Fantasy Football: Top 32 Quarterbacks

The List: 

Potential Sleepers:

Ryan Tannehill:

Don’t be fooled by Ryan Tannehill who had a rough 2012 rookie season. Despite last year’s season, Tannehill showed some promise. This off season the Dolphins signed a top wide receiver free agent in Mike Wallace. With a season under his belt and pretty solid receiving core Tannehill has all the tools around him to have a great season and try to take Miami to the playoffs for the first time. Tannehill could very well become a top NFL quarterback within the next 3-4 years. Not a fantasy starter right away but could become one throughout the season depending on his performance.

Tony Romo:

Yes, Tony Romo is a possible sleeper this season. Despite have poor career numbers in the playoffs, Romo has had good success during the regular season. His career completion percentage of 64.7% is close to NFL superstars Drew Brees (65.6% and Tom Brady (63.7%). Romo also had a higher completion percentage than both of those quarterbacks last year as his 65.6% was 2.6% higher than both Brees’s and Brady’s completion percentages of 63.0% . One major worry with Romo is his amount of interceptions as he threw a career high as well as sharing the league high of 19 with Drew Brees. If Dez Bryant can turn into the wide receiver the Cowboys have been hoping for Romo could become a very good fantasy option this upcoming season with Bryant, Austin, and Witten at his disposal.

Sam Bradford:

Bradford has had an up and down career through his first three seasons in the NFL. In his rookie season he found good success and won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award while also throwing 169 passes without throwing an interception by a rookie. In 2011, injuries and a bad Rams team hurt his development. In 2012, Bradford regained some of his form but still had his share of issues. Without top receiving target Danny Amendola, Bradford had hard times finding a reliable go-to receiver throughout the season. Now, this season Bradford has received a new target in Tavon Austin. Now the trick is that Austin is going to be a heavily defended receiver all season which creates opportunities for TE Jared Cook as well as WR Chris Givens and RB Isaiah Pead. Bradford’s career numbers do not resemble the type of quarterback he can become. Bradford may not be a starter on most fantasy teams but is a very good backup to have in case his sleeper potential becomes full. 2013 will also be the first time in Bradford’s career that he will be in the same offensive system in back to back years which could be very important.

Potential Busts:

Andrew Luck:

It’s his sophomore season and that means one thing, sophomore slump. Last year Andrew Luck had one of the best rookie seasons we have ever seen. But his team is not as good as it was last year, his top target Reggie Wayne is 35 and will see a decline in numbers this season. Darrius Heyward-Bay has yet to show the promise that many NFL experts saw in the fourth year veteran. Cam Newton had a slump last season and it was shown in Carolina’s play expect a very similar situation in Indianapolis thanks to an unreliable receiving core and the NFL figuring him out.

Joe Flacco:

Flacco who received a huge contract after winning the Super Bowl is going to have a very bad season stats wise. With the loss of  Anquan Boldin and Dennis Pitta his two favorite targets will not be there for him this season. Boldin accounted for almost a 1/3rd (921 yards) of all of Flacco’s passing yards (3,817) while Denis Pitta accounted for for nearly 20&% (669) of Joe Flacco’s passing yards. Together they brought in 11 touchdowns out of Joe Flacco’s 22. With 11 of his touchdown passes gone from last year Flacco is left with any overwhelming targets. It does not look like it’s going to be a good year in Baltimore.

Cam Newton:

Newton has still not proved that he can be a consistent top quarterback in the NFL. Defenses have figured out his running game for the most part and his passing game does not look that great either. In his first two NFL seasons, Cam Newton has thrown 40 touchdown passes while throwing 29 interceptions. Committing 35 turnovers the last two seasons is not a pretty number by any standard. Just throwing 19 touchdowns last year while rushing for 8 showed how much the league has figured out the dual threat quarterback. Now it doesn’t mean that Newton will have a bad season but he’s not a good fantasy option this season. The Panthers looked like they were on a trend upwards but not it seems as it’s going down with an aging receiving core  and uncertainty in the backfield.