Fantasy Football 2011: Week 3 Quarterback Rankings

This week gives us our first quarterback change of the season and an injury concern with a star quarterback. Jacksonville is planning to start Blaine Gabbert at quarterback on Sunday. This is not much of a surprise as Luke McCown performed terribly against the Jets and was only temporarily holding the spot anyways. The Jaguars do not have much for Gabbert to work with in the passing game. The team will probably still be very run heavy with MJD and Deji Karim. Gabbert does have Mike Thomas and Marcedes Lewis but I would not expect him to start out like Cam Newton and set the league on fire. Only grab him if you are in a keeper or dynasty league.

The other situation is Michael Vick. He was performing well in his game against the Falcons but they were getting to him and hitting him. Vick was staying in the pocket quite a bit and was not allowed to break out with any long runs. The concussion came when he was being tackled and his head connected with one of his teammates. Third string Mike Kafka came into a tough situation and played quite good. It looks right now that Vick will be able to play but if he is unable than Kafka will start with Vince Young also still injured.

Full rankings follow the jump.

Quarterbacks to start: Cam Newton (Carolina) - He has been playing lights out in his first two games. This week he gets Jacksonville and their rookie signal caller. Newton has turned the Carolina passing game right around.

Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) - He had a down week against Jacksonville in week 2 but I see a big game in week 3 against Oakland. The New York running game has not taken off and Sanchez will be asked to throw the ball more this week.

Josh Freeman (Tampa Bay) - Freeman played quite well despite his main target in Mike Williams, getting shut down. They return home to face the Falcons and this one will be a battle. If Atlanta gets on top, the running game may disappear and Freeman will be asked to carry them.

Quarterbacks to avoid: Luke McCown (Jacksonville) - He will most likely be returning to the bench. His performance last Sunday was abysmal, as he tossed 4 interceptions and only 59 yards.

Donovan McNabb (Minnesota) - This game may get ugly. Detroit has an awesome front seven and Minnesota has a terrible O-line. Minnesota may try to keep it close by using AP and the running game, that's if they can run the ball.