Two-Quarterback Leagues: The Two-QB Experience
Over the years, fantasy owners have looked for new ways to spice up their stagnant leagues, and as a result, non-traditional formats have sprung up everywhere. Leagues have stagnated in part, because now we all draft quarterbacks the same way — late. Fantasy leagues are now dominated by the late-round quarterback mantra. With most fantasy players waiting until the final rounds to draft their quarterbacks, strategy for drafting the position has been thrown out the window. Where’s the fun in that?
Enter 2QB (and Superflex) fantasy football leagues. For the unfamiliar, 2QB leagues require two starting quarterbacks in your lineup. It’s a simple change on the surface, but there are a myriad of differences between 2QB and start-one quarterback leagues. Each fantasy season, more and more players dip their toes in the 2QB waters because they’re tired of the most important position in fantasy becoming devalued. We at TwoQBs noticed this trend, and it’s the reason we started a site dedicated to 2QB formats. Thanks to Rotoworld for giving us this platform to discuss 2QB leagues and provide you with the information necessary to try a 2QB league, if you’re so inclined.
Editor’s Note: For updated rankings, projections, player profiles, positional tiers, mock drafts, sleepers and busts, exclusive columns and plenty more, check out our Draft Guide!
Draft Strategy and ADP Differences Between 1QB & 2QB Leagues
A two-quarterback draft looks nothing like what you have seen before. Quarterbacks are on the loose, and owners feel compelled to catch them all. Drafters will stampede in their quest, willing to trample anyone and anything to make sure they get two good quarterbacks. You may see your competitors draft mediocre quarterbacks ahead of reliable wide receivers, controlled by their fear, driven by the runs on the position.
If you have not drafted in many 2QB leagues, that frenetic pace of quarterback drafting may catch you unprepared. Depending on the experience level of your competition, quarterbacks may fill the first few rounds of your draft, and they will likely be drafted early and often.
Because of the unique value placed on quarterbacks in 2QB leagues, you will do well to add an extra level of preparation before your drafts. We recommend creating a gameplan for the quarterback position. For each draft, know how deep into the quarterback rankings you are comfortable waiting, and exercise patience in executing your plan.
In this section, we want to give you an idea of what to expect. The 2QB data we use below is collected from four years of mock drafts, all of which we filled with real people. None of the data is generated by a program, simulation, or computer. This ADP shows where real humans think quarterbacks should be drafted in a 2QB league, and in that sense it provides a reasonable baseline for what you can expect in your own 2QB draft.
The 12th quarterback is typically drafted around pick 100 in traditional 1QB leagues. In 2QB leagues, however, that number is nearly cut in half. Twelve quarterbacks are gone, on average, after 58 picks. In a 12-team league, that means the entire QB1 tier is gone by the end of the fifth round, instead of the eighth or ninth round of a typical 1QB league.
Many 2QB owners report quarterbacks going even earlier than that in their home leagues, and our data shows that has been true over the last four years. If we average our ADP since 2013, the top-12 QBs have been gone by pick 89 in 1QB leagues and pick 43 in 2QB leagues.
We expect 2016 is the start of a new era of waiting to draft quarterbacks, but must admit our current data is heavily based on the experienced players who have been drafting fantasy teams in the early summer. As August approaches and brings in the more casual crowd, we may see QB ADP rise, pushing it closer to the historical average. That would mean the top-12 quarterbacks could be gone by the end of the fourth round.
But in a 2QB league, your work is far from done at that point; drafting your first quarterback is only the start. You then need a plan for how to fill your second QB position. The QB2 tier, QBs 13-24, are all drafted in the first 100 picks this year, the range where QB12 typically goes in a traditional 1QB league.
That data suggests you need to be ready to draft a second quarterback by the end of the eighth round of your 2QB draft, unless you feel comfortable waiting and streaming players out of the QB3 tier.
Sal Stefanile has written that quarterback drafting breaks down into three dominant strategies: Studs & Streaming, Early-Round QB and Late-Round QB. The last two are pretty well defined by their name: You either hammer the position early or wait and pick up the last girl left at the bar. Studs and streaming, however, relies on a combination approach. You grab one reliable, high-end option early in the draft, then swing back around later to scoop up whatever is left. For deeper discussion of those approaches, along with their pros and cons, check out this link for an in-depth look at 2QB draft strategies.
At the end of the day, pick your own strategy and stick with it. Draft quarterbacks how you want and trust your plan. But have a plan. Go into your 2QB draft with a knowledge of typical QB prices, and know where you want to target the position.
