By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

With a week in the books for preseason football, it’s time to get a snapshot of quarterback rankings. Stay fresh with notjustagame.com weekly to see if any quarterbacks rise to the level of waiver wire consideration, or if a player is slipping and may need to be traded.

1. Drew Brees- Brees will keep this offense rolling at its typical fast pace with his usual top of the chart numbers.

2. Tom Brady- With Josh McDaniels back in the fold the Patriots offense may be even better. No quarterback has the tight end advantage such as Brady. At age 35 though is a year coming soon, where Brady starts to decline for stretches of games?

3. Aaron Rodgers- Losing in the fashion of the NFC divisional round was a shocker to the NFL world. Rodgers does not have the strong backfield to relent the pressure off his arm, but that’s not a worry of his and only a bright side for fantasy owners.

4. Cam Newton- His all world numbers a year ago may be too high to bank on a repeat season. His numbers may come down but they’ll be strong enough to solidify a top ten fantasy ranking all season.

5. Tony Romo- He is the name that gets pinned for bulletin board and media criticism. Yet he fights through the negativity with strong seasons. This may finally be the year that Romo impresses not just with stats but wins on the field.

6. Matt Stafford- Stafford is another top tier quarterback that does not have the running back situation you would hope for. Unlike Rodgers though, Stafford has an injury history that downgrades him a few spots.

7. Peyton Manning- The physical decline in Manning is being overanalyzed. What’s not being discussed enough is Manning’s mental strong hold at the line of scrimmage. He commands his team in the huddle and even if he has to throw short passes like Chad Pennington, he will get it done.

8. Matt Ryan- Atlanta had some ugly losses last year that carried over into a wild card dismantling loss to the Giants. Ryan needs to shake off his rust on the road and he could catapult into a top five fantasy quarterback easily this season.

9. Mike Vick- The story of the Eagles just seems to be lingering on one season too many. The team that tanked last season and underperformed is mainly intact for 2012. Vick can still make the break a defenders ankles moves, but the Eagles just seem like they need a complete makeover. Vick’s fragility to complete a full season is a high issue for fantasy owners and does affect Vick’s draft ranking.

10. Robert Griffin III- The arm, legs, and smarts of Griffin is what Mike Shanahan has wanted to have at his disposal for years. There was a time that Shanahan ran smooth offenses and made even Brian Griese and Jake Plummer fantasy relevant. Griffin will have his fair share of games where he performs like a top fifteen to eighteen quarterbacks, and others where he falls in the top five. Tenth is a perfect spot for Griffin.

11. Philip Rivers

12. Ryan Fitzpatrick

13. Eli Manning

14. Joe Flacco

15. Ben Roethlisberger

16. Matt Schaub

17. Andy Dalton

18. Jay Cutler

19. Josh Freeman

20. Christian Ponder

21. Andrew Luck

22. Carson Palmer

23. Matt Cassel

24. Mark Sanchez

25. Alex Smith

26. Sam Bradford

27. Matt Flynn

28. Blaine Gabbert

29. Kevin Kolb

30. Matt Moore

31. Matt Hasselbeck

32. Brandon Weeden

33. Jake Locker

34. Tim Tebow

35. John Skelton