The rise in popularity of fantasy leagues either allowing (SuperFlex) or requiring (2QB) the use of two starting quarterbacks is long overdue. When I started playing fantasy football a lot of years ago, I was thrown headfirst into the 2QB format and no other league I’ve played in lives up to it to this day. The majority of leagues I play in every year – RotoViz Dynasty League 2.0, ScottFishBowl and my family league – are all SuperFlex leagues, and if my student-centered Brain Lovers’ League wasn’t so large, I’d do it there too. We’re getting this piece out there nice and early ahead of the 2023 season so if you want to try it in your home leagues, there’s time to get set up and prepared.

The main trend in 2QB drafting over the last 10 years is the creeping of quarterbacks into earlier and earlier rounds. You might still be shamed in a single QB league for taking one ahead of round 6 or so, but that is one thousand percent not the case in SuperFlex or 2QB. It’s a big adjustment if you’re trying it for the first time. My disclaimer about fantasy drafting strategy is this: it’s a game, it’s mainly for fun, you should never adopt any strategy that rubs you the wrong way or will lead to season-long resentments. That said, I’m going to run through a few options and decision points for those with upcoming drafts in the SuperFlex or 2QB format (referred to as 2QB going forward).

Check out Jake Ciely’s QB rankings — and all the positions — here

Round 1

There are going to be four QBs off the board in the first round of your 2QB draft: Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow. If you want an absolute stud QB, you should be able to get one. Having one of these guys in a 2QB league has been like having LaDainian Tomlinson in an early 2000s fantasy league. Set it, forget it, and watch the fantasy points roll in. There’s always a trade-off, though…taking a QB in Round 1 means no Christian McCaffrey, no Justin Jefferson, etc. If you play in a lot of leagues and have missed out on these other positional studs, a 2QB format gives you a much better shot at drafting one of them deep in the first round. While it’s certainly nice to have that QB security, missing one of these four won’t derail your fantasy season because as the QBs move up the ranks, WRs — and especially RBs — are dropping lower and lower. My advice for the first round: take your favorite WR and wait on QB.

Round 2-4

Part of the logic in that stance is that the difference in fantasy points per game among the next 10-12 quarterbacks isn’t extreme. If you miss on a tier 1 QB in Round 1, you can make up for it by drafting two of the next group. They include:

• Justin Fields
• Lamar Jackson
• Justin Herbert
• Trevor Lawrence
• Daniel Jones
• Dak Prescott
• Kirk Cousins
• Deshaun Watson
• Geno Smith
• Aaron Rodgers
• Tua Tagovailoa

The other reason to wait is that past performance doesn’t ensure future fantasy gold. The probability that the top four QBs drafted finish as the top four fantasy producers is low. Only Buffalo’s Allen has been top four in QB fantasy scoring (FPPG) in each of the last three seasons. Everybody has their favorite players in this second-tier range and yours will depend on which round you need to pounce. Any of them could finish at the top of QB fantasy scoring come December. Since I personally have been skipping first round QBs, I’ve been targeting Lawrence, Jones and Rogers the most. This means I can usually come away with two QBs with top four upside, a top 10 RB and a top 10 WR through the first four rounds. What’s more; of this bunch, Jones, Rodgers and Smith often fall into the fifth round, enabling another top-flight WR pick early in the draft.

Rounds 5-10

I highly advise locking up two – and only two – of your quarterbacks before this stage as your every week starters. As a contributor to our weekly in-season mailbag, I can tell you there is nothing worse than deciding between two (in single QB leagues) or three (in 2QB format) equally projected players each week. Don’t put yourself in that position! You should have three QBs on your roster by the end of the draft, with non-overlapping bye weeks, but you do not want three from the second tier. Use these middle rounds to stockpile WRs and RBs instead. James Cook and Miles Sanders are two of my favorite picks but James Conner and Rachaad White are also available here. If you like, this is also the time to grab George Kittle, Kyle Pitts, Darren Waller or Dallas Goedert, but my preference is to wait on TE unless he’s a strong stacking option with a previously drafted QB. For wide receivers in these rounds, I’m taking the best player available and not worrying about stacking for the sake of stacking.

Round 11-end

Hopefully by the time your draft is held, a few starting QB jobs will be decided. That may shift ADP for certain players, but the strategy for your third QB should be the same. My third QB in a 2QB league should be able to fill in for bye weeks without disaster and take over in the event that one of my starters gets hurt or struggles mightily. San Francisco is where I’m hunting for this QB. Whether it’s Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold or even Trey Lance who gets the starting nod, that person is going to be in excellent position to succeed. No other QB has the receiving options that he will have. No other QB in this range has the defense and offensive play-calling that he will have supporting him. The next few weeks will involve intense scrutiny of all three 49ers QBs but even if you draft before the final decision is announced, it’s worth taking a stab at one or more of these guys (depending on how deep your bench is). Other late options include rookie QBs like Anthony Richardson, Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud. Your bye weeks are months away, giving these young players time to acclimate and/or move into starting roles before you need them. If you prefer to play it safer, albeit more boring, you have the Jimmy Garoppolo, Jared Goff, Derek Carr, Russell Wilson group. All of these QBs are likely to keep their starting jobs and any one of them could easily exceed ADP if things go their way.

In season

Best case scenario, your draft goes as planned and you have two healthy, solid QB starters and a reasonable fill-in for bye weeks all season long. As we all know, that is rarely the way things play out. A couple of tips for in-season management are therefore necessary.

First, make note of rosters with four quarterbacks and rosters with three quarterbacks from the same tier. These managers are most likely to be able to drop or trade their excess if you get in a bind. Having the information at the ready in the event of an injury that derails your best-case scenario allows you to act before anyone else. On the other hand, if your QB strategy worked out perfectly but others have been hit by injury, you may be able to take advantage of their misfortune by upgrading your bench with the players they had to drop to add a replacement QB. We don’t always scour the wire when things are going well for our fantasy squads, but being a bit more proactive when there is such a positional scarcity can pay off for the alert manager.

In summary, please play SuperFlex and 2QB leagues as much as is humanly possible. They are way more competitive and there are simply more ways to be successful, which equals more fun. No one strategy is right for everyone, but keeping these guidelines in mind when drafting should help you avoid any terrible pitfalls as far as team construction goes. Stay flexible and never forget that the draft is only step 1 in winning your league.

(Top photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)