There’s no reason to fear, Week 7 fantasy football projections are here!

Last week, Drew Brees lit it up against the New York Giants, while Tom Brady finally returned to 2007 form. But Jason Campbell and Matt Hasselbeck looked more like JaMarcus Russell, in a week in which even JaMarcus Russell didn’t look like JaMarcus Russell.

But that’s last week, and here at TheSportsWatchers.com, we are about the present and the future. Here are our Week 7 fantasy football projections.

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints at Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins aren’t just bad at defending the pass—they’re horrible! Don’t let their 18th ranking against the pass fool you. They only rank that high because they control the clock that long. The truth is that the Miami Dolphins give up more yards per pass attempt than any other team in the league. They also give up an 89.5 quarterback rating to opposing quarterbacks. Now the Dolphins defense has to deal with Drew Brees here in Week 7, and it’s not going to be pretty. If Drew Brees can put up multiple touchdowns against the New York Giants, he’s going to have a field day against the lackluster pass defense of the Miami Dolphins.

Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts at St. Louis Rams
It’s Week 7 and I still don’t see a problem with selecting so many players to go out and perform well on the road. But here we have the ultimate professional, Peyton Manning, who is about as even-keeled of a quarterback as they come. Manning is going to own this St. Louis Rams secondary this Sunday. The Rams don’t have anyone of note in their defensive backfield, and I doubt they can control the clock long enough to give Peyton Manning a break from throwing all day. If Peyton throws for anything less than 300 passing yards and 3 touchdowns in Week 7, I would be incredibly surprised.

Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys vs. Atlanta Falcons
I’m not a big fan of Tony Romo’s, but I do respect his explosive playmaking ability. On his best days, Romo can perform with the best of them, and fortunately for him, the Falcons are the worst of them—or at least close to it. Romo has made a living padding his stats against teams with losing records and/or poor defenses. While the Falcons are a solid all-around team, their defense is not exactly impenetrable. The Falcons are 21st against the pass and allowed 241 passing yards per game. In Week 7 of the fantasy football season, those numbers are probably going to get a whole lot worse for the Falcons, because I have a pretty good feeling that Romo and the Cowboys passing attack matches up well with the defense of the Atlanta Falcons.

Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs
Philip Rivers should have a great Week 7 of fantasy football. There is no way that the Chiefs have the personnel to stop this Chargers offense. Rivers is too good and too experienced to allow this Chargers team to fall off the playoff map by losing to a team that no team should lose to (ehemm, Redskins). With a lack of playmakers in the secondary, and very little in terms of a pass rush, this should be an easy game for Rivers, and his fantasy football projections are too to even mention.

This is just one of our many Week 7 fantasy football projections. For more fantasy football analysis and opinion, check out these posts:

Week 7 Fantasy Football Projections
1. Quarterback Projections
2. Running Back Projections
3. Wide Receiver Projections
4. Tight End Projections
5. Defensive Projections

Fantasy Football Week 7 Projections – Secondary Picks
1. Fantasy Football Quarterback Projections
2. Fantasy Football Running Back Projections
3. Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Projections
4. Fantasy Football Tight End Projections
5. Fantasy Football Defensive Projections

Fantasy Football Sleeper Picks, Week 7
1. Quarterback Sleeper Picks
2. Running Back Sleeper Picks
3. Wide Receiver Sleeper Picks

It’s Week 4, which means it is now time to measure where every player in the league stands in terms of their fantasy football rankings.

At the quarterback position, we have 2 familiar names that should come as no surprise. Yet for another week, the man so many had returning to 2007 form is not among the top 10 quarterbacks in fantasy football.

Week 4 Quarterback rankings:

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Cots – 63 Fantasy Points (ESPN Standard Scoring)
Peyton Manning looks like Peyton Manning again, which doesn’t come as a surprise to us. We have had him ranked ahead of other highly touted quarterbacks, such as Tom Brady, since the preseason. Thus, we’re not shocked to see Manning at #1 this week, while Brady hasn’t even cracked the top 10.

