Have you considered waiting to draft your starting quarterback in fantasy football this year but are a little worried about getting less production from the position? We often hear how deep the position is, but is there an approach that can help you feel good about exercising patience on draft day? Eric Karabell and Tristan H. Cockcroft talk through the process and offer specific QB pairings to target in order to make this strategy work.
Karabell: Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen is truly awesome, but there is really no way he should be a second-round pick in standard (non-superflex) ESPN fantasy football leagues. Honestly, I cannot make much of a case to take any of the first seven QBs based on their ESPN ADP in those spots. Quarterback remains a deep position, there is room for only one active passer, and it makes far more sense (at least to me) to load up -- and I do mean load up -- on running backs and wide receivers. You know, the typical flex options.
Your League, Your Rules
Create a league and customize league size, scoring and rules to play in the league you want to play in.
Create a league today!
OK, so we need only one active flex option, but that isn't really true. You need them all season as you move running backs and wide receivers into lineups, paying attention to their performance, bye weeks, matchups and injuries. You need to utilize that early pick on a flex option -- not Allen, and certainly not QB injury risks such as Jayden Daniels or Jaxson Dart. This hardly means we ignore quarterbacks, but drafts are about value. There is significant value on QBs later. In fact, after the first seven QBs, there is a productive group of eight QBs from which to choose!
My statistically based colleague Tristan H. Cockcroft watched my strategy as we participated in a million mock drafts (well, close to it) this spring, as I passed up the top quarterbacks, regularly became the last of the 10 drafters to secure one, and then quickly became the first to roster two quarterbacks.
Tristan felt he could improve on this approach by strategically pairing QBs based on their schedules. What are we doing here?
Cockcroft: We're essentially streaming the quarterback position by picking two in the later rounds and starting the one with the better matchup each week. If you pick the right combination of quarterbacks outside of the top tiers -- meaning beyond Round 8 -- you can make up the difference in scoring that Allen gives you with the perfect matchups pairing.