QUARTERBACK FANTASY GRADES

October 27, 2005 11:00 PM ET

There hasn't been an official mid-point of the football season since the NFL extended the schedule 17 weeks. And maybe we could have waited until all teams played eight games before we started our midseason review of keeper league quarterbacks, but we're just not that patient. Besides, we're half-way through the regular season in fantasy football, so that's close enough. Join us in getting a jump start on the midseason talk as we examine the value of starting quarterbacks who have been in the league no more than five seasons. We've broken down the list into three sections in order to help keeper league owners assess the value of these young signal callers.

Quarterback Fantasy Grades - The A-List
Carson Palmer, Bengals: The former Trojan is lighting up the league with 13 touchdown passes and just four interceptions this season. Keeper league owners who took a flier on Palmer in his rookie year in 2003 or grabbed him last season should be thrilled with his progress, as he is arguably the best young quarterback in the game. He has great weapons to work with and should be good for years to come. The only thing left to debate when it comes to Palmer is whether current Trojans quarterback Matt Lineart will be a better pro quarterback.

Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers: Palmer might have a better arm, but no one has a better regular season record than Big Ben. This second-year gun slinger has already tossed nine touchdown passes and just one interception so far this year. Roethlisberger is no longer the caretaker quarterback he was during his rookie season. He may have lost Plaxico Burress, but he's no longer leery of throwing to Hines Ward, and he's also getting a lot out of rookie tight end Heath Miller. Some skeptics still mistakenly think of Roethlisberger as a caretaker, so now is the time for keeper league owners to buy relatively low on a sophomore signal caller who is on pace to throw 27 touchdown passes in 2005.

Eli Manning, Giants: Some keeper league owners would put Young Eli at the very top of this list based solely on his family tree. We're not ready to go that far, but we are impressed by his multiple touchdown passes in four of six games this season. However, we must also note that his early schedule has included matchups with the Cardinals, Saints, Chargers, and Rams - four teams that aren't exactly famous for having great secondaries. His two-score performance against the Broncos last weekend was impressive, but keeper league owners shouldn't make the mistake of investing too heavily in Eli based on his recent success against bad defenses. As good as Manning has been this season, we wouldn't shy away from shopping him around in hopes that a rival owner puts too much stock Eli's last name.

Marc Bulger, Rams: The fourth-year quarterback was starting to put it all together before he made the mistake of taking on a blocker after he threw an interception two weeks ago. Bulger is most valuable in yardage-heavy leagues because while he's flirted with the 4,000-yard passing mark in each of the last two seasons, he's never thrown more than 22 touchdown passes in a single season. His latest shoulder injury is considered minor and he should return after the team's bye in week nine. What really concerns us is that front office shakeup that could result in pass-happy head coach Mike Martz losing his job at the end of the season. In other words, keeper league owners shouldn't put too much stock in Bulger until the office drama plays out.

Quarterback Fantasy Grades - Middle of the Road
Josh McCown, Cardinals: We'll be the first to admit that McCown's placement in this section is based almost entirely on his recent performances against the 49ers and Panthers. For all we know, he'll stink this week and lose his job to Kurt Warner once and for all, but we just can't get past Josh's upside. In addition to playing in a Dennis Green offense, he has two of the best young wide receivers in the game at his disposal in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Keeper league owners must note that McCown will be a free agent at the end of the season. It doesn't matter how well he plays the rest of this season, McCown's stock will drop if he leaves Arizona during the offseason.

Michael Vick, Falcons: We're almost as shocked as anyone that we're listing Vick in this section. However, the Falcons invested a pair of first-round picks in wide receivers Michael Jenkins and Roddy White over the last two years, so Vick will have good weapons to work with once his young wideouts develop. Of course, he still has some issues of his own to work on, namely throwing the ball accurately. Michael also has a coaching staff that believes in him and an offensive coordinator in Greg Knapp who is willing to tweak his offense to fit Vick's strengths. That being said, there is usually an overzealous Vick fan in every league. Find him and fleece him.

Alex Smith, 49ers: It's simply too soon to say whether Smith is going to live up to the expectations that come with being the first overall pick in the draft. Obviously, it hasn't been pretty so far, but there have been countless quarterbacks who struggled as rookies and went on to become elite quarterbacks.

Carr takes routine beatings because his front office is obsessed with using draft picks to acquire defensive players rather than offensive linemen, and his star wide receiver is triple-teamed at times because the same front office staff has refused to add a legitimate No. 2 receiver to take some of the pressure off Andre Johnson. Plus, there is no gurantee the Texans will bring him back after this season

Rex Grossman, Bears: Injuries limited Grossman to three games in each of the last two seasons. This year, he didn't even get through the preseason without suffering a major injury. He's still rehabbing a broken fibula, but he hopes to return in late November. Until he plays in at least four consecutive games, keeper league owners should treat Grossman like the injury-riddled stiff he's been so far.

Patrick Ramsey, Redskins: Ramsey lost his starting job to Mark Brunell earlier this season and he won't get it back unless the veteran gets hurt. The Skins selected quarterback Jason Campbell on draft day, so Ramsey's days in D.C. are numbered. There's no telling where he'll play next year and there's no reason to believe he'll be a starter wherever he ends up, so Patrick has no keeper league value.

J.P. Losman, Bills: The shaggy-haired signal caller flopped in his attempt to replace Drew Bledsoe as the starter in Buffalo. Losman is only in his second season and could still bounce back, but first he'll have to wrestle the starting gig away from Kelly Holcomb, who is throwing a pair of touchdowns per game. Until then, there's no point in wasting a roster spot on someone as unproven as Losman.

Joey Harrington, Lions: Where do we begin? Joey's never thrown 20 touchdowns in a single season. He's only topped the 3,000-yard mark once in three seasons. And now he's lost the starting job to Jeff Garcia. There are a million reasons for keeper league owners to give up on Harrington, but the fact that he's finally played himself out of a starting gig in Motown should be more than enough to make keeper league owners sour on him once and for all.

 

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