2013 Fantasy Football Week 3 Rankings: Top 25 Quarterbacks

With the first two weeks of the NFL season now in the books, we are starting to gain some clarity around the league (though, in the NFL, do we ever truly have the full picture?). Which quarterbacks are looking strong for 2013? Who has matchups that, on paper, put them in position to produce in Week 3?  Who is looking like a riskier play than normal?  Let’s take a look at all of these questions as we dive into our rankings for the coming week:

1. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos, vs. Oakland
2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers, at Cincinnati
3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints, vs. Arizona
4. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions, at Washington
5. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons, at Miami
6. Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers, vs. Indianapolis
7. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles, vs. Kansas City
8. Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins, vs. Detroit
9. Tom Brady, New England Patriots, vs. Tampa Bay
10. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers, vs. New York Giants
11. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys, vs. St. Louis
12. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks, vs. Jacksonville
13. Eli Manning, New York Giants, at Carolina
14. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals, vs. Green Bay
15. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts, at San Francisco
16. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams, at Dallas
17. Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs, at Philadelphia
18. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers, at Tennessee
19. Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals, at New Orleans
20. Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins, vs. Atlanta
21. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans, at Baltimore
22. Terrelle Pryor, Oakland Raiders, at Denver
23. Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears, at Pittsburgh
24. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens, vs. Houston
25. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers, vs. Chicago

Thoughts:

• Colin Kaepernick is coming off a terrible performance, throwing three interceptions and losing a fumble. Of course, it came against the Seahawks, in Seattle, so we have to cut him a little bit of slack. It’s pretty safe to expect a bounce-back performance in Week 3.
• At this point, we have to suppress Tom Brady on the ratings, at least until Rob Gronkowski and/or Danny Amendola return to the lineup. Until then the offensive weapons are below average and he easily could struggle. If one, or both, of his top targets are healthy for Week 3, he’d get bumped into the fifth spot (between Matthew Stafford and Matt Ryan).
• The Washington Redskins defense has been atrocious this season, while Matthew Stafford has been solid (635 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions). In other words, Stafford is looking like a great play.
• Speaking of the Redskins, they need to figure out how to avoid falling so far behind in the first half. Of course, the deficits have allowed Robert Griffin III to throw early and often and post big numbers.
• Andrew Luck has quickly emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the league (439 yards, three touchdowns, one interceptions over the first two weeks), but do you trust him against the San Francisco 49ers? It’s an extremely tough matchup and drops him to being more of a low-end QB1/high-end QB2 for this week.
• The Green Bay Packers have allowed six touchdowns with just one interception over the first two weeks of the season (they’ve faced Kaepernick and Griffin). Part of that is because the Packers play shootouts, and the same thing will likely be true this week against the Bengals. Andy Dalton could be a very attractive QB option thanks to his supporting cast and the matchup.
• Sure Alex Smith is not a player anyone is going to clamor for, but taking on the Philadelphia Eagles he suddenly looks like a solid play for those in two-quarterback formats.  Keep in mind that over the first two weeks the Eagles have allowed 360.5 passing yards per game.
• Carson Palmer’s value is tied directly to the health of Larry Fitzgerald. Right now, that’s not looking too good…

Make sure to check out all of our Week 3 rankings:

• Running Backs (Top 40)
• Wide Receivers (Top 50)
• Tight Ends (Top 20)