Fantasy Football Strategy Advice And Draft Recap For Scott Fish Bowl

The 2023 and 13th annual Scott Fish Bowl, a.k.a. SFB13, kicked off their slow drafts on Monday July 10. This year I’m in the Firehouse Subs division, drafting on Sleeper from the third spot.

What is the Scott Fish Bowl?

The Scott Fish Bowl is a long-running annual event that marks the unofficial kickoff of fantasy football redraft season. It is a huge charity-driven fantasy football tournament for both people in the industry and fans. It raises a lot of money for great causes, and helps create a strong sense of community among people who love playing fantasy football. The tournament itself is very unique (super-