Welcome to the LWOS Fantasy Departments Official Fantasy Football Rankings. We will release our rankings and player profiles over the next few weeks to get you prepared for your 2014 fantasy football draft. Everyday we will be releasing either a group of player profiles with their rankings or articles that will provide you with outstanding fantasy advice. Take a second to bookmark the site so you can check back daily. Follow our departments twitter account @lwosfantasy for info, updates, and advice. We are going to work hard for you, to make sure you get to have the Last Word on Your Fantasy League. Click here for all our fantasy articles and rankings.
#35 Matt Cassel
Year | Age | Team | G | Comp | Att | Comp% | Yards | TD | INT | R-Att | R-Yards | Avg | TD | Fumb | Fumb-L |
2011 | 29 | KC | 9 | 160 | 269 | 59.50% | 1713 | 10 | 9 | 25 | 99 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
2012 | 30 | KC | 9 | 161 | 277 | 58.10% | 1796 | 6 | 12 | 27 | 145 | 5.4 | 1 | 9 | 7 |
2013 | 31 | Min | 9 | 153 | 254 | 60.20% | 1807 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 57 | 3.2 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Matt Cassel returned to Minnesota after opting out of his second year option with the team to land the starting gig. After a menacing QB carousel, and an offensive coordinator with the creativity of an eggplant, Cassel should be liberated by the offensive guru known as Norv Turner. Cassel’s only obstacle to start is rookie Teddy Bridgewater who has exceeded expectations so far in the offseason. The Vikings have been noncommittal to the sit-a-year-and-wait mentality that other teams have with rookie QBs.
Casey Bowman – @LWOSCaseyBow
#34 Chad Henne
Year | Age | Team | G | Comp | Att | Comp% | Yards | TD | INT | R-Att | R-Yards | Avg | TD | Fumb | Fumb-L |
2011 | 25 | Mia | 4 | 64 | 112 | 57.1% | 868 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 112 | 7.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
2012 | 26 | Jac | 10 | 166 | 308 | 53.9% | 2084 | 11 | 11 | 19 | 64 | 3.4 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
2013 | 27 | Jax | 15 | 305 | 503 | 60.6% | 3241 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 77 | 2.9 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Chad Henne was a guy that had all the potential in the world coming out of High School. At least it seemed that way win he scorched the Rockets, my alma mater, his senior year. He had a good not great college career. He still had the skills to be drafted in the second round. Henne has hung around the NFL now for 6 years. Amazingly, He had his most productive year last year. With that said he still threw more INTs (14) than TDs (13). There is little upside here. If, I mean a big IF, he can somehow be effective, have the Jags winning, or have Bortles Nancy Kerriganed, he will be out of the starting job by week 6. If you need to rely on him as your QB, you are either in a way to deep league or something went terrible wrong in your draft.
Chuck Amspacher – @Captain_LWOS
#33 Blake Bortles – R
Selected 3rd overall in the 2014 draft by Jacksonville, Blake Bortles has gotten some interest prior to the start of the season. The Central Florida Quarterback has shown tremendous pocket passing skills and set numerous records at UCF. Bortles had a 67.8% completion percentage in 2013 with 3,581 yards passing. He has potential to be a great QB in terms of his size and college stats due give you some clues. However, UCF is in the CUSA so you don’t know exactly how good his fantastic stats were last season. If the Jags announce Bortles as the starter, except him to be a late draft pick or claimed off waivers during the season, because of his potential. Bortles will battle against Chad Henne, who hasn’t done much for Jacksonville, to see who gets the starting nod. It could take over/under 5 weeks for him to be the starter if he doesn’t wow the coaches in training camp.
