Fantasy Football 2012 Week 6 Rankings: Top 25 Quarterbacks

There are a lot of questions, and maybe a lot of surprises, when we start to look at this week’s rankings.  How does the injury to Robert Griffin III impact things?  How far do Michael Vick, Tony Romo and Matthew Stafford fall?  Who could be the surprise play of the week?  Let’s try to answer all the questions:

1. Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Oakland
2. Peyton Manning – Denver Broncos – at San Diego
3. Tom Brady – New England Patriots – at Seattle
4. Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers – at Houston
5. Robert Griffin – Washington Redskins – vs. Minnesota
6. Eli Manning – New York Giants – at San Francisco
7. Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Tennessee
8. Philip Rivers – San Diego Chargers – vs. Denver
9. Andrew Luck – Indianapolis Colts – at New York Jets
10. Andy Dalton – Cincinnati Bengals – at Cleveland
11. Michael Vick – Philadelphia Eagles – vs. Detroit
12. Matthew Stafford – Detroit Lions – at Philadelphia
13. Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens – vs. Dallas
14. Tony Romo – Dallas Cowboys – at Baltimore
15. Kevin Kolb – Arizona Cardinals – vs. Buffalo
16. Christian Ponder – Minnesota Vikings – at Washington
17. Alex Smith – San Francisco 49ers – vs. New York Giants
18. Matt Schaub – Houston Texans – vs. Green Bay
19. Ryan Fitzpatrick – Buffalo Bills – at Arizona
20. Carson Palmer – Oakland Raiders – at Atlanta
21. Russell Wilson – Seattle Seahawks – vs. New England
22. Sam Bradford – St. Louis Rams – at Miami
23. Josh Freeman – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs. Kansas City
24. Ryan Tannehill – Miami Dolphins – vs. St. Louis
25. Mark Sanchez – New York Jets – vs. Indianapolis

Thoughts:

• We all know how good Aaron Rodgers is, but can he perform against a Texans defense that has quickly proven to be among the best in the league?  He’s obviously going to remain a viable QB1, he just can’t be ranked as highly as normal due to the matchup.
• I know the Seahawks are a good defense and a tough team to play at home.  I also know that they have allowed just 3 passing TD over the first five games of the season.  Does anyone actually think that they can slow down Tom Brady and company, however?  Brady is going to remain one of the top options regardless of the matchup.
• Peyton Manning is really starting to look like the QB of old, isn’t he?  He went 31-44 with 345 yards and 3 TD and has now thrown for 330+ yards in three consecutive games.  Taking on a Chargers passing defense that is in the middle of the pack, there’s a good chance he continues to roll.
• Robert Griffin III sustained a concussion in Week 4 and now has to be considered questionable heading into Week 5.  Obviously, if he is on the field he is going to be a must start option.  However, considering how careful the NFL is with concussions that is far from a certainty.  While I have included him on the rankings, be prepared to move on to the next option very quickly.
• We all know how good the San Francisco defense is.  However, it is hard to argue that Eli Manning is performing about as well as we have ever seen him.  Plus, in his last two games against San Francisco he has thrown for 627 yards (both games over 300) with 4 TD and 2 INT.  In other words, don’t shy away from him based on the matchup.  He has proven he can perform against them and is having a career year.
• Joe Flacco is coming off a down game and now takes on a Cowboys defense that has been revamped and excels against the pass.  Obviously, we don’t want to be dramatic and write him off, but this week he is more of a QB2.
• Andrew Luck just torched the Green Bay Packers for 362 yards and 2 TD and now draws the Jets swiss cheese defense.  It’s impossible not to consider him a low-end, viable option, isn’t it?
• It’s hard not to like Kevin Kolb at this point, isn’t it?  He has already thrown for over 1,000 yards, while adding 7 TD and just 2 INT.  Throw in a favorable matchup against the Bills, who allowed Alex Smith to throw for over 300 yards and 3 TD in Week 5 (and Mark Sanchez to throw for 266 yards and 3 TD in Week 1), and he is a definite QB2 and a viable option for the desperate in shallower formats.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 6 rankings:

• Top 25 Tight Ends