The big news yesterday was the trade of Carson Palmer to Oakland. Oakland lost Jason Campbell on Sunday and they obviously feel that they can make the playoffs (and maybe make some noise while there). It has not been revealed whether Palmer will start this week or Kyle Boller and than Palmer starting in Week 9 following their bye week. Carson does step into a very good situation, with a strong running game, young receivers and a head coach he has worked with before in Cincinnati. If you're in need of a quarterback, you can do much worse than Palmer.
Another change is in Minnesota, where the Christian Ponder era seems to be starting. Donovan McNabb has played pretty poorly and it seemed like only a matter of time before their first round pick would find the field. Against Chicago, Ponder came in when the game was already out of hand. He played okay and showed some ability. He will be facing Green Bay on Sunday and that will be a tough first game for the rookie. I can imagine the Vikings continuing to go run heavy with AP and letting Ponder grow slowly into the position.
Seattle has not declared who will be starting at quarterback for them this week. Charlie Whitehurst is preparing to play but Tarvaris Jackson has been recovering quickly from his pectoral strain. Jackson did not practice during Seattle's bye week, that is not a good sign. The matchup with Cleveland is not a bad one and Whitehurst played pretty good against New York.
Full quarterback rankings can be found after the jump.
Quarterbacks to start: Joe Flacco (Baltimore) - Flacco plays Jacksonville on Monday night. I think he will throw at least a couple of touchdowns in this one.
Colt McCoy (Cleveland) - Seattle has been giving up 268 passing yards a game. With the way the Cleveland backfield has been in flux, McCoy will be leaned on to move the chains. I think he will use Greg Little more also.
Jay Cutler (Chicago) - Another defense that has been giving up passing yards and touchdowns is Tampa. Cutler and Mike Martz will take advantage of that.
Quarterbacks to avoid: Rex Grossman (Washington) - He seems to be back to his old ways, after a four interception game last week. If he gets the start, he's still someone you want to stay away from.
Blaine Gabbert (Jacksonville) - He is facing a gauntlet of strong defenses. This week he faces Baltimore and it will not be pretty.
Player | Team | Opp. |
1. Aaron Rodgers | GB | MIN |
2. Drew Brees | NO | IND |
3. Tony Romo | DAL | STL |
4. Matthew Stafford | DET | ATL |
5. Cam Newton | CAR | WAS |
6. Ben Roethlisberger | PIT | ARZ |
7. Matt Schaub | HOU | TEN |
8. Matt Cassel | KC | OAK |
9. Tim Tebow | DEN | MIA |
10. Josh Freeman | TB | CHI |
11. Joe Flacco | BAL | JAX |
12. Philip Rivers | SD | NYJ |
13. Jay Cutler | CHI | TB |
14. Matt Ryan | ATL | DET |
15. Matt Hasselbeck | TEN | HOU |
16. Colt McCoy | CLE | SEA |
17. Curtis Painter | IND | NO |
18. Sam Bradford | STL | DAL |
19. Matt Moore | MIA | DEN |
20. Carson Palmer | OAK | KC |
21. John Beck | WAS | CAR |
22. Kevin Kolb | ARZ | PIT |
23. Mark Sanchez | NYJ | SD |
24. Kyle Boller | OAK | KC |
25. Christian Ponder | MIN | GB |
26. Charlie Whitehurst | SEA | CLE |
27. Blaine Gabbert | JAX | BAL |
28. Donovan McNabb | MIN | GB |
29. Tarvaris Jackson | SEA | CLE |
30. Rex Grossman | WAS | CAR |