Not only did Drew Brees become the first player to have two 5,000-yard seasons, but this time he broke Dan Marino's previous single-season record of 5,084 passing yards.

In fact, he shattered it.

The Saints quarterback threw for 5,476 yards last season as he broke the record with a game to spare. In addition, Brees broke a number of other records this year including completions (468), completion percentage (71.2 percent) and 300-yard games (13).

In his two postseason games this year, Brees threw the second- and third-most yards ever in a playoff game after Cleveland's Bernie Kosar. Brees, who was designated with the franchise tag this offseason, completed 73 of 106 passes for 928 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions in those two games.

If you include the playoffs, Brees threw for 6,404 yards, 53 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 18 games this year.

While Brees (the AP Offensive Player of the Year) was the most prolific quarterback this season, Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers (the league MVP) was the most efficient.

Although 15 quarterbacks threw more pass attempts than Rodgers (502), no quarterback had more fantasy points. Rodgers set the NFL record for passer rating (122.5) and broke the franchise record for passing touchdowns (45) while throwing a career low of six interceptions as a starter.

Here are some more notes on quarterbacks:

- As Rodgers sat out, Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn set the franchise record with 480 passing yards and six touchdowns against the Lions in the regular-season finale. While there was some speculation that Flynn would follow Joe Philbin, his former offensive coordinator, to Miami, but Instead Flynn signed with the Seahawks.

- Brees wasn't the only 5,000-yard passer last season. New England's Tom Brady (5,235) and Detroit's Matthew Stafford (5,038) both reached the 5,000-yard milestone and New York's Eli Manning, Super Bowl XLVI MVP, just missed it by 67 yards.

- After playing only 13 games in his first two seasons, Stafford played a full 16-game season, was named AP Comeback Player of the Year and led the Lions to their first playoff appearance since the 1999 season. Stafford threw a league-high 663 times, which is the third-highest in league history after Drew Bledsoe (691 in 1994) and Peyton Manning (679 in 2010).

- While Peyton Manning missed the entire season with his neck injury, all indications are that he will be ready to be under center in Week 1 as he begins the next era of his career in the Mile High City. With the transition from Tebow to Manning, the Broncos will obviously become a much better passing offense, which really boosts the fantasy value of their receivers: Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, etc.

- Although he did not become the team's starting quarterback until Week 7, Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow had the second-most rush attempts (122) and rushing yards (660) at the quarterback position this year. Counting his two postseason starts, however, Tebow threw for 200-plus yards only three times and had less than 100 passing yards in two starts and he will now back up Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, who quietly tied Tebow for second among quarterbacks in rushing touchdowns (six) last season. With the presence of Tebow, however, Sanchez will likely lose out on most of those touchdown runs, lose a few passing snaps and could face some fan unrest seeking a change if he struggles.

- Panthers quarterback Cam Newton had a record-setting rookie campaign and ran away with the Offensive Rookie of the Year award (see past winners). Not only did Newton break the record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (14), he became the first player in NFL history to throw for 4,000-plus yards (4,051) and run for 700-plus yards (706) in the same season.

- Similar to Newton as a dual-threat quarterback, Philadelpia's Michael Vick had a disappointing season. Not only did Vick miss three games and fail to reach 4,000 total yards (3,303 passing yards and 589 rushing yards), but he ran for only one touchdown. In 2010, Vick ran for nine touchdowns. With his size and style of play, Vick will always have a higher-than-average risk of injury (missing games), but fantasy owners have the potential to reap huge returns on a per-game basis considering his much lower fantasy draft status in 2012.

- Tampa's Josh Freeman regressed considerably in his third season. After posting a 25:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 2010, Freeman threw only 16 touchdowns and a league-worst 22 interceptions. The good news for Freeman is the Bucs added a playmaker (Vincent Jackson) and protection (guard Carl Nicks) via free agency this offseason.

- Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, the No. 1 overall pick in 2010, missed six games last year, but he struggled when he was on the field. Bradford's completion percentage dropped from 60.0 percent in 2010 to 53.5 percent in 2011 and he threw only six touchdowns in the 10 games he played last year. While the Rams lost Brandon Lloyd via free agency, many mock drafts (including mine) have the Rams taking Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon, the back-to-back Biletnikoff winner.

- Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan threw a few less passes in 2011 (566) than he did in 2010 (571), but he set career highs in passing yards (4,177) and touchdowns (29). Although Ryan threw more interceptions last year than in 2010, he had a 20:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio after the bye and it's expected that the Falcons will transition to becoming more of a passing offense.

Here are our 2012 fantasy football quarterback rankings:

1. Aaron Rodgers, Packers

2. Drew Brees, Saints

3. Tom Brady, Patriots

4. Cam Newton, Panthers

5. Matthew Stafford, Lions

6. Tony Romo, Cowboys

7. Eli Manning, Giants

8. Peyton Manning, Broncos

9. Philip Rivers, Chargers

10. Michael Vick, Eagles

11. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers

12. Matt Schaub, Texans

13. Matt Ryan, Falcons

14. Jay Cutler, Bears

15. Andy Dalton, Bengals

16. Josh Freeman, Buccaneers

17. Joe Flacco, Ravens

18. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bills

19. Matt Flynn, Seahawks

20. Carson Palmer, Raiders

21. Matt Cassel, Chiefs

22. Matt Moore, Dolphins

23. Alex Smith, 49ers

24. Sam Bradford, Rams

25. Mark Sanchez, Jets

Note: We excluded rookies from our rankings, but we will include them after the 2012 NFL Draft in April.

More 2012 Rankings: RBs - WRs - TEs

2012 NFL Mock Drafts: Kevin Hanson - Brendan Donahue - Our Mock Draft Database

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