Fantasy football mock drafts: How superflex changes strategy

As soon as I saw a superflex mock was on the PFF schedule, I immediately volunteered for the writeup. If there’s one thing I can suggest for home leagues looking to spice up the year-after-year monotony of regular redraft leagues, it’s introducing the concept of superflex. For those unfamiliar with the term “superflex,” it’s an additional flex spot that allows you to use either a QB/RB/WR/TE in that slot. It changes the whole dynamic of the draft with quarterbacks surging in value as a QB2 often far outscores traditional flex points accrued from an RB3/WR4.

I’d also highly recommend adding IDP positions to your league, but we’ll cross that bridge at a later date. For now, let’s dive into how the PFF Fantasy staff drafted their squads in a 12-team, PPR, superflex mock draft.

Walton Spurlin, Pat Thorman, Dan Clasgens, Tyler Loechner, Daniel Kelley, Curtis Patrick, Jeff Ratcliffe, George Kritikos, Brandon Marianne Lee, Michael Moore, Scott Barrett, and I all took part in this mock draft. In each of the tables I included the player’s drafted position to help catalog where we are at each position with this being a Superflex draft.

Round 1

Just because we’re allowed to start two quarterbacks doesn’t mean our drafters were willing to forego elite assets to start the draft. The first six picks weren’t anything shocking, but at 1.07, Curtis Patrick selected Andrew Luck to kick off the quarterback drafting. Luck has yet to start throwing while still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, but has shown he has weekly QB1 potential every time he laces up. We also saw Brandon Marianne Lee take Aaron Rodgers in the first. Rodgers has finished as either the QB1 or QB2 in seven of his last nine seasons played. Michael Thomas at WR6 caught my attention by Michael Moore. Thomas averaged 17.0 PPR points per game last year and finished as our No. 6-graded wide receiver. He was highly efficient orchestrating the short offense with Brees, particularly on slants and hitches, and culminated in the second-most receptions by a rookie wideout (92) in NFL history (Anquan Boldin ranks first with 101).

Favorite pick: Melvin Gordon was the RB4. He’s coming off a 12-touchdown campaign where he finished as the fantasy RB7 but ranked top-five in breakaway runs – runs of 15+ yards (16) — red-zone touches (57), and top-12 fantasy weeks (8).

Rounds 2-3

The superflex addition is evidenced quite well in these two rounds with half of our drafters selecting one for their fantasy squads. The addition also rewards those patient enough to wait, as many fantasy studs slide beyond conventional ADP and allow those fantasy GMs the chance to build a strong core. Curtis Patrick selected the first rookie of the draft at 3.07 with Leonard Fournette who the Jaguars hope can bring balance to their offensive attack.

Favorite pick: DeMarco Murray. I love Dan Clasgens’ pick of Murray in the early third at RB9. Murray was a workhorse last year averaging 21.6 touches per game and finishing as the RB5. He forced 46 missed tackles (fourth-most) and picked up 11 weeks of top-12 fantasy production behind one of our top-five offensive lines.

Rounds 4-5

Marshawn Lynch continues to creep up draft boards and Jeff Ratcliffe scooped him up at 4.05 in this draft. Lynch carries some major question marks entering 2017, but there’s quite a bit to find alluring and behind that offensive line and his touchdown potential. Two full rounds passed between the TE2 (Travis Kelce, 3.09) and TE3 (Jordan Reed, 5.11), further distinguishing how large a tier gap there is at the position behind Rob Gronkowski and Kelce versus the field. Reed leads all tight ends in PPR points per game over the last two seasons and was a nice draft selection late in the fifth by Michael Moore.

Favorite pick: Alshon Jeffery. Every year I take a look back and compare the ADP in late August versus end of season finishes and try to find where we went wrong (barring injury). Jeffery looks like one of the most overlooked wideouts in this year’s market. From 2013 to 2015, Jeffery was an absolute target hog, averaging 9.5 targets per game and a 26.3 percent target market share. During that span, he had the ninth-most 100-yard games (12), the highest number of targets per route run (0.33), and finished with 13 top-12 PPR weeks over those 41 games (31.7 percent). QB Carson Wentz had the fifth-most drop backs last year (662) and gets a massive upgrade in Jeffery as his WR1.

