2022 Scott Fish Bowl Draft Strategies

The Scott Fish Bowl 12 — or #SFB12 on Twitter — has arrived. This is the largest, most popular redraft fantasy football contest in the world. Fantasy analysts and fans are grouped up to duke it out over the course of the season.

And all proceeds go to charity. Shout out to the legend Scott Fish.

One of the most amazing things about this contest is that, while you’re playing in a traditional 12-team league for the first 11 weeks of the season, you’re actually playing against thousands of others when you zoom out. First you have to win your 12-team league — but then you’re matched up against all of the other league-winners (and high point-scorers) for the playoffs. 

Given that this is actually a large-field tournament, you’re going to see many, many different strategies play out. This article will spell out 4 popular strategies you’ll see (though there’s bound to be many more). See which one sounds most fun to you!

Key things to remember:

• SFB12 is a superflex league (you can start 2 QBs)
• Premium scoring for TEs (extra 0.5 points per reception and first down)
• Players also get additional points for things like first downs and passes completed
• Drafting is “third-round reversal,” which means the player who picks first overall picks again at 2.12, but instead of picking at 3.01 like normal, they have to wait until 3.12 to make their third selection. Then the rest of the draft continues like a normal snake (they pick 4.01, 5.12, 6.01, etc.)
• Our own Jeremy Popielarz wrote up how to adjust for the settings.

Let’s take a look at some of the key approaches for this year’s draft.

Strategy 1: Start QB-QB

SFB is a superflex league in which QBs also get 6 points per TD (up from the standard 4) and 0.5 points per completion. This means QBs are going to absolutely fly off draft boards.

Most teams will have at least 1 QB after the first two rounds are completed. One strategy you’ll see people use is to go QB-QB to start the draft.

If you’re in the tail end of the first round and go with this strategy, you might end up with a Tom Brady–Matthew Stafford stack. If you’re drafting early in the first round, you might end up with Patrick Mahomes and Trey Lance or Josh Allen and Kirk Cousins.

If you go QB-QB to start your draft, you’ll want to prioritizing stacking. That’s because the strength of your team is now in the QBs, so make sure you’re putting your eggs in that basket. You should not be looking to hedge in a tournament with tousands of contestants.

Stacks are always nice in the Scott Fish Bowl. They become even more important when you start QB-QB.

Strategy 2: Zero RB

I’m talking about true, rugged Zero RB. Not Hero RB — You will see some teams wait until the double-digit rounds to draft their first RB. 

This strategy is not for the faint of heart — hence the rising popularity of “Hero RB,” in which you draft one excellent RB and then wait awhile to draft your next.

If you roll with a hardcore Zero RB strategy, you’ll want to target player like Tony Pollard, Cordarrelle Patterson, Rashaad Penny, Melvin Gordon, Alexander Mattison, Rhamondre Stevenson and Darrell Henderson in the later rounds. 

Of course, the cutoff for “Zero RB” means something different to everyone. Maybe you wait until Round 5 to draft your first RB and scoop up someone like James Conner, Travis Etienne or a discounted Alvin Kamara.

Strategy 3: Bully TE

I would not expect too many people to employ this strategy, but it’s absolutely on the table.

“Bully TE” means drafting not one but two or maybe even three highly rated TEs. In the Scott Fish Bowl, you can start multiple TEs, and the allure of this strategy is that A) TEs get premium scoring and B) it’s a scare position, so by eating up the elite options, you’re hurting your leaguemate’s potential at the position.

An example of this would be from the 1.01 position, where a player starts Josh Allen–Trey Lance at 1.01 and 2.12, and then scoops up George Kittle and Darren Waller at 3.12 and 4.01. Maybe they even draft someone like Dalton Schultz at 5.12.

Strategy 4: Heavy RB

In most drafts, QBs will be coming off the board often, and a lot of WRs will follow suit as players look to hit their stacks, and TEs will go much earlier than usual given the premium TE scoring.

As a result, you’ll see some fantasy RB1s falling into Round 4 or even Round 5 sometimes. So a “zig while they zag” strategy could be to go RB-heavy.

If you do this, your draft might start Christian McCaffrey, Najee Harris, D’Andre Swift and Leonard Fournette.

Sounds tantalizing.

Just remember, your QBs might end up being Mac Jones and Ryan Tannehill or Daniel Jones if you roll with this strategy. But if you can hit on late QBs, this strategy could take your team through the roof.