Fantasy Football 2013 To Draft or Not To Draft: Quarterbacks with New Teams
Outlook on New Team Quarterbacks
The offseason for a few NFL teams is viewed as a time to rebuild and bring in new life to the organization. There are always teams that are looking to sign a new quarterback to be their next generation starter. An organization will look to trade players, dive into the free agent market or seek their next signal caller by means of the NFL Draft. Regardless of the path a team takes in its hunt for a new quarterback, it can provide prosperous or disappointing fantasy numbers.
Consider last season when the Redskins took Robert Griffin III in the draft. He came to a brand new team, under a new head coach and new offensive regime. What was the final result? Well, Griffin made it look easy throwing for 3,200 yards with 20 touchdowns and only five interceptions.
Counter to Griffin’s remarkable season, we have a quarterback who did not fare quite as well in Brandon Weeden. NFL fans saw more of Weeden throwing the ball to the other team than they did into the end zone. He finished his rookie season with 23 total turnovers and a total quarterback rating of 26.6.
The veteran Peyton Manning underwent multiple neck surgeries and found himself on the Denver Broncos. Manning only went on to throw 37 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 4,659 yards and brought his team to the playoffs
Drafting a quarterback who is getting a fresh start on a new team can be quite the gamble. I’m here to help you predict which quarterbacks on new teams will put up Manning sized numbers and which will give us more Weeden sized numbers.
Tristen Challe is a Fantasy Writer for Rantsports. Follow him on Twitter @TristenChalle
Carson Palmer - Arizona Cardinals
Since leaving the Cincinnati Bengals, Palmer hasn't looked like the same quarterback he once was. He’s been playing about as a league average quarterback should play, and that will be a huge upgrade for the Cardinals. Recall in the early weeks of the season when the Cardinals were leading their division at 4-0 with Kolb playing at a high level. If Palmer can muster back some of that old Palmer we remember, he has a good chance at doing great things for his new team. Having Larry Fitzgerald as a target can only improve your chances of advancing your stats in the right direction.
Obviously Palmer isn't worth a high pick, but he is an option as a late round flier.
E.J. Manuel - Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills have not been a major factor in their division for quite some time, and they were getting tired of watching Ryan Fitzpatrick behind center. They needed their next generation quarterback to lead them to greatness. The man they chose as their guy to bring glory to the organization is Manuel. Although he is not locked in as the starter yet, he could be their quarterback of the future as we saw him make incredible plays during his college career at Florida State. You never know what you’re going to get with a rookie starting quarterback, but Manuel does have the talent along with a speedy running back who catches many passes out of the backfield to give fantasy owners RG III numbers.
Manuel is definitely worth taking a chance on in the later rounds, and he has the potential to be the biggest surprise of the 2013 season.
Alex Smith - Kansas City Chiefs
We all know what happened in San Francisco, and it surely is a season for Smith to forget. No one wants to get benched and watch your backup take the team you played with for half the season to the Super Bowl. A new Smith will emerge this season along with a completely different Chiefs team. New head coach Andy Reid has a few tricks up his sleeve to go along with his West-Coast offense. All of the pieces are there for Smith to succeed. The Chiefs added Eric Fisher to their offensive line in the draft with the number one overall pick aiding in the protection of Smith. A very talented running back in Jamaal Charles will stand behind Smith to mix up the game plan. Dwayne Bowe has emerged as one the top NFL receivers.
What else could a quarterback on a new team need? Draft Smith, sit back, and watch him have his most successful season yet.
Matt Flynn - Oakland Raiders
What terrible luck for Flynn as he sat behind the best quarterback in the NFL in Aaron Rodgers and then went on to Seattle only to have rookie phenom Russell Wilson take the starting job. Flynn should be the starter for the Raiders in week one, but you never know. He is getting thrown into an abysmal system in Oakland and not one quarterback has had great success on the team since Rich Gannon in 2002. Flynn has shown glimpses of greatness but has yet to prove himself in a full NFL season.
Stay away from Flynn in 2013. His only upside for the upcoming season is that for now he “might be the starter” in week one.
Tim Tebow - New England Patriots
Tebow shouldn’t even be mentioned in this article, but some people seem to think he has fantasy value. Are you kidding me? Tom Brady is their quarterback and if Tebow does happen to take the field, it may only be for one or two plays. The chances of Tebow putting up anything near respectable fantasy point wise are slim to none.
We won’t be seeing any of that patented “Tebowing” move in the 2013 season. If you for some reason do draft Tebow, have fun spending the whole season pondering what exactly you were thinking while being the laughing stock of your league as you sit there “Tebowing.”
