Fantasy football draft strategy – How to approach superflex drafts

Superflex fantasy football drafts grow in popularity by the season, as more and more leagues are transitioning into two-QB builds. 

These leagues are much different than traditional fantasy football leagues given the importance of the quarterback position and ability to start more than one, so let’s dive into the different ways that you can successfully approach a Superflex draft.

Check out our ultimate 2022 fantasy football draft strategy guide from Jeff Ratcliffe.

Superflex draft strategy – What is a superflex fantasy football league?

Superflex leagues have modernized fantasy football, inflating scoring and putting a heavy emphasis on the quarterback position.

Typically, the roster construction is the same. You start one quarterback, two running backs, two (or three) wide receivers, a tight end and a flex player. The difference is that your flex spot can be occupied by a running back, wide receiver, tight end or quarterback.

The ability to start a QB in the flex is a game-changer. In 2021, 11 of the top-17 overall scorers n PPR formats were quarterbacks and more specifically, four of the top five were QBs. In standard leagues, it’s even more QB-heavy, as the position represented 16 of the top-20 overall scorers.

Getting the opportunity to start two quarterbacks will obviously not only balloon scores, but also drastically push quarterbacks up the draft board.

When should I draft a quarterback in superflex?

With quarterbacks being such an integral part of superflex leagues, it’s important to dictate when you want to take your shot on them, as there is more than one strategy that can be considered viable.

Early-round quarterbacks to target in 2022 superflex leagues

The popular strategy in superflex leagues is to load up on quarterbacks early, typically within the first two rounds. This is contrary to traditional formats where it has become a popular strategy to wait to draft a quarterback.

Take Jeff Ratcliffe’s superflex rankings as a notion of the popularity of this strategy. There are a whopping six quarterbacks within the top-20 of his overall rankings, listed below:

On top of these six quarterbacks, four more are included in the top 40 overall. That means that quarterbacks occupy 25% of the spots among Jeff’s top-40 overall rankings. That compares to a measly 5% (two quarterbacks) in his top-40 rankings for non-superflex leagues. This leads to the first argument toward taking at least one quarterback early; you’ll miss out on the best options if you don’t. It’s as simple as that. This isn’t a format where you can hope to get an elite quarterback in the fourth round.

The second argument relates to a theme that has been stressed repeatedly at FTN and one that is apparent among the quarterbacks above: Konami code upside. Simply put, these quarterbacks provide an enormous ceiling given their ability to contribute on the ground as well as through the air, with the possible exceptions of Herbert and Mahomes (though both have flashed the ability). Three of them (Allen, Hurts, Jackson) eclipsed 100 rushing attempts, and Murray had 88 despite missing time. This upside is much harder to find later in a draft, so the best strategy is capitalizing on it early.

Middle or late-round quarterbacks to target in superflex 2022

The first disclaimer that should be made here is that the term “late-round” in terms of drafting a quarterback in superflex leagues doesn’t necessarily mean the tail-end of the draft. It’s really the middle of the draft in the Rounds 5-7 range. These are the last chances to take advantage of a two-quarterback build.

While the best route to upside is targeting early-round quarterbacks, there’s also viability in waiting until the later rounds. Per Jeff Ratcliffe’s rankings, there are still seven quarterbacks that are ranked within these rounds (through the top-70):

This list includes more QBs with the Konami code potential in Lance and Fields, as well as other young QBs with breakout potential in Tagovailoa and Lawrence. Stafford, Carr, and Cousins round out this group as solid second QBs in your two-QB build. To see more QBs you can snag in this range, check out Jeff Ratcliffe’s free fantasy football rankings for 2022.

Can you go Zero-RB in superflex leagues?

The idea of zero-RB is so popular that it may have become the official buzzword of fantasy football, but it’s a viable strategy in Superflex formats. Because you have the opportunity to use a quarterback in your flex position, that really only leaves two potential holes to fill with running backs in your lineup, as you are not likely going to be using a running back over any quarterback in your flex spot.

This already knocks their priority down, but in a league where you are prioritizing quarterbacks and trying to maximize upside, you’re much better off targeting wide receivers in the early rounds to stack with a quarterback. This doesn’t require tons of analysis, as it’s a simple understanding that the majority of the time that the ball is in the running back’s hands, it’s coming at the detriment of a quarterback (unless it was a reception). On the other hand, the vast majority of the time a ball is in a receiver’s hand, it’s a product of quarterback play and will automatically correlate.

In a traditional scoring league, this turns every receiving touchdown (typically six points) and every passing touchdown (typically four points) into a 10-point play based upon the touchdown alone. If you have the ability to stack an early-round quarterback with their number-one wide receiver, you set yourself up for success. You can also stack with WR2/3s, they just naturally carry less upside than WR1s. This comes into play when looking to pair your QB2, as it’s more than likely that their WR1 is off the board by the time you draft the QB2. A hypothetical example of a roster is below:

QB1: Patrick Mahomes
RB:
RB:
WR1: DJ Moore
WR2: 
TE: Travis Kelce
Superflex: Joe Burrow

If you set yourself up for this type of build, these four players are likely occupying four of your first five rounds at the least, with a good chance of occupying all four of your first picks, leading to a natural zero-RB approach.