If you got a chance to read the very long recap of my recent home 12-team 2-QB league, you might still be trying to figure out exactly why so many quarterbacks went so early, and how I was able to survive.
That’s a question I ask every year, but eventually, over time, you get used to your league’s draft tendencies, and you find a way to exploit them, or just keep up.
Every 2-QB fantasy football draft and league is going to be different, and the way to approach your 2-QB league will vary, depending on factors such as league size and scoring format.
You’ve seen what happens in a very heavy 12-team 2-QB league, and I wanted to contrast that with a 12-team 2-QB league that wasn’t as quarterback crazy. I’ve been waiting a while to recap this draft, because I wanted to contrast it to my other 12-team 2-QB league.
This particular 12-team 2-QB draft was made up of other 2-QB fantasy football writers in the industry, such as @BergerTwoQBs, @LakeTwoQBs, @PGrossman31, @ChadSawyer82, and @JB4tes. While there were also 12 teams in this 2-QB league, passing touchdowns were worth 4 points, and some of the drafters didn’t subscribe to the draft a fantasy quarterback early strategy.
It was a refreshing change being in a 12-team 2-QB league where you don’t have to worry about using your first two picks on quarterbacks, and instead get to fill out the rest of your roster.
Now, I didn’t know if that would be the case or not going into the draft, but you have to be prepared for anything, and if you’re waiting to draft ninth, like I was, and, for example, if you see only two quarterbacks go, there really is no need to draft a quarterback when you’re on the clock in the first round. At least that’s what my thinking was in this particular instance. Everybody attacks 2-QB leagues differently though, so not everybody might agree with me, and that’s okay.
Even if the next three picks after my first round pick were quarterbacks, I was still going to draft the 6th best fantasy quarterback in the second round.
Well, that’s exactly what happened in this draft, with only Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees going in the first round. I passed on quarterback, and did so again in the second round, taking the risk a QB1 would fall in the third, and probably go with a QB2 streaming option, if it came down to that.
By the time my third round pick was on the clock, a total of ten quarterbacks had been drafted. That’s a far cry from the 22 quarterbacks that went in the first three rounds of my other 12-team 2-QB league. This league had a mix of different strategies when it came to the quarterback position, all of which you can see through the draft recap. I decided the third round was a good time to grab one of the remaining QB1 options, and took Colin Kaepernick. I could have waited even longer, but starting out with Spiller/Dez, in a league with no flex spot, made me feel comfortable going quarterback in the third, and then waiting until later to grab my QB2/QB3, which I did with Andy Dalton in the 6th round, and EJ Manuel in the 8th round.
When you find yourself in a 12-team 2-QB league, where the quarterbacks aren’t being drafted at a rapid pace, it allows you sit back, and fill out the other starting requirements on your roster. The more flexible you are with your quarterback rankings, the longer you can wait. In this particular league, I’m okay with Dalton as an every week QB2, and decided that the 6th round was a good place to take him, as I wouldn’t have to draft another quarterback too early, and go the streaming route. If you see a value that’s too good to pass up, being flexible will allow you to take advantage of it, rather than sticking to a prepared draft strategy for a draft you haven’t seen unfold.
Below is a round-by-round/pick-by-pick comparison of the two 12-team 2-QB drafts I was in this off-season, and it should remind you just how different every 2-QB league is. The 4 stands for the 4 points/passing touchdown draft, and the 6 stands for the 6 points/passing touchdown league:
