Fantasy Football Strategy: Roster Construction-Based Rankings QB Edition

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Michael Wenrich @mpw270

June 11, 2019

Quarterbacks are the lifeblood of the NFL, and there is no doubt their importance to their respective teams. In fantasy football, the QB draft strategy is one of the most commonly discussed topics. Whether you are a believer in drafting one of the top QBs, looking for value in the mid-rounds or play the weekly streaming game, identifying when to draft your QB is always a game of cat-and-mouse with your league.

For the QB edition of the Roster Construction-Based Ranking Series, I’m going to focus on a few draft strategies and how they would look applied to this process. If you haven’t read the Introduction, RB, orWR editions, please do so first as I will not be explaining the process here, just the application.

Applying the roster construction-based rankings plan is a great way to visualize the roster building process in real-time, allowing you to make better-informed draft decisions based on your core positions and your desired QB plan. As with the other positions, there are a variety of draft strategies used across fantasy leagues.

For this section, I’ve broken QBs down into four groupings. You can adjust this however you see fit. My personal breakdown is QB1, Acceptable Options, Worst Case Scenario, and Do Not Draft. QB1 is the players I’m targeting to fill my solo QB spot. In most leagues, I do not advocate drafting a “back-up” QB, as most 10-12 team leagues only roster 18-20 QBs, leaving you plenty of options for your bye week or injury replacement. Typically, drafting a second QB is occupying a valuable roster spot for a player you have no intention of ever starting over your primary option. In all 1-QB leagues, you’re much better served to roster an RB or WR than a second QB. To learn more about the pros and cons of the various QB draft strategies, check out Kyle Borgognoni’s 5 Ways to Draft QBs.

Top QB Draft Strategy

While the majority of fantasy sites recommend the late-round QB strategy, there are still plenty of owners who wish to acquire one of the top QBs available in the draft. In this strategy, the owners draft list will be short. Maybe only two or three QBs will show up on their draft list. Owners using this plan should still list out other QBs in case the draft does not go as planned. Here is a sample of what this plan might look like for an owner that only wants to acquire a top QB.

Mid-Round QB

I’m not here to try and talk you out of a draft plan, only to share the way you can implement your plan. A mid-round QB plan is typically looking to acquire a QB ranked inside the top 10-12, who will likely carry an average draft position (ADP) in the 6^th-9^thround.

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Late-Round QB/Streaming QB

Now we’re getting into the most talked about QB draft strategy. The draft concept is to draft your QB as late as possible while still acquiring a full-time starter. With QBs like Tom Brady in the late teens’ Matthew Stafford being ranked in the 20s, there is a good chance you’re still able to draft a solid QB in the final rounds of your draft.

Superflex and Two QB Leagues

Where the one QB league formats are not very exciting using the roster construction-based process, applying it to a Superflex or Two-QB league really makes it come to life. There are many different ways to draft QBs in a Superflex or Two QB league. If you want to learn more about some of the draft strategies shown out below, please read my article 4 Ways to Draft QBs in a Superflex League. Below I will showcase a roster construction-based ranking layout for each of those strategies.

Two Stud QBs

One Stud, One Middle Tier

Two Middle Tier QBs

Streaming QBs

In the final two installments of this series, I’m going to guide you through putting all the positions together for a couple of different draft plans, and then guide through a mock draft using roster construction-based rankings to show how it can improve your draft day experience and make your team the best it can be!