Week 16 QB Rankings

Slow to come, but they are here! Week 16 QB rankings. Do you start Kirk Cousins in a championship game?! In my opinion, you would have to have poor options to start a guy with so few starts.

1. Peyton Manning
2. Cam Newton
3. Matthew Stafford
4. Colin Kaepernick
5. Philip Rivers
6. Drew Brees
7. Jay Cutler
8. Nick Foles
9. Russell Wilson
10. Ben Roethlisberger
11. Andy Dalton
12. Ryan Fitzpatrick
13. Tom Brady
14. Tony Romo
15. Kirk Cousins
16. Ryan Tannehill
17. Andrew Luck
18. Alex Smith
19. Matt Cassel
20. Matt Schaub
21. Matt Ryan
22. Joe Flacco
23. Carson Palmer
24. Eli Manning
25. Jason Campbell
26. Matt Flynn
27. Mike Glennon
28. Thad Lewis
29. Matt McGloin
30. Geno Smith
31. Kellen Clemens
32. Chad Henne

#2 Cam Newton - (#5 on Fantasy Pros Consensus Rankings)

The Saints have proven to be a fairly tough matchup for QBs this season. But I am not afraid. Cam scored 14 points in the first matchup despite throwing for just 148 yards. I highly doubt that happens again.

#3 Matthew Stafford - (#6 on Fantasy Pros)

Stafford has been awful in his last two games - 13 points combined. Before that he hadn't had fewer than 14 in a single game and had strung together 3 straight 20+ performances at one point. Don't let these last two games make you forget about the overall talent. Yes the Giants were really good against QBs for a period, but it was against backups. When they face starting QBs they are one of the worst defenses in the league. In fact, they are third worst if you take out the 4-game stretch where they faced: Freeman, Barkley, Pryor, Tolzien.

#4 Colin Kaepernick  - (#8 on Fantasy Pros)

I don't feel as good about this one as I do the other two, but it is a fantastic matchup for Kaep. He has been very solid since Crabtree came back: 17, 12, 20 points with the 12 being against Seattle. At home against Atlanta? 20+ points is reasonable.

#6 Drew Brees - (#3 on Fantasy Pros)

Brees ended up with 19 points last week in a standard ESPN league, continuing the trend where he does not score more than 20 in an away matchup. (He has scored 19 on four separate occasions) Last week was destined for failure until he saved it in the last quarter. This week it is a tougher matchup and I really can't see him having a huge game here. I'd put him in the 15-18 point range.

#8 Nick Foles - (#2 on Fantasy Pros)

I know, Nick Foles has been amazing. But the Bears allow the 7th fewest points to QBs since their bye in week 8. In 7 games since, QBs have averaged 11.57 points a game in a standard league. That's the same as the aforementioned Panthers. I do like Nick Foles, but if you happen to have Jay Cutler, Kaepernick or Rivers, I'm starting them first.

Quick thoughts...Going deeper, I hate myself for it, but I couldn't help but rank Andy Dalton pretty favorably. The Vikings haven't allowed fewer than 18 points since Week 7 when they faced the terrible Giants. Ryan Fitzpatrick is in a similar situation against the Jags. 6 of their last 7 games, opposing QBs have scored 18+. The Dallas/Washington game seems like a shootout on paper, but I'm not very trusting of either QB. Tony Romo has been pretty bland lately and his worst fantasy game in 2013 came against Washington (8 points). Meanwhile I have no interest in playing Kirk Cousins based off of one good game. People did that with Case Keenum and while he did have a second game, we saw what he has become. Speaking of Keenum, I think Matt Schaub has a great chance for a big game if you need a hail mary. Further, I did not intentionally rank three Matt's in a row, but I thought it was funny. If you check Fantasy Pros, all five Matt's starting at QB are ranked consecutively. I love the weird stuff like that.