There are all kinds of strategies to assembling a fantasy football team, but an approach I seem to find myself sticking to across all fantasy sports is ensuring to balance my high risk picks with what I consider safe and reliable options.
For the purpose of this 2013 Fantasy Football All-Reliable Team, players who are projected in the top third of required starters at their positions based on FantasyPros consensus rankings and standard league roster formats aren’t included.
For example, Drew Brees is as reliable as they come, but is currently the 2nd ranked QB, so he isn’t eligible.
2013 Fantasy Football All-Reliable Team: QB | RB | WR | TE
2013 Fantasy Football All-Risk Team: QB | RB | WR | TE
2013 Fantasy Football All-Reliable Team: Quarterbacks
Eli Manning, New York Giants
To begin with, Manning has played all 16 games for the past 8 seasons and the last 4 have gone for at least 25 TDs and 4000 passing yards. His 2011 season is as good as it gets, in all likelihood, but he is also better than 2012, so expect him to come into 2013 with something to prove.
The Giants have the weapons surrounding Eli and he’ll likely be a bit undervalued this draft season, which makes him an excellent pick who could easily push to becoming a starting fantasy QB.
Tony Romo, Dallas
You know what you’re going to get with Romo and the disparity from week-to-week can be a tough pill to swallow. However, the chemistry that he developed with Dez Bryant down the stretch last season is intriguing and he is a lock to flirt with 30 TDs and 4800 passing yards.
Romo is a low-end fantasy starting QB to begin with, so paired with a streamer for his inevitable off games and tough matchups and you’ve got solid production from your QB roster slot.
Early Thoughts on Fantasy Quarterbacks
It might have something to do with not being able to play defense anymore, but the position seems deeper than ever. The emergence of last season’s rookie class and the addition of Colin Kaepernick to the QB rankings has filled out the position and the top 15 could be divided into a mere 3 tiers.
With Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan, Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning all sitting in the 5-10 range, I’ll be picking my poison and targeting one after I’ve beefed up in the skill positions.
If there is a wide receiver or running back still on the board that is too good to pass up, I’ll gladly wait it out and decide between the above mentioned, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson or Ben Roethlisberger. Furthermore, Michael Vick, Phillip Rivers and Josh Freeman are proven fantasy contributors, albeit a little more risky and less consistent, but all 3 are ranked outside the top 15.
Want to really get gutsy what about Jay Cutler and Carson Palmer, or how do you feel about former first overall selections Alex Smith and Sam Bradford? Sorry, I got a little carried away there, but QB looks deep heading into 2013.
I’m a Loyal Leafs, Cubs, and Cowboys fan for decades. I wear the C for The Fake Hockey, in addition to contributing to The Fake Baseball and The Fake Football in more of a Timmy Try Hard role. You can also find my weekly fantasy baseball preview here at davidgonos.com and can reach me on Twitter @naparker77.
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