#Fantasy football QBs: It’s Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and the rest

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“#Fantasy football QBs: It’s Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and the rest”

There are some common clichés that ring true universally. … Until they don’t.

The Madman has long been a proponent of waiting until late in fantasy drafts to select quarterbacks. But in 2020, nothing is normal. And our draft strategy is not immune to those changes.

Our main aim is to get as many top players at as many top positions as possible in the early rounds. This means we are more open to selecting a QB or a tight end in the first five rounds than normal. Yet, before you start spending a third-round pick on Tom Brady, allow us to qualify this statement new strategy: It is almost exclusive to Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson.

If one or the other is available come Round 3, or even late Round 2, and we aren’t in love with other options — think choosing among, say, the tier with Mike Evans, Leonard Fournette, Chris Carson, Kenny Golladay — then we would look at one of those two QBs or Travis Kelce.

That isn’t our favorite option, but it is a choice we are willing to make this season. If we can’t get either Mahomes or Jackson, we are willing to wait. And we’re willing to wait a while. In Rounds 8-10, you likely will have a shot at Matt Ryan, Brady, Carson Wentz, Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers.

Patrick Mahomes and Lamar JacksonGetty Images: AP

Of these, our favorite is Rodgers. The Packers drafted Jordan Love as Rodgers’ heir apparent, before Rodgers is considering retirement. We’ve all seen the various reports of his cockiness and sometimes abrasive personality. So, we fully expect a ticked-off Rodgers this year, determined to show the Packers, and others, that he is far from finished.

Despite this confidence in his upcoming fantasy fortunes, we’re not going to reach for him. We’re going to wait until one of two things happen: 1) The options at other positions dry up. There are no desirable options to pad running back or wide receiver depth, and we either already have a tight end or our targets there will likely be available in later rounds. Or, 2) Someone picks Ryan. Once this happens, we move Rodgers to the top of our queue for our next pick.

One other change, sort of, to the Madman’s plan is that we are determined to get a backup this season. This is something we normally do, because we normally pick a QB late, and like to get a platoon option. But in other years, if we had, say, Mahomes, we wouldn’t worry about a backup until injury or the bye week arrives. This season, with the added risk of a positive COVID-19 test that could sideline our starter for multiple weeks, we want a backup, regardless.

So, yeah, we’re getting a bit more friendly with QBs in this season’s drafts. But don’t get used to it, you big-armed grunts. When things return to normal, we turn our back on you again.