2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints – 62 Fantasy Points
Brees finally slowed down last week. He only had 4 fantasy points and he didn’t throw a touchdown pass against the Buffalo Bills. It may be tough sledding for him again as his Saints host that ferocious New York Jets defense.

3. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers – 58 Fantasy Points
The Aaron Rodgers bandwagon probably got a little bigger this week. Rodgers had his best game of the year last week, tossing for 269 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Now the Packers are set to play the Minnesota Vikings, a team with a very limited pass defense.

4. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans – 56 Fantasy Points
Since Week 1 of the season when Schaub scored just 4 fantasy football points, the Texans quarterback is averaging 26 fantasy points per game over the last 2 weeks. He already has 7 touchdown passes this season, and that total is sure to go up as the Texans face Oakland in Week 4.

5. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens – 53 Fantasy Points
Not even we would have ever imagined that Flacco would be a top 5 fantasy football quarterback entering Week 4 of the fantasy football season. But it was clear in the preseason that the Ravens were going to let this man throw the ball this year, and that has definitely been the case. I like Flacco going forward, and from the looks of it, he will remain among the top 10 quarterbacks in fantasy football for the remainder of the season.

6. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers – 50 Fantasy Points
Despite ranking #6 in fantasy football, many of us feel disappointed by Rivers performance to date. After leading the league in touchdown passes a year ago, Rivers has just 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions to boot. The Chargers have stalled in the red zone, with playcalling that has been egregious to say the least. And it’s probably not going to get any easier for Rivers who has to travel to Pittsburgh to play that fast defense.

7. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers – 59 Fantasy Points

8. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys – 47 Fantasy Points

9. Eli Manning, New York Giants – 45 Fantasy Points

10. Jay Cutler, Denver Broncos – 44 Fantasy Points

Week 4 Fantasy Football Rankings
1. Fantasy Football Week 4 Quarterback Rankings
2. Fantasy Football Week 4 Running Back Rankings
3. Fantasy Football Week 4 Wide Receiver Rankings
4. Fantasy Football Week 4 Tight End Rankings
5. Fantasy Football Week 4 Defensive Rankings

Week 4 Sleeper Picks
1. Quarterback Sleeper Pick: David Garrard
2. Quarterback Sleeper Pick: Jason Campbell
3. Running Back Sleeper Pick: Julius Jones
4. Running Back Sleeper Pick: Darren McFadden
5. Tight End Sleeper Picks
6. Defensive Sleeper Picks

Fantasy Football Week 4 Projections
1. Quarterbacks Week 4 Projections
2. Running Back Week 4 Projections
3. Wide Receiver Week 4 Projections
4. Tight End Week 4 Projections
5. Defensive Week 4 Projections

Fantasy Football Week 4 Projections – Secondary Picks
1. Fantasy Football Secondary Picks – Quarterbacks
2. Fantasy Football Secondary Picks – Running Backs
3. Fantasy Football Secondary Picks – Wide Receivers
4. Fantasy Football Secondary Picks – Tight Ends
5. Fantasy Football Secondary Picks – Defenses

Fantasy Football Week 4 brings us the first week of bye weeks in the NFL. That means that quarterbacks such as Matt Ryan, Kurt Warner and Donovan McNabb won’t be available to you this week, making our fantasy football projections that much more difficult. Nonetheless, we’ll give it our best shot with this week’s top quarterback picks.

This week brings us a lot of interesting matchups. And with fantasy football stalwarts like Drew Brees and Tom Brady up against “Rex Ryan-inspired” defenses, I’m not so sure either one of them is going to have the best of days passing the ball. So you won’t see either one of those usuals among my Week 3 projections.

Still, there are plenty of other matchups that will be exploited in Week 3, so without further adieu, here are our fantasy Week 3 projections at the quarterback position.

