• Kurt Warner will put up first round numbers. The only thing that can hurt his elite fantasy status is injury. He has only missed five starts in the last three years, so I would not consider that a concern. Warner tends to get a bum rap from some because of the exceptional talent that surrounds him. It is believed he only succeeds because of Faulk, Bruce and Holt. I tend to disagree on this. Warner has outstanding arm strength and accuracy. Warner is a lot tougher than he is given credit for. Warner's numbers do reflect the fact that he has great players around him, but Faulk and company also succeed because of Warner.
  
  
• You may find it a little strange to see Daunte Culpepper in the same tier as Warner. Culpepper's upside is too hard to ignore. Just two short years ago, Culpepper had 3937 passing yards, 33 passing Tds, 470 rushing yards and 7 rushing Tds. How can you ignore numbers like those? Culpepper had a down year in 2001 with only 3021 total yards. This was due to an injury that forced him out for five games. The interesting thing is Culpepper still almost had just as many fantasy points per game as Warner (Warner had 24.5 while Culpepper has 23.4). The big difference for Culpepper will be the fact that Michael Bennett should take his game up a level to provide him with a running threat.
  

• Jeff Garcia is often overlooked when talking about the top fantasy quarterbacks. Maybe it is the fact that Culpepper, Warner and Manning put up their numbers in a more exciting manner. Maybe it is the fact Garcia has finished second in fantasy numbers the past two years. Noone tends to remember second place. Garcia has great mobility and is very elusive. He is very accurate on the run. As long as number 81 is there to throw to, Garcia will put up great numbers. He was great for the stretch run in fantasy leagues. He threw for 8 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in the last four games. It really doesn't matter how he gives your fantasy team numbers as long as he keeps doing it.
  
  
• Peyton Manning is the James Brown of pro football. He is the hardest working quarterback in the NFL. Noone works more on his game than Manning. He is either in the film room or on the practice field. Manning had a down year in 2001, but I guarantee he will bounce back. Manning was behind the eight ball early on in 2001. He lost one of the best runners in the game when Edgerrin James went down in week 6. He also lost Jerome Pathon to an injury in week 3. Pathon was really developing into that force at wide receiver that the Colts needed opposite of Harrison. Those two injuries caused Manning to force the ball into coverage a lot more. The signing of Qadry Ismail and development of Dominic Rhodes will provide Manning with more offensive depth. I expect to see Manning go back to the form we have come to expect from him in 2002.
  

• The big question in the 2001 off-season was Jeff Blake or Aaron Brooks in New Orleans? I never thought Blake stood a chance. Brooks is just overflowing with talent. The type of talent that would have been wasting away on the bench. Brooks had a nice year in 2001. He put up 3832 passing yards, 26 passing touchdowns, 358 rushing yards and 1 rushing touchdown. Brooks does have a risk involved. He threw 13 of the 22 interceptions in the last four games. However, I expect to see the Aaron Brooks we saw in the first 12 games. The trading of Ricky Williams will only improve Brook's fantasy numbers. I expect that Mcallister will be used less on the rushing side and more in the passing game. They will use McAllister just enough for defenses to respect the running game. This should only help Brooks post better fantasy numbers in 2002.
  
  
• Donovan McNabb is an amazing player. He can beat anyway he wants to. He can beat you deep. He can beat you short. If you take away all of his passing options, he can beat you with his legs. The only negative about McNabb is his supporting cast. When James Thrash is your number one wide receiver, you are in trouble. The fact that Philadelphia was a drive away from going to the Super Bowl shows you the talent that McNabb possesses. James Thrash should be a little better after a full season of being in the offense. Freddie Mitchell should improve on his rookie season. This will help a bit, but McNabb will be the offense once again. No one man can be the whole offense (As Barry Sanders can tell you). McNabb should still be good for 4000 total yards and 30 total touchdowns. Not too bad for a quarterback lacking talent around him.
  
  
• You didn't count him out, did you? You didn't grab Elvis Grbac over Brett Favre in 2001, did you? Brett Favre proved in 2001 that his battle with tendonitis was history. All you had to do was watch one preseason game to see this was the case. Favre had the same old velocity on the football. His numbers reflected the fact that the same old Favre was back. He threw for 3923 passing yards and 32 touchdowns. Considering his supporting cast, those are amazing numbers. Bill Schroeder, Antonio Freeman and Bubba Franks are all solid players, but not really a true number one wide receiver among them. This has changed in 2002. Green Bay traded for the disgruntled but very talented Terry Glenn. Glenn is true homerun hitter at the wide receiver position. Favre will be a top ten quarterback once again for the upcoming season.
  
