Before we get started here today, if you remember one thing from this essay, it's this; wait to draft a quarterback. If you're one of those skimmers who will just lightly read this before you run over to Around the League to see what Dan Hanzus is talking about, followed by a stop at my Pick Six list of hipster jerseys and then top it off with a trip to Cracked to read the latest content, please, please, please remember to wait on a quarterback in your fantasy draft.
I'm serious about this. If you don't want to listen to my dissertation on Angels baseball, the Green Lantern, Dean Martin over Frank Sinatra and "The Cannonball Run" I get it.
But please, listen to me on this: wait on a quarterback in your fantasy drafts.
Don't hit me with the stats. I know the stats. Yes, 11 of the top 12 fantasy point scorers from last year were quarterbacks. Everybody knows this. But that's actually the point.
If you don't take a running back with your first two picks, you could end up with Darren McFadden or Daryl Richardson as your starting running back. Your season starts well behind the 8-ball if that happens. Kind of like the real-life Raiders. But the quarterback you draft in the ninth round will probably score close to as many points as the quarterback you draft in the seventh-round or later.
The big reason is the four second-year starters added to the fantasy draft pool. Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick weren't counted on as fantasy starters when the 2012 season began. But if you look at my current rankings right now, I have all of them other than Wilson ranked higher than Tom Brady for the upcoming season.
And if you give me enough time to talk myself into it, Wilson will eventually be higher than Brady, too. (Seriously, avoid Brady if you can.)
If you're worried about sophomore slumps and such, you can still find value in some veteran quarterbacks like Tony Romo, Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford. In fact, in our most recent PPR mock draft, I was able to draft Romo as my backup quarterback. Yes, the guy who finished ninth in overall fantasy points last year and will be throwing more to Dez Bryant this year was taken as a backup quarterback. His average draft position is right around the ninth round.
Are you starting to get what I'm hinting at? Well, I guess I wouldn't say I hinted at it. I've tried to be about as blunt as possible.
So odds are you will end up with a great quarterback if you wait. I understand, it can be a bit unnerving to watch all of these quarterbacks fly off the board. You get a little jittery as Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning get taken in the second-round (or maybe the first).
But play it cool. You can grab your flex options and receivers while people overspend on a quarterback. My favorite time to grab a quarterback in my mock drafts has been in the sixth-round. This will probably give you the pick of the second-year starters, but also guard you against one of those other fantasy enthusiasts from taking a guy like Romo as their backup.
Believe me, I'm in a league like that where this guy will load up on quarterbacks because he doesn't seem to understand we can start only one.
So let me sum this up in six words instead of the 600 I just wasted your time with (well not really): Please wait to draft your quarterback.
Did you know that Adam Rank won last year's Expert's League title? Oh that's right, it's like the only thing he ever talks about. Well congratulations, Rank. You finally did something. What have you done for us lately? Let's worry about 2013 and stop living in the past. Typical Lakers fan, am I right? Oh, if you found this useful (as if) check him out on the latest "Dave Dameshek Football Program". And follow him on Twitter, please. He's taking us to lunch if he gets 22 more Twitter followers today. And we only got 19 the last time, so step up fantasy enthusiasts!
