2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks

We are finally back to football after last night's NFL action (albeit preseason) and we are celebrating by rolling out the first installment of our 2011 Fantasy Football rankings. In our first position ratings, we are naturally taking a look at quarterbacks.



While the position is often referred to as the most important position in football, it may just be the most important in fantasy football as well. Running backs and wide receivers will still rule the early rounds, but it's important to get a good QB early (we recommend making sure to get a guy in the first tier).



Without further ado, our 2011 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings:



Tier 1

1. Michael Vick

2. Aaron Rodgers

3. Drew Brees

4. Phillip Rivers

5. Tom Brady

6. Peyton Manning

7. Tony Romo



Tier 2

8. Matt Schaub

9. Matt Ryan

10. Ben Roethlisberger

11. Eli Manning

12. Joe Flacco



Tier 3

13. Matt Stafford

14. Josh Freeman

15. Sam Bradford

16. Jay Cutler

17. Kevin Kolb

18. Kyle Orton

19. Ryan Fitzpatrick

20. Donovan McNabb

21. Mark Sanchez

22. Matt Cassell



Tier 4

23. Colt McCoy

24. Cam Newton



As you see, we've broken the quarterbacks into convenient tiers. As we mentioned above, if you see some of the top quarterbacks flying off the board early, make sure to get one of the top seven (Romo is a controversial pick for the top tier that some might not feel comfortable with, so in that case, grab one of the top six).



Fantasy Football players are just starting to truly realize the importance of a consistent, reliable quarterback. Get one early and don't worry about it for the rest of the year.



After that, Tier 2 is mostly dependable starters who we feel will maintain their current production with no dropoff. There is a little more potential in Tier 3, along with a few players who we do, in fact, think have a dropoff coming (Josh Freeman, namely).



Finally, our last tier is just two deep: McCoy and Newton. If you're drafting a quarterback this late into the talent pool, go for the boom or bust guys who could break out rather than the consistently mediocre options such as Matt Hasselbeck or David Garrard.



Now that you have your signal-caller picked out, we'll continue with our series of 2011 Fantasy Football Rankings to help you fill out the rest of your fictional squad. Next up: Running backs.

2009 UFL Mock Draft

We're in the process of hammering out our 2009 NBA Mock Draft, we've already completed our 2009 NFL Mock Draft, and now, since we just heard that they are having one (sort of), we're ready to conduct our 2009 UFL Mock Draft.

For those of you unfamiliar to the UFL, it's the inaguaral football league starting up in the fall, not so much to compete with the NFL as it is to supplement it similar to a minor league.

They haven't announced many of the details, so unless you follow Tim Rattay's twitter, it's hard to figure out what's going on with the league.

Regardless, we're here to provide you with the first five picks of the UFL Draft. From our understanding, mostly based on Profootballtalk's earlier reports, the teams will essentially call shotgun on various players in the event that they are still available when the UFL season begins. The object is to get the best possible players out there--but not so good that they'll have work in the NFL or elsewhere before the UFL can get their hands on them.

So, without further delay, here are the likely top five picks in this year's "draft."

1. Michael Vick

Vick is a gamble, because picking him means he must be suspended by the NFL. The talent he brings, along with the instant credibility he would bring to the league, makes him a no brainer for the first dibs. Any chance at landing a player like Vick would be huge for one of the four UFL squads, and due to their proximity to the sort of thing, we can see the Las Vegas team (hopefully named the Las Vegas Lemons) taking a gamble on Vick.

2. Tim Rattay

Since Rattay is tweeting away on his twitter about all the juicy details of the United Football League's secret draft, we have to assume that he's one of the top options available. Quarterback is such an important position, especially for teams in a league where the talent drop off could be big. Rattay has thrown 31 career TDs in the NFL and has a QB rating of 81.9 in his nine-year career which includes 18 starts.

3. Quinn Gray

Gray, who unlike Rattay was in the NFL last year, boasts a 91.4 QB rating in limited action with 13 touchdowns to just five picks in six NFL seasons. He's started just four games in his pro career, but has shown flashes in mop up duty as a backup and could help lead a young squad.

4. Ken Dorsey

The quarterback run continues with another former NFL-hurler, whose 13 career starts are much more attractive than his 55.2 career quarterback rating. NFL experience, especially at the quarterback position, will be so valuable to this league, which is why the fourth pick will be spent on someone who threw no touchdowns and seven picks last year.

5. J.P. Losman

He's no Ken Dorsey, but J.P. Losman is another capable quarterback who, like 32 NFL teams, we completely forgot about. J.P. has 33 starts in his NFL career, more than any other quarterback previously taken in our mock draft, but perhaps that will be to his detriment, as his sample size is bigger and therefore teams know what they get with him--and don't feel they need it.

The UFL Draft is set to begin at 5:30 CT, and you can bet that we'll be there to follow up on this exciting event. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first ever mock draft in the history of the United Football League, an honor we here at Stock Lemon are humbled to hold. Other players available with NFL experience that have tried out with the UFL include WR David Boston, QB Casey Bramlet, WR Bobby Sippio, DB Marviel Underwood, and TE Jermaine Wiggins.

Mean Machine Interested in Acquiring Harrison

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison may have gotten himself into all sorts of trouble in Philadelphia, but whatever happens, he'll be able to continue playing football, regardless.

Reports out of Allenville indicate that the Mean Machine have a strong interest in Harrison should he become available. Quarterback Michael Vick told coach Burt Reynolds that he would love to have another deep threat (on the field) to play alongside Rae Carruth. The former Falcons quarterback has looked sharp so far in practice, but feels the team could benefit from adding Harrison prior to their first and only game of the 2008 schedule.

"I've always wanted to play with Marvin," Vick said. "He's a tremendous player and he'd really help provide a spark for us. These last few practices we've been dead as dogs... er... uh... we've been really tired. He could really help us in the big game against the Guards, so hopefully he ends up in jail over this."

Vick's current No. 1 target, former Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth, is open to the competition.

"Harrison's play-making ability and work ethic would be a huge boost to this team," Carruth said. "Lately, our guys have been practicing like a bunch of babies. And I hate babies. I hate them so much."

Whether they are able to acquire Harrison prior to the game against the Guards is uncertain, but the Mean Machine plan on doing "whatever it takes" to try and get Harrison behind bars.