Quarterback Controversy

By Robby Wellington – Staff Writer

Everyone loves a good quarterback controversy. The most important position on the gridiron is, not surprisingly, the most scrutinized. In cities where the team’s offense flounders, the most popular guy in town is often the backup quarterback. Now while the media and NFL pundits take great pleasure in exacerbating the aforementioned and frequently occurring controversies, the quarterback struggles that really get me fired up are on my fantasy team. And unlike in real football, where teams desperately try to avoid any sort of conflict by locking down a franchise quarterback, I am more than happy to let a few mid-level passers battle out a starting job week after week.

It goes without saying (yet I am saying it nonetheless, humm) that fantasy football is all about playing matchups. Most successful teams will only start a handful of their top-level studs, while rotating and replacing their other players based on the weekly opponent. This strategy is the most easily manipulated with quarterbacks and, consequently, owners should draft their team with this concept in mind.

Simply put, there is no other position where a player’s weekly ranking depends so much on matchups. To wit, Kurt Warner is probably a top-three start against the 49ers and barely a top-20 against the Bears. Because of this fluctuation, quarterbacks taken in the middle and late rounds usually have a higher value than their wide receiver and running back counterparts. For example, let’s say I draft Aaron Brooks in the ninth round, Ben Roethlisberger in the tenth, and Jon Kitna in the fourteenth. Starting those guys based on matchups should yield me results that are pretty comparable to starting Carson Palmer or Tom Brady every week of the season.

Assuming that the second and third quarterbacks drafted in your league come off the board in the third and early fourth rounds, you could probably grab a Jamal Lewis, Warrick Dunn, Reuben Droughns or other running backs of that ilk. Now, in the rounds where you could grab three quality quarterbacks, the top 40 to 50 running backs are gone, and you’re looking at grabbing three handcuffs and crossing your fingers the rest of the season. And the same goes for receivers; would you rather have Plaxico Burress or Mark Clayton, Eddie Kennison and Roddy White?

One exception to the multiple quarterback strategy is if you play in a league with a shallow bench (aren’t those the worst?). If you only have a couple bench spots to play with, then it may be worth the price to grab a top-three quarterback and snag a reasonably capable player off waivers during their bye week.

One final thing to consider with playing quarterback matchups is while many fantasy sites and publications will list a player’s bye week, presumably so the owner can draft a backup with a different week off, any difficult matchup for a second tier quarterback may just as well be a bye. Once you draft your first quarterback, it is prudent to check their schedule and note the handful of weeks that they don’t appear to have favorable matchups. Take this information into account when drafting your second and third quarterbacks, assuring your squad a cakewalk of a game every week. Checking your quarterbacks’ opponents becomes even more crucial during the fantasy playoffs. If things get too hectic during your draft to check out regular season matchups, then please, for the love of god, at least make sure your quarterbacks load up on favorable opponents during weeks 14-16, because, as all great fantasy players know, those are the only weeks that count.