Rounds 6-7

I’m allowed to toot my own horn in these, right? I love Willie Snead’s upside this year in New Orleans as a player that has a chance to sneak into the top-24 in PPR leagues. Over the course of his first two seasons, Snead has a WR rating (passer rating when targeted) of 111.9 and 104.3, and now gets one of the easiest schedules for a slot receiver entering 2017. He should see a slight uptick in targets with Brandin Cooks out of the picture and can really do some damage out of the slot if his career touchdown rate jumps up even in the slightest. I really like Dan Clasgens’ quarterback pairing of Russell Wilson (QB5, 2.09) and Tyrod Taylor (QB17, 6.09). A healthy Wilson combined with the breakout potential of Taylor makes for a fantastic 1-2 punch at the quarterback position.

Favorite pick: Andy Dalton. Scott Barrett waited until the Round 7-8 turn to select any quarterbacks and double-dipped with Dalton and Carson Wentz. Dalton at QB18 is a tremendous value, with positive touchdown regression heading his way after posting a career-low 3.2 percent touchdown rate in 2016. The team upgraded his receiving corps substantially and added the versatile RB Joe Mixon to the mix. Let others overthink his offensive line as a major red flag (Dalton ranks top-10 in fastest time to throw) and scoop up the Red Rifle for free late in your drafts.

Rounds 8-9

These two rounds feature many once-prominent veteran names that can still produce quality fantasy outings in 2017. Really like the value Pat Thorman got on Danny Woodhead. Woodhead finished as the RB3 in 2015 and now goes to team that heavily targets the running back out of the backfield. Doug Martin could be a real wild card at RB31. He starts the season with a three-game suspension, but his consistent volume in touches over his career is worth pursuing in the ninth round. Eric Ebron at TE8 may look a bit optimistic at first glance, but his path to reaching that fantasy finish is well within his range of outcomes.

Favorite pick: Pierre Garcon. Garcon is a player that I’m actively trying to draft in every league this year and George Kritikos got quite the steal for him at WR36. Garcon followed Kyle Shanahan to San Francisco and enters camp as the undisputed top receiver on a team that will likely be forced to pass due to negative game script.

Pierre Garcon had two of his best three seasons with Kyle Shanahan calling plays (2012-13), including a 174-target season in '13. #GoNiners pic.twitter.com/A1eY66dOul

— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) June 12, 2017

Rounds 10-11

After taking Jameis Winston as my QB1 (3.02, QB7), I waited until the 10th-11th turn to pick up my superflex options in Alex Smith and Brian Hoyer. Smith posted five top-12 fantasy weeks last season, which was more than Eli Manning (4) and Philip Rivers (3) — two quarterbacks selected in the sixth round of this draft. Hoyer was the fantasy QB6 during his stretch of four starts last year (Weeks 3-6) and is a major target of mine in superflex drafts this year. Love the value picks of Kenny Britt (WR47) and Mike Wallace (WR49) by Pat Thorman and Daniel Kelley. Both could finish the season as top-30 wide receivers and produce plenty of usable weeks.

Favorite pick: Tyrell Williams. Walton Spurlin made a great selection at WR46 with Williams. He was one of the biggest surprise stories of last year finishing as the WR18. First-rounder Mike Williams missed OTAs with a back injury and is reportedly “falling behind,” per head coach Anthony Lynn. Last year San Diego ran three-WR sets just 11.4 percent of the time, the lowest rate in the league. If Tyrell Williams can keep the rookie wide receiver at bay, he could be in for another big fantasy year.

Rounds 12-14

Giovani Bernard at RB49 seems like we’re discounting his injury a bit too much. Outside of last year when he suffered an ACL tear in Week 11, Bernard finished as the RB16 in 2015 and RB18 in 2014. At this time Bernard isn’t expected to be active in Week 1, but RB5 territory seems far too low. I like the pick of Trevor Siemian late in the 13th round by Brandon Marianne Lee. Siemian and Blake Bortles (QB21) make for a solid superflex combination to play matchups. We still don’t know how the Minnesota backfield will unfold, leaving Latavius Murray as a great pick by Tyler Loechner late in the draft. If Dalvin Cook were to face any kind of setback or injury, Murray could be in for some heavy volume despite the poor offensive line. This looks like a committee backfield as of the time of this writing, making the large gap in perceived value (Cook, RB19) and Murray (RB52) a head-scratcher.

Favorite pick: Quincy Enunwa. The Jets quarterback situation is a mess, but with the way their team is looking, Enunwa has a chance for some heavy volume in massively negative game scripts. John Morton will be introducing a West Coast offense that should allow a ton of intermediate targets to Enunwa, who can move around as both the “X” receiver and operate out of the slot.

The final two rounds were filled with defenses, kickers, and late dart throws. Here’s how I evaluate them: Good luck, hope it works out.