Robert Griffin III: Why Rookie Will Finish Year as Fantasy's Top Rated QB

In what is turning into the year of the rookie QB, Robert Griffin III will end the season at the top of the fantasy rankings at his position, ahead of guys named Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers.

Griffin currently has turned in the best two weeks combined of any QB in the league, putting up 24 and 30 points in the first two weeks (points based on ESPN standard league settings).

While some feel he's in for a letdown after his hot start, Griffin will silence the masses and continue to prove each week that no matter the circumstances for his Redskins team, he's a valuable starter and should never be left on your bench when he's on the field on Sunday.

Although Griffin has some tough matchups ahead of him, he's shown almost everything you want in a QB for your team. The big yardage, high completion percentage and the ability to get loose and run the football are all integral to a successful QB, unless he's throwing for five touchdowns per week.

So far, Griffin has more than 500 yards in the air and over 100 on the ground after the first two weeks. Those are the kind of numbers that make him comparable to last year's fantasy darling—Cam Newton.

Newton emerged as a running and passing threat in this league. Although his team struggled to win games, he often put up 20-plus points per fantasy contest because of those rushing yards and touchdowns attached.

Quite simply, the threat to run simply makes running QBs a higher reward play on your team each week. Now, we've seen the ugly side of that rear its head, like when Carolina played the Giants and Newton was held to six yards rushing and a paltry nine overall fantasy points.

Of course, Brady, Brees and Rodgers will get their points. Living in an offense where you get the majority of the looks in the passing game makes you a dangerous fantasy player. If you have to choose between RGIII and one of those guys, then I'd suggest trying to trade one at a huge value.

RGIII is admittedly a small sample size. The Rams and the Saints this season are hardly barometers for long-term success. But you can't erase those games because he's a rookie or because the defense was out of sync.

He's going to put pressure on the defense to make a choice; that was the staple of the Baylor offense, and that's what it's going to be like in Washington, too. He's thrown a lot of quick-hitters to get some good timing with receivers and to get in sync, but his bomb of a pass to Leonard Hankerson in Week 2 for a touchdown was indicative of his big play potential.

When looking at QBs, Robert Griffin didn't jump off the page as a true fantasy star. When the season started, he was risky at best, but a good value pick in the fourth or fifth round.

Now, you're going to be hard-pressed to find a guy with this kind of point-potential just sitting on the waiver wire. He's got some good matchups (CLE this week, MIN, TB) in the coming weeks, so that should increase his grip on the top spot.

Teams will begin to study this offense and react to what RG3 does, but when offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan can open up the playbook, it's going to be something special to watch, especially if he's in your QB slot when it happens.

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