Fantasy Football 2013: Sleeper Quarterbacks You Can Afford to Wait for

Quarterback is the most polarizing position in fantasy football. 

Some owners take the position early. If a fantasy owner can land Aaron Rodgers, that is typically a sound investment, as he is all but guaranteed to be one of the highest-scoring players at the position. 

But in the grand scheme of things, quarterback is a deep position and the guy taking Rodgers early is missing out on top production from a position like running back, which is one of the thinnest positions of all. 

Last year provided plenty of samples justifying this strategy.

Owners that took a top running back and waited until the middle rounds to take Cincinnati's Andy Dalton—who ended up as ESPN's No. 12 scorer at the position—wound up in a better position than they would have by filling the running back position with question marks. 

This year is no different. The following quarterbacks should encourage fantasy owners everywhere to pass on the position early knowing better value awaits deeper in the draft.

All fantasy rankings courtesy of FantasyPros.com.

Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals 

Player Ranking: 19th QB, 132nd Overall

How quickly fantasy owners forget that, at one point, Carson Palmer was a top option before shredding his knee. 

While now a shell of his former self, Palmer has completed over 60 percent of his passes over the last four seasons. Last year, he managed to squeeze over 4,000 yards out of a lifeless Oakland roster.

These may have been "garbage-time stats"—his team only won four games in 2012-13—but guess what? It's all the same in fantasy. 

Palmer now finds himself in a vertical-oriented offense under the guidance of Bruce Arians, a man who got over 4,300 yards and 23 touchdowns out of rookie quarterback Andrew Luck a year ago. 

The Arizona offense includes elite wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who had tallied five straight 1,000-yard outputs before last season. 

Keep in mind that Palmer now plays in the NFC West. That's a division that includes a Super Bowl contender from last year in San Francisco, another playoff team from last year in Seattle and a St. Louis team that won four games in the division. 

In other words, Palmer could be throwing a lot. Volume is huge for a quarterback in fake football. Palmer threw 565 times last season while mostly playing from behind. Expect a similar output in 2013. 

Matt Schaub, Houston Texans  

Player Ranking: 22nd QB, 144th Overall 

Stick with that thought about volume for a moment. There may be a run-first mentality when fantasy owners think of Matt Schaub and the Houston Texans, and that's a nice thought thanks to the presence of running back Arian Foster. 

What many owners fail to realize is that Schaub slung it 544 times last year. Volume being the name of the game, Schaub is as under-the-radar as it gets in that category.

In fact, he has attempted over 500 passes in three of the last four seasons—the exception being when he missed six games in 2011. 

Want more intriguing stats? In three of the last four years, Schaub has completed 350 or more of those attempts with over 4,000 yards and 22 or more touchdowns. 

When Schaub is healthy, the volume and consistency are quietly there. This year, the outlook remains the same. Schaub could be passing even more with star back Foster dealing with nagging injuries that have hindered him since OTAs. 

Schaub gets little respect from fantasy owners—that much is apparent by his ranking. Smart owners will see the trend here with Schaub and make him a high-end second quarterback or higher. 

Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs 

Player Ranking: 25th QB, 161st Overall 

Talk about a dream situation for a veteran quarterback, but not one many fantasy owners are taking advantage of in Kansas City.

Alex Smith has a star running back in Jamaal Charles—not counting his 2011 season that was lost to injury, he's rushed for 1,400 or more yards in two of the past three seasons.

That opens things up in the passing game, where Charles also contributes, catching at least 27 passes and scoring once in four of his last five seasons. 

Smith has an opportunity to throw the ball to No. 1 receiver Dwayne Bowe too. The wideout missed three games last year, but still put up just over 800 yards receiving on 59 receptions and scored three times to go along with his career averages. 

But most of all, Smith has a new head coach in quarterback guru Andy Reid. As Brandon Funston of Yahoo! Sports points out, in 14 years as a head coach, Reid has produced top-10 fantasy numbers from the position 11 times. 

So far this preseason, Smith has completed 31 of his 48 attempts for 288 yards and one touchdown through three games.

Those numbers will not blow owners away, but in a full game with the offense going 100 percent and the vanilla play-calling thrown out the window, Smith is a quarterback to have on a fantasy roster. 

Follow B/R's Chris Roling on Twitter for more news and analysis @Chris_Roling