That opening mantra does not apply to fantasy football, where the draft strategy for quarterbacks often leaves them as afterthoughts rather than at the top of anyone’s cheat sheets.
2016 fantasy football rankings:Quarterbacks | Running backs | Receivers | Tight Ends | Defense
Everyone loves the diva wide receivers now, selecting them early and often. Heck, fantasy football analysts even love the “Zero RB” theory, which prescribes drafters to avoid running backs in the early rounds. That doesn’t mean those analysts suggest you should be picking your quarterback. It’s still all about the wideouts.
Fickle folks, those fantasy scribes, hating on the running backs and quarterbacks. Honestly, they’re getting sucked in by the divas.
The prevailing strategy of picking quarterbacks by most analysts is to wait, wait and wait some more – not unlike how we painfully watch an indecisive Ryan Tannehill befuddled, bewildered and be sacked at a league-leading rate every year.
But we submit to you here – as we open our series on positional draft strategies– there is more than one way to skin your quarterbacks, cats. We present five unique and potentially successful strategies to drafting your highest-scoring player.
Yes, that is too often forgotten in fantasy circles. The quarterback is going to be consistently be your highest-scoring player on your roster. You better get it right.
Who are the top fantasy football quarterbacks?
QB strategy No. 1: Get a sure-fire stud.
Here is the anti-analyst strategic approach. After all, no one seems to be suggesting you need an elite passer to win your league’s fantasy championship.
But you do need one. The question is which one. It was Cam Newton a year ago; Aaron Rodgers, just about any year; and Drew Brees of years gone by.
Sure, you can try to luck out in the latter rounds with a lower-tier passer, but having a quarterback who is a threat for 300 yards and three touchdowns every week is a huge advantage. It doesn’t matter how your team racks up points as long as you tally more than your opponent. The quarterback position can help you minimize some early-round risk.
Again, your quarterback is going to outscore everyone on your roster in most weeks.
And, the best news of all, is you don’t have to burn a first-round pick on the position to get an elite one because all of fantasy is so gun-shy with picking a quarterback early. Double bonus!
Tier 1:
- Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers (jump on as early as Round 2) 2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers (Round 3) 3. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts (Round 4) 4. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks (Round 5)
Note: All of the above do statistical damage rushing for yards and touchdowns to boot.
Dominate your draft: Get Fantasy Alarm’s Draft Guide! | SN cheat sheet
2016 fantasy football QB rankings: Who’s in Tier 2?
QB strategy No. 2: Get two middle guys and play matchups.
Hey, have you heard how quarterbacks score the most fantasy points? Well, there are very few who consistently do. The stud QB tier is about it.
That means if you miss out there, you are going to be wishing you had a solid quarterback in a favorable matchup. You know, a matchup like the New Orleans Saints secondary which gave up a league-high 45 passing touchdowns last season.
Starting a quarterback against New Orleans last year made you a successful fantasy owner every week. The Saints gave up a fantasy-leading 28.6 points per game to opposing quarterbacks, per FFToday.com. Eli Manning, annually a borderline fantasy starting quarterback, went for 350 yards and six TDs against them. Rookie Marcus Mariota followed that with a career day (374-4). Then Kirk Cousins, undrafted in many fantasy leagues, kicked them while they were down with 324-4.
Conversely, Newton, Rodgers, Luck and Wilson might be the lone quarterbacks who are immune to a tough matchup. They are the only “set-it-and-forget-it” passers in fantasy.
If you’re dipping into the next tier of quarterbacks, you will want to draft a high-ceiling backup. You should be among the first drafters to select a second quarterback.
Tier 2:
- Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers 6. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints 7. Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars 8. Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals 9. Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders 10. Eli Manning, New York Giants 11. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers 12. Tom Brady, New England Patriots*
If you’re using this strategy, you can follow the fantasy analyst herd of sheep and wait a long time to pick your first quarterback. Select one of these guys in Round 8 or so, but you would be best served firing back with another one shortly thereafter, if possible.