Matt Schaub, Houston Texans vs. Oakland Raiders
Since his rather disappointing outing in Week 1 of the fantasy football season, Matt Schaub has looked like the player we thought he would be in Weeks 2 and 3. Entering Week 4, Schaub looks like he could be headed for his 3rd straight week of passing dominance. He is going up against an Oakland Raider defense that while decent, has been known to give up the big play and could be the victim of the Houston Texans deep-ball attack. Schaub has done a particularly good job of spreading the ball around and finding the wide open receiver. So while Oakland’s premiere cornerback, Nnamdi Asomgha will be patrolling the secondary, Schaub’s vision and patience in the pocket will allow him to take advantage of the many other holes in the Oakland Raiders defense. Thus, the fantasy football outlook for Schaub in Week 4 is pretty positive, and I like him to go for at least 300 yards and 2 touchdown passes against the Raiders.

Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions
Cutler may have his bad days, but in Week 4, everyone has fun against the Detroit Lions. Even in a loss last week, the Redskins Jason Campbell had what was his best passing day of the season (340 passing yards). Surely, Cutler can come through with a big outing against a Detroit Lions defense that has been gutted in 2 of their first 3 games this season. Cutler should exploit Detroit’s defense in the middle of the field, as the Lions have very little in terms of secondary talent, and their defense tends to give their cornerbacks a lot of help along the sidelines. But we all saw how Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints made Detroit pay for that deep sideline coverage, and Cutler definitely has the passing ability to do the same. So as long as this game stays relatively close, Cutler should complete a lot of moderate passes over the middle of the field in what should be an explosive offensive day for the Chicago Bears in Week 4.

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings
Rodgers may not be Brett Favre yet. He might not ever be Brett Favre. But in Week 4, when he travels to the Metrodome, he’ll have a better day passing the ball than the aging veteran will. With great wide receivers like Greg Jennings and Donald Driver coming up big last week, Rodgers and the Packers offense has all of the momentum in the world. Rodgers is connecting with his receivers on a level that few quarterbacks in the NFL are right now. And the Vikings defense isn’t exactly the best team in the league against the pass. Just last week, the Vikes gave up a 94.6 quarterback rating to Shaun Hill of the San Francisco 49ers, and Shaun Hill is no Aaron Rodgers. Expect Rodgers to light that Vikings secondary up with a slew of passing yards a couple of touchdown tosses.

Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts vs. Seattle Seahawks
The Colts passing game and Peyton Manning are looking great so far this season, and I don’t see why that’s going to change when the Seahawks come to Indianapolis in Week 4 of the fantasy football season. Last week, the Seahawks secondary gave up 247 yards and a passer rating of 126.4 to Jay Cutler. While Cutler is good and is also one of my top fantasy football picks for this week, he is no Peyton Manning. Manning should have no problem taking advantage of a Seattle secondary that lacks elite coverage skills at the safety position. The Colts playaction fake will no doubt lead to openings down the field for Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and whomever else Manning decides to throw the ball to. Manning will have a huge Week 4 fantasy football performance against the Seahawks; maybe even his best performance of the season when it’s all said and done.

For more fantasy football Week 4 projections and predictions, check out some of these post at TheSportsWatchers.com:

Fantasy Football Week 4 Projections
1. Quarterbacks Week 4 Projections
2. Running Back Week 4 Projections
3. Wide Receiver Week 4 Projections
4. Tight End Week 4 Projections
5. Defensive Week 4 Projections

Fantasy Football Week 4 Projections – Secondary Picks
1. Fantasy Football Secondary Picks – Quarterbacks
2. Fantasy Football Secondary Picks – Running Backs
3. Fantasy Football Secondary Picks – Wide Receivers
4. Fantasy Football Secondary Picks – Tight Ends
5. Fantasy Football Secondary Picks – Defenses

If you thought the first week of fantasy football rankings were skewed, how about the second bunch?

After two weeks of football, the only thing decided about the hierarchy of fantasy football quarterbacks is that Drew Brees is king. After that, who knows who is better than who when it comes to putting up stats?

