Fantasy Football: What's Going on at the Quarterback Position?

There was a lot of promise for fantasy quarterbacks this season. Due to a shortened preparation for the 2011 campaign, many offenses around the NFL got off to sizzling starts, leading to many quarterbacks looking like they were going to have amazing seasons.

As the season has gone on, however, injuries and defenses catching up to offenses have led to just a few quarterbacks that you can legitimately rely on in fantasy.

If you don't own Drew Brees, Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers on your fantasy team, you are probably not too confident in your fantasy quarterback right about now. Those three are not dealing with any injuries or inconsistency issues at all.

Three other top-flight quarterbacks are all limited with injuries right now. Ben Roethlisberger has a broken thumb on his throwing hand, Michael Vick has cracked ribs and Matthew Stafford has a fractured finger.

That leaves Eli Manning, Tony Romo and Cam Newton as three top quarterbacks who are not dealing with injuries at the moment. Romo and Manning have been known for inconsistent play, however, and Newton is a rookie that is going through the ups and downs of being the new guy on the block.

When you think about Matt Schaub and Matt Cassel being lost of the season and the subpar seasons by Phillip Rivers and Josh Freeman, it's a good thing the quarterback position is proving to be pretty deep in 2011.

If you don't own Brees, Brady, Rodgers and perhaps Romo, Manning or Newton, it's best to just role a quarterback out there who has a good matchup or to go with a hot hand, such as Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons.

The way things are going right now has me thinking a great deal of how to go about drafting my fantasy quarterback next season. I will want to take one of the no-brainer guys at the top, but if they slip past me, I will cover myself by drafting two of the middle tier guys, because there is just no consistency anymore.