Brady Quinn: Fantasy Gold or Fool's Gold?

Cleveland fans were clamoring for Brady Quinn, and he didn’t disappoint in his first career start. He developed a nice rapport with Kellen Winslow, which is important because a young QB needs a reliable target (see Roddy White and Matt Ryan as an example).

He wasn’t able to get Braylon Edwards to snap out of his funk, but Brady Quinn isn’t a Miracle Worker. So what should you expect from him going forward?

Naturally he’s going to have some inconsistent play. All rookies, which Quinn is in essence, do. I expect him to struggle next week as he goes to Buffalo, who has allowed just seven passing TDs this year. He’ll be playing on the road against a good pass defense, and weather could become a factor.

The cards don’t seem to be stacked in his favor.

Moving forward, he faces a Houston in Week 12. The Texans are 28th in the league with 15 TD passes allowed. Quinn should make a nice play that weekend.

Then, the road gets rougher as he faces Indianapolis (191.0 yards per game, 2 passing TDS), Tennessee (194.4 ypg, 5 TDs), and Philadelphia (190.4 ypg, 12 TDs) in Weeks 13-15.

In Week 16, the Fantasy Super Bowl in most leagues, he gets Cincinnati. Despite their record, they have allowed just 193.7 ypg and 13 TDs this year. They proved Quinn a decent challenge.

Are you going to risk your fantasy glory on a guy who’s making his seventh career start? If you happen to play the whole season out, you'll see that he gets Pittsburgh (with the best pass defense in the league) in Week 17.

With one good matchup remaining and a finish against five teams allowing 200 ypg or fewer, Brady doesn’t appear to be the answer for fantasy teams. What he will provide is a glimpse into 2009. You can watch to see how he responds to this tough schedule. If he holds his own, perhaps he’ll be next year’s Jay Cutler or Philip Rivers.