Usually, rookie quarterbacks in fantasy football are afterthoughts; guys who spend the season wearing a ballcap and holding a clipboard and have absolutely no value whatsoever. This season will largely be no exception, but there are a few fairly intriguing players who may be thrown to the wolves fairly early. As of now, at least, they look like nothing more than bye week filler at best, but one or two of them could actually be significant contributors to a fantasy squad by season’s end.
Here’s a look at this season’s crop of new signal callers separated into three categories: those who may be thrown to the wolves immediately, those who will be waiting in the wings, and those who will be holding the aforementioned clipboard – if they’re even lucky enough to make the team out of training camp.
Thrown to the wolves?
Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons
The franchise that lived with the stench of the Michael Vick dogfighting fiasco last season is desperate to win back its fan base, so there will be heavy pressure on new coach Mike Smith to get the new face of the Falcons on the field ASAP.
Whether you agree or disagree with the philosophy of immediately throwing a rookie quarterback into the fray is immaterial. The fact is, all quarterbacks put into this position are almost always doomed to fail their first season because their supporting cast sucks; that’s the reason the team was able to get the quarterback so high to start with, obviously. And that appears the case with Atlanta.
Roddy White is the only halfway decent receiving option for Ryan after the team released steady tight end Alge Crumpler. Fellow receiver Joe Horn wants out of town – badly – and could be dealt at any time. Laurent Robinson, Michael Jenkins and Adam Jennings are the only other receivers listed on the Atlanta depth chart, and while they may have promise, they don’t exactly promote a feeling of confidence in the minds of fantasy football players. The addition of Michael Turner to go with Jerious Norwood should create a potent 1-2 rushing tandem, so the Falcons will probably be a ground-heavy offensive attack that will limit what already promised to be minimal numbers for Ryan.
Ryan is an intelligent, poised quarterback who threw for 56 touchdowns in 45 games at Boston College. And every indication is he will be starting very early in the season for Atlanta. Even though Chris Redman performed admirably for the Falcons late last season, he’s not the guy who’s going to put butts in Georgia Dome seats. That being said, however, Ryan is not worth anything more than a late round fantasy pick at best – well after you’ve shored up your depth at every other position.
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