Asking the Experts About 2-QB Fantasy Football Leagues: the Sigmund Bloom Edition

When Mike Clay of Pro Football Focus and Rotoworld put together a deep fantasy football league trial draft in which up to two quarterbacks could be drafted my interest was piqued. You can check out my thoughts on how the draft played out regarding the quarterback position and you can read Clay’s analysis of the draft here.  After seeing the results of the draft it was quite interesting to see that out of the twelve teams only one owner, Sigmund Bloom from the resourceful and must read fantasy football website Footballguys.com, drafted only one quarterback.

I was curious to find out how Sigmund came to end up with only one quarterback on his roster and so I reached out to him through Twitter and he agreed to answer some questions regarding his draft strategy in Clay’s sort of 2-QB, but really a 2-TE, fantasy football league. After the break you’ll find the Q+A that Sigmund and I conducted through e-mail.

Question 1:
The way Mike Clay set up the league it’s not a true 2-QB league. In this particular league you only have to start one quarterback but you also have the ability to start a second quarterback in the flex spot. Knowing that you only really had to start one quarterback each week but could start two quarterbacks on a weekly basis how did you view the quarterback position going into the draft? How much of an impact did the possibility of
starting two quarterbacks have on your draft strategy?

Sigmund Bloom:
The fact that QB was a flex with depressed scoring (pt per 33 pass yds) made me target one running QB (they are more valuable in this format) and decide to pass on QBs the rest of the way. The 3 RB 5 WR 2 TE starting requirement and short bench (only 18 roster spots) means that being active on the WW is going to be key. I would rather start my best bench RB/WR/TE each week and keep that roster spot in play, and save my draft picks for shots at TE, WR, and RB in that order.

Question 2:
In this particular league points at the quarterback position were devalued, and according to Clay, that was in part to bring some semblance
of balance. Passing touchdowns are only worth 4 points and only 0.03 points are awarded for each passing yard. Compare that to other positions
such as the tight end position, where you’re required to start two, and each tight end reception is worth 1.5. points, which positions were you
targeting in this draft based on the league setting and scoring rules?

Sigmund Bloom:
I was always going to go TE-TE at the turn as long as two of my top 3 were there. TE premium scoring + 2 TE starting means that it is the key position in the entire league. I even went as far as to draft Jared Cook and Zach Miller later to give me trade bait and potentially strong flex scoring. TEs will be easy to trade for RB/WR/QB in this league. With 5 starting WRs, that was the 2nd most important position. 3 RBs is tough, but RB has a lot of turnover during the season, so I didn’t want to clog my bench with RBs that I would be waiting on all year.

Question 3:
Was it always your intention to only draft one quarterback, albeit a really good quarterback in Russell Wilson, who also brings with him the
added run game dimension, which is a bonus in a league where passing points aren’t as valuable as rushing points? If it wasn’t, how did you
wind up with the only roster with just one quarterback? Were there any particular quarterbacks you were seeking to draft for your roster?

Sigmund Bloom:
That was my intention, especially after everyone drafted their QB2 like it was a 2 QB league. I don’t think a mediocre passing QB is going to be that much better as a flex than my best bench RB/WR/TE. I was seeking Wilson, Kaepernick, or Griffin around the 5th because of the scoring system.

Question 4:
Do you play in any true 2-QB leagues at all? If so, why, and how does your draft strategy change when compared to drafting in 1-QB leagues? If not, how come?

Sigmund Bloom:
I do play in one, and the harsh reality is that you have to take QBs early than you want to. Value will be pushed down the board everywhere else, so as much as it feels weird, you have to take guys like Tony Romo in the 3rd round.

Question 5:
Do you feel that this year there will be an opportunity to wait a little bit later than say the third round to draft your first quarterback in a 2-QB league because of the depth of the quarterback position in fantasy football this year? Or are you still planning on taking one relatively early for the sole fact that you need two? How late would you feel comfortable taking a quarterback in your 2-QB league when you see that quarterbacks like Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger are being drafted in the QB2-range based on early ADP and would you feel comfortable with either Eli or Ben as your QB1 in a QB2 league?

Sigmund Bloom:
Depends on the scoring, but I’m open to it. I’ve seen that strategy work well in years with less depth at QB.