As we head into the fantasy football playoffs, it is important to remember to always put your best foot forward with regard to your starting lineup.
It may sound obvious, but too many people look over the fence and try to get cute by playing the quarterback of one of their opponent’s top receivers or some other convoluted plan to “negate” their points. You always put your best options in your starting lineup, even if that means playing a running back in your superflex position.
One of the biggest misconceptions in superflex leagues is that you have to play a quarterback in that spot.
More often than not, you will, as quarterbacks, on average, score more points than other position players. However, what happens when you are looking at starting quarterbacks like Aidan O’Connell, Mac Jones or even Will Levis? This past week, all three posted seven fantasy points or fewer and they were each outscored by 30 different running backs, 45 wide receivers and 18 tight ends.
That means, unless you play in a deep league with abnormally large starting rosters, there were several position players left on the bench who outscored all three quarterbacks and that could certainly have made the difference between winning and losing.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this. Justin Herbert and Brock Purdy each scored fewer than eight points in Week 13 and this is actually the third straight week Kirk Cousins has failed to produce double-digit fantasy points. While it may be tough to bench any of these three players in a superflex league, guys like Jones and Levis definitely warrant bench consideration based on their matchups.
And now that Desmond Ridder will be filling in for O’Connell and Jake Haener will be doing the same for Derek Carr in New Orleans, we have more names we may need to avoid.
If you find yourself in this particular situation, it is important to study your league’s scoring, your bench options and the specific matchups.
It is easier to default to a quarterback if you’re playing in a deeper league, but if you, for example, play in a 10-teamer with only two starting wide receivers and only one flex/superflex spot, there are likely better options than one of these bottom-feeding quarterbacks. You simply have to set a line for points.
A good rule of thumb is to look at the position players and figure out who is capable of double-digit points.
Is Rico Dowdle capable of scoring 10 points against Carolina? Can Michael Wilson hit double-digit points against the Patriots? How about Cade Otton against the Chargers?
If your answer is yes to any of them, you should probably start them over Jones against the Jets or Ridder against Atlanta.
It’s a case-by-case study, but not one you should overlook. Simply defaulting to a quarterback in your superflex position could cost you a championship.
Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy football news and advice.