With leagues getting up and running, and fantasy drafts starting to heat up it’s time to not only list our rankings, but explain our decisions as well. Tonight we’ll go over our top 20 QBs for the 2010 NFL fantasy season. These are for re-draft leagues, not a keeper or dynasty league.

1. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints: Hard not to have Brees as the number one selection. He plays in a pass first offense and has thrown 34 touchdown passes in each of the past two seasons. If yardage is what you’re looking for Brees threw for over 4300 last season, over 5000 in 2008. He still has all of his receiving weapons and although their running game is adequate the passing game is definitely what will make this offense purr.

2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers: In a dynasty league I might switch up my top two but in a re-draft league I have Rodgers at #2. I did give some thought to placing Rodgers at the top of this list but with the uncertainty surrounding wide receiver Donald Driver who had knee surgery on both knees in the off-season I decided to go with the safer route.

3. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts: Manning lovers could also argue that their favorite player should garner the top spot. It would be hard to blame them. Manning has quite a receiving corps. Reggie Wayne may be slowing down a bit but is still a big time threat, Pierre Garcon should only get better after a terrific rookie season, Austin Collie also proved that he can make a serious contribution to the passing attack and Anthony Gonzalez may finally return after what was a wasted 2009 season thanks to a knee injury. All of this and I haven’t even mentioned all world tight end Dallas Clark. I would not complain one iota if I ended up with Manning on my fantasy team.

4. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys: Romo may be primed for an MVP season this year. The emergence of wide receiver Miles Austin last season and the addition of first round draft pick Dez Bryant this season may give the Cowboys the best 1-2 punch in the game. What may keep Romo from putting up the numbers of some of his contemporaries is that the Cowboys will still want to control the clock with the running game, and the biggest question mark on the team is their offensive line which may wear down as the season progresses.

5. Tom Brady, New England Patriots: I’m now into my next tier of quarterbacks. The big question for the Patriots will be the health of WR Wes Welker. Welker is coming off major knee surgery and was placed on the PUP list before training camp began on Monday. The Patriots are known for being coy with their injury reports and certainly won’t divulge any information unless they absolutely have to. Without Welker teams will load up to stop Randy Moss possibly forcing Brady to hold the ball longer than he wants to. Moss will still get his share of receptions, but I would be much more confident in Brady as a fantasy QB this season if I knew who that second WR was going to be.

6. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings: Of course this ranking assumes that Favre will indeed return for another season. Favre put up incredible numbers last season and will have the same complement of weapons this season. My main worry about Favre is that teams may take the blueprint shown to them by the Saints in the NFC Championship game last season and hit Favre every chance they get. He is over 40 after all, and those hits do add up. I know Favre is the ironman, but still he would seem to be one hit away from retirement.

7. Phillip Rivers, San Diego Chargers: Normally I would have Rivers ranked a few slots higher on this list but with the likelihood that all-pro wide receiver Vincent Jackson will hold out until Week 10 of the regular season I’m going to have to hedge my bets. Rivers still has Malcolm Floyd and Legedu Naanee in the fold but neither is anywhere near close to a proven number one WR. Of Course Antonio Gates is still with the team and may even get more looks than normal from his tight end spot, but sooner or later you’re going to need a receiver who can stretch the field to put up big fantasy points quickly.

8. Jay Cutler, Denver Broncos: Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I’m not the biggest Cutler fan, but in a Mike Martz offense the QB almost always puts up big numbers and I don’t see this year being much different. Now a couple of things to remember. Not only will a QB put up big numbers but he will also take big hits. Cutler is going to have to prove to be durable. Martz will send out four and five receivers which doesn’t leave many blockers to protect Cutler. If you’re in a league that penalizes QBs for interceptions keep in mind that Cutler will most likely have quite a few of those as well.

9. Eli Manning, New York Giants: When you think of the Giants and how they win games, you think of defense and the running game. That’s all fine and good, but the strength of this team offensively is the passing game. Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw are solid running backs, but Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, and budding superstar Hakeem Nicks could make this the Giants best passing game ever. It would represent a big philosophical change for the Giants to become a pass-first team, but sometimes you have to play to your strengths.

10. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans: I wanted to place Schaub a little higher, I really did, but a couple of things scare me about the Texans passing game. First, they still don’t have a reliable threat opposite Andre Johnson. Johnson may be an all-world receiver, but it would be nice if Jacoby Jones or Kevin Walter would step up to give opposing defenses something to think about. Secondly, we have no idea how healthy tight end Owen Daniels is going to be. Daniels was that player who gave defenses something to think about last season but he is unlikely to be at full strength at least early this season.

