The quarterback may be the anchor of the offense on the field, but in our fantasy world, they wield much less power.

The problem isn’t scoring – QBs normally average more fantasy points than those at other positions. The difference is the ripple effect taking a QB causes across your roster. By using a first or second-round pick on a QB, you weaken several other positions without a justifiable gain. Take a look: Peyton Manning is a first-round pick in almost every draft for the past several seasons. Last year he averaged nearly 22 points. So you take Manning with the seventh pick in the first round. Now you have to take a RB in the second round. So rather than maybe grabbing Steve Smith or Chad Johnson or Marvin Harrison, you take Wilis McGahee with the 14th pick.

And on and on …

Here’s an example of a roster that addresses QB early:

QB – Peyton Manning

RB1 – Cedric Benson

RB2 – Marshawn Lynch

RB/WR – Jerious Norwood

WR1 – Marvin Harrison

WR2 – Reggie Brown

TE – Chris Cooley

DEF – Patriots

PK – Matt Stover

Bench: Deion Branch, Warrick Dunn, Jerry Porter, Chris Henry, Joe Horn, Wes Welker, Alex Smith

It’s not a bad team, and it has the Peyton-Harrison connection. But it’s terribly risky at RB (a rookie and a guy who’s never been the feature RB). Norwood is in a split backfield, so we have Dunn as a handicapp, but likelihood is the platoon devalues both. Brown is a weak WR2 with a decent upside. Our bench is awful. If everyone is healthy, we stand a chance, except in Week 6, when three of our starters – inclouding our top two picks – have a bye week.

Here’s a team waited until the middle round to target a QB:

QB – Jon Kitna

RB1 – Steven Jackson

RB2 – Travis Henry

RB/WR – Hines Ward

WR1 – Torry Holt

WR2 – Roy Wiliams

TE – Antonio Gates

DEF – Cowboys

PK – John Kasay

Bench: Darrell Jackson, Reggie Brown, Brandon Jackson, Jay Cutler, Chris Henry, Joe Horn, Eagles

Much better team across the board. Henry at RB2 is better than Team A’s RB1 (Benson). Our WRs a better and deeper, and by we were able to use an earlier pick to snag Gates at TE. It was the selection of Gates that weakened the backup RBs position on this team.

Now, on with our rankings.

* – low value pick in round projected.

@ – high value pick in round projected

1. Peyton Manning (Ind) 1 *

2. Carson Palmer (Cin) 2

3. Tom Brady (NE) 2-3

4. Drew Brees (NOr) 2-3

5. Marc Bulger (StL) 4-5

6. Jon Kitna (Det) 7 @

7. Donovan McNabb (Phi) 5 *

8. Matt Hasselbeck (Sea) 6-7

9. Vince Young (Ten) 7

10. Tony Romo (Dal) 7-8

11. Matt Leinart (Ari) 10 @

12. Jay Cutler (Den) 12 @

13. Brett Favre (GB) 12

14. Eli Manning (NYG) 11

15. Philip Rivers (SD) 7-8 *

16. Jake Delhomme (Car) 12

17. J.P. Losman (Buf) 13 @

18. Alex Smith (SF) 12

19. C. Pennington (NYJ) 13 @

20. B. Roethlisberger(Pit) 11 *

dloftis@nypost.com