Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

6. Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys) — For all the times he’s screwed up in pressure situations, Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo seems to be reversing that trend this season. Not only did Romo lead the Cowboys to wins in eight of their final 11 games to win the NFC East and clinch a playoff spot, but he also was huge in leading Dallas to a blowout win over the rival Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round last week. It’s no mistake either. Romo’s been having his best season, as evidenced by him setting career-bests in passing yards (4,483), interceptions (9), quarterback rating (97.6) and fumbles lost (4). Romo’s 27 total touchdowns greatly overshadow his 13 combined turnovers, which is by far a career low for him.

The weird thing is, it’s January and yet we’re not talking about Romo’s season being over yet. It remains to be seen if Romo is past his old ways of collapsing in crunch time, but with the way he protected the ball this season while still producing big numbers, his value has risen considerably for 2010.

7. Tom Brady (New England Patriots) — No, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady didn’t come close to touching his 2007 numbers, but it was unrealistic to expect him to do so coming off of major knee surgery. Just the fact that Brady was able to start and play in all 16 games this season is incredible in itself, but we digress. Though the Patriots offense at times this season looked like it was off beat, Brady still managed to throw for 4,398 yards with 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. What’s also impressive is that he completed 65.7 percent of his passes, which ranks second for him for a full season, and he was sacked a career-low 16 times.

It’s hard to live up to big expectations coming off major knee surgery, but Brady did his best to come close. He remains one of the top fantasy football quarterbacks, though not having wide receiver and security blanket Wes Welker, who will miss at least half of the 2010 season because of knee surgery to repair ACL and MCL injuries, will hurt him a little bit.

8. Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers) — As the San Diego Chargers continue to shift away from being a running team and more into a passing team, they continue to be very successful and most of that credit goes to quarterback Philip Rivers. Rivers continues to impress despite opposing teams knowing the Chargers are going to throw the ball. In 2009, Rivers threw for 4,254 yards with 28 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Though it was disappointing to see him go from 34 touchdowns two years ago to 28 in 2009, Rivers also cut down on his turnovers, going from 11 interceptions to 9 and 8 fumbles to 6.

What’s nice to see is that the young receivers for San Diego are finally starting to emerge as good targets for Rivers. We knew Vincent Jackson was going to be good, but Malcolm Floyd and Legedu Naanee are beginning to emerge as well, and that’s only going to make the Chargers passing game more potent next season.

9. Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers) — When push came to shove this season, the Pittsburgh Steelers offense relied on their passing game and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Though that didn’t help the Steelers reach the playoffs it was still impressive to see Roethlisberger throw for a career-high 4,328 yards with 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Roethlisberger also completed a career-high 66.6 percent of his passes.

The problem with the Steelers this season was their offensive line. Roethlisberger was sacked a career-high 50 times in 2009. The good news for Pittsburgh is that with wide receivers Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward and Mike Wallace and running back Rashard Mendenhall set to return, the Steelers will be able to focus their off-season efforts on improving that offensive line. Unless the Steelers return to a heavy run game, that means some good things are in the future for Roethlisberger.

10. Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia Eagles) — From a statistical perspective, the 2009 season for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb ranks up there as one of his best. McNabb threw for 3,553 yards (his third most in a season) with 22 touchdowns (fourth most in a season) and 11 interceptions (close to his 9.1 career average for a season). He did all this despite breaking in two talented but very young receivers in DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, as well as playing without running back Brian Westbrook, who was a key component of the passing game out of the backfield.

And yet following the playoff loss to the Cowboys rumors are swirling around about McNabb leaving Philadelphia this season via trade. If McNabb were to leave Philadelphia, his value would most likely take a hit considering how long he’s been an Eagle and how entrenched he is in running that short-passing game offense that’s unique to the Eagles.

11. Kyle Orton (Denver Broncos) — It was supposed to be Jay Cutler, not Kyle Orton, who was the better quarterback in the deal that saw both players being swapped in the off-season. And yet, it was Orton who was more efficient for his new team as he threw for career-bests with 3,802 yards, 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Orton also finished the season with an 86.8 quarterback rating and an average yards per attempt of 7.0, so he does have staying power as a starting quarterback.

It will be interesting to see what direction the Broncos go in this off-season. More than likely, the Broncos would like to find a solid second receiver to take some pressure off of Brandon Marshall, as well as a solid tight end. Orton will also need to prove he can remain efficient throughout an entire season instead of just the first part of it. In 2009, Orton threw one interception in the first eight weeks of the season but ended it with 12 picks in the final nine games.

Missing The Cut: Jason Campbell (Washington Redskins), Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens), David Garrard (Jacksonville Jaguars), Eli Manning (New York Giants), Kurt Warner (Arizona Cardinals) and Vince Young (Tennessee Titans)

2009 The Good:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K  |  DEF

2009 The Bad:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K  |  DEF

2009 The Ugly:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K |  DEF

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