11. Kevin Kolb, Philadelphia Eagles: Kolb is wildcard in the rankings. He is pretty much a rookie, but did start two games last season. We all know head coach Andy Reid loves to throw the ball and that is unlikely to change this season. Could Kolb put up big numbers, yes, but unless you’re a true believer I would let someone else take that chance.

12. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens: Flacco may actually be in line for his best season yet as he will finally have a legitimate number one receiver after the Ravens traded for Anquan Boldin. Derek Mason is still around to give him a solid number two as well. That being said, this is still a run first tem with Ray Rice, and with that defense the Ravens aren’t all of a sudden going to be a pass happy team.

13. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons: Much like Flacco with Baltimore, Ryan does have the weapons to produce solid passing numbers. Roddy White is a great talent at WR and Tony Gonzalez gives Ryan a Hall of Fame tight end to throw to, but also like Flacco he plays for a run first team that will give the ball plenty to Michael Turner.

14. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions: If you’re looking for a quarterback to take as a reserve in your league with high upside, it may very well be Stafford. We all know he has Calvin Johnson to throw to, but the Lions went out and signed free agent WR Nate Burleson to give defenses something to think about opposite Megatron. The Lions also obtained tight end Tony Scheffler from Denver and traded back in the first round to draft running back Jahvid Best. Detroit is surrounding Stafford with the weapons he needs to succeed, but his offensive line may end up being his undoing.

15. Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers: Smith has gone through many ups and downs in his NFL career. The number one pick had a hard time living up to expectations and then had surgery a couple of times on his throwing shoulder. Now the good, he has been put in charge of an offense that should have little problems scoring points. Last year’s first round pick Michael Crabtree could be ready to have a great season, tight end Vernon Davis has already proven that he is a force to be reckoned with, and we all know how good a running back Frank Gore is. Put all of this together with the fact that the 49ers play in one of the weakest divisions in the NFL and you have a recipe for success.

16. Chad Henne, Miami Dolphins: Henne must have been jumping up and down when he heard that the Dolphins had acquired wide receiver Brendan Marshall from the Broncos. He now finally has a true number one receiver who won’t drop every ball thrown to him. Marshall should have a domino effect on the offense as Davone Bess, Brian Hartline, and even eight end Anthony Fasano should all have more room to roam in the secondary, but remember the Dolphins are still a run first team with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams and Marshall’s addition will allow more holes for those two to run through as well.

17. Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals: Well if you haven’t heard the news yet, let me be the first to tell you that the Bengals have signed Terrell Owens. Chad Ochocinco and TO in the same huddle, this should be extremely interesting. Problem is, Palmer doesn’t seem to have the greatest of arm strength anymore and the Bengals are still going to be a run first team with Cedric Benson. Ochocinco and TO are also up there in age, which one stretches the field? Wasn’t that what Antonio Bryant was supposed to do?

18. Donovan McNabb, Washington Redskins: I’ve always been a McNabb supporter, but going from the pass happy Eagles to the Redskins certainly hurts his fantasy value. The Redskin wide receivers are below average and we still don’t know what the result of Santana Moss’s name coming up in the Dr. Galea steroid scandal will be. Their two tight ends, Chris Cooley and Fred Davis may be their best receivers. The Redskin running game will scare no one as Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson, and Willie Parker aren’t only over the hill, but they are fall down the backside of it. The Skins have done some work as far as fixing the offensive line with the trade for Jamaal Brown and the drafting of Trent Williams but this is not enough to make this an explosive offense all of a sudden.

19. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: Normally Big Ben would be a top ten QB but his suspension for the first four games for being sub-human should eliminate him from those considerations. Four games is likely a third of your fantasy season, a quarter if you’re in a points league and that is too much to miss. Not to mention they lost their number one receiver in Santonio Holmes, and left tackle Willie Colon, pass by on Big Ben.

20. Mark Sanchez, New York Jets: At this point in your draft you’re just rolling the dice anyway, so why not go with the quarterback of a team that many are predicting great things from this season, not me, but many others. The Jets do have the running game to take the pressure off of Sanchez, but with Santonio Holmes suspended for the first four games and head coach Rex Ryan a big believer in keeping games close and winning them in the fourth quarter I’d rather go with Jason Campbell in this spot.

Tags: 2010 Fantasy Football, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Fantasy Football, FFReport.com, NFL, Peyton Manning, Quarterbacks, rankings