In a superflex dynasty league, one of the greatest ways to optimize your team’s value is to hit on a low investment QB before they experience a dramatic rise in value. See Joe Burrow for this upcoming draft as well as Justin Fields for the 2021 draft. Finding talents like these can turn your team from rebuilding mode to a contender, or a contender to an unstoppable force. Whether these players end up translating to be NFL fantasy studs or not, you will still have the opportunity to sell high after the players are drafted and every fantasy owner has contracted the rookie fever.
Student Sports Inc. has run yearly regional quarterback competitions since 1999 showcasing the top high school quarterback recruits. The top 12-24 make the finals and make a trip to the Nike headquarters in Beavertown, OR to compete. These Elite11 contests have featured players such as Deshaun Watson, Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Fields, and Trevor Lawrence. That’s a pretty strong list from 2013 to 2017. Of course, not every QB that attended the Elite11 contest has had a robust college football and NFL resume. For instance, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson were merely Regional Finalists.
We can also explore Peter Berg’s ‘QB1: Behind the Lights’ as it documents three high school QBs per season and portrays insights on how charismatic they are. As we know, Peter Berg is best known for his role in creating and directing ‘Friday Night Lights,’ both the movie and TV series. His series has featured Jake Fromm, Tate Martell, Justin Fields, Spencer Rattler, and Bryce Young. Bookmark those last two names.
The science of drafting QBs by NFL teams is suspect at best, thus identifying successful QB prospects has even more difficulties. Even the art of selecting and developing quarterback prospects are questionable to the naked eye. Here we will try to identify quarterback prospects who have gigantic potential returns that are still readily available across devy fantasy leagues.
SOONERS NEW STAR
Spencer Rattler came out of little known Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, AZ and has the inside track to being Lincoln Riley’s next QB project in Oklahoma. Rattler was an Elite11 QB Challenge MVP in 2018. The five-star recruit per 247 Sports spent his freshman season behind Heisman finalist Jalen Hurts. Rattler will be Lincoln Riley’s first QB prospect that he recruited out of HS and gets to mold for the entirety of their college career. Remember, Baker Mayfield transferred from Texas Tech in 2014 and Kyler Murray from Texas A&M in 2015. Hurts famously transferred after leading Alabama to a second-half comeback past Florida in the 2018 SEC championship. Rattler had an impressive high school career as a four-year starter. He amassed over 11,000 yards and 116 TDs to only 33 INTs adding another 14 TDs with his legs. If Rattler can hold off Tanner Mordecai and any transfer, he will be a hot commodity in devy leagues in the coming months.
As we know, being a hot developmental commodity does not always translate into success in the NFL and on your fantasy teams. Just look at Laquon Treadwell. Rattler is far from bust-proof as all developmental players are. At 6’0” and 191 pounds, Rattler will have an uphill climb convincing NFL scouts that he is worthy of a top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Like Patrick Mahomes, Rattler is deceptively athletic, making the Pinnacle varsity basketball team for three years. Also like Mahomes, Spencer Rattler will likely run the 40-yard dash around 4.8 seconds. At only 191 pounds, Rattler is going to have to add to his frame significantly to ever be a reasonable comp to Mahomes. However, since Lincoln Riley has been at the helm in Oklahoma, his QB has averaged over 4,500 passing yards and 41 TDs per season. Rattler is a high risk, high reward developmental player, perfect for a low investment stash.
ROLL WITH THE CRIMSON TIDE
Another player that you should be stashing with a late developmental pick before the value increases exponentially is the Crimson Tide’s Bryce Young. Another blue-chip prospect out of the powerhouse Mater Dei High School, Young started all four years and racked up over 13,000 passing yards and 152 TDs to only 21 interceptions. He also added 26 TDs on the ground and about 20 yards per game rushing. The five-star QB will be competing against Mac Jones and the younger Taulia Tagovailoa in Mobile. Expect Mac Jones to get the nod as QB1 for the start of the 2020 college football season and Taulia Tagovailoa will likely have the next shot at QB1, especially given the success of his well-known brother Tua. Even though Young has a more tumultuous path to Alabama’s QB1, he is the third most highly rated High School QB since 2010 behind only Lawrence and Fields.
The bigger question regarding Bryce Young is not how he will perform in college, but rather will he translate to the NFL? Even if Young does not quickly acclimate and gain Nick Saban’s trust as QB1, he has the option of entering into the transfer portal to land in a situation where he would have the ability to start in 2021. Like Rattler, he will have to add to his frame significantly. The only player to have success in the NFL at his size would be Kyler Murray. To do that Young would need to gain almost 30 lbs in the next three years. An even riskier developmental prospect than Rattler, Bryce Young has an even higher potential reward, and that reward is worth a relatively minor investment in fantasy leagues.
Looking at the numbers the Crimson Tide offense has been able to put up over the last three years, Bryce Young would be expected to throw for over 3,700 yards and 40 TDs per season if dropped into the system. Throwing to elite targets Jaylen Waddle, Devonta Smith, and Najee Harris out of the backfield, Young will have open targets all over the field. Flashing his 4.55 40-yard dash time out of high school, Young will also be able to take advantage of defenses on the ground.
Spencer Rattler is currently ranked as DFF’s QB9 and Bryce Young is QB7. Both players possess, to different degrees, the ability to crack the ‘Konami Code’ with their capacity in both the passing and rushing game. Most importantly, both of these players have the potential to be the first overall pick in their respective NFL drafts which would result in them being the consensus 1.01 in the 2022 and 2023 superflex rookie drafts.
Thank you for reading my article and, if you enjoyed it, keep an eye out for my future articles. You can also follow me on Twitter @DynastyDiagnos1 and reach out with any questions, comments, or ideas you’d like me to explore for a new article.
