Over the year’s fantasy football has evolved significantly. When many of us first started playing we didn’t even have the internet to keep all of our stats and rosters. Since then so many things have changed:
- Every league is kept online and scores are updated in real time
- Rosters are more flexible by the standardization of flex spots
- PPR was created to help boost the importance of pass catchers
- The lengths of leagues have expanded with dynasty getting more popular
- The lengths of leagues have shortened with the advent of daily leagues
But through all of these changes one thing has remained constant. Nearly every league only allows you to start one quarterback. In this article I will explore why 1 QB leagues are the standard setting and why you should consider changing this trend.
When trying to set up league rules the first thing a commissioner does is set up the roster requirements and scoring. The next thing the commissioner does is select 1 QB. But why? There seemed to be two common answers that I get most often
1) Because there is only 1 quarterback on the field at one time and we want to make our league as close to realistic as possible.
2) It’s what we have always done.
Let’s take a look at the first response. I agree that we want fantasy leagues to most closely represent reality. But there are a lot of other ways that fantasy football doesn’t represent reality and there is no outcry to get rid of many or any of these
- Defenses are a complete after thought and represent only a small fraction of your team’s scoring in fantasy where as in real life there are just as important as an offense
- There aren’t often 2 stud running backs, 3 stud wide receivers and a stud tight end all on the field at the same time either
- Trades rarely occur during the NFL season but are common in fantasy
- Yards aren’t valued equally between quarterbacks and other positions. Does it make sense that QB yards are less important than running back or wide receiver yards?
- Most importantly, quarterbacks are the most important position on the football field. However, in fantasy they are just barely above kickers.
I could go on for quite awhile but I think you get the point. As for it being what you have always done. Sometimes it’s time to stop making the same mistakes as last year and try something new. Let’s look at what some of the advantages and disadvantages of a 2QB league are.
Advantages
More closely aligns with the real life importance of the quarterback position. In real life quarterback is the most important position in football and it’s not even close. Look at what happened to the Colts when Peyton Manning got hurt in 2010 or the Packers when Aaron Rodgers got hurt last year. Their real life teams got crumbled. In fantasy it was just a blip on the radar.
In fantasy drafts the most popular strategy is to wait on quarterbacks and use a QBBC or even pick up the best start from the waivers while running backs are going like crazy in the first round. This is the exact opposite of the way things are trending in real life. This leads us to the second point
Drafts are much more unpredictable which means they are more challenging and more fun! Stop me if you have seen this one before. The first 12 picks of your standard draft are all running backs besides maybe Jimmy Graham, Calvin Johnson, and Peyton Manning. During round 2-3 the process repeats itself with a few more wide receivers getting thrown into the mix.
When most, if not all, of your effort is being spent on trying to fill only running back and wide receiver slots the draft becomes very rigid and too simple. However, if we add another valuable position into the mix the strategy becomes a lot more complex and fun. Now there is a much better chance that the running back you wanted in round 2 could last until round three which might allow you to reach on that wide receiver you had been eyeing. I am all for anything that allows for more options and strategy.
How does this play out in practice? The table below shows ADP data from standard leagues compared to that of 2QB leagues for the first round, first 3 rounds, and first 7 rounds. Current year 2QB ADP data is so scarce that I looked at a series of mock drafts and combined that with historical ADP data from some of the 2QB leagues I am in.
First round
| Position | Standard | 2QB |
| QB | 1 | 4 |
| RB | 6 | 4 |
| WR | 4 | 3 |
| TE | 1 |
1 |
First three rounds
| Position | Standard | 2QB |
| QB | 3 | 11 |
| RB | 17 | 12 |
| WR | 13 | 11 |
| TE | 3 | 2 |
First seven rounds
| Position | Standard | 2QB |
| QB | 11 | 22 |
| RB | 32 | 25 |
| WR | 33 | 31 |
| TE | 8 | 6 |
As you can see in nearly each of the tables QB’s are now being drafted at about the same rates as the running backs and wide receivers. This is great and what you should want from your league. More positions that are equal to each other makes drafting more fun and leads me to my next topic.
Trading is a lot easier. Think about how you trade in your league. If you want to trade for a top end running back like Matt Forte you will almost always need to trade a next tier running back like Alfred Morris and a really good wide receiver Julio Jones. Maybe if you are really luck you could get him for Calvin Johnson. Sometimes you don’t have those pieces and it’s impossible to get Matt Forte no matter how much you like him.
Or how many people did a great job of picking up Nick Foles last year but already had Peyton Manning? In most of the leagues that great pickup of Foles didn’t do you much good since everyone else had a viable quarterback already. If you are luck you might have gotten Danny Woodhead. In essence you identified one of the most important changes in the NFL last year and you got nothing for it.
However, now that we have three positions that are valuable you can more easily work trades. Drew Brees could get you Matt Forte and Nick Foles might have netted you Marshawn Lynch. Again more options means more fun.
Disadvantages
Losing a star QB really hurts. This is true but losing a star running back hurts even more in standard leagues. This is because as mentioned above 2QB leagues give you a lot more flexibility in the trade market. Plus running backs tend to get hurt more often that running backs so you can put more of your investments in safer assets if you wish to.
How can you navigate bye weeks when not every team will have a third QB? This is the most legit concern but in reality no one in my leagues has ever had a problem with it. First of all, since trade values are much more fluid you can often trade for a QB3 fairly easily. This trade might take your RB4 but that’s not something I would be too concerned about. This again opens up more strategy options. Do you take a third quarterback every year? Do you roll the dice that you can trade for one at a discount? Do you get some guys with late byes and hope to have a solution by then? Do you get guys with early byes and trade away the excess later? More strategy should be a good thing not a bad thing.
But my league doesn’t have a lot of active owners so they won’t cover their byes. If you really think your league doesn’t want to be active and strategize you could always try a superflex league. Superflex leagues allow you to put a QB in at your flex position. If you set your league up such that QB’s score the most points this will act as approximately a 2QB league but will give you the option of starting a wide receiver, running back, or tight end if you get in a pinch. You may be surprised though, after your league sees how much easier trading is in 2QB leagues they may start making more moves.
If you are up for a new challenge and want to try something new you should really consider a 2QB league. When you think about the advantages and disadvantages two things really stick out. 2QB leagues increase the amount of strategies you can use and help to more appropriately value the most important position in the league. 2QB or not 2QB? Give me 2QB every time.