Fantasy Football: Strategy: Big Ben plus a fill-in

In this post, we referred to the “Big Ben plus a fill-in” strategy for fantasy football as we analyzed quarterbacks. Here’s how the strategy goes:

Because Ben Roethlisberger put up top-9 fantasy quarterback numbers, he can be counted among the solid starters for fantasy. But with his four-game suspension looming, fantasy owners cannot draft him as the ninth-best quarterback.

However, if you can get Roethlisberger as perhaps the 15th quarterback in your draft and pair him with a fill-in drafted just afterward, you can have a starting-caliber quarterback for much of the season – at a much cheaper draft-pick or auction price.

Plus, if the fill-in you pick is an upside play (we suggest Chad Henne, Jason Campbell, or Matthew Stafford as possibilities), your fill-in could develop enough trade value that you can use him to address another need once Roethlisberger returns in Week 5.

This strategy comes with some risk, but it’s a means of maximizing value.

If you have similar strategies you’d like to consider or see analyzed, leave a comment and we’ll discuss.