Fantasy Football Week 9 Rankings: Top 25 Quarterbacks

There are a lot of favorable matchups for the upcoming week, but there are also plenty of question marks.  Not only do we have the weekly question regarding Brett Favre’s status, but will Michael Vick return?  Who is going to start in Cleveland and Arizona? Let’s take a look at how things currently look (as always, we’ll update these rankings later in the week if necessary):

1. Philip Rivers – San Diego Chargers – at Houston
2. Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers – vs. Dallas
3. Peyton Manning – Indianapolis Colts – at Philadelphia
4. Eli Manning – New York Giants – at Seattle
5. Tom Brady – New England Patriots – at Cleveland
6. Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints – at Carolina
7. Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Tampa Bay
8. Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Cincinnati
9. Carson Palmer – Cincinnati Bengals – vs. Pittsburgh
10. Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens – vs. Miami
11. Matt Schaub – Houston Texans – vs. San Diego
12. Michael Vick – Philadelphia Eagles – vs. Indianapolis
13. Jay Cutler – Chicago Bears – at Buffalo
14. Ryan Fitzpatrick – Buffalo Bills – vs. Chicago
15. Jon Kitna – Dallas Cowboys – at Green Bay
16. Josh Freeman – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Atlanta
17. Brett Favre – Minnesota Vikings – vs. Arizona
18. Mark Sanchez – New York Jets – at Detroit
19. Chad Henne – Miami Dolphins – at Baltimore
20. Matthew Stafford – Detroit Lions – vs. New York Jets
21. Jason Campbell – Oakland Raiders – vs. Kansas City
22. Matt Cassel – Kansas City Chiefs – at Oakland
23. Colt McCoy – Cleveland Browns – vs. New England
24. Derek Anderson – Arizona Cardinals – at Minnesota
25. Matt Hasselbeck – Seattle Seahawks – vs. New York Giants

Thoughts:

• Injuries to the receiving corps or not, Philip Rivers has done nothing but produce this season.  Getting to square off with the worst passing defense in the league, with Houston entering Week 8 allowing over 300 passing yards per game (and still having a date with Indianapolis), should just make things that much better.
• You would’ve thought that a matchup against the Cowboys would hurt the perceived value of Aaron Rodgers, but over the last two weeks they’ve been torched for eight passing touchdowns.  That includes four from David Garrard in Week 8.  There’s no reason to think that Rodgers can’t continue the trend at this point.
• Will the Eagles be able to rebound from their embarrassing performance against Kenny Britt and the Tennessee Titans in Week 7?  With Peyton Manning at the helm, I’m not sure I like their chances.
• Coming out of their bye week, will it be Colt McCoy, Jake Delhomme or Seneca Wallace leading the Browns?  For now we’re going with McCoy, but we’ll monitor the news this week and update things if necessary.
• Carson Palmer is coming off a subpar game, completing just 17 of 38 attempts for 156 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT.  However, what fantasy owners like to see is that his low in attempts this season is 35.  Overall he is completing over 60 percent of his passes and has thrown for at least two touchdowns in each of the last four games.  He has got to be considered a QB1 in all formats this week, even against a Steelers defense that has limited the number of passing TDs allowed this season.  He’s not an elite option, but he’s certainly usable.
• Eli Manning is coming off a great game against the Cowboys in Week 7 and now gets one of the worst passing defenses in the league.  With what is emerging as a great group of wide receivers, you have to like his chances of posting another big day.
• It appears that Michael Vick will return as the Eagles starting quarterback coming out of the bye week.  It’s still possible that they opt to go with Kevin Kolb, so we’ll update things if necessary, but I doubt it.  They do, however, face a Colts team that has been torched by the run, so it looks like whoever gets the start is just a low-end QB1/high-end QB2.
• Jay Cutler’s biggest problem is his propensity to throw picks.  The Bills have just one on the season.  That certainly would appear to make him a usable option, depending on who else you have available to you.
• For the second straight week, injury concerns to Brett Favre make him a tough option to depend on.  Still, with a favorable matchup, it’s going to be worth considering.  For now he’ll stay on the rankings, but don’t be too surprised if he is replaced by Tarvaris Jackson later in the week.

What are your thoughts on these rankings?  Who’s too high?  Who’s too low?

Make sure to check out our Week 9 Rankings:

• Top 40 Running Backs
• Top 60 Wide Receivers
• Top 20 Tight Ends
• Top 15 Kickers
• Top 15 Defenses
• Waiver Worthy
• Start ‘Em or Sit ‘Em
• Sunday Sleepers

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