Fantasy football rankings, Week 3: Quarterbacks

Injuries are hitting all fantasy football positions but quarterback seems to be the hardest hit. Tony Romo suffered a broken clavicle against Philadelphia. Drew Brees was dealt a bruised rotator cuff in Week 2. Matthew Stafford was battered by the Vikings and had X-rays on his ribs and chest. Jay Cutler left Sunday's game with a hamstring injury.

The Romo injury was the biggest hit, as he'll be out for at least eight weeks. The Cowboys placed Romo on short-term IR. That means he won't be able to practice for six weeks and cannot play for the next eight weeks. The most soon he could play again would be Nov. 22 against Miami and that's without any setbacks. Dallas traded for Matt Cassel to provide some depth behind Brandon Weeden. Cassel and Weeden are both poor options fantasy-wise. Weeden has proven to be a very poor decision maker. He'll be without Dez Bryant and possibly missing Jason Witten this week. Cassel would be a worst-case scenario for the Cowboys. He couldn't even win the Bills starting job, which pretty much sums up his upside or lack of one. Weeden is only worth a flier in leagues that start two quarterbacks.

Drew Brees may play in Week 3 but his status right now is up in the air. The good news is that he doesn't have a tear in his right shoulder. The bad news is that Brees has been relatively ordinary in the first two weeks. He's thrown the same amount of interceptions as touchdowns, two apiece. The schedule doesn't get any easier with Carolina this week and Dallas up next. New Orleans still has weapons but it seems like the offense is just not right to begin the season. Brees' backup is Luke McCown, who hasn't played a meaningful snap since 2007. This offense will get even uglier if Brees misses any time. Stay on top of this situation as the week progresses.

Stafford may be roughed up but should be good to go for Sunday night. He's been injury free for the last five seasons and I would guess that he suits up this week. Detroit's schedule is another huge obstacle. Their next three games are against Denver, Seattle and Arizona. Let's hope that he can survive that gauntlet. I thought that Stafford did a much better job using his receivers in Week 2. Eric Ebron seems to be developing into a bigger part of the game plan. Detroit's backup quarterback, Dan Orlovsky, would lead to a big dip in production.

Jay Cutler will miss at least the next two weeks with his hamstring injury. Cutler is obviously a weak fantasy quarterback option but his loss will seriously affect Chicago's skill position players. Jimmy Clausen started one game last season and ended up with two touchdowns, an interception and less than 200 yards. Sadly this offense needs Cutler to have any chance of putting up stats. The Bears travel to Seattle this week and I recommend staying far away from this situation.

Looking beyond just injuries, we have the struggles of Andrew Luck. He's faced two difficult defenses, but his struggles seem deeper than that. He seems to be really pressing and making careless mistakes, which are completely out of character. He now has three touchdowns, five interceptions and averages 246 yards passing. These are not numbers worthy of the first or second quarterback off the board in fantasy drafts. The Colts face three familiar divisional foes over the next three weeks, maybe that will help turn things around for Luck. The weapons are there but it might take some time for this offense to start humming again.

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