*If you’re picking Brady among the top 12 fantasy starters and resigned to stashing him as he is serving his four-game DeflateGate suspension, then go with Philip Rivers as his handcuff instead of Pats likely starter Jimmy Garoppolo. Rivers has some pass-friendly opponents out of the gate (Jaguars, Colts and those Saints in Weeks 2-4).
SLEEPERS: One from each team | 14 RBs | 7 QBs | 12 WRs | 9 TEs
2016 fantasy football quarterback sleepers
QB strategy No. 3: Wait for the leftovers.
This strategy is one too many fantasy analysts hype, quite frankly. But roller coasters are popular at amusement parks for millions for a reason, we suppose.
When you wait for the leftovers, you get what you pay for: A rickety roller-coaster ride at fantasy’s highest-scoring position. It’s not where we want you to be after your draft.
It doesn’t have to be all bad, though. There are some quarterbacks who have emerged from this tier to be pleasant surprises. Palmer (4,671 yards, 35 TDs) and Bortles (4,428-35) came from these depths last year to be top-five fantasy starting quarterbacks.
They are more of the exceptions than the rule, though. Critics will say it happens every year, but you cannot be quite sure who might be the late-round gem. If you’re the gambling type and get shut out of the top guys above…
Tier 3:
13. Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills 14. Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins 15. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions 16. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals 17. Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18. Marcus Mariota, Tennessee Titans 19. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
QB strategy No. 4: Be last to draft a QB / Use waiver wire.
Three of the last four names in that top 20 are perhaps the most intriguing, high-ceiling sleepers that might be available to you with this approach.
Winston has a trio of 6-5 targets in Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson and TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Ryan has the incomparable Julio Jones, and Mariota has the legs, not to mention the Bortles ’15 formula of a non-contender expected to play a lot of loose games that can pad the fantasy stats.
In most one-quarterback fantasy formats, only about 18 passers should get drafted. Fantasy owners can use the waiver wire as an extension of their bench. If you like to play the matchups and want the scrub quarterback against the easy-pickin’s secondary flavor of the week, you can go out and get it without much challenge.
After all, everyone has their quarterback of choice and won’t fight you for these final set of guys.
The trick here is being savvy with your early-week analysis of next week’s matchups. Winning with this strategy is incredibly tough to pull off, but it does afford you some roster flexibility. Change your quarterback as often as a fantasy nerd changes their underwear.
Tier 4:
- Ryan Fitzpatrick, New York Jets 21. Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins 22. Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears 23. Brock Osweiler, Houston Texans 24. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens 25. Blaine Gabbert, San Francisco 49ers 26. Robert Griffin III, Cleveland Browns 27. Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs 28. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys 29. Trevor Siemian, Denver Broncos 30. Sam Bradford, Minnesota Vikings 31. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles 32. Case Keenum, Los Angeles Rams
MORE DRAFT STRATEGY AND TIERS:Quarterbacks | Running backs | Wide receivers | Tight ends | D/STs | PPR leagues
More quarterback draft strategy
QB strategy No. 5: Focus on multivariate weaponry.
This one isn’t a “How-To” pick your quarterback strategy as much as a “Who-To”. You should target a quarterback who shares the wealth better than the next guy.
NFL defensive coordinators are some of the smartest football people on the planet. They know how to take away a team’s primary weapon on any given Sunday. The best fantasy quarterbacks are the ones that cannot be stopped by taking away the first – or even the second and third – options.
It is why Brady has been so darn consistent over the years. Take away Rob Gronkowkski, no sweat. He will burn you with Julian Edelman or throw to his running backs.
This isn’t rocket science. It’s fantasy football. The numbers for quarterbacks are tied to the targets.
When a wide receiver frustrates you by going off the board early in Round 1—like so many will in this newfangled “Zero RB” fantasy world we now live in—score a piece of his elite production multiple rounds later at a fraction of the cost by targeting his quarterback.
The NFL is a quarterback league, even if fantasy isn’t buying it on draft day.
