan Mathews and a suspect offensive line. Matt Ryan has the least weapons of the four and faces a very difficult 2010 NFL schedule. We would tread lightly and not reach too early for either Rivers or Ryan.

Sophomore & Rookie 2010 NFL Quarterbacks

Rookie Mark Sanchez had a successful year guiding the Jets to the playoffs but ranked 24th as a fantasy QB with 182.8 points. Matthew Stafford did his best Houdini impersonation and tried to stay alive in his first season with the Lions. Stafford finished the 2009 season just below Sanchez in 25th with 170.5 fantasy points. Of the two expect a much better year out Stafford during the 2010 season.

The St Louis Rams are the only team scheduled to start a rookie quarterback in 2010. Sam Bradford is going to feel like a piñata by the end of his first season and shouldn’t be on your fantasy roster as anything more than a bye week substitution.

As a general rule of thumb it’s recommended that you should wait until the fifth round (at the earliest) to select a quarterback in most fantasy football formats.