We are about at the midpoint of the 2012 NFL regular season. At this point in the year it makes sense to take a look back at which players have stood out in terms of their fantasy impact. Of course there are still a few weeks remaining before we hit the playoff stretch for fantasy football, but trends have started to gain traction and show us what to expect moving forward.
Let's take a gander at the leaders in each specific fantasy category through the initial eight weeks of the year.
Passing Yards | Player | Team | Yards | Per Game | Opp. Average Ranking |
| Drew Brees | New Orleans | 2,310 | 330.0 | 19.6 |
| Peyton Manning | Denver | 2,113 | 301.9 | 16.4 |
| Matthew Stafford | Detroit | 2,108 | 301.1 | 15.0 |
| Tom Brady | New England | 2,408 | 301.0 | 15.4 |
| Tony Romo | Dallas | 2,073 | 296.1 | 21.4 |
As you can see Stafford has played the toughest pass defenses thus far this season. He has had to go up against three solid units in the NFC West in the form of the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis Rams. Additionally, the Detroit Lions have faced both the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. All five of these teams are in the top half of the league against the pass...San Francisco ranking No. 2 overall.
Romo has been a mistake prone quarterback thus far this season. That is the primary reason that the enigmatic quarterback is no longer a real QB1 option. While he is in the top five in passing yards, Romo hasn't exactly gone up against the best pass defenses the NFL has to offer. The Dallas Cowboys have faced four teams currently in the bottom 10 in the NFL against the pass. For those who have faith in Romo as a QB1 option, he won't be facing stiff competition moving forward either. Dallas still has the New Orleans Saints andWashington Redskins (twice) on its schedule..Both teams rank in the bottom three against the pass, Washington is dead last.
Meanwhile, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have both faced some really difficult pass defenses thus far this season. The good news is that those two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks will be going up against relatively lackluster units for the remainder of the season. Denver still has six games against opponents currently in the bottom half against the pass. Brady and company have five games against like opponents.
Remaining Schedule | Player | Opponent Ranking |
| Peyton Manning | 19.3 |
| Tony Romo | 19.3 |
| Tom Brady | 14.9 |
| Drew Brees | 14.6 |
| Matthew Stafford | 13.0 |
As you can see in the graph above, Manning and Romo have the easiest remaining schedules as they related to opposing pass defenses, while Stafford easily has the most difficult. Anyone who was contemplating Stafford as a top-tier QB1 option moving forward after his performance last week might want to take notice here. There will be times where your backup quarterback, depending on who he is, might actually be a better start than Stafford.
Manning is a must start each week, but trends seem to indicate that Romo will be a solid QB1 option as the season progresses. After all, Dallas goes up against the worst pass defense (Washington) twice in its final nine games.