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QUARTERBACKS
1. Peyton Manning
- Peyton Manning is an absolute fantasy STUD! Despite losing his last
4 road games, Manning continued to produce. In fact, Manning scored a
TD in every game he played in 2006 - something no other QB has done. Manning's
consistent performance made him dominant in fantasy leagues with 35 total
TDs (7 more than any other QB). If Manning's TD performance wasn't enough...he
threw for 4397 passing yards, had a QB rating of 101.0, and threw only
9 interceptions. Peyton Manning plays every game, produces consistently
at the top of all QBs, and makes very few mistakes. Fantasy owners with
Manning on their roster in 2006 had the best QB in the league...without
arguement.
2. Drew Brees
- All Drew Brees did was to take a sub-500 team and make them a contender. In 2006, Brees read defenses, threw accurate passes for touchdowns, and gave
New Orleans fans a football spirit like the city has never seen. If you
were lucky enough to "settle" for Drew Brees at QB in the mid
rounds of your fantasy draft, then you likely won your division and made
it into your fantasy playoffs. If there is a downside to the phenominal
performance by Brees this season from a fantasy perspective, it is that
he may have been too good!? With the division wrapped early by the Saints,
Brees accumulated just 385 yards and 1 touchdown over his last 3 regular
season games (during FFL playoffs - a killer for owners who rode his fantastic
performances all season).
3. Carson Palmer
- With a wealth of talent on offense, Carson Palmer came into
2006 as a huge question mark. Off-season knee surgery had many fantasy
owners questioning Palmer's ability to recover from a major operation...and
they appeared to be justified as Palmer got off to a slow start in his
first 4 games. Carson threw for less than 200 yards and didn't score in
2 of his first 4 games. As Palmer became comfortable with his knee, he
started to find key WR Chad Johnson and his fantasy numbers came online
with 28 total TDs on the season (2nd to Manning). However, as Palmer gained
poise...the Bengals didn't fare as well as they lost 7 of their final
12 and missed the playoffs (5 of the losses by less than a TD).
4. Michael Vick
- Is he a running back or a quarterback? I think he's both.
Although Vick's total TDs amounts to only 20, he has a whopping 1039 rushing
yards!...which is huge in any fantasy league. Vick's passing rating is
a mere 75.7. But most fantasy owners don't care too much if he doesn't
thread the needle to a group of below average Falcon wide receivers...it's
Vick's rushing yards that put the exclamation point on his average quarterback
passing stats and made him the number 4 fantasy QB in 2006. The knock
on Mike Vick is that he is hit or miss. In three of Vick's games (weeks
3, 14, &16), he failed to score...and didn't have combined yardage
totals (passing + rushing) of 200 yards in any of those three games. On
the other hand, 8 of Vick's 20 TD throws came in just two games (4 passing
TDs in weeks 7 & 15).
5. Marc Bulger
- Same 'ol consistent Marc Bulger in 2006. Bulger's 4300+ passing yards
with only 8 INTs show why Bulger can continue to counted upon despite
coaching and personnel changes in the Rams organization. The only downside
to Bulger's stats this past season may be his TD production...which amount
to 24 (good, but not great given his yardage and accuracy).
6. Jon Kitna -
Surprisingly, with just 2 wins on the season...Jon Kitna threw for over
4200 yards and totaled 23 TDs! Kitna had only 3 games where he didn't
score. But maybe not surprisingly, Kitna threw 22 INTs (most in the league)
and had only 3 games where he didn't throw a pick. For the simple fact
that Kitna was fairly consistent on the season with a decent number of
total touchdowns and huge yardage, he ranks 6th overall for fantasy QBs
(largely because many leagues count only positive points and don't detract
for INTs).
7. Tom Brady -
Tom Brady scored 14 of his 24 TDs in his first 7 games of '06 (scoring
in every game and winning 6 of them). But in Brady's next 6 games, he
scored in just 3 - resulting in 3 losses. Bottom line however is that
Tom Brady continues to be one of the great QBs of our time, but TB doesn't
have any quality wide receivers to mention and has had to make the most
of supporting cast.
8. Philip Rivers
- Young Philip Rivers threw 22 TDs with just 9 INTs while leading
the San Diego Chargers to the top seed in the AFC with 14 wins. Rivers
was a blessing to his fantasy owners who likely got him cheap. Consistency
was the forte' of the young QB as he scored in all but 3 of his 16 games
and put up a passer rating of 92.0. The production of stud RB LaDainian Tomlinson may have been numbers that weren't put up by Rivers, but LT
obviously helped keep defenses from focusing on Rivers with every offensive
snap.
9.
Eli Manning - Brother Eli is still considered as a decent QB
capable of great things, but he's still throwing to the wrong color jersey.
After compiling 17 INTs last season, Eli topped that mark by 1 and threw
18 this year. On a more positive note, the potential is there and Manning
has demonstrated he has the ability with his 24 passing touchdowns. Key
targets Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey are Manning's bread and butter
and produced down the stretch as the Giants eeked out an NFL playoff berth.
10.
Rex Grossman - Grossman may be the 10th rated fantasy QB, but
only because he's pass happy - often using extremely poor judgement. A
benefactor of the Bears tenacious D, Grossman has been given good field
position and plenty of clock time, ultimately deciding to throw the ball
in situations where the Bears would be better off running and giving their
defense a rest (think Kyle Orton and the 10 wins last season followed
by an early playoff loss where Grossman started and basically threw away
the game on 1st and 2nd downs). Grossman has thrown for 23 TDs this season,
but the 20 INTs are wearing out the Bears defense and fantasy owners who
have interceptions counted against them. Rex Grossman is not that good
of a quarterback, but a top-notch Chicago Bears defense allowed Rex to
stay in the game and complete 23 TDs for fantasy owners brave enough to
stick with him (in leagues where INTs aren't a problem).
11. Vince Young
- This rookie certainly isn't on the list because of his 66.9
passer rating. It's because of his 19 total TDs and 553 rushing yards.
Once Vince took the reigns (week 4), he scored in every remaining Titans
game except one (week 15).
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Top Fantasy Quarterbacks
2006
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QB
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Pass Comp
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Pass Att
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Pass Yards
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Pass Rtng
|
Int
|
Pass TDs
|
Rush Yds
|
Rush TDs
|
|
Peyton Manning
|
362
|
557
|
4397
|
101.0
|
9
|
31
|
36
|
4
|
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Drew Brees
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357
|
555
|
4424
|
96.3
|
11
|
26
|
32
|
0
|
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Carson Palmer
|
324
|
520
|
4036
|
93.9
|
13
|
28
|
35
|
0
|
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Michael Vick
|
205
|
389
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2474
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75.7
|
13
|
20
|
1039
|
2
|
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Marc Bulger
|
370
|
588
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4301
|
92.9
|
8
|
24
|
44
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0
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Jon Kitna
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372
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596
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4208
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79.9
|
22
|
21
|
156
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2
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Tom Brady
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320
|
517
|
3533
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87.9
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12
|
24
|
102
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0
|
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Philip Rivers
|
284
|
460
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3388
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92.0
|
9
|
22
|
53
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0
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Eli Manning
|
301
|
522
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3244
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77.0
|
18
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24
|
21
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0
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Rex Grossman
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262
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480
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3197
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73.9
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20
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23
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2
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0
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Vince Young
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184
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356
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2199
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66.9
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13
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12
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553
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7
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