As of today, Joe Flacco, Byron Leftwich and Eli Manning rank among the top 10 quarterbacks in the league. Not to say those guys aren’t good, but if you had one of those guys in your fantasy football preseason Top 10, then you were alone!

So how exactly do the quarterback rankings up to Week 3 of the fantasy football season pan out?

Here are the Week 3 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings:

1. Drew Brees, New Orleans – 58 Fantasy Football Points (ESPN Standard Scoring)
Drew Brees has been on fire to start the season. He already has 9 touchdown passes, including 3 TDs against what many thought was a championship-caliber defense in Philadelphia.

2. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens – 36 Fantasy Points
Yes, you heard right. Flacco may be 22 fantasy points behind Brees (about game’s worth!), but he’s still the second best quarterback in fantasy football right now. Things may get even better in Week 3, as Flacco and his Ravens face a not-so-scary, Browns defense in Baltimore.

3. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys – 35 Fantasy Points
Romo looked great going into Week 2, and that’s probably the only reason he’s still in top 10 going into Week 3. He there 3 interceptions and scored just 9 fantasy points in last week’s outing against the New York Giants.

3. Trent Edwards, Buffalo Bills – 35 Fantasy Points
Move over quarterback hierarchy! Trent Edwards is coming to crash the party. Edwards looks like a real fantasy stud right now. He is throwing all over the field and spreading the ball around, but let’s face it. He has a great weapon in T.O., which should have given him yet another touchdown in his 2-TD performance against the Buccaneers last week.

3. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons – 35 Fantasy Points
You all know I wasn’t that high on Matt Ryan to begin the season, but he has proven me wrong thus far. His 5 touchdown passes lead all quarterbacks with 1 interception or less, which means he’s scoring and taking care of the ball. His working rapport with Tony Gonzalez seems to have him and the Falcons unstoppable through the air. We’ll see if that rapport continues against New England in Week 3.

6. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts – 34 Fantasy Points
Yes, Manning is in 6th place, but clearly, not by much. Manning already has 604 yards. While some may worry about his ability to keep this up without the services of Anthony Gonzalez, I think Dallas Clark, Reggie Wayne, and this “Garcon” guy might be enough to keep Manning on top of his game.

6. Byron Leftwich, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 34 Fantasy Points
Granted, the Bucs aren’t very good, but I don’t see any reason why there was every a question as to who would start for the Buccaneers during the 2009 NFL season. Leftwich has 572 yards and 4 touchdowns through 2 games. Clearly, he has the makings of a great quarterback. Too bad he’s not on a great team.

6. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers – 34 Fantasy Points
Rivers has been a favorite of mine for several seasons now. While he’s off to a rough start with the 3 interceptions, his 688 yards leads the NFL, and based on last year’s performance, he’ll get that TD to interception ratio figured out before the 2009 fantasy football season is any where close to being over.

6. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans – 34 Fantasy Points
Yet another quarterback with exactly 34 fantasy points. Of course, Schaub’s place on this fantasy rankings list is incredibly special, because he only put up 4 points in Week 1. his 4-touchdown performance against the Titans last week was the best of Week 2, and he may be in for a similar outing in Week 3 when the Jaguars hapless defense comes to Houston.

10. Eli Manning, New York Giants – 31 Fantasy Points
Am I the only one who was incredibly impressed with Eli’s performance last Sunday? I didn’t know he had it in him. So far during the 2009 fantasy football season, he looks more like Peyton than Eli. His 586 yards through 2 games is good enough to rank him among the top 10 quarterbacks at this point in the 2009 fantasy football season.

Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings
1. Quarterback Rankings
2. Running Back Rankings
3. Wide Receiver Rankings
4. Tight End Rankings
5. Defensive Rankings

Week 3 Fantasy Football Projections – Top Picks
1. Quarterback Projections
2. Running Back Projections
3. Wide Receiver Projections
4. Tight End Projections
5. Defensive Projections

Week 3 Fantasy Football Projections – Secondary Picks
1. Quarterback Picks
2. Running Back Picks
3. Wide Receiver Picks
4. Tight End Picks
5. Defensive Picks

Week 3 Sleeper Picks
1. Quarterback Sleeper Picks
2. Running Back Sleeper Picks
3. Wide Receiver Sleeper Picks
4. Tight End Sleeper Picks
5. Defensive Sleeper Picks

Well, if you can’t stop him, just keep picking him. Certainly Drew Brees did not disappoint his fantasy owners in Week 2, going for another 3 passing touchdowns, giving him 9 on the year in the first 2 games of the 2009 fantasy football season. As good as Brees was in Week 2, he wasn’t the best. Matt Schaub gave him a run for his money going for 4 passing touchdowns. And Philip Rivers only threw 2, but he also had 436 yards, by far the high of the day.

With performances like that, why even look at the other quarterbacks for next week? Why not just go with these guys? Well, if only fantasy football projections were that easy.

Here are our Week 3 fantasy football projections at the quarterback position:

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints at Buffalo Bills
Not even the fans of Buffalo are going to be able to slow this guy down. The fact that he dismantled an Eagles defense that ranked #3 in the league last year is beyond amazing. He didn’t even have to try. In Week 3, don’t expect any changes from Brees and that Saints offense. The Buffalo Bills proved that they have issues guarding the middle of the field and Brees will exploit that. With Brees and wide receiver Marques Colston clearly on the same page now (2 touchdowns in Week 2), Brees now has a receiver that he can work off of in order to take advantage of the other players on the field. Last week you saw Reggie Bush get in the action, and Devery Henderson was a factor as well. With him spreading the ball around like that, the Bills don’t stand a chance. If Brees throws for anything less than 3 passing touchdowns in Week 3, I will be highly amazed.

Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts at Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals defense has really showed me something over the past couple of weeks, but they haven’t shown me enough to get me off picking Peyton Manning to pick them apart. While the Cardinals may be playing some inspired ball, they still have a relatively vanilla defense, that at its core, is entirely to susceptible to the strengths of Peyton Manning. In Week 3, expect Manning to manipulate the defense with the playaction fake. The Cardinals have been very aggressive at stopping the run this year, and if they want to continue that in Week 3, they are going to have to commit to it. Try as they might to stop Manning from passing the ball, their commitment to the run will go unfettered, and Manning will use that against them, just as he did against the Dolphins last night. This could be a really big day for the guys in the slot, as the Cardinals will certainly take away Reggie Wayne early in the game. I expect Dallas Clark, and maybe even Hank Baskett, to be Manning’s main targets in Week 3. Quite frankly, this could be a very big fantasy football week for all of those guys, including Peyton Manning, who should have no problem dealing with this Cardinals defense.

Eli Manning, New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Yes, I’m going with Peyton’s brother, and this may be the last time I do it during the 2009 fantasy football season. Eli looked great against the Cowboys last week, and it really surprised me. Maybe the Dallas Cowboys defense is worse than I think it is, but I did not see a whole lot of receivers running free and it is not as if there wasn’t any pressure on Manning; it was just a very impressive game by Eli, who does not have very impressive wide receivers to boot. Going up against a Tampa Bay defense that has looked young, at best, should be easy pickins’ for a veteran quarterback Manning. With Brandon Jacobs in tow, expect the running game of the Giants to lull the Bucs Cover 2 defense into playing the run. That should lead to some holes over the middle for Manning to take advantage of. Not to mention, the Bucs have had numerous missed assignments in the secondary over the past 2 weeks of football, so expect a couple of freebies in Week 3 as well. Much like Drew Brees, if Eli Manning doesn’t throw for at least 3 touchdowns this week, something would have had to have gone terribly wrong.

