For the general public, a standard fantasy football league suffices. If you’re reading this article, you may have grown weary of normal leagues and would like to try something new. Crash Course, a Fantasy Football Universe series, delves into unique formats. So, let’s start with FLEXplosion: Dominating Superflex Leagues.
How Does it Work?
Superflex is not specific to a format, it can be dynasty, redraft, best-ball, and even dynasty. It simply takes a regular league and makes it so that the quarterbacks are by far the most valuable player on your roster. This is done to reflect a fantasy football roster that is more representative of a real-life NFL roster.
A superflex league is one where every team must start a quarterback, but there is a second flex option in which a manager can start a quarterback instead of the tradition flex options. In this scenario, most managers choose to use a quarterback as their superflex as even a mediocre quarterback will outscore most position players. It will however happen on occasion where a position player may be used in a desperate situation as the superflex, usually due to bye weeks or injuries.
There is a second variation on superflex that should be mentioned briefly and that is 2QB leagues. This makes the quarterback position even more important because in a 2QB league, you have no choice but to start two quarterbacks every week, you can not play another position in the spot. This leads most managers to roster a minimum of three quarterbacks.
How is it different?
If you need a perfect explanation of the difference between a superflex league and a 1QB league, scroll down to the bottom and take a look at the difference in the top 10 rounds of each draft.
In 1QB it is possible to see only one or two quarterbacks selected in the first three rounds of the draft, in a superflex league you are likely to see three quarterbacks selected in the first four picks. With the exception of Christian McCaffrey, it’s no unheard of to see a first round in a superflex league that features only quarterbacks selected. You can even see more than 15 quarterbacks selected in the first three rounds.
Superflex is an arms race to draft as many quarterbacks as you can.
How does the Draft work?
Once again, check out the two draft boards at the bottom of this article. A superflex draft is a totally different beast. In a 1QB league, you can often wait until the double-digit rounds and still land a Top 10 quarterback. If you were to wait until the third round in a superflex league to draft your quarterback, you will likely be starting a quarterback outside of the Top 15.
In 1QB drafts, we see a race to load up on running backs and wide receivers, but not in superflex. In superflex, you are forced to draft quarterbacks early and often or be forced to play with at a massive disadvantage.
You do not want to be the manager who missing out on a starting quarterback. You will be forced to massively overpay to acquire one. It’s not unheard of to see a Top 12 position player traded straight up for a middling QB2. They are that valuable.
A look at the Rosters
Rosters are open to league preference, as always, but typically there are far more roster spots dedicated to quarterbacks. In 1QB leagues you will frequently see managers carrying only one quarterback and streaming a second in the event of an injury or bye week, but not in a superflex league.
In a superflex league most teams will have three or more quarterbacks on their roster, this is even more true in dynasty where teams could easily have six or more quarterbacks.
How does the Waiver Wire work?
The waiver wire is slightly more plentiful for wide receivers, running backs, and tight ends, but is a barren wasteland of quarterbacks. In most leagues, especially dynasty superflex leagues it’s likely that all starting quarterbacks are rostered as well as all backup quarterbacks and any young quarterback with potential.
In the rare event where a quarterback is thrust into a starting job due to injury, you can frequently see backups like Tyrod Taylor, Mike White, and Andy Dalton go for 75-100% of the FAAB budget. Many times, managers will claim a quarterback on waivers simply to play keep away from the other members of the league. That’s how important quarterbacks are.
How the scoring works
Scoring is not impacted by the league and can be done in any manner of your choosing. There is no wrong or right answer here, it’s all up to you and your league mates.
The only caveat is that while scoring remains the same in this format, the value over a replacement quarterback is much different.
The Consensus Strategy
- Get Your QBs Early: This is the conensis superflex strategy as you can see from the draft board below. Most managers choose to draft both of their starting quarterbacks with the first four rounds, many will even use their first two picks on quarterbacks.
- Punt QB: This one is common in mock drafts, but requires you to have steely nerves to execute in a real-life draft. You simply load up on position players early and then draft your quarterbacks later when one falls to a solid value. The problem with this strategy is that from time to time it can go horribly wrong and you will find yourself with two quarterbacks who may not keep their job long, this is even riskier in dynasty superflex leagues.
My Strategy
- Hero QB: I prefer this strategy to outright punting QB. It still carries with it some risk, but not as much. This is exactly what we do with Hero RB, you draft you stud starting QB in the first round and then wait until the later rounds to draft a QB2 at a solid value. This is far safer than punting quarterback altogether because even if you miss out on the QB2 that you were aiming for, you have a stud QB1 to fall back on.
- Draft Many Young QBs: This is similar to what managers do with rookie running backs and wide receivers. The unheralded rookie quarterbacks of the world such as Brock Purdy often go undrafted, so stacking many of the can leave you with a diamond in the rough, even more so in dynasty leagues.
In Closing
This format is a different animal. Even though the NFL only starts one quarterback, starting two quarterbacks for fantasy I believe makes this format the most like the real NFL. Quarterbacks are king and that’s how it should be.
If you don’t believe me, take a look at the first 10 rounds of the two drafts below. They are both identical scoring with the exception that one is superflex and the other is 1QB. What a difference we see in the draft. Take note of the difference in the amount of pink on the bottom graphic, that’s how many more quarterbacks were selected.
1QB Draft
SuperflexDraft
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the Crash Course Series.
