Fantasy Football 2012: Choose Your QB—Tom Brady vs. Matthew Stafford

Today's updated edition of "Choose Your Quarterback" pits Detroit's Matthew Stafford against New England's Tom Brady—the No. 3 and No. 4 passers in my early Top 25 Fantasy QB Rankings.

The new QB rankings, detailing all 32 (likely) starting quarterbacks, will be released Friday or Saturday (July 6/7).

In the meantime, here's a week-by-week fantasy breakdown of Brady vs. Stafford, a battle of fantasy dynamos coming off their only 5,000-yard passing seasons:

Week 1—Stafford (vs. St. Louis) over Brady (@ Tennessee)
Week 2—Brady (vs. Arizona) over Stafford (@ San Francisco)
Week 3—Stafford (@ Tennessee) over Brady (@ Baltimore)
Week 4—Stafford (vs. Minnesota) over Brady (@ Buffalo)
Week 5—Brady (vs. Denver) over Stafford (BYE)
Week 6—Brady (@ Seattle) over Stafford (@ Philadelphia)
Week 7—Stafford (@ Chicago) over Brady (vs. N.Y. Jets)
Week 8—Stafford (vs. Seattle) over Brady (vs. St. Louis in London)
Week 9—Stafford (@ Jacksonville) over Brady (BYE)
Week 10—Brady (vs. Buffalo) over Stafford (@ Minnesota)
Week 11—Brady (vs. Indianapolis) over Stafford (vs. Green Bay)
Week 12—Stafford (vs. Houston) over Brady (@ N.Y. Jets)
Week 13—Stafford (vs. Indianapolis) over Brady (@ Miami)
Week 14—Brady (vs. Houston) over Stafford (@ Green Bay)
Week 15—Stafford (@ Arizona) over Brady (vs. San Francisco)
Week 16—Brady (@ Jacksonville) over Stafford (vs. Atlanta)
Week 17—Brady (vs. Miami) over Stafford (vs. Chicago)


Final Tally

Stafford clips Brady, 9-8


Breakdown

• We could have flipped a coin for the matchups in Weeks 3, 4, 7, 8, 10 and 15. As a result, Stafford's victory was far from decisive.
• How's this for synergy? Both Stafford and Brady have round-robin appointments with the NFC West and AFC South teams. From my research, it has been a while since that occurred with top-five passers.
• In Mock Draft Central's latest Average Draft Position rankings, Brady has an ADP score of No. 18 overall...with Stafford at No. 36. (Interesting note: Cam Newton ranks one spot ahead of Brady.)
• Stafford garners a slight edge off one scheduling quirk: The Lions have three straight home games in November/December (Green Bay, Houston, Indy).
• For the fantasy-playoff period of Weeks 13-16, neither QB has a definitive edge (2-2 split). However, Brady (at Jaguars) gets the call over Stafford (vs. Falcons) for the Week 16 Fantasy Bowl.
• Aside from keeper leagues, there's a zero-percent chance that fantasy owners will wind up with Stafford and Brady in the same draft (forsaking running backs and receivers); instead, they'll be left with the decision of whom to grab in the first or second round. On my board, Stafford will be higher; but both quarterbacks are conservative locks for 4,750 yards passing and 36 touchdowns.

Jay Clemons can be reached on Twitter, day or night, at @ATL_JayClemons.