FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFT KIT

While Dalton is an ideal fit for Jay Gruden's new West Coast offense, he's still a rookie and will still need time to get on the same page with his young receivers. Dynasty leaguers will value Dalton more than redrafters, but with Carson Palmer staying retired and Bruce Gradkowski more mentor/insurance than challenger he should see the bulk of the snaps right from the start.

Gabbert is huge at 6-4, 233 pounds and has both mobility and the ability to thrown any pass on the field. He has a big arm and is going to be quickly groomed to take the starting reins. Chances are he'll start the season just watching, pick up some work along the way and likely end the year already starting.

08-20-11 Update: He has not done anything great yet but he has not been bad and David Garrard has been nursing a tender back. Chances are better he will see some playing time earlier than later.

Manning may go down as the most consistently productive QB of all time thanks to five straight seasons with more than 4000 passing yards. He has thrown for 31+ scores in five of the last six years. But Mr. Automatic is now nursing a neck injury and starts training camp on the PUP list with no stated timetable for when he can practice. The expectation and assumption is that he will play in week one and the Colts did just hand over a cool $90 million contract for the next five years so the situation does not bother them. I will assume all is well but it bears watching. There isn't even a decent insurance pick to cover Manning.

08-24-11 Update: Manning's neck is becoming more of a concern and the signing of Kerry Collins is a red flag that the Colts are concerned about the start of the year as well. He drops in the ranks from the risk factor.

Clausen got his shot as a rookie and the 2.16 pick quickly did his share to ensure that the Panthers would have the worst passing attack in the league last year. That got rewarded by the team drafting Cam Newton with the first overall draft pick (that Clausen helped them get). Writing is on the wall in very big letters but Clausen will help ease Newton into the full role.

The 6'5" rookie out of Nevada comes to the Niners with a cannon arm and the ability to run as well. HC Jim Harbaugh says it is an open competition for starter but Alex Smith will likely take that by virtue of the lockout and the lack of time the rookie has spent with the team and playbook. But make no mistake, he will replace Smith sooner than later. Enough so that he's the one to want in a dynasty league and he ruins any potential value of Smith this year.

No analysis available.

Beck is reported to be the front runner for the starting job in Washington despite only throwing actual passes in games during 2007. Five years into the league and he has one touchdown and three interceptions to his credit. But Shanahan likes him and will offer him the chance to start for the Redskins along with Rex Grossman who will compete for the job. This spells hands off for now from a messy QB situation on a team with even worse receivers.

Gradkowski is reunited with Jay Gruden from their days in Tampa, where Bruce posted career highs of 1,661 yards and nine touchdowns. Is that enough to keep Andy Dalton on the bench for a year? Possibly, though there's little if any fantasy upside to Gradkowski. At best he's a one-week fill- in, though by the time you need him he'll most likely be holding a clipboard for Dalton.

The departure of Matt Hasselbeck would have opened the door for Whitehurst to start this year but no such luck. New OC Darrell Bevell comes over from Minnesota and brings along Tarvaris Jackson who already knows the offense. The competition will get lip service in camp but Jackson is expected to win the job.

Young goes to the Eagles to back-up Michael Vick and that's not a terrible place to reinvent himself. Vick has lasted all 16 games only once in his career (2006) and Young will almost certainly be called on at some point. A decent backup for Vick owners in deeper leagues.

Thigpen changes teams and reunites with Chan Gailey who coached him in 2008 when he was a starter. Thigpen starts out as the backup for Fitzpatrick and he already knows the offense. He's a must have handcuff if you have to rely on Fitzpatrick.

The future is now what Tebow who will be given the starting job whether Kyle Orton is still on the team or not. With only three games to judge by, Tebow's effectiveness is hard to guage but he did rush in a score in all three games and pass for at least one touchdown. Denver has a brutal passing schedule this year and the intention is to pass less and run more. But Tebow is going to add rushing yards and scores to his tally and could end up surprisingly effective in fantasy terms.

08-03-11 Update: It now appears most likely that Tebow will not start since Kyle Orton has not been traded. Tebow will still show up and perhaps in every game for a few plays.

The Fins settled for Matt Moore when the Kyle Orton sweepstakes was too expensive and there will be an open competition for starter in training camp. Of course Henne should win that hands down even though there is a new scheme being installed by OC Brian Daboll. Short of an unexpected training camp, Moore gets $2.5 million to watch Henne play for the next two seasons.

The Titans have high hopes for their #8 overall pick in the draft but signed Matt Hasselbeck to give the rookie time to develop. Locker can learn from the veteran without being thrown to the wolves before he is ready. The Titans offense will never be pass-heavy with Chris Johnson there so even long-term, Locker likely won't become a top ten fantasy QB.

No analysis available.

The Vikings drafted Ponder with the intention of letting him compete for the starting job, but after acquiring Donovan McNabb during the offseason the plan changed; now, in a best-case scenario Ponder will spend the year on clipboard duty while acclimating himself to the NFL. If the Vikings are out of the playoff hunt by their Week 9 bye they could accelerate the future and give Ponder some on-the-job training. Either way, his greatest (only) fantasy value comes in dynasty leagues.