Draft Strategy: Superflex Leagues

Superflex leagues continue to gain popularity among the fantasy community. Is it the standard yet? No. One-QB leagues are still currently the standard among fantasy players. However, Superflex leagues—it's growing, and it's growing fast. And over the last couple of years, because of the way we think about quarterbacks here at the Fantasy Headliners, we've really had to separate different draft strategies when it comes to one-QB leagues and Superflex leagues.

Now, in this draft strategy video, I'll be breaking down my methodology to Superflex leagues. I did include 2-QB leagues as well—those are not nearly as popular as Superflex leagues, but I want to make sure that some of the information in this video will also cover that. This primarily will be about Superflex leagues, though.

If you've been a part of Headliner Nation for a while, you know that we love our running backs early and we love to find quarterback value late. In Superflex leagues, you can't do that nearly as often. So my draft strategy when I begin Superflex leagues comes down to this: early, mid, and late.

What I mean by that is, in Superflex leagues, I want to find my starting quarterback—my stud—early in the draft. Then I want to find a really good mid-round starter that gives me decent value. And then late, I want to find really good value for a guy that's not really being talked about, but I really only need to utilize if it's a bye week or I run into an injury.

In a Superflex league, you really have to anticipate the top 10 to 12 guys going in the first couple of rounds—maybe the first three rounds if it gets stretched out a little bit. But those top guys are going to go very, very fast. So for me personally, when I'm thinking “early,” I want my stud quarterback in the first or the second round. Now, realistically, if it's me and it works out perfectly, I get my number one starter in the second round and then in the first round, I take the best wide receiver or running back available to me—typically running back.

Guys like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, even Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts—those are going to be the first quarterbacks off the board. Most of them—at least three—will go in the first round. Maybe four, maybe all five. But once those top quarterbacks go, and the first couple of running backs and wide receivers go, that’s when Tier 2 is going to start flying off the board. That’s when you’re going to see Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, Bo Nix, Kyler Murray, Justin Fields, maybe Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott—those types of guys are going to start going very fast.

In 2025, one thing I can tell you is that I feel like there's going to be the top quarterbacks, and then a whole slew of quarterbacks that are really all on the same plane together—which may help us find a little bit better value when it comes to the mid range.

Now, if you're staying balanced and we go quarterback early in the first or second round, I'm either looking at going quarterback–running back–wide receiver, or running back–quarterback–wide receiver. If the value's right, I might go running back again before I plunge into the wide receivers. But this is where things can get really interesting for you—because we need to take advantage of the fall.

Here’s what I mean by that: really good running backs and really good wide receivers are going to slip in the draft. Take advantage of those guys falling to you—especially if you've got some overzealous fantasy owners that love to have two really good quarterbacks in a Superflex league. If you run into a league where two or three managers really want two starting quarterbacks right away, you're going to get some really good value on some of these running backs and wide receivers. We have to take advantage of that, especially before we jump to the mid-round with our next quarterback pick.

Now, a really good opportunity could present itself when it comes to your mid QB pick. Because let's say your league doesn’t get overzealous and they leave quite a few quarterbacks on the board. Not only have you taken advantage of getting your starting quarterback early and grabbing a great running back or wide receiver who fell, but now—if your league hasn’t gone on a big quarterback run yet—you can be flexible. If there are still a lot of running backs and wide receivers available, and the top 24 quarterbacks haven’t been drafted yet, you’re golden. Keep being flexible with the draft. Just make sure that you get to your second starting quarterback before that QB run happens.

What do I mean by that? Well, let’s say, for instance, we go running back, quarterback, wide receiver. We’re taking a look at the quarterbacks, and we have maybe 12 to 15 quarterbacks off the board in the first three rounds. That’s great, because there are still a lot of QB2s we can start and be happy with. This is where a Jared Goff, Justin Herbert, Drake Maye, Jordan Love, J.J. McCarthy, C.J. Stroud, Trevor Lawrence—guys like that—are going to come into play.

