Assigning a Fantasy Football Grade for Every Starting QB in the NFL

With the end of the fantasy season nigh, we've got enough to look at to where we can begin to look at where our various fantasy players fall. Did your reach in the first round pay off? Was the ninth-round guy you took worth waiting for?

When it comes to quarterbacks, there were certainly "haves" and "have nots" this year.

I've gone through all the quarterbacks currently starting in the NFL (with a few exceptions where I noted duos) and graded out where their performances land.

Sure, we've got several more weeks to go and some of these guys are just heating up. However, you can definitely tell the guys you want in your lineup from the guys who shouldn't be anywhere near it.

The grades are simple and reminiscent of high school. The best get an A and the rest go down from there.

There were no F's, by the way. As much as some of these quarterbacks have had some down games, nobody has had a Ryan Leaf-style 2011.

I'm sure some of you will disagree with the grades—that's why Bleacher Report gave us these fancy comment sections. Add your two cents down below, but remember this isn't NFL production—it's fantasy. Sometimes the two meet up, but not always.

Meanwhile, and without further ado, here are my grades for all 32 (plus) NFL starting quarterbacks.

Andrew Garda is a staff writer at Footballguys.com

The Cream of the Crop: Rodgers, Brees, Brady and More

A+
Aaron Rodgers

A
Tom Brady
Drew Brees

A-
Cam Newton
Tony Romo
Matt Stafford

I looked over multiple leagues and while Drew Brees has had an outstanding season, in no league was he closer than 30 points to Aaron Rodgers. That's no small thing in my mind and just highlights what a tremendous season—fantasy and otherwise—Rodgers has had. He's just playing on a different level and so, he gets his own level.

Brees and Brady have also both been playing very well and their owners have to be pleased. In some drafts this year, Brady fell to the third and fourth rounds. That's value kids.

Carolina Panther rookie Cam Newton almost jumped into that A ranking but he's far enough back in most leagues to where I couldn't pull the trigger. He's also had a few more bad games than the other three, so that hurts him as well. The real trick will be deciding where to rank him into next season when every defensive coordinator will have the whole off-season to review tape on him.

Like Romo and Stafford, if you had Cam in your starting lineup you had great points from your quarterback more often than not. All three have had rough patches and Stafford gave us his usual injury scare. Overall though they have been very solid, even if they weren't quite as lights out as the first three guys.

If you have had any of these quarterbacks all season, your quarterback slot has been very productive and incredibly stable.

Solid, but Unspectacular: Rivers, Roethlisberger, Tebow and Vick: OH MY

B+
Philip Rivers
Tim Tebow
Matt Ryan

B
Carson Palmer
Matt Hasselbeck
Joe Flacco
Ben Roethlisberger
Andy Dalton
Eli Manning
Mike Vick/Vince Young

B-
Alex Smith
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Matt Moore

The guys on this page will keep you happy...most of the time. Sometimes, though, they'll leave you hanging. They are the solid but unspectacular middle group.

Normally, Rivers is on that first page, but this year has been very disappointing for him and his owners. That's not to say he's been horrid, but it's a season of underachieving for him. I still maintain he's playing hurt and we'll find out about it after the fact.

Tebow is here and he might be slightly above where he should be, but he's producing pretty consistently and his ground yards are keeping his owners content. I think he has solid upside and will continue to put his owners in a position to win like he does the Broncos.

Matt Ryan has had some dead spots this year, but he's hot at the right time and putting up great points the last three weeks, during which he's only behind Rodgers and Brady for point production. If they can get Julio Jones back on track, Ryan is going to keep the points coming.

I like where Carson Palmer is right now, and I think he's got the tools to be effective now that he is protecting the ball better. He could rise the rest of the year. Ben Roethlisberger has been solid all season but the last few weeks have seen a severe dip in production, the exact opposite of a guy like Ryan and not what you want to see heading into playoffs. I think he bounces back but he's become more risky the last few weeks.

Andy Dalton has surprised me quite a bit. Like with Tebow, I've stopped saying "well, wait until X happens" and just embraced that he's playing football and winning. Dalton and AJ Green could be quite the combo in coming years.

Eli Manning is coming off a 400-yard performance but he's had a few too many average games for me to overrate him too much. His fantasy output is no more consistent than any other aspect of his game.

You also see the first combination here in Michael Vick and Vince Young. Who knows when Vick will return and how long he'll play when he does with that rib injury and a running style which begs for another rib-shaking hit. Young has been OK, not great in part due to some inconsistent wide receivers as well as his own issues. A lot of people handcuffed Vick and Young and so I did the same here. Together they will put up solid points but I just don't trust that they will be healthy and/or their team will be able to score enough to move them up the rankings. I know people thought Vick was worth that high first pick but here's a case where we see why that was never the case.

I wouldn't be shocked to see Moore move up the way he's playing or Fitzpatrick move down for the same reason. Alex Smith looks pretty good but like much of the bottom half of this list, you don't want to be heading into the playoffs with him as "the man."

Bottom of the Barrel: Sanchez, Grossman, Rookies and Back-Ups

C+
Mark Sanchez
Kyle Orton/Tyler Palko
Rex Grossman
Josh Freeman

C
Sam Bradford
John Skelton/Kevin Kolb
Tarvaris Jackson
Colt McCoy
Caleb Hanie
Christian Ponder
Blaine Gabbert

Incomplete
TJ Yates
Dan Orlovsky

I like Mark Sanchez, but there is no way I want to be starting him in my fantasy playoffs. No way, Jose (or Mark). Sanchez, like most of the guys on this page, is too inconsistent and too prone to boneheaded mistakes to be more than an emergency or patchwork starter. For some of these guys, Sanchez included, there were times this season where it looked like they could reach the next level but it didn't happen.

Man, did Sam Bradford's production fall off a cliff or what? I think he'll bounce back next year, but wow, how the mighty have fallen in 2011.

We have a couple more pairs here as well in Orton/Palko and Skelton/Kolb. Just typing those names make me nervous. Orton could probably climb up a grade whenever he gets into a game. The problem with Orton is his propensity for interceptions and a lack of ability to score in the red zone. Tyler Palko is OK, but he's nobody you want in your starting fantasy quarterback spot.

Same thing with John Skelton. He did all right for a bit but he won't keep the job—Arizona paid too much for Kevin Kolb. Kolb had one good game and it was all downhill from there. I wouldn't want either of these guys in my lineup, Larry Fitzgerald notwithstanding.

Caleb Hanie is serviceable but between Mike Martz's lack of interest in protecting his quarterback and Hanie's limitations, I'd steer clear. I won't ding Ponder or Gabbert too hard for their seasons—they are rookies after all. Still, neither of them is trustworthy and I'll add this dynasty note: if I had to choose between them, it's Ponder all the way. Gabbert isn't showing me starter potential right now. Ponder has made some solid plays.

I added one last area for the two guys who we haven't seen yet. I don't expect TJ Yates and Dan Orlovsky to surprise me—Yates is a limited quarterback and Orlovsky has never been anything special—but it's only fair to hold off grading them until they've played a game, right? So they get an incomplete.

Andrew Garda is a staff writer at Footballguys.com.