This article is part of our NFL Observations series.
One of my recurring arguments about fantasy football is that the most common way to play the game gets the most important position on the field wrong. I get that there's only one quarterback on the field at a given time for 99% of the plays in a game, but that doesn't mean that our 10-12 team leagues need only start one quarterback. Doing so naturally devalues the position such that a quarter to a third of the league's starting QBs go undrafted, meanwhile we seek out third-string running backs and fourth/fifth receivers to the deep ends of our rosters. The Cleveland Browns by most accounts are expected to be a very good team this year - it should follow that their starting quarterback is at least rostered, right? But Baker Mayfield goes undrafted in many if not most 10-team leagues, and even in some 12-team leagues.
Playing in Superflex leagues addresses that, and the connected draft values for the elite quarterbacks in the league. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy using the wait-on-the-quarterbacks strategy in most common draft formats, but it's refreshing to play in a Superflex leagues where one can (and usually must) start two QBs. That's why the FLEX (Fantasy League of Experts) Superflex draft was my first choice among the available formats being rolled out by Jake Ciely from The Athletic. This is a 12-team, .5 PPR league with a Superflex spot, three receivers, and an additional flex spot. I drafted from the fifth spot in a standard snake draft format. Here are the full results, followed by a quick discussion of my picks.
1.5 Ezekiel Elliott - My plan going into the draft was to grab one stud running back early, and then get two QBs and two elite WRs in the first five rounds, with the possibility of going with three wideouts in the first five should the opportunity arise. I've seen other Superflex leagues where three QBs go in the top five picks, so I was hoping that maybe Dalvin Cook would fall to five. I opted for Zeke over Alvin Kamara because it's only a .5 PPR league. It was a gamble to see whether I'd get the QB that I want in the second round.
2.8 Justin Herbert - As far as I'm concerned, the gamble was rewarded. Herbert is firmly in the top tier for me, ahead of Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, and maybe even ahead of Dak Prescott. The Chargers upgraded their offensive line in a big way this offseason, and Herbert is the one that will benefit from that.
3.5 DK Metcalf, 4.8 A.J. Brown - Typically I hope to get just one of these two wideouts, to get both sent me over the moon. Of course, something always has to give in Superflex leagues. In both this league and my Scott Fish Bowl League, it was the wide receivers that gave, as Metcalf and Brown were the fourth and 10th receivers respectively in this draft.
5.5 Trevor Lawrence - Lawrence to me was the last of his tier of quarterbacks, though one might argue that Trey Lance now belongs there. Nonetheless, I felt lucky to get him there given the run on QBs. Getting a second QB there comes at a cost, however, as I pushed back my second RB slot. It's debatable that I could/should have waited on my second QB, and instead taken D'Andre Swift instead, as Chris Harris (HarrisFootball) did later in the round.
6.8 Diontae Johnson - I'm not that concerned about Johnson's drops last season. Typically that can happen with a young wideout and he recovers from that. Give me the guy that actually gets open and demands a lot of targets in the first place.
7.5 Travis Etienne - Yeah, obviously this draft happened last week. Pretty devastating blow for me, given that I waited to take a second running back. The good news, such that it is, with only six bench spots in a super flex league, the waiver wire will be better here than in other leagues, such as the NFFC, where they have 10-man benches.
8.8 Deebo Samuel - I love Deebo's talent, and I like him better in standard or .5 PPR formats than I do in full PPR formats. I also love drafting wide receivers.
9.5 D.J. Chark - Chark pairs well with Lawrence, and I thought that he fell too far as WR38. That said, Damien Harris (RB33) would have looked pretty sweet here.
10.8 Leonard Fournette - Fournette kept getting passed down the queue like a hot potato, with a couple of owners having tech glitches, getting stuck with him and then tossing him back. I eased his pain and took him as RB36.
11.5 James Conner - Doing the Sunday show with Jim Coventry sold me on the virtues on Conner. Now I need Jim to be right!
12.8 Drew Lock - Ah, the perils of early drafting! Well, at least I have two easy cuts, but no third quarterback!
13.5 Rob Gronkowski - One of my pickups might be a second tight end, though I'm in lockstep with Liss that Gronk is being undervalued this season.
14.8 Latavius Murray - This was obviously before the whispers that Tony Jones was challenging Murray for the backup job became more of a scream.
15.5 Rondale Moore - I love Moore's talent, but worry about his durability. But at the price of WR66 and a 15th round pick, it's worth the bet.
16.8 Washington Football Team D/ST - There are no kickers in this league, and everyone waited until the last round but for one team to fill that spot, and even the outlier went for the Bucs with the third-to-last pick of the penultimate round.
Overall, I probably should have eschewed going for Chark, just because of my team structure. Even if Etienne didn't get hurt, there would have been some risk baked into that pick. When you go heavy on WR early, you should load up on RB's late, and vice versa. Besides that, I like the squad and the structure of the team.