Connor Ferguson – @cfchangs9
#32 Geno Smith
Year | Age | Team | G | Comp | Att | Comp% | Yards | TD | INT | R-Att | RYards | Avg | TD | Fumb | Fumb-L |
2013 | 22 | NYJ | 16 | 247 | 443 | 55.80% | 3046 | 12 | 21 | 72 | 366 | 5.1 | 6 | 8 | 4 |
Smith finished last season as a top 20 fantasy QB. He had 11.2 points per game, which ranked ahead of Eli Manning for the season. He had a highly erratic season, though, delivering 7 or fewer points in seven games, including two games with negative scores. Geno did improve dramatically late in the season averaging 19 ppg over the last four games of the 2013 season. His greatest strength is his resiliency and self-belief. Most rookies would’ve folded up the tent after the first 13 weeks of 2013. He will struggle to hold on to the starting job with the MV7 experience available for the J-E-T-S.
Donald King – @dbking65
#31 Michael Vick
Year | Age | Team | G | Comp | Att | Comp% | Yards | TD | INT | RAtt | RYards | Avg | TD | Fumb | Fumb-L |
2011 | 31 | Phi | 13 | 253 | 423 | 59.8% | 3303 | 18 | 14 | 76 | 589 | 7.8 | 1 | 10 | 4 |
2012 | 32 | Phi | 10 | 204 | 351 | 58.1% | 2362 | 12 | 10 | 62 | 332 | 5.4 | 1 | 11 | 5 |
2013 | 33 | Phi | 7 | 77 | 141 | 54.6% | 1215 | 5 | 3 | 36 | 306 | 8.5 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
MV7 was only the 34th ranked QB in ESPN fantasy last season, at a paltry 6.1 points per game. That said, he delivered a surprising 19.6 ppg average during the 5 games he started early in the season, prior to being injured and being Wally Pipp’d by Nick Foles. That 19.6 figure would’ve been good enough for #3 overall. Greatest strength: still electric, and able to deliver huge stats through the air and on the ground. Biggest weakness: more breakable than the Samuel L Jackson character in that M. Night Shyamalan movie.
Donald King – @dbking65
#30 Teddy Bridgewater – R
Highly regarded as the most NFL ready QB to come out of the 2014 NFL Draft, Teddy Bridgewater has wound up in a prime spot to push for a week 1 start. If Bridgewater gets the nod he inherits an offense shrouded with weapons, namely the second year WR Cordarrelle Patterson, and an offensive mastermind in Norv Turner. Obviously contingent on winning the starting job, Bridgewater should be catapulted into fantasy relevancy in 2 QB leagues.
Casey Bowman – @LWOSCaseyBow
#29 Ryan Fitzpatrick
Year | Age | Team | G | Comp | Att | Comp% | Yards | TD | INT | R-Att | R-Yards | Avg | TD | Fumb | Fumb-L |
2011 | 28 | Buf | 16 | 353 | 569 | 62.0% | 3832 | 24 | 23 | 56 | 215 | 3.8 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
2012 | 29 | Buf | 16 | 306 | 505 | 60.6% | 3400 | 24 | 16 | 48 | 197 | 4.1 | 1 | 8 | 6 |
2013 | 30 | Ten | 11 | 217 | 350 | 62.0% | 2454 | 14 | 12 | 43 | 225 | 5.2 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
Ryan Fitzpatrick has the potential to be a sleeper at QB2. He has already been named the starter for the Houston Texans. Houston has some good weapons in; all-pro running back Arian Foster, sophomore receiver Deandre Hopkins, and experienced receiver Andre Johnson. However his value would be greatly diminished if Andre Johnson gets the trade he has demanded or if he holds out. How far he can go does depend on if he can keep the number of turnovers to a minimum and how much the team leans on running back Arian Foster. If Bill O’Brian’s comments about involving Foster more in the passing game are to be believed, it could lead to a similar position as Jamaal Charles in Kansas City where the running back can add 5-600 yards and a handful of touchdowns through the passing game increasing Fitzpatrick’s fantasy value.
