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With preseason action nearing an end, the 2016 NFL season is finally within reach. As you could have guessed, plenty of injuries and important news have emerged since the month of August began, and fantasy football owners must adjust their rankings accordingly. Now more than ever before, there are numerous serviceable signal-callers at our weekly disposal during the fantasy season. Due to the fact that so many quarterbacks can provide QB1 numbers in a favorable matchup, it is highly recommended that you don't reach on your starting QB this season. While I'm not saying you can't pick up an elite option like Cam or A-Rod, I'm simply urging any wise fantasy owner to wait for the right price. You'll be rewarded by stockpiling upside Flex players while your uneducated league-mates prematurely select their quarterbacks.
Keeping in mind that fantasy football rankings will drastically change over the course of the NFL season, here are my top 32 quarterbacks heading into the 2016 campaign with some analysis & nuggets about every player:
| Ranking | Player | Bye | Comments |
| 1 | Cam Newton (CAR) | 7 | Reigning MVP has all the same offensive pieces in place, plus Kelvin returning. |
| 2 | Aaron Rodgers (GB | 4 | Lightweight Lacy + healthy Jordy should restore chemistry on A-Rod's Packers. |
| 3 | Russell Wilson (SEA) | 5 | Dynamic runner set career-highs as a passer in 2015. Same tier as Cam/A-Rod. |
| 4 | Drew Brees (NO) | 5 | Averaging 5127 passing yards & 38 TDs in past five years = elite consistency. |
| 5 | Ben Roethlisberger (PIT) | 8 | NFL's 2015 leader in per-game passing yardage. Solid QB1 w/ dynamic weapons. |
| 6 | Andrew Luck (IND) | 10 | O-Line is very concerning, but should be a mid-range QB1 if he stays healthy. |
| 7 | Tom Brady (NE) | 9 | TB12 is an Easy QB1 from Week 5 on. Angry Brady is the best Brady for fantasy. |
| 8 | Eli Manning (NYG) | 8 | Loaded w/ legit weapons. Headed into his third season in Ben McAdoo's offense. |
| 9 | Blake Bortles (JAC) | 5 | Less garbage-time TDs in '16, but still a low-end QB1 flush w/ receiving weapons. |
| 10 | Tyrod Taylor (BUF) | 10 | Dynamic runner & passer recently inked big contract. Weekly QB1 stats in '15. |
| 11 | Carson Palmer (ARI) | 9 | Surrounded by vertical playmakers, but age (36) + recent turnovers are concerning. |
| 12 | Kirk Cousins (WAS) | 9 | Top-8 QB repeat seems unlikely, but plenty of quality pass-catchers in 2016. |
| 13 | Philip Rivers (SD) | 11 | High-volume passer should have enough weapons to be a borderline QB1. |
| 14 | Derek Carr (OAK) | 10 | Big arm w/ pair of dependable wideouts. OAK offense will continue to grow in '16. |
| 15 | Jameis Winston (TB) | 6 | Jameis has noticeably matured on & off the field. Massive targets at WR & TE. |
| 16 | Marcus Mariota (TEN) | 13 | Looked sharp in preseason action. QB1 upside if Titans design more run plays. |
| 17 | Andy Dalton (CIN) | 9 | Solid QB1 in '15 until injury. Lost Sanu & Marvin. Eifert also out multiple weeks. |
| 18 | Ryan Tannehill (MIA) | 8 | Still unproven but Gase's offense will help. Landry + Parker form solid WR duo. |
| 19 | Matthew Stafford (DET) | 11 | Loss of Megatron might be overestimated. Should be a fine streaming option in '16. |
| 20 | Matt Ryan (ATL) | 11 | Disappointing 2015, but should improve TD:INT ratio in second year w/ Shanahan. |
| 21 | Robert Griffin III (CLE) | 13 | If RG3 regains his early-career confidence, he could end up being a borderline QB1. |
| 22 | Dak Prescott (DAL) | 7 | Dak starting earlier than most expected, but the rookie is flush w/ talent on offense. |
| 23 | Brock Osweiler (HOU) | 9 | Has looked solid in preseason with a slate of versatile playmakers. Mid-range QB2. |
| 24 | Joe Flacco (BAL) | 8 | Could have sneaky good passing numbers while dealing w/ a subpar running game. |
| 25 | Ryan Fitzpatrick (NYJ) | 11 | Not likely to match last year's efficiency, but could be a useful bye-week option. |
| 26 | Sam Bradford (PHI) | 4 | 2015 was yet another underwhelming year of Bradford. QB2 w/ mediocre weapons. |
| 27 | Alex Smith (KC) | 5 | Safe plug-and-play QB2 option comes w/ very limited aerial upside in run-heavy O. |
| 28 | Jay Cutler (CHI) | 9 | W/o Gase, will he return to mediocrity? Talented wideouts at his disposal, though. |
| 29 | Teddy Bridgewater (MIN) | 6 | Vertically-challenged QB but has decent weapons. Not draftable in 1-QB leagues. |
| 30 | Trevor Siemian (DEN) | 11 | Defending champs will be trotting out a QB with 0 starts in his career. Short leash. |
| 31 | Blaine Gabbert (SF) | 8 | Poor starting QB with poor receiving weapons and a poor defense behind him. |
| 32 | Case Keenum (LA) | 8 | Rams planning on finishing 8-8 or worse once again behind a bonafide backup QB. |
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Drop any comments or questions below. Be sure to check out my in-depth divisional outlooks for the upcoming fantasy football season, where I discuss every relevant player from every NFL team, as well as my Bargains & Overvalued Players for 2016.
- 2016 Fantasy Football Divisional Outlooks: Home Page
- 5 Fantasy Football Bargains for 2016
- 5 Overvalued Fantasy Football Players for 2016
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