Bold Predictions: Quarterbacks
The meek may inherit the Earth, but they aren't likely to win your fantasy league. When it comes to claiming virtual hardware on the fantasy football field, you have to go big, or expect to go home. With that in mind, I asked my fellow Yahoo! fantasy experts (Andy Behrens, Brad Evans, Scott Pianowski, Dalton Del Don and myself) to peek into their crystal balls and offer up their most eye brow-raising visions pertaining to the quarterback position for the coming season:
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THE GOOD
Michael Vick follows the script from Rocky III and writes a comeback story for the ages. The oft-injured passer improbably plays at least 14 games and finishes top-three in per game average among QBs, ahead of Matt Ryan, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. (Evans)
Michael Vick gives us a top-8 fantasy season, leads all quarterbacks in rushing yards, and delivers a combined touchdown total that's greater than his age (33). (Behrens)
Tony, Tony, Tony does it again! Not only does oft-vilified Tony Romo finish with yet another top 10 fantasy QB season, but he elevates into the top 5 this time around. (Funston)
Peyton Manning joins Marino and Brees as the only quarterbacks in NFL history with multiple 40-touchdown seasons. (Behrens)
The concern about New England's losses on offense are overblown, as Tom Brady finishes as a top-four fantasy quarterback. (Del Don)
Blaine Gabbert throws at least 18 touchdown passes. This is pretty good glue. (Pianowski)
Andrew Luck's completion percentage jumps by a dozen points, he throws six fewer picks, and he adds at least six touchdown passes. And somehow Mike Salfino still finds a reason to compare him unfavorably to Mark Sanchez. (Behrens)
Expect a Year 2 efficiency bump for Andrew Luck, as his supporting cast matures and he's not tied to an offense that hangs him out to dry (he was far and away the most battered QB in football last year). He'll improve upon his No. 8 finish among fantasy QBs last season, beating Brady, Stafford and Wilson, among others. (Pianowski)
Because of the Raiders' ineptitude on defense and Matt Flynn's general awfulness, Terrelle Pryor starts all 16 games for Oakland and posts Cam Newton-lite numbers in range of 3,100 passing yards, 700 rushing yards and 25 combined touchdowns (20 pass, 5 rush). (Evans)
Oakland's going to be in garbage time on a near-weekly basis, and if nothing else Terrelle Pryor should give you useful rushing production. It won't be pretty, but we're just in it for the numbers. Pryor will be starter-worthy in two-QB leagues. (Pianowski)
Robert Griffin III triumphantly returns to the starting lineup Week 1 and immediately proves skeptics wrong. He doesn't exceed 550 rushing yards on the season, but makes up for lost ground via the pass game, compiling 4,000 passing yards and 30 touchdowns. 'Bob' finishes the year as the fifth-best fantasy passer. (Evans)
Russell Wilson has a huge sophomore campaign, finishing with better numbers than Matt Ryan, Andrew Luck and Matthew Stafford. (Del Don)
You can throw all sorts of flags at Alex Smith, but we've seen Andy Reid perform QB miracles before. Smith sneaks his way into the Top 12 at the position. (Pianowski)
Ryan Tannehill finishes as a top 15 fantasy QB, and records five 300-yard passing games, four more than his rookie season. (Funston)
Though still not worthy of QB1 consideration, Jay Cutler puts up fantasy numbers that push the level of his career-best '08 campaign (4,525 pass yards, 25 TDs). (Funston)
Eli Manning has a big bounce back season, throwing for 4,500-plus yards and rewarding owners who wait on the quarterback position. (Del Don)
THE BAD
Michael Vick has played one full season in his career and he routinely makes poor decisions under duress and in the red zone. So he's beating vanilla defenses in the summer, so what? This has fool's gold written all over it. If you spend notable resources to acquire Vick, you're going to regret it. He'll finish outside the top 15 at his position, and will miss a handful of games. (Pianowski)
With big questions among his receiving corps, Colin Kaepernick fails to top 20 TD passes or 3,500 passing yards. (Funston)
Despite a sensational preseason, Andrew Luck falls short of the QB top-15 operating in Pep Hamilton's rather conservative two-TE offense. (Evans)
After a combined 31 TDs (pass+run) in '12, Andy Dalton fails to top the 25 mark this season, as he regresses to the point that, come December, talk in Cincy centers around his job security. (Funston)
Big Ben plays no more than 12 games this season, yet still manages to get himself sacked 35 times. (Behrens)
I hate to pan Robert Griffin III into 2013, but with so much uncertainty about his knee and Washington's offensive scheme, he becomes an undraftable player to me. I also trust their receiving group a lot less than most pundits, so it seems. Major regression is coming here. (Pianowski)
Jake Locker finishes the year with fewer fantasy points than Ryan Fitzpatrick. (Behrens)
Matt Ryan turns in a fine season but will end up looking like a major overdraft based on his ADP. (Del Don)
Everyone likes the skill players in Houston, and yet Matt Schaub still won't be a Top 20 fantasy quarterback. What happens to these guys in the red zone? If the Texans want to be a serious Super Bowl contender someday, it needs to swing for the fences at QB. Schaub is the guy holding them back. (Pianowski)
THE UGLY
Matthew Stafford disappoints and goes down as the position's biggest bust in 2013. (Del Don)
Playing behind a shoddy offensive line, Philip Rivers morphs into David Carr circa 2002 and establishes a new NFL single-season record for times sacked with 80. As a result, he does backstrokes in league free agent pools almost the entire season. (Evans)
Philip Rivers is outscored by division rival Terrelle Pryor — not that you'll own either QB. (Behrens)
Behind the league's worst offensive line, Carson Palmer misses at least three games because of injury, thwarting Larry Fitzgerald's attempt to break back into the fantasy WR top 10 in the process. (Funston)
After realizing how rapidly his QB skills have deteriorated -- his completion percentage has declined in three straight years -- Eli Manning abruptly retires midseason to pursue a full-time career as a rapper. His hip hop remake of CCR's "Born on the Bayou" outsells Snow classic "Informer" and earns him a Grammy nomination. Overall, he finishes 2013 outside the QB top-20 in per game average. (Evans)
Josh Freeman loses his job to rookie Mike Glennon by Week 10. (Del Don)
Vinny Testaverde leads the Jets in passing yards, and the team collectively throws 13 touchdown passes. (Pianowski)
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