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers at St. Louis Rams
Well, Rodgers hasn’t exactly blown anyone away in the 2009 fantasy football season. Yes, he had a decent performance in Week 2, going 21 for 39, 296 passing yards and a touchdown. But it’s that single touchdown, and just the one he had in Week 1, that are troubling his fantasy owners. Last year, Rodgers was a statistical compiler, accumulating passing yards and touchdown passes as if they were collector’s items. Well, expect him to get back on track in Week 3, as the Packers travel to St. Louis to play the shoddiest team on turf. Don’t be fooled by the Rams defensive performance against the Washington Redskins last week; the Skins’ 9-point effort only demonstrates how bad Washington’s offense is. Rodgers and the Packers should have no problem taking advantage of the Rams secondary. With Jennings and Driver going up against far inferior corners, the Packers passing game will look as good as it ever did in 2008. One can only hope that the game does not get too ugly so that Rodgers isn’t dealt the fantasy football death-card and has to hand the ball off for the majority of the second half.

Those are our top picks for Week 3 of the 2009 fantasy football season. Here are some of our other Week 3 projections and predictions:

Week 3 Fantasy Football Projections – Top Picks
1. Quarterback Projections
2. Running Back Projections
3. Wide Receiver Projections
4. Tight End Projections
5. Defensive Projections

Week 3 Fantasy Football Projections – Secondary Picks
1. Quarterback Picks
2. Running Back Picks
3. Wide Receiver Picks
4. Tight End Picks
5. Defensive Picks

Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings
1. Quarterback Rankings
2. Running Back Rankings
3. Wide Receiver Rankings
4. Tight End Rankings
5. Defensive Rankings

Week 3 Sleeper Picks
1. Quarterback Sleeper Picks
2. Running Back Sleeper Picks
3. Wide Receiver Sleeper Picks
4. Tight End Sleeper Picks
5. Defensive Sleeper Picks

So the Fantasy Football experts at ESPN have laid out their rankings for Week 1 of the fantasy football season. Certainly there are a lot of similarities between their Week 1 projections and mine, but there are some slight differences.

I’ll lay out their rankings and give you my analysis of them, and of course you can see my top picks, every week, right here at TheSportsWatchers.com.

ESPN’s Quarterback Rankings for Fantasy Football Week 1:

1. Drew Brees – Drew Brees is facing the Detroit Lions, so this ranking makes perfect sense. That’s why I have Brees over Brady in my quarterback “Face Off” of the week.

2. Tom Brady – Brady faces a Buffalo defense that the Patriots have been 11 times in a row. It suffices to say, he’ll have a pretty good outing passing the ball against this Bills team that couldn’t beat Matt Cassel last year.

3. Peyton Manning – Manning will be up against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who’s defense took a step back last year, and because of that, I too think he will have a very effective day passing the ball. However, ESPN had some dissension here, with one analyst ranking Manning the 6th best fantasy quarterback on the Week 1 schedule.

4. Aaron Rodgers – Statistically, Rodgers had a great season in 2008, and really, that’s all that matters in fantasy football. He’s up against the Chicago Bears defense in Week 1, fortunately for him, this defense is far from what it used to be. Although I don’t have Rodgers quite this high in my projections, he should have a decent day.

5. Kurt Warner – I definitely think that Warner’s matchup with the 49ers garners a higher ranking that Rodgers against Chicago, but most of the ESPN brass disagrees with me on this notion. I guess they didn’t see the 70% completion percentage, nearly 600 yards and 4 touchdowns Warner had against the 49ers in 2 games last season.

Rounding out ESPN’s Top 10 projected quarterbacks:

6. Philip Rivers vs. Oakland Raiders
7. Matt Schaub vs. New York Jets
8. Donovan McNabb vs. Carolina Panthers
9. Matt Ryan vs. Miami Dolphins
10. Tony Romo vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I like Rivers, Schaub and McNabb in the top 10 for this week, but Ryan might have a tough day if the Miami stops the Falcons ground game, and I just don’t see Romo playing too well in his first game without Terrell Owens. Hasselbeck and Carson Palmer would have better options for inclusion in the Top 10.