Posted by Paul in Fantasy Advice,Free Draft Kit on Jul 31st 2009 and last modified on Aug 24th 2009. (Print This)
The Fantasy Football quarterback position has become more and more important to the success of your Fantasy Franchise. Up until recently where you drafted your quarterback was merely an afterthought. Now fantasy QB’s are finally getting their due. Fantasy owners have begun to realize that you can build a decent team, but a teams success is often tied to a great fantasy signal caller. The fact is that they often outscore every other position regardless of your leagues scoring system. Someone like Peyton Manning can often carry your team through the regular season and deep into the playoffs. It happens every year, yet every year most owners will wait to the middle rounds to draft one. Simple math suggests that it makes more sense to draft an elite signal caller in the first round than it does a running back. The problem is we’ve all been brain washed to believe that you can’t have a successful team if you pass on a running back in the 1st round. Fantasy football much like the NFL itself is a copycat league. Philosophies and strategies that once worked have become the rule rather than the exception. The fact is the NFL is becoming more of a passing league. The days of the 25-30 carry running back are over. Teams are using a running back by committee approach more than ever. We know this and yet we feel we need to continue to draft running backs as if they’re the only option. I’m not saying you should go out and draft Peyton Manning if you have the first pick in your draft, I’m just saying you could. With elite options like Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning outscoring every other position by more than 150 points one starts to wonder when we should pull the trigger? I know it’s going to be a difficult choice to make, but its one that will probably pay off. People are afraid of change because change represents the unknown. Why jeopardize a potential stud running back and draft a quarterback knowing that you could probably get a better than average one in the 5th round? It’s a gamble and that’s why we play. I would rather put my eggs in Tom Brady’s basket than someone like Brian Westbrooks or Clinton Portis. If last year showed us anything it’s that running backs will emerge out of nowhere. Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams and Matt Forte were all drafted in the late third round or beyond. Steve Slaton didn’t even warrant a draft pick in more than 58% of fantasy leagues.
So what do we do? I say stay ahead of the quarterback curve now. In my professional league owners are way ahead of the curve and have been for years. The last two titles have been one by the owners who have drafted quarterbacks in the early rounds. In 2007 Drew Brees was selected in the second round at pick 15 and last year Peyton Manning came off the board as the 11th overall selection. Both owners went against the grain and built there teams from the quarterback position. However, if you drafted Tom Brady last year you’re reading this knowing you will probably never take a QB early again. It’s easy to see your train of thought, but for every Tom Brady season ending knee injury, the majority of the running backs who get drafted often fail to live up to there expectations.
I always try and draft two top 10 quarterbacks before the 7th round. If I’m picking at the end of the first round I’m walking away with one of the three elite signal callers. I’ll then draft one between the 6th and 7th round. Especially if players I’m targeting get drafted ahead of where I’m picking. There’s nothing wrong with taking the best available player. This works for two reasons.
1. A solid consistent QB can net you great value in a trade. Funny thing is, it’s usually the owners who wait to draft one that come knocking first.
2. It’s an insurance policy on your 1st or 2nd round investment. If you did draft Brady last year you probably would have been happy to have picked up Jay Cutler in the 6th or 7th round.
What you need to do is come up with a strategy that not only caters to your leagues scoring system but also the strategy that helps you get the best bang for your buck. To do this you need to go back and look at your leagues past drafts for trends. Try and figure out when quarterbacks start coming off the board. I recommend reading Draft Day Philosophy to help you get an idea on how you should rank and slot your players. Put an emphasis on the quarterback position and you will probably be in better shape than all of the other owners in your league.
As the preseason gets underway Fantasy Football Brothers will constantly update our rankings and content. In the next few weeks we will release our positional tiers to better help you slot your players. I can’t tell you how important it will be to print this stuff out and use it on draft day. Feel free to ask us any questions about the quarterback position or anything else pertaining to Fantasy Football, it’s what we do here. We are here for you in your quest for a Fantasy Championship.