David Gonos, fantasy writer for Sports Illustrated and Managing Editor for SKYLLZONE, asked a number of fantasy writers and analysts to pitch in on his ‘101 Fantasy Football Tips’ ebook. I was one of the lucky ones asked to contribute. Below you can find my chapter from the book. If you want to learn more about the ebook or to purchase it head over to Gonos’ website.
Want to spice up your standard non-PPR Fantasy Football experience? Play in a 2-QB Fantasy Football league. The premise of 2-QB leagues is simple: start two quarterbacks, instead of the usual one.
While going from starting one quarterback to having to start two of them each week might seem like a simple league setting tweak, it’s much more than that. The way you think about the quarterback position changes entirely, with no greater impact felt than on Draft Day.
Take a 12-team, non-PPR, 2-QB league for example. In a 1-QB league, you might be of the mindset you have to spend an early round pick on an elite quarterback, no matter what. Or you might be a fan of the late-round quarterback strategy, where you wait to take a quarterback later in order to maximize the value of the rest of your team. Either way, there’s not a whole lot of draft strategy involved.
That’s not the case with 2-QB Fantasy Football leagues. Not by a long shot …
How you approach drafting in 2-QB leagues will vary. Some owners are afraid they’ll miss out on a top Fantasy signal caller and won’t budge from their stance of having to draft a quarterback in the first round. Some even double down and go QB-QB to start, thinking the advantage of having two stud quarterbacks will lead them to Fantasy Football glory. RB-RB enthusiasts are most likely rolling their eyes reading that last sentence. Drafting back-to-back quarterbacks with your first two picks? Blasphemy!
If QB-QB isn’t for you, that’s okay. It’s just one way to attack 2-QB drafts. Another strategy involves drafting a quarterback within your first few picks and then waiting to get your QB2. This allows you to balance your team with a top QB1 and an elite player at another position.
If you can’t shake the late-round QB strategy, you can skip quarterback entirely for the early portion of your draft, hoping to land a couple (maybe three) QB2s in the mid-to-late rounds. The advantage of this strategy is filling your team with studs at other important positions. It sounds crazy, but waiting to draft your quarterback duo, while the rest of the league poaches all the quarterbacks, means you might wind up with a Jamaal Charles/Matt Forte duo. Crazy? Yes. Possible? Yes, again. Of course, this could lead to a QB1/QB2 duo of Josh McCown and Geno Smith. Be careful.
Unlike 1-QB leagues, where every owner is virtually guaranteed a bona fide starting Fantasy quarterback, that’s not how it works in 2-QB leagues. Teams will draft a QB3 to shore up bye weeks or to use as trade bait to quarterback-needy teams. Beware this strategy or you might find yourself searching for a QB2 while another team has locked up their QB3. Fall into this trap and all of a sudden you’re trading away DeSean Jackson for Alex Smith. A trade scenario almost unheard of in 1-QB leagues.
Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of 2-QB leagues and the different ways quarterbacks are drafted. If you’ve never played in a 2-QB league before, why not give it a try? You might find yourself enjoying the refreshing change of the various quarterback draft strategies 2-QB leagues have to offer.
