There’s not much analysis involved this week regarding The Alex Smith Experiment. Sam Bradford had a solid outing versus the Jacksonville Jaguars, throwing for 222 yards and three touchdowns, which equated to 20 fantasy points for my team.
Those 20 fantasy points were 12 more than the touchdown-less Alex Smith earned in Week 5, giving me a win column in both the XN League of Champions, and my QB2 streaming experiment.
Based on match-ups alone, streaming Bradford was a simple decision, and since there’s not really much more I can add to that, I figured it might be time to talk some Alex Smith fantasy football value in 2-QB leagues for a moment.
In standard scoring fantasy leagues, Smith currently sits at QB12 on the season, ahead of names such as Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin III, Tom Brady, Cam Newton and Colin Kaepernick. If you drafted Smith, either as a QB2 or QB3, you currently find yourself with a QB1 that has outperformed his 2-QB ADP.
The main reason Smith advocators were talking him up this past fantasy football draft season, in both 1-QB and 2-QB leagues, was because of his soft fantasy schedule, and that has helped him land in the QB1 tier of fantasy quarterbacks. Smith’s schedule isn’t getting any harder, and if you own him, there’s no need to rush out and trade him, as he should continue to put up fantasy points.
However, if you were able to draft him as your team’s QB3, and are set at the position, you have to at least consider the possibility of letting him go, via trade, in order to upgrade a weakness on your team.
The construction of your 2-QB roster will play a big role in determining whether or not Smith is worth trading away, but if the price is right, parting with him could bring back a player that could contribute to your 2-QB team every week, rather than holding onto a quarterback you might not be starting each week.
It’s never easy trading away quarterbacks in 2-QB leagues, especially valuable ones, because you never know when you might need one of your surplus fantasy quarterbacks, either because of bye weeks, ineffectiveness or injuries. Only you really know if Smith is worth trading away, but you have to at least consider the possibility, and right now you can use the fact that he’s a fantasy QB1 to hype up his trade value.
Crazy things happen in 2-QB league trade scenarios, such as trading a QB2 for a RB1, and you might be shocked with what Smith could yield in a trade.
For 2-QBers in need of a fantasy quarterback, targeting Alex Smith in trades isn’t a bad option either, as their owner might be afraid that Smith has peaked, and won’t be able to continue his QB1 pace. If you believe that Smith can continue to put up respectable fantasy numbers each week, throwing out an offer for Smith would make a lot of sense.
We mentioned that his schedule is great, and that includes two match-ups versus the hapless San Diego Chargers secondary; although usual non-fantasy playoff relevant Week 17 is when one of those match-ups occurs. Take advantage of a team rostering Smith as its QB3 to pluck away an affordable QB2, at minimum,option.
As for The Alex Smith Experiment QB2 streaming decision for Week 6 in the XN League of Champions, Smith returns to the role of QB2 this week, and Bradford makes his way back to the bench. Smith has a much more favorable match-up this week versus the Oakland Raiders, while Bradford faces the Houston Texans. The Raiders (19.58 fantasy points per game) are giving up over five points more per game to opposing quarterbacks this year than the Texans (14.50). It’s another simple decision, and one that will hopefully work out for me again.
Stats used in this article from FantasyData.com and Yahoo! Fantasy Sports
