The last two draft classes have been stacked at the quarterback position with 16 different quarterbacks seeing action, including 12 current starters.
Robert Griffin III, Cam Newton, Andrew Luck and Andy Dalton are all solid QB1 options. Meanwhile, the likes of Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson are nearing that status after just 17 combined NFL starts.
What do a vast majority of these quarterbacks have in common? They can literally kill your fantasy football opponents with their ability to run the ball. Newton and RGIII have combined for nearly 1,400 yards on the ground, which is one of the primary reasons they’re the top two fantasy quarterbacks through 13 weeks.
For his part, Kaepernick has now broken the San Francisco 49ers record for longest rushing play by a quarterback two consecutive weeks, including a 50-yard run that sealed San Francisco’s 27-13 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. All said, the second-year quarterback is third among quarterbacks with 351 rushing yards despite the fact that he has only started four games.
He is third because of what the aforementioned RGII and Newton have done.
The Washington Redskins quarterback is on pace to accumulate over 900 rushing yards and eight scores, while Newton is on pace for nearly 800 yards after putting up over 100 against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Not to be outdone, Wilson ranks fourth among quarterbacks with just over 300 yards on the ground. Expect those numbers to increase dramatically as the Wisconsin product get more comfortable with the Seattle Seahawks complex offensive scheme.
While Dalton is nowhere near a running threat, he has put up over 3,200 total yards and 28 scores, including three on the ground, through 13 games.
As the No. 1 overall pick of the 2012 NFL draft, Luck has tallied over 200 yards on the ground and is third behind RGII and Newton with five rushing touchdowns from the quarterback position.
Overall, these six quarterbacks have compiled a ridiculous 120 touchdown compared to 58 interceptions this season.
A theory as old as fantasy football itself suggests that you must go running back first in your draft and wait until later to pick-up a quarterback might be in question right now. The days of individuals like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers being the top quarterback options seem to be over. Despite being athletic, they just don’t provide the multi-faceted fantasy production that we see from these “new generation” quarterbacks.
Why would you even consider going for a Ray Rice or Arian Foster No. 1 overall in the draft if you can nab a quarterback that will compile over 3,500 passing yards, nearly 1,000 rushing yards and a minimum of 30 scores? Both Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III seem to fit into that category.
Kaepernick, depending on how he finishes out the season, could be at that level as well. Spread out over the course of a 16-game schedule, the Nevada product would be on pace for nearly 4,200 total yards, 768 of them on the ground. He needs to, however, get into the end zone more to be considered a top tier QB1 option.
You must see where I am going here.
We will have to watch to see how the remainder of the season plays out, but I am getting to the point where a total of four of these quarterbacks should be considered first-round picks when the 2013 fantasy draft season rolls around.
That’s simply insane.