  
• This could be the year that Steve McNair stops teasing us and starts pleasing us. McNair is the annual underachiever. That is a strange thing to say considering McNair has been a top 15 quarterback every year from 1997-2001. He was even a top five-fantasy quarterback in two of those years. The problem is he is capable of so much more. He only surpassed 3000 passing yards in two of those years. If he could put it all together, he would be huge fantasy wise. A taste of that fantasy perfection came in the final eight games of last season. Tennessee was forced to put the ball in the air because Eddie George was not his usual powerful self. In those eight games, McNair passed for 1960 yards and 14 touchdowns. 1960 yards? Wow! This is only the beginning. Tennessee knows what they can do with McNair throwing the ball now. It has been reasoned by fantasy owners that Tennessee will go back to run-oriented offense once Eddie George is back to normal. The important thing to remember is McNair only threw the ball 217 times in the last eight games. Tennessee did not throw the ball more. They only threw it deeper. Expect McNair to have a breakout year in 2002.
  

• If I asked you, which quarterback has averaged the most fantasy points per season in the last three years, whom would you guess? Kurt Warner? Brett Favre? Peyton Manning? Jeff Garcia? Those would all be wrong. Rich Gannon would be the answer. Rich Gannon is the under appreciated one. All he does is put up fantasy numbers. He has averaged 3699 passing yards and 26 passing touchdowns from 1999-2001. He bettered those numbers in 2001 with over 3800 passing yards and 27 passing touchdowns. You could select a quarterback with more upside in Brooks or McNair, but you couldn't have a more consistent performer than Gannon. He is one of the safest fantasy selections at the quarterback position. The best part about Gannon is he can be had in round five of most fantasy drafts.
  
  
• Brian Griese is definitely not the safest choice in a fantasy draft, but his upside can be huge. In 2000, Griese started only ten games but still passed for 2688 yards and 19 touchdowns. He looked like the next coming of John Elway. Well maybe not Elway, but he looked damn good. 2001 was definitely not a step in the right direction for Griese. Griese did start all 16 games, but I cannot say the same for everyone else on the offense. Ed McCaffrey was injured in the opening game and missed the whole year. Rod Smith missed two starts due to injury. He was also hurting in several other games while being tripled teamed by defenses. We all know the story with Terrell Davis and his injuries. This season, Griese will have Shannon Sharpe as an additional weapon. Denver also drafted Ashlie Lelie in the first round of the NFL draft. The rich only get richer. Griese should come back with a vengeance in 2002.
  

• Jake Plummer has been compared to Joe Montana since the day he was drafted. That has always been a very unfair comparison. Plummer has never had the talent around him that Montana had. A quarterback is only as good as the players around him. Plummer was not only was lacking the wide receivers, but also never had a running game to help balance things out. That is starting to change. David Boston is one of the best in the game and will only get better. The addition of Freddie Jones at tight end will give Plummer another target in the passing game. Add into that the development of Thomas Jones and Martay Jenkins and Plummer could have a career year. Last season was the first year Plummer threw for more touchdowns than interceptions. This is only the beginning of what should be an excellent career for a nice talent.
  
  
• In the past three seasons that Trent Green has played, he has averaged 240 passing yards and 1.5 touchdowns a game. This averages out to be 3840 passing yards and 24 touchdowns for a 16 game season. Some of those numbers are inflated because of the five starts he had in the fantasy football heaven known as the Rams. Even without the games that Green played in St. Louis, he is averaging 240 passing yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game. What is more impressive is he did this without a legitimate number one wide receiver. Last year, Trent Green's top wide receiver had only 512 receiving yards. This should change in 2002 with the addition of Johnnie Morton in the off-season. Green should also be better because of a whole year in Kansas City. Green is a very intelligent quarterback with good efficiency and accuracy. I expect good things from Green for this coming season.
  
  
• Drew Bledsoe was the good soldier. He kept his mouth shut while most would have shouted, "Bloody murder". He watched Tom Brady take over his team and win a Super Bowl. Make no doubt about it; Drew Bledsoe got a raw deal. This off-season, he said No More. He refused to come back and Buffalo gained themselves a quarterback. Bledsoe will improve every aspect of the Buffalo offense. He will improve the running game because defenses will be forced to respect his throwing ability. He will improve Eric Moulds and Peerless Price because Bledsoe will be able to get the ball downfield to them. He will even improve the offense line's pass protecting because he will get rid of the ball faster than a Rob Johnson. Bledsoe is loaded with talent and could be the missing piece to an explosive offense in 2002.
  
  
• I know what you are thinking. 1997 all over again. That was the last time Kordell Stewart was a fantasy force. He had over 3000 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, 476 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. 1998 was a totally different story. He was the top bust of the year. I was one of the writers that called him a bust in 1998, but I expect Kordell to still be on the fantasy map in 2002. The situation is a little different for Stewart this year. In 1998, he lost his best wide receiver in Yancey Thigpen. The emergence of Plaxico Burress and Hines Ward has really helped Stewart. More than anything else, Kordell has matured. He may have not thought so back in 1998, but his struggles have made him a better player today.
  

