Reviewing first three rounds of an expert superflex dynasty rookie draft

The fine folks over at FantasyPros invited me and 11 other fantasy writers to join a superflex dynasty league a few years back. Superflex refers to the ability to start two quarterbacks each week. It isn’t strictly a 2QB league, as you can substitute any offensive skill position for the superflex spot, but that would be suboptimal for your team and is only an emergency measure. For reference, this league is also full PPR scoring.

Below, I will review the first three rounds, giving you some insight into an “industry draft” as we like to call them to make ourselves sound more important than we are.

Round 1

Since this is a superflex league, three of the Top 4 and five of the Top 10 picks were quarterbacks. Much depends on how strong your quarterbacks already are, but getting third quarterbacks with the future upside of Lawrence, Lance, and Fields is still worth an early pick. Injuries and bye weeks can kill you in two quarterback leagues.

Personally I have Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson and still had an early draft pick at No. 2 overall. So I ended up trading back to the fifth overall pick, as I knew quarterbacks would go early and that I would have a good shot at Harris, Pitts or Chase. I ended up going with Harris, as my team is weakest at the running back position and I’d like to win a few games for once. If I was thinking longer term, going with Chase probably would have had better value.

There is an argument to be made for Lance over Lawrence due to his ability as a rusher and I wouldn’t condemn anyone for reaching for that upside in a Kyle Shanahan run offense. But, Lawrence will also add some fantasy upside with his legs and will get multiple chances to prove himself due to his high draft capital.

Javonte Williams was good value at pick 11, as I see him neck and neck with Etienne, while Waddle was nice to grab with the twelfth pick. I had a fleeting hope that he would fall to me at 2.02.

1.01 Lawrence, Trevor JAC QB
1.02 Lance, Trey SFO QB
1.03 Pitts, Kyle ATL TE
1.04 Fields, Justin CHI QB
1.05 Harris, Najee PIT RB
1.06 Chase, Ja’Marr CIN WR
1.07 Smith, DeVonta PHI WR
1.08 Etienne, Travis JAC RB
1.09 Wilson, Zach NYJ QB
1.10 Jones, Mac NEP QB
1.11 Williams, Javonte DEN RB
1.12 Waddle, Jaylen MIA WR

Round 2

The second round is pretty tough compared to the first. The running backs fall off while wide receiver projections are all over the board. I like Michael Carter, but many are projecting him as strictly a third-down back. I think he can be more than that, so he would be my first running back off the board here, as he was, but the upside isn’t the same as the top three.

With the second pick I went with the receiver I felt most comfortable with in Elijah Moore. The running backs at this point are just too risky, while Moore has strong draft capital and should see playing time as soon as possible.

Kadarius Toney has the most draft capital of this group, but the consensus on his ability isn’t as strong as some of the other receivers taken in the second round. But that’s also why he fell and getting him at 2.09 is decent value. My choice came down to Moore vs. Rashod Bateman. In the end, I just don’t trust the Ravens passing game whereas I at least see Moore getting more targets on average in New York.

I like the value with Amari Rodgers at 2.11. Even if Aaron Rodgers doesn’t return to Green Bay, wide receiver Rodgers has an easy path to playing time.

2.01 Carter, Michael NYJ RB
2.02 Moore, Elijah NYJ WR
2.03 Sermon, Trey SFO RB
2.04 Bateman, Rashod BAL WR
2.05 Marshall, Terrace CAR WR
2.06 Gainwell, Kenneth PHI RB
2.07 Moore, Rondale ARI WR
2.08 St. Brown, Amon-Ra DET WR
2.09 Toney, Kadarius NYG WR
2.10 Hubbard, Chuba CAR RB
2.11 Rodgers, Amari GBP WR
2.12 Collins, Nico HOU WR

Round 3

In round 3 the player pool starts to thin out and in single quarterback leagues it will be even thinner, but there are still strong picks available. Round three is a good time to get Stevenson, who could replace Sony Michel as early as this season. And I also like Mitchell, as I grabbed him with the 3.05 slot I picked up in my first round trade. Mitchell has similar upside to Trey Sermon at a cheaper price in a strong 49ers rushing scheme. Pat Freiermuth is going to be a solid tight end for the Steelers and if I wasn’t packed with okay tight ends on my team, I probably would have grabbed him over Mitchell.

With the second pick in the third round I went against my previous thought process and grabbed a Ravens wide receiver. I liked the value and see Wallace as a player with upside to to take over the WR1 job in Baltimore at a slight discount.

At this point in the draft you aren’t usually looking at impact players for this season, so longterm upside is the key. And that usually comes own to personal preference more than draft capital or even landing spot.

3.01 Stevenson, Rhamondre NEP RB
3.02 Wallace, Tylan BAL WR
3.03 Brown, Dyami WAS WR
3.04 Mond, Kellen MIN QB
3.05 Mitchell, Elijah SFO RB
3.06 Eskridge, D’Wayne SEA WR
3.07 Mills, Davis HOU QB
3.08 Freiermuth, Pat PIT TE
3.09 Rountree, Larry LAC RB
3.10 Palmer, Josh LAC WR
3.11 Darden, Jaelon TBB WR
3.12 Nwangwu, Kene MIN RB