By Zack Cimini

 notjustagame23@gmail.com

As your numerous fantasy drafts of the summer come to a close, your probably strategizing even more for this last one. There hasn’t been too many affects injury wise, as in years past. There are some glaring holes at certain positions though, making it critical that you do not wait too long to draft a certain player.

One area that will have a down year comes at the quarterback position. The last few years owners may have become accustomed to the high yardage and multiple touchdown throws from a high amount of quarterbacks. You could plug in your second tier quarterbacks and get decent results. This year though should be different and shift back to years past.

There are too many quarterback changes around the league . Rookies in Cam Newton and Andy Dalton. Second year starters in Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy. Veterans that have struggled throughout their career but remain starters; Alex Smith, David Garrard, Tavaris Jackson, and Chad Henne. On top of those guys you have the erratic quarterbacks such as Ryan Fitzpatrick, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, etc. that will drive fantasy owners crazy.

So unlike in prior years where we could and would wait to draft a quarterback late, this isn’t the year to do so. You do not want to have to rely on Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, or Jay Cutler as your starter. They’ve proven both sides of the spectrum from a fantasy standpoint. You have to secure yourself one of the top eight to ten quarterbacks, there are no buts about draft strategy to argue this.

Stock piling at running back like the glory days should be heightened. Coaches around the league are going to force feed the ball to their running backs. With decreased experience and snaps due to the lockout, quarterback play is going to be behind regardless of experience. Running the football is a skill that doesn’t require extensive snaps. It’s a skill you either have or you don’t.

Gems on the waiver wire at running back will surely be had. Do not be stuck in a situation where you are loaded at running back and have faulted at quarterback. You’re going to need those consistent points of a solid quarterback to get those decisive wins. It’ll be the difference in a couple of extra wins, or the lame excuse of if I started this player, I would have easily won.

Get on board the proper way. Analyze the market like stocks. It’s a bad year for quarterbacks, and they’re going to have plenty of growing pains. The tier of guys that could excel beyond expectations are young guys that we haven’t seen take that full next step. The Matt Staffords, Josh Freemans, and Sam Bradford. Some of you out there are going to risk it enough to have a jumbled mess at quarterback.

Don’t be like the Seattle Seahawks, Miami Dolphins, Bengals, Panthers, 49ers, and Redskins. In abysmal situations at quarterback and undecided with their situations.