The National Football League has trended towards pass happy offenses over the duration of the last few seasons. This has caused some fantasy players to consider taking elite fantasy quarterbacks above running backs in the initial round. I feel under that category when I picked up Drew Brees in the top 10 of each of my three fantasy leagues. The New Orleans Saints quarterbacks did me a great deal of favors, accumulating 380 fantasy points in my standard league.  That being said, after those elite quarterbacks there seems to be a dramatic drop-off until about the third round as owners go running back and wide receiver in the initial two rounds. This means that you can find a tremendous amount of value in a QB1 later in the draft. Today's article is going to focus on the top five underrated fantasy quarterbacks heading into the 2012 season.

5. Carson Palmer, Oakland Raiders

This is all about draft strategy. If you wait on acquiring a QB1 until the middle rounds if just makes sense to pick up a solid backup option down the road. Carson Palmer might be nearly eight years removed from being a viable fantasy quarterback, but he has tremendous value as a backup at this point.

Palmer averaged over 275 passing yards per outing in his 10 games with the Oakland Raiders last season. While his negative three touchdown-to-interception ratio is alarming, it is important to note that you would just be relying on Palmer as a spot starter in 2012. The Raiders also have a nice amount of young weapons on the outside to help the veteran quarterback put up the numbers your going to need in order to win with your starter either on a bye or out due to injury. As it the case with the entire draft process, it is important to look at who Palmer will be playing against when your starter is off and how solid that opposing defense might be.

Overall ESPN Ranking: 126
Average Draft Position: 136.6

4. Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears

Jay Cutler has been an enigma of sorts around the fantasy football world. He was plagued with interceptions from 2008 to 2010, throwing a total of 60 during that three-year span. Cutler then missed the final six games of the 2011 season due to injury. Needless to say, fantasy owners are skeptical about his ability to be a top of the line quarterback and for good reason.
Lost in the shuffle is the fact that the Chicago Bears have not had the weapons on the outside and continually struggle protecting Cutler in the passing game. These two factors have led him to force the ball way too often and get injured on occasion.

While the Bears offensive line still seems to be mediocre at best, they have added two dynamic receivers to the mix. Brandon Marshall rejoins Cutler after spending a couple years together in Denver with the Broncos. Marshall gives Cutler a true No. 1 receiver to rely on outside. Alshon Jeffery had the looks of a first-round pick heading into the 2012 NFL draft, but he fell down the draft boards for a myriad of different reasons. You can expect the South Carolina product to me a big contributor in 2012 when he is on the field.

Additionally, the Bears rely a great deal on the passing game in the red zone because of the inability of Matt Forte to punch it in. This gives Cutler ample opportunities, with more weapons, to accumulate 30-plus touchdown passes in 2012.

Overall ESPN Ranking: 99
Average Draft Position: 102.1

3. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons

Matt Ryan has seen his fantasy numbers increase every single season in the National Football League up until 2011 when he pretty much put up similar numbers as the previous season. This doesn't mean that Ryan wont progress on the field in 2012. The Atlanta Falcons seem to be gearing more towards a pass first offense as they lower the workload of Michael Turner out of the backfield. With that change in philosophy comes increased passing attempts and more opportunities at both yards and touchdowns.

Ryan finished eighth in fantasy points among quarterbacks last season despite throwing nearly 100 less passes than Matthew Stafford, who finished fifth in scoring. Couple that with the emergence of Julio Jones as a No. 1 option on the outside opposite Roddy White and you have the makings for something special in terms of the Falcons passing game.

I can easily envision a scenario where Ryan puts up 4,500 yards and 35 touchdowns in 2012, while limiting his interceptions to the low double-digits. This makes him a huge sleeper in my book.

Overall ESPN Ranking: 73
Average Draft Position: 71.3

2. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

This is where it gets interesting. Does Cam Newton suffer through a sophomore slump that has been par for the course among young quarterbacks? Will he be able to lower those turnovers that seemed to plague him fantasy-wise in 2011? These are two questions that fantasy players are going to have to answer when deciding on where to select the talented young signal-caller.

For all intent and purposes, Newton brings so many different things to the table that it is hard to imagine passing him up in the initial round. His 14 rushing touchdowns set a quarterback record for most tallied in a season, which adds a tremendous amount to his fantasy value. More than that, Newton recorded an average of 44.1 rushing yards and 0.8 rushing touchdowns per outing last season.

What makes Newton an intriguing prospect here is the fact that he also accumulated over 4,000 passing yards and 21 touchdowns as a rookie.

Add those factors listed above and Newton should be a top 10 overall fantasy player heading into the 2012 season. Of course, this is all dependent on your draft strategy.

Overall ESPN Ranking: 23
Average Draft Position: 17.2

1. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys

ESPN has Tony Romo ranked below Michael Vick heading into the 2012 season. This makes absolutely no sense to me. The enigmatic starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys has been one of the most consistently good fantasy quarterbacks since the start of the 2007 season, averaging 267.2 yards and a little less than two touchdowns per game.

What makes Romo such an intriguing fantasy prospect is the limited number of interceptions he has thrown since the start of the 2009 season, about one per 50 pass attempts.

You are not going to get negative point totals from Romo throughout the duration of a game. While he won't put up 400 yards and five touchdowns like some of the elite fantasy quarterbacks, Romo will be consistently good for you.

There is just no reason that I can justify selecting a player of the fantasy caliber of Ahmad Bradshaw in the fourth round if Romo is still available. It really is that simple.

Overall ESPN Ranking: 44
Average Draft Position: 46.6
 

There are other sleepers out there in regards to the backup quarterback position. Depending on where you are selecting in each round and the dynamics of your specific league, a vast amount of unheralded quarterbacks could help you out for a game or two.

Alex Smith would be an intriguing option off the bench depending on when your starting quarterback has a bye. He will be playing a total of 11 games against relatively weak pass defenses. With an improved receiving arsenal there is a chance he could help out on a whim for a game or two. The same goes for Jake Locker if he wins the Tennessee Titans starting job as well as Andy Dalton with the Cincinnati Bengals.