If Fantasy Football had a weakness (besides Kicker and Defense), it's the quarterback position. The most important position on the field has been the least important in Fantasy Football! Then came two-quarterback leagues, sometimes in the form of Super-Flex (QB, RB,TE,WR,K). I'll admit the first time I was introduced to this type of league I was disgusted by the idea of building a lineup with two quarterbacks. I was a purist. No team puts two quarterbacks on the field! Unless it's for trickeration. However, once I played in the super-flex league, it changed my life forever. Quarterbacks were more valuable, going much earlier than 1-QB leagues, having equal significance with the RBs and WRs. The more I played in the super-flex league the more I realized you could still wait on QB, obviously not as long, but nearly. After a couple of years I joined my brother-in-law's league, a 3-Quarterback-League. At first, it didn't make any sense. I thought it was too much. But it changed my life forever and it's the most fun I've had in Fantasy.
The 3-Quarterback-League is structured with 2 Mandatory Quarterbacks with a SuperFlex. Usually, the roster trends towards a Quarterback in the Super Flex position, but you still have the option to place a skill player in your Flex. This type of league is best with a 10-team league given that if each team has 3 Quarterbacks, that's 30 and there are only 32 NFL teams. Near the end of the draft we are picking at the bottom of the barrel for our final QB roster position, which may be a guy who never starts in the year. By then, I'm looking for a backup to a starting Quarterback who is likely to get injured. For example last year, my fourth quarterback on my roster was Kyle Allen, which I'm thankful I had because I drafted Cam Newton as my second quarterback who left the season after the second game! I laughed as everyone had to waste all of their bid money on backups last year as Quarterbacks dropped left and right. What a weird season. But you get the idea.
To give you a picture of what the starting lineup could look like, here are 2 examples:
QB Aaron Rodgers QB/GB
QB Cam Newton QB/CAR
RB
RB
WR
WR
WR
TE
SF Sam Darnold QB/NYJ
As you can imagine, that had to change quickly so sometimes it could look like this:
QB Aaron Rodgers QB/GB
QB Kyle Allen QB/CAR
RB
RB
WR
WR
WR
TE
SF Miles Sanders RB/PHI
You might be surprised, I ended up in first place with this small glance at last year's roster. Somehow I made it. Regardless, I hope this makes what I'm saying clear. Flexibility in your roster is important to give us all a fighting chance and keep things fun. Sometimes it even adds more stress with decision making like when you find a running back or wide receiver scoring more points than your quarterback while sitting on the bench.
So now that you understand the structure, allow me to give you the meat and bones of why this type of league is the best:
First point: Value due to scarcity. Finally, the Quarterback position has the value it deserves. Quarterbacks go heavy in the first few rounds because they score the most points and run out much quicker. In fantasy football scarcity adds value more-so than skillset sometimes. In a 1 quarterback league, there's hardly any scarcity. In a 2-Quarterback/Superflex league, scarcity is there, but you can still wait on quarterback and manage to get a solid pair of signal callers. In the 3-Quarterback league, you better pick your quarterbacks fast. They can come off the board heavily in the first round. As pickings get slim, it gets riskier to pass on a quarterback. Regardless of how you view quarterback scoring, you want to have at least a solid pair to compete with. I think if I would have had Cam Newton last year, I would've had a solid pair, which would have made my team more competitive in the playoffs. Aaron had his hot streak and at times Kyle got me through. But in the end, it tanked hard. My skill players carried me, but I will stress, it's more comforting to know your quarterback group is solid. I have strong glutes after last year from clenching so much under stress. Just saying.
For a lot of us Fantasy Football players, Draft Day is the funnest part. The 3-QB system will make your draft the most fun you'll ever have in a draft. Throughout the offseason, I am always pondering strategy over this league over my other leagues, which are 2-QB and 1QB. No matter how many mock drafts I do, I'm always surprised throughout the draft including the first round. The draft is always unpredictable, even more-so now than before. When I started, quarterbacks went very heavy in the first round. Maybe one guy would get cute and try a skill position, but he waited nervously for his second round pick. I've been in the league only for 3 seasons now, and since I've been in, more guys are trying different strategies such as drafting a running back first. Not to mention, everyone thinks vastly different about each player. It forces you to truly draft value. The learning curve is figuring out that value, which also depends on your league's scoring system. I'll get into that later. Most league structures, you can get your mock drafts close to what's going to happen and come up with a plan. With this structure, your mock drafts will look nothing like the actual draft, even the first round. It provides the challenge we crave for as "Fantasy experts." I can assure you, as stressful as it might sound, having surprises coupled with big reactions make all the difference in a draft. It's a roller coaster ride!
One of the complaints about the Quarterback position, is that there is not enough separation in scoring. One reason is that most leagues don't penalize Quarterbacks for throwing interceptions enough. Usually they only lose 1 or 2 points. In this type of league, I strongly recommend that interceptions cost the Quarterback at least -3 points. Think about it, just two interceptions negate a touchdown. It values the quarterbacks ability to read defenses and make the right throws. Bonuses add a fantastic spice to your league as well. Touchdowns can make all the difference in scoring at times, but if a quarterback throws for 300 to 400 yards, you would probably say he had a good game regardless of how many touchdowns he lucked out with. Even if that number is zero. Bonuses can counter balance that. Believe me, I had Aaron Rodgers last year. Some games he played well, but did not get any touchdowns. But if he threw for 300 yards, that bonus still reveals a good game. It can make all the difference in scoring and create intense drama for head to head matchups. You will feel alive near the end of the game and your quarterback has 294 yards and you're screaming at the television for him to throw 6 more. Sounds easy, but check the stats of how many are just under 300.
Interestingly, I have found that the research process became more in depth with a 3-QB league, especially when considering -3 interception points. You pay closer attention to the trends that occur every season and you're trying to find that guy who will be the next Lamar Jackson or Ryan Tannehill. I picked Aaron Rodgers with the second overall pick and I did not feel comfortable about it. My feeling was correct and I should've gambled with Christian McAffrey who performed much better. It's fun when you're the guy who picks Alex Smith in his best season ever, or taking the chance with Pat Mahomes the season after, or being the guy to take the risk on Lamar Jackson. So in a sense you could still land a late round quarterback, but you better have at least 2 in those first 3 or 4 rounds. They go fast. Your first quarterback could be a stud or you may get lucky with your third quarterback. Every year is a different story. Every draft in this league is a different story. Not only does your research on quarterbacks increase, but understanding value in a draft means so much more in this type of league. You can feel the weight of each decision you have to make. Do I go left while everyone goes right? What if all the right is gone by the time it gets back to me? How do I structure my team? I want that guy, but I need this position. I do all my research for this league, which makes my 2-QB much easier and my 1-QB league quite boring honestly.
I hope after reading this you will want to give the 3-QB league a try. I dare say you can even add another flex spot with a 10-team league. Let me know your thoughts. Please leave comments or questions. I guarantee it will change your Fantasy Football life!
Thanks for reading!
-Jon-Michael Stone
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