One of the biggest fantasy football related issues I like to try and resolve is general accepted philosophies vs. proven fantasy knowledge.  If you are a bar and some half-drunk guy is telling you what the hot strategy is in fantasy this season, it’s probably jumped the shark.  Fantasy is cyclical and by the time everyone jumps onto a strategy, it mostly likely has already zagged and jumped the shark.  The one fallacy or generally accepted strategy revolves around when to take your first QB in a 1Qb draft.  QBs drive the league and if you tried to patch together a skeleton crew of Geno Smith and Matt Stafford last season, you know how valuable they can be because it seems like you are always going against Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson.

It’s all about risk vs. reward and draft capital vs. opportunity cost because of course everyone wants Allen/Mahomes on their fantasy team, but with an ADP 25/26, is that security worth missing out on an elite WR such as Tee Higgins/Mike Evans/Terry McLaurin?  I will get straight to the point here.  Allen/Jackson are the only two QBs you should even consider in the early rounds.  Pat Mahomes might be better than both of them in real life and the KC offense might be ready for a revival,  but he’s been QB 11 and QB 8 the past season and if you draft Mahomes early, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.  That’s not really breaking news if you are keeping up with the Jones.

The goal is to win the league at least for most people. If you want to finish 1st in the regular season or are more focused on competing than winning, not a knock, everyone has their priorities, drafting Allen or Jackson is a great idea.  They are as reliable as clock work as Allen had 10 finishes as the QB7 or better last season.  Jackson was even better with 11 top-seven finishes, but when it comes to a small sample size like the fantasy playoffs, it’s easy for your heavy investment to peter out.  It’s not like these superstars are laying goose eggs, but Allen finished the season as the QB1/24/12 and Jackson was the QB3/12/6, but neither player was on the top-25 league-winners because the opportunity cost for solid play was extravagant.  You know which QBs were on the list?  Joe Burrow, Baker Mayfield, Bo Nix, Sam Darnold and Jayden Daniels.

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• About the Author
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Jon Mosales

I have been crazy about fantasy sports even before I knew what it was.  Some people use stats as a tool and some use the eye test.  I like to believe I have the perfect blend of both and that extra special spider sense that separates me from the herd.  I have been nominated for one FSWA Football Article of the Year award and am just getting started.  My only fear is that I will become too good at fantasy football and have to retire early like Michael Jordan. You won’t see me leave my house without at least one of my (four) dogs and if you are lucky enough, you will catch me cruising top-down with all four in tow.

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