• Jay Fiedler was presumed a temporary fill-in until the real starting quarterback arrived in Miami. I guess someone forgot to tell this to Fiedler. Somewhere along the way Jay Fiedler has become a pretty good quarterback. He threw for 3290 passing yards and 20 touchdowns in 2001. This is not too bad for a guy without any running attack. I expect to see more improvement from Fiedler for the upcoming season. He finally has gained that running back that defenses will have to respect in Ricky Williams. This is going to force teams to add an additional defensive man at the line of scrimmage to stop Williams. The development of Chris Chambers will also bring Fiedler's game up a notch. Fiedler should pass for over 3400 yards and 18-20 touchdowns in 2002.
  
  
• It is hard to rate any quarterback with less than four NFL starts this high. Michael Vick is one of the special exceptions. Vick may not even pass for 10 touchdowns or 2200 yards, but his running ability can make him valuable from a fantasy perspective. Atlanta is going to design plays just for this reason. His legs are too dangerous not to be used as a weapon. To gain insight of how dangerous he can be on the ground, let's look at his 2001 numbers. In eight games (only two starts), Vick ran the ball 29 times for an amazing 300 yards. If you just calculate that over a full sixteen games, he would have led all quarterbacks in rushing. This was not even a full eight games. He had spot duty in most of those games. The upside for Vick is too high to ignore.
  
  
• Trent Dilfer wins games. Everyone knows that by now. Nineteen straight wins! That is just amazing. Dilfer was not necessarily the reason he won a lot of those games in Baltimore. When he played for Baltimore, their defense carried them. This was not the case last year. Dilfer has developed into a good NFL quarterback. In the four starts that he had last year, he averaged 211 passing yards and 1.5 touchdowns. Dilfer is a great leader that has learned a lot through his first nine years. He now knows when and where to deliver the ball. He has learned he does not have to force the ball in because you can always throw it away. Young quarterbacks tend to think they have to make a play every time they drop back to pass. He has learned that there is always another play. Sometimes it takes a lot of mistakes before a quarterback figures it out. Make no mistake, Dilfer has figured it all out.
  
  
• Kerry Collins can be called Mr. Reliable. He can be had after round eight. He will generally put up 3600 passing yards and 18-22 touchdowns. If you are looking to draft your starting quarterback after your other positions, Kerry Collins is the man for you. This season will have an added bonus. Collins is in a contract year. Money is generally the best motivator of all. Collins has really been impressive in the way he turned his life around with the Giants. He was a player with his last chance and he did not waste it. He has averaged 3689 passing yards and 20.5 touchdowns in his two seasons with the Giants. His previous career high was only 2716 passing yards and 14 touchdowns. A very impressive turnaround indeed.
  

• Mark Brunell is like the energizer bunny. He keeps going and going. He has averaged 3375 passing yards and 18 touchdowns in the past six seasons. If you factor into that, Brunell missed seven games in that time period those averages are higher on a per-game average. I have always liked Mark Brunell as a quarterback. He has good mobility, nice arm strength and has great leadership skills. However, He will miss the presence of Keenan McCardell in 2002. Jacksonville has signed Pat Johnson and Bobby Shaw to replace him. He will need a healthy Fred Taylor in backfield to help offset the loss of McCardell. Brunell should still be able to put up 3300 passing yards and 17 touchdowns.
  
  
• A lot was expected from Tim Couch. He was the first player drafted in the new Cleveland Browns era. The problem with a quarterback being drafted by an expansion team is there is not a lot of help right away. He does have a quality number one wide receiver in Kevin Johnson but there is little else. Their leader rusher had only 554 rushing yards. Their next best wide receiver did not even do that well with only 432 receiving yards. However, there is still room for optimism. They drafted the best running back in the April draft in Willie Green. Couch does have several young wide receivers that should improve in Quincy Morgan and JaJuan Dawson. If Couch owners are lucky, he will get 3200 passing yards and 18 touchdowns.
  
  
• I guess winning a Super bowl is not a ticket for automatic fantasy success. Tom Brady had a dream season. He was on the cover of every sport's magazine cover in February. Unfortunately, it is time for him to wake up. Tom Brady did exactly what was asked of him. He was told not to lose games. Let Antowain Smith and the defense win the games for you. He did a nice job of it. It got them a Super Bowl ring. However, winning NFL games does not always translate to fantasy championships. Brady only passed for 1524 yards and 8 touchdowns in the last eight games of 2001. I do not see this changing a lot. From the Coach's standpoint, why fix something that is not broken. After all, they won a Super Bowl that way.
  

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