If you're in a one-QB league, you might not want one of those guys as your dedicated starter unless you're waiting a long time to draft a quarterback. But in a Superflex league, as your QB2, those guys are fantastic. If the run hasn't started on those guys yet, that’s great. Let’s keep going with our running backs at that point. Let’s get another established RB starter. If you like wide receivers a little more, then use that fourth round to get yourself another wide receiver.

Realistically, in the first four rounds, I would want two running backs, a wide receiver, and a quarterback. Now let’s say we get to the fifth round and the same thing is happening—people are looking at other positions, and another quarterback run hasn’t happened. Maybe one or two have been taken. Well, you could realistically look at taking a tight end, maybe another wide receiver or running back depending on how you've drafted so far.

When we get into round six, you want to be very cautious. Let’s say you decide that you’re going to draft another wide receiver in round five—so now you have two running backs, two wide receivers, and your starting quarterback. You make your draft pick and you’re not up again until later in round six. Then—boom—someone goes quarterback, and then another, and another... and all of a sudden you’re screwed because the quarterback run has hit and you’re not in a position. You should start the run. You should not finish the run.

Okay, so we’ve navigated the first 10 rounds of our draft or whatever by really focusing on an early quarterback and a mid quarterback, and we have been putting position players to start around them. Hopefully, you’ve gotten great value at running back and wide receiver and your roster looks fantastic.

Now, point number three: you need to leave your draft with three starting quarterbacks. And that’s where the late portion of this comes into play. Because now we need our third starting quarterback. This really can be anybody that is going to be a starter. I don’t need a high-upside play here. I don’t need a risky play here. I need a quarterback that I can trust—that if I have an injury or when it comes to the bye weeks—I’m going to have somebody to fill in and I’m not going to have to worry about the waiver wire.

Because finding starting quarterbacks on the waiver wire in a Superflex league? It’s not easy to do. Especially if you have FAAB (Free Agent Auction Budget). That’s where you get a set amount of dollars throughout the year to use, and once you run out—you run out. You use it to bid on free agents. In a Superflex league, people will run through that money really, really fast. And if you’re not one of those people burning up all your money, getting a quarterback off waivers is going to be darn near impossible.

Now, with the late-round quarterbacks, we can do a couple different things. You could realistically just look at a safe bet. That could be a guy like Bryce Young, Matthew Stafford, Geno Smith, Sam Darnold—heck, it could be Aaron Rodgers if you want. Or, you could look at teammates. If you’ve got a little bit of a deeper bench, you could draft two more quarterbacks.

Let’s say you like the Giants situation. Maybe in the later rounds, you decide to draft Russell Wilson and Jaxson Dart. Could be New Orleans as well—Tyler Shough and Spencer Rattler. That strategy can be a little more risky, especially if you have a shallow bench, because you’re taking up two bench spots for two quarterbacks—one of which probably isn’t going to be playing much anyway. It does present a little bit more upside, especially like in Jaxson Dart’s situation—where if you draft Russell Wilson and Jaxson Dart, you can use Wilson to begin the season for byes or injuries, but then toward the back half of the year, if Dart takes over and he has more upside than your QB2, then maybe you can start playing him in the Superflex spot instead.

So Headliner Nation, if you normally play in a Superflex league, you’ve got a good idea of how the league structure works. Hopefully this draft strategy video can help you hone your strategy—and maybe you’ve learned something new that you’ve never utilized before. If you’ve never played in a Superflex league and this is going to be your first year—or you’re just interested in it—then hopefully this has helped you understand how a Superflex league works, and when you go into your draft, you don’t have that one-QB mindset and get thrown off with it.

One last tip before we close out the video: make sure you check your scoring before you start drafting. Now, you should do this in any fantasy league. But in a Superflex league, you really do not want to get caught off guard. The reason being is because in a Superflex league, you’re already prioritizing the quarterback position because it typically scores higher. And if you can play two of those guys, you really want to have one in the Superflex spot as well. However, if your league not only prioritizes quarterbacks in terms of Superflex but also gives bonus scoring to quarterbacks, that could greatly affect how quickly they go off the board—and how much upside they could end up having.