Robert Mitchell – @LWOSRob
#28 Matt Schaub
Year | Age | Team | G | Comp | Att | Comp% | Yards | TD | INT | R-Att | R-Yards | Avg | TD | Fumb | Fumb-L |
2011 | 30 | Hou | 10 | 178 | 292 | 61.0% | 2479 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 9 | 0.6 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
2012 | 31 | Hou | 16 | 350 | 544 | 64.3% | 4008 | 22 | 12 | 21 | -9 | -0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
2013 | 32 | Hou | 10 | 219 | 358 | 61.2% | 2310 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 24 | 4.8 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Oakland traded a sixth-round pick in the 2014 NFL draft to the Houston Texans in exchange for quarterback Matt Schaub. He is a two-time Pro Bowler who helped bring the Houston Texans out of the dumps to playoff legitimacy. Many felt he could lead them to a championship in 2013. But, he crashed and burned with just 10 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in ten games. However; let’s not let one bad season define Schaub. Prior to last season, Schaub lead the Texans to consecutive AFC South titles. Schaub completed 64.9 percent of his passes, averaged 3,734 passing yards per season with 105 touchdowns over the 5 prior seasons. He has upside in 2014 with a fresh start in Oakland. Oakland also brought in Maurice Jones-Drew to go along with seasoned running back Darren McFadden. This RB tandem hopefully will sustain the running game giving Schaub a chance to manage the game plan. Schaub has the veteran experience with prior success in the NFL. Schaub must put the nightmare season he had last year behind him and focus getting a fresh start. Denarius Moore, Rob Streater and newly acquired wide out James Jones should give Schaub options to throw too. These three receivers must play a key role if Schaub wants to get back to his winning ways.
Matt Abrams –@Matty_ICE07
#27 Josh McCown
Year | Age | Team | G | Comp | Att | Comp% | Yards | TD | INT | R-Att | R-Yards | Avg | TD | Fumb | Fumb-L |
2011 | 31 | Chi | 3 | 35 | 55 | 63.6% | 414 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 68 | 5.7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
2013 | 33 | Chi | 8 | 149 | 224 | 66.5% | 1829 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 69 | 5.3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
When Josh McCown signed a two-year deal worth ten million dollars with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past offseason, the Bucs didn’t hesitate for one second to name him their starting quarterback ahead of Mike Glennon. McCown made five starts for the Bears in Cutler’s absence due to injury, going 3-2 in those contests. In total, he finished the season with 1,829 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, just one interception, a 66.5 completion percentage and a 109.0 passer rating. However, Josh is now thirty-five years old and is not getting any younger. He has only made thirty-eight starts during his ten years in the league and has been on five different teams, including the Bucs. With this in mind, many people may believe that Josh was a product of Marc Trestman’s offensive system which included two wide-receivers, Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, that are both 6’3 or taller. Marshall and Jeffery were able to go up and get balls. Tampa Bay has similar receivers in Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans, as well as tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins. All of whom are 6’5″. McCown experience makes up for a lack of experience with a high football IQ, making accurate passes, having a strong arm, and making the best of the chances when he does play. Josh McCown has an opportunity to help you this upcoming season as he will have big body wide receivers, a great defense, and an offensive line to protect him.
Matt Abrams –@Matty_ICE07
#26 Jake Locker
Year | Age | Team | G | Comp | Att | Comp% | Yards | TD | INT | R-Att | R-Yards | Avg | TD | Fumb | Fumb-L |
2011 | 23 | Ten | 5 | 34 | 66 | 51.5% | 542 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 56 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
2012 | 24 | Ten | 11 | 177 | 314 | 56.4% | 2176 | 10 | 11 | 41 | 291 | 7.1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
2013 | 25 | Ten | 7 | 111 | 183 | 60.7% | 1256 | 8 | 4 | 24 | 155 | 6.5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
There is one thing that is great about Locker, he has one of the 32 starting QB positions in the NFL with no one pushing him for playing time. He was showing some improvement last year with increased completion %, 8 TDs, and 4INTs in 7 games. Well that leads to the biggest problem for us fantasy owners and the Titans; he cannot seem to stay on the field. This is a make it or break it year for Locker. If he can get healthy and stay healthy, while maintaining the improvement we saw last year he could keep one of those 32 jobs. If not, the Titans will be QB shopping next year.
Chuck Amspacher – @Captain_LWOS
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