Fantasy Football Week 16: Who's Hot, Who's Not Among QBs?

For many fantasy footballers, Week 16 marks the end of another unpredictable year of play, and if you find yourself in the playoffs, you need to know which quarterback to plug into your lineup or which to leave on the bench.

I left the Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady kind of quarterbacks off this list because if you're an owner of any of the elite quarterbacks, then you obviously already have them in your starting lineup.

This list is made up of quarterbacks a little below that level, with six guys who could help you hoist your league trophy or doom you to a less exciting second place finish.

Hot: Tim Tebow

Chances are if you've turned on a television or stepped outside your house at least once in the last few months, you know the story about Tim Tebow.

With all the talk about whether the former Florida Gator can succeed in the NFL and whether he can properly throw a football, one can forget that he's been nothing short of Michael Vick lite this year in fantasy.

It's not always pretty, but Timmy T has never had less than double-digit fantasy points in most standard leagues this season. In a world where multiple quarterbacks have fallen victim to injury or just haven't lived up to expectation, Tebow has been the definition of consistent.

In all but one start this year, the Denver Broncos quarterback has only one game with less than 40 yards rushing and five touchdowns on the ground. His passing production usually ends somewhere in the 100s as far as yards through the air goes, but he also has managed 11 touchdowns since taking over for Kyle Orton.

Not: Josh Freeman

Just as Tebow has been consistently productive in fantasy this year, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman has been consistently disappointing.

After a breakout sophomore season, Freeman and the Bucs themselves have spiraled downward with No. 5 proving to be a shell of his once-impressive self.

The Kansas State alum has not thrown more than one touchdown pass in a game since Week 11 against the Green Bay Packers and just hasn't been able to stop turning the ball over. For the season, Freeman has 18 interceptions to just 13 touchdown passes.

One thing that fantasy owners enjoyed last year was Freeman's ability to scramble and run the football, only to see this diminish in 2011 as well. The Bucs' starter has yet to rush for 50 yards in a game this year with just three rushing touchdowns to his name.

Paired with his lack of running, Freeman hasn't had a 200-plus yard passing game since that day at Lambeau Field. Unless you're desperate, keep Freeman on the bench this week against Carolina.

Hot: Cam Newton

In his first NFL season where Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton wasn't even allowed a full offseason with his new team, he has been nothing short of fantastic in both fantasy and real football.

If you were wondering what Freeman might have looked like if he actually progressed this year, he might have had a season like Newton is having.

The 2010 first-round pick for Carolina is just 18 yards short of breaking Peyton Manning's rookie record for passing yards in a season with two weeks left to go. Newton has never finished a game with less than double-digit fantasy points and has a total of 30 touchdowns through the air and on the ground.

Thirteen of that 30 have come when the former Auburn star took off and ran, which gives him more rushing touchdowns than Marshawn Lynch, Beanie Wells, Ray Rice, Arian Foster and Maurice Jones-Drew.

If you caught the Tampa Bay versus Dallas game last Saturday or just watched the highlights, you're well aware this Buccaneers defense doesn't have the best of chances to slow down this Panthers' monster season.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was able to posted four total touchdowns in the first half last week, imagine what a more mobile quarterback in Newton can do against the Tampa defense.

Not: Philip Rivers

In a year where many fantasy owners believed they could end up with a top three quarterback after drafting San Diego Chargers' star Philip Rivers, they've received a year of frustration instead.

Rivers has a decent touchdown total of 24, but he's also turned the ball over 22 times this season. After the Week 6 bye for San Diego, Rivers went on one of the coldest streaks by a quarterback in 2011, when he posted 10 interceptions in just five weeks of play, three of which weren't bailed out by 300-plus yards through the air.

Since the end of November, Rivers has begun to look more and more like the quarterback owners thought they drafted to start the season, but with the Lightning Bolts taking on the Detroit Lions and the 12th best pass defense in the league, it's an all or nothing chance you're taking if you put Rivers in your starting lineup.

Hot: Tony Romo

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had one of his typical flawless "Romo-vembers" in the month of November, but that success has carried over onto December.

Since the beginning of November, Romo has just two interceptions compared to his 18 touchdowns through the air. Over that time frame, the Eastern Illinois alum has just two games with less than 250 passing yards to his name.

When watching the Dallas quarterback it becomes apparent that he feels more comfortable in the pocket and especially comfortable rolling out of it. He's making smart decisions with the football and has been on a campaign to do everything thing he can do get his real team and his fantasy owners into the playoffs.

The Philadelphia Eagles boast the 10th best pass defense in the league, but this is a crucial game for both teams if they wish to make the postseason, and I see Romo continuing to lead the charge and putting up solid fantasy numbers come Christmas Eve.

Not: Mark Sanchez

If you're looking for someone who knows all about the Philly defense, look no farther than New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez.

The Jets QB was pummeled by the Eagles, who intercepted two of Sanchez's passes as well as forced the former USC Trojan to fumble the football in a blowout victory.

It's been another mediocre season for the former first-round draft pick, with has last 200-plus yard passing game coming Week 11 against the Denver Broncos.

This week he faces a banged up New York Giants defense, but it's also a unit that has to have gotten an earful from head coach Tom Coughlin all week after the debacle against the Washington Redskins.

The G-Men are fighting for their playoff lives this Saturday, and with Sanchez coming off one of the worst outings of his 2011 campaign, I don't see him regaining his composure and having a great fantasy day for his owners.

In case you were thinking about playing Sanchez as a matchup play considering his opponent's 29th-ranked pass defense, I'd first see if there were any Andy Dalton or Matt Moore types roaming in the free agent pool.