The Fantasy Football Blog

Rex Grossman (AP Photo) will miss 3-4 months after breaking his ankle Friday night. See more below.

Updated at bottom, Friday, 10:45 p.m.

In today's column, I mentioned that some leagues require two starting quarterbacks in an effort to make star signal callers like Peyton Manning (IND-QB) and Daunte Culpepper (MIN-QB) more valuable.

That brings up an interesting problem: If you are in a 10-team league that requires two starting quarterbacks, everyone must select at least three in order to cover themselves for bye weeks and injuries. If 10 teams select three QBs each, that's 30 QBs from a total of 32 NFL teams selected right from the start. Now, if you want to look for some real deep sleepers in a league like that, you could have some problems.

Here's a look at the guys way down on our rankings that could surprise everyone with solid seasons:

• Billy Volek (TEN-QB) -- Later in this entry, I'll talk more about starter Steve McNair's (TEN-QB) injury issues, which make Volek a good choice in the later rounds of the deepest leagues. In eight starts last year, Volek threw for more than 290 yards per game and a total of 20 touchdowns passing and rushing. If and when McNair goes down, Volek will be a top-12 QB. He's a good fourth option in leagues with two starting QBs.
• Jeff Garcia (DET-QB) -- Garcia was highlighted in the column today and should definitely be drafted late in these leagues. If he takes over for Joey Harrington (DET-QB), who could easily lose his job by Week 5, Garcia will be throwing to arguably the most talented wide receiver trio in the league (Roy Williams, Charles Rogers, Mike Williams) and handing off to the ultra-talented Kevin Jones (DET-RB).
• (Not any more, see injury update from Friday night) Rex Grossman (CHI-QB) -- Grossman is the Bears' starter, but he's going to be one of the very last starters taken in most fantasy drafts. Grossman isn't going to set any passing records, but he does have a pretty firm grasp on the starting job and the addition of Muhsin Muhammad (CHI-WR) from Carolina gives him a go-to guy he didn't have last year. If he is your fourth QB, you are in pretty good shape at the position.
• Other QBs who could prove worthy in very deep leagues are Jay Fielder (NYJ-QB), Kelly Holcomb (BUF-QB), Gus Frerotte (MIA-QB), A.J. Feeley (MIA-QB).

INJURY PRONE -- It seems like years ago that McNair shared the NFL MVP award with Manning and was considered a top-8 fantasy signal caller.

It was actually only 2003, but McNair missed eight games last season and always seems to be battling some injury. Earlier in his career, McNair would play through the pain, but it seems that the long list of injuries has worn him down and he’ll likely miss time again this season.

He’s only considered a good backup in deep leagues that require two starting QBs.

TEAM QBs -- In big losses or wins, starting quarterbacks seem more likely than others to stay on the bench early in the game. They are also the most likely to be injured. One remedy for these issues is for your league to employ Team QBs instead of individual ones. Instead of drafting and starting "Peyton Manning" you go with "Indianapolis QBs" at the position. This option also keeps you from overcrowding your lineup with extra QBs and allows you to look for more backups at other positions.

There are some changes in value when you use this system. For instance, I've talked a lot about McNair and Volek of Tennessee today and because they will likely both see between seven and nine games this year, neither is worth a very high draft pick. But if your league uses Team QBs, Tennessee is much more valuable. Keep this in mind when deciding how to set up your league.

CHEAT SHEETS UPDATED -- There was some minor movement in this week's cheat sheets. Eli Manning (NYG-QB) has been getting very solid reviews in camp and I bumped his projections up a bit. He moves from the No. 22 QB to No. 20, jumping over Drew Brees (SD-QB) and Kurt Warner (ARZ-QB). ... With J.P. Losman (BUF-QB) showing signs of usefulness in camp, Willis McGahee's (BUF-RB) value goes up a bit. He jumped up to No. 5 among RBs and bumps Edgerrin James (IND-RB) and Brian Westbrook (PHI-RB) down one spot each. ... Ronnie Brown's (MIA-RB) continued holdout is hurting his value and he dropped down eight spots from No. 20 to No. 28 among RBs. Kevan Barlow (SF-RB), meanwhile, appears to be in the form many were expecting last year and moves up one spot to No. 20. ... Duce Staley (PIT-RB) will miss at least one month and Week 1 with a knee injury. He drops from No. 32 to No. 33 with the missed week of action. ... Brandon Stokley (IND-WR) will miss at least Week 1 with a shoulder injury, knocking his projections down from No. 31 among WRs to No. 37. ... Todd Pinkston (PHI-WR) is out for the year and has been removed from the cheat sheets, where he was ranked No. 54 among WRs last week. Everyone below him moved up one spot and Reche Caldwell (SD-WR) joined the list at No. 60.

OTHER INJURIES -- The injury bug has been absent so far, but that will likely change with this weekend's presason games. It's a virtual guarantee that some starter will suffer a serious injury and we'll hear the pundants screaming about needing only two preseason games. Anyway, if you have a fantasy draft this weekend, keep an ear out and check on injuries as much as possible before the draft.

Update: Friday, 10:45 p.m.: Rex Grossman (CHI-QB) broke his ankle in tonight's presaeason game against St. Louis and will miss the next 3-4 months. Right now, Chad Hutchinson is the leader to take over, while Kyle Orton is also on the roster. Chicago may also look to trade for a veteran.