I recently participated in an industry Superflex dynasty mock draft with several drafters at 4for4 and Fantrax. Mock drafts are a useful exercise to help prepare you for the real thing. You can get a sense of ADP, practice different strategies, and learn what to do (and more importantly what not to do) when faced with a ticking down timer.
This draft was a 12-team, 20-player exercise that allowed one starting QB/RB/WR/TE, one Superflex position, and three flex positions. This type of setup led to many different roster constructions among our various drafters.
Instead of just going solely through my individual picks and bragging about how much I love Christian Kirk (I really do!), I thought this could be a much more prudent exercise for you (the reader), to see how some of the drafters in the industry decided to attack the quarterback position — specifically with this being a Superflex dynasty mock.
There are three main types of drafting strategies when it comes to Superflex leagues. There are drafters that select their quarterbacks early, the studs and duds method, or those that opt to wait on the position and select late round quarterbacks. We’ll check out each of these methods and see how some of these analysts used these drafting strategies en route to drafting their final rosters.
Early Round Drafting
The Superflex setup is an added wrinkle allowing you to flex an additional quarterback. Our own Armando Marsal did a fantastic introductory piece on this last week. Besides the obvious of allowing you to start two quarterbacks, there’s some strategy that goes behind when to select your quarterbacks.
The Early Round drafting method is one that I loosely define as either starting QB-QB or picking two quarterbacks in the first three rounds. It’s hard to blame anyone that wants to start their draft with Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson (like @DynastyOuthouse did). He was able to start out with that method and create a strong wide receiver corps with some quality backs.
The downside to this method is the opportunity cost associated with selecting quarterbacks this high. Scoring is naturally set up to benefit the quarterbacks. The problem is when you select quarterbacks early, you’re foregoing the hammers at the running back and wide receiver positions.
The difference last year between the QB2 and the QB12 was just 4.93 fantasy points per game, essentially a little more than a passing touchdown (four points). The difference between the RB2 and RB12 was 8.92 points — almost double the points. The point gets driven home even further when we compare further down the board. Quarterback scoring remains relatively linear while the running back and wide receiver positions have an exponential effect. The studs at the RB/WR position are studs for a reason. They consistently put up high-end fantasy points.
When you elect to skip these players in favor of starting out with two stud quarterbacks, you find yourself trying to cobble RB1 production with multiple RB2/RB3 candidates. If you hit on these RB2 candidates, you have a chance to dominate your league, but we are often far too confident in our drafting skills for what truly transpires. Just look at last year’s redraft third and fourth round backs to see how many busts came from there as evidence. Royce Freeman, Alex Collins, Jerick McKinnon, and Jay Ajayi were all fantasy disappointments with third and fourth round draft capital.
One way to mitigate this is by doing what @BallBlastEm did. She selected a top-shelf flex play in the first round (Alvin Kamara) before double-dipping at the quarterback position. Not only did she secure herself with a top-five dynasty asset, she also grabbed two stud quarterbacks in Andrew Luck (QB3) and Baker Mayfield (QB4).
Here’s how the rest of her roster played out:
Studs and Duds
The “studs and duds” method is one of my favorite ways to approach the quarterback position in Superflex leagues. It consists of taking one top shelf quarterback and then cobbling together QB2 production from some late round darts. Two drafters implemented this strategy successfully to me in @DomiNateFF and @ChrisAllenFFWX.
Nate took his first quarterback in the third round — Aaron Rodgers (QB5) — after securing a top-shelf WR1 (Davante Adams) and RB1 (Dalvin Cook). Nate set himself up well here by not only grabbing two players with top-12 potential for the long run in Adams and Cook, but he also was able to stack Rodgers and Adams to form a strong outlet for fantasy points.
Chris also selected his quarterback in the third round — Russell Wilson (QB7) — and was able to secure JuJu Smith-Schuster and Le’Veon Bell. That’s another strong starting trio to contend with right away in this league.
Both players then continued to load up at the running back, wide receiver, and tight end position before selecting their QB2’s much later. Nate took two rookies in Dwayne Haskins (QB23) and Drew Lock (QB32), and Chris drafted Derek Carr (QB29) and Eli Manning (QB37). While there is some risk associated with this drafting method — you may have to work the waiver wire or be active in trade discussions — the opportunity cost is that you have a roster filled with startable RB/WR/TE’s.
Ideally, we’d like to fill the Superflex position with a quarterback. Even a midrange QB2 from last year (Carr, QB18, 13.5 PPG) can outperform a midrange RB2 (Tevin Coleman, RB18, 10.1 PPG). Unfortunately, with this drafting method (particularly in Nate’s case), you could be stuck with two rookie quarterbacks that don’t hit the field Week 1. Remaining active in trade talks with other owners can mitigate this problem and Nate has plenty of tradable assets on his squad due to hammering home the RB/WR positions.
LRQB Method
The popular late round quarterback method is still an option in Superflex leagues, but with the position being pushed up the draft board much earlier than traditional start-one quarterback leagues, you can sometimes be caught left holding the bag. This gets exponentially worse in 14-team and 16-team leagues.
@2guysBrandon was the lone LRQB drafter in this exercise. Brandon waited until the seventh round to grab his first quarterback, Philip Rivers (QB18). He took his second quarterback two rounds later in Nick Foles (QB24) before waiting until the final rounds for some developmental dart throws. Last year’s QB18 was only 7.02 PPG below the QB2 and the QB24 was just 7.67 PPG behind. Considering all the different flex plays that Brandon was able to accrue over the course of the draft instead of reaching high for a quarterback, he should have little difficulty making up those 14 points.
Here’s how the rest of Brandon’s squad went:
My Hybrid Strategy
Each draft is different and it’s important to go into them with a fluid state of mind. If quarterbacks are going off the shelf quickly, I’d prefer to hammer the RB/WR positions early and load up with as many top playmakers as possible. I’m also a big proponent of getting players that dominate their positions. Travis Kelce wasn’t a player I intended to draft, but he was available in the early third and I felt compelled to lock up the position for the next five years with him.
My quarterback drafting was a mix of the “studs and duds” and “late round quarterback method”. I started my draft from the three-spot, selecting Saquon Barkley, Nick Chubb, Travis Kelce, and D.J. Moore before looking at the quarterback position. That’s when I went back-to-back with rushing quarterbacks in Cam Newton (QB11) and Lamar Jackson (QB15) in the fifth and sixth rounds. I’m a huge proponent of getting quarterbacks that have rushing upside and was happy to find two of the best fall into my lap. Whenever the passing game falters, these quarterbacks have their legs to fall back on and accrue fantasy points in that manner (teaser: more on this later this week).
Several rounds later, I backed up my quarterbacks with another starting option in Ben Roethlisberger (QB22). In hindsight, I likely could’ve waited on a third quarterback, but this trio allows me to play the matchups and not have to worry about the quarterback position for a couple more years when Big Ben retires.
Here’s how the rest of my squad went and the draft as a whole:
