There isn’t one right way to do a fantasy draft (though there definitely is a wrong way). A lot of articles have been written on this site about the need to draft a QB early this year in your fantasy leagues. I get where the writers are coming from and even agree with their points. Their way is one right way to draft. However, even after hearing their cases, I am not in that camp. Don’t draft a QB early in fantasy. Here’s why.
A quick caveat before we begin, I am assuming your league only has 1 QB slot. If your league has 2 slots, absolutely take a QB early.
QB Position Depth
With only 1 slot for the QB, the amount of QBs that people will take is less than RBs and WRs. This means that there will be higher value later in the draft for QB. Let’s say you miss out on a top 10 QB. Using the rankings on FantasyPros this means you still have access to Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr, and Kick Cousins. Not a bad QB to be going into your season with. Let’s say you miss out even further and don’t take a top 15 QB. You still could get Jameis Winston, Matt Ryan or Trevor Lawrence. While you may be less excited about those QBs, many experts have these QBs over performing their draft position. There is no need to rush on a QB.
RB and WR Depth
What you should do instead is load up on RBs and WRs. There is less depth at this position in the later rounds in terms of value. Using the same examples as above, if you are outside the top 20 RBs you are looking at, JK Dobbins, Josh Jacobs and AJ Dillon. These are fine RBs. But imagine that you could have 2 top 20 RBs and have one of those listed names as your third RB. Pair that with a couple of high WR picks in the first 5 rounds and your skill positions are looking great. Here’s the great thing about loading up on RBs and WRs. They are great trade bait for later in the season. You have a glut of RBs but your later round QB isn’t doing it for you? Dangle your RB depth for a top 10 QB. RBs and WRs are often in short supply later in the season. There are usually QBs to be found on the waiver wire late in the season.
One Exception
There is one exception I would make for this rule and it is the rushing QBs. Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen are projected to have high amounts of rushing TDs. One could argue that this would be similar to drafting a RB in terms of value and I concede that point. Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts are 2 others that fit the bill of a running QB that could score multiple rushing touchdowns. This would be the only way that I take a QB in the first 5 rounds since they give the value of RBs. Similar to the argument above, if my RBs were lacking later in the season, I could flip my top QB for a top RB and still have another serviceable QB for the rest of the season.
Stick to Your Strategy
Whatever you decide to do, it is important to stick to your strategy. Don’t panic draft a player because you think you are going to miss out. If you are going to wait on a QB, don’t panic draft one when the QBs start coming off the board. Stick to your guns and trust your strategy. However, you decide to draft, hopefully you heed my advice and don’t draft a QB early in fantasy.
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