Fantasy Football Week 1 Rankings: QB

Well, you went ahead and drafted Jay Cutler, falling in love with his new offensive coordinator (Mike Martz) while disregarding Cutler's obsession with throwing interceptions. Now that he's on your team, you'd better use him in Week 1.

Cutler gets to face last year's worst passing defense at home when the Lions come to town, and while Detroit should be better in 2010, we'll wait for proof before we act on that expectation. How bad where they? Well, they allowed the most passing yards (4,249) and the most passing TDs (35) in the NFL, while intercepting only nine passes, good for third worst in the league.

In what should be an offensive shootout, Cutler should be able to rack up 300 yards and three TDs, and his danger of throwing picks should never be lower. Use him this week, and field trade offers on Monday and Tuesday.

1. Drew Brees, NO (vs. MIN)
2. Aaron Rodgers, GB (at PHI)
3. Peyton Manning, IND (at HOU)
4. Tom Brady, NE (vs. CIN)
5. Philip Rivers, SD (at KC)

Week 1 Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | D/ST | K | Sleepers | Latest Player News

6. Jay Cutler, CHI (vs. DET)
7. Matt Schaub, HOU (vs. IND)
8. Tony Romo, DAL (at WAS)
9. Matthew Stafford, DET (at CHI)
10. Matt Ryan, ATL (at PIT)
11. Kevin Kolb, PHI (vs. GB)
12. Matt Moore, CAR (at NYG)
13. Alex Smith, SF (at SEA)
14. Carson Palmer, CIN (at NE)
15. Derek Anderson, ARI (at STL)
16. Jason Campbell, OAK (at TEN)
17. Kyle Orton, DEN (at JAC)
18. Joe Flacco, BAL (at NYJ)
19. Eli Manning, NYG (vs. CAR)
20. Brett Favre, MIN (at NO)
21. Donovan McNabb, WAS (vs. DAL)
22. Dennis Dixon, PIT (vs. ATL)
23. Chad Henne, MIA (at BUF)
24. Vince Young, TEN (vs. OAK)
25. Jake Delhomme, CLE (at TB)
26. Trent Edwards, BUF (vs. MIA)
27. David Garrard, JAC (vs. DEN)
28. Matt Cassel, KC (vs. SD)
29. Sam Bradford, STL (vs. ARI)
30. Matt Hasselbeck, SEA (vs. SF)
31. Josh Freeman, TB (vs. CLE)
32. Mark Sanchez, NYJ (vs. BAL)

• I mentioned that I see the Chicago-Detroit game being a bit of a shootout, and that means Matthew Stafford has plenty of value this week as well. There are only a handful of QBs that are better plays than Stafford this week, and that list starts with the top seven overall QBs and ends with Cutler.

• Quarterbacks you don't want to be starting include Joe Flacco, Eli Manning and Brett Favre. Flacco has to face a Jets defense that welcomed Darrelle Revis back this week. That passing defense is one you want to avoid facing if at all possible, whether we're talking about QBs, WRs, or TEs. Manning and Favre have similarly tough matchups, and Favre has the added obstacle of playing without last year's favorite target.

• Two-QB league owners want to bench the above guys for sleeper options like Matt Moore, Kyle Orton, Derek Anderson and Jason Campbell. Moore faces a passing defense that allowed 31 TDs in 2009 while picking off just 13 passes. Orton faces a bad Jaguars defense and could subconsciously be looking for deep scores to keep Tim Tebow off the field. Anderson and Campbell are discussed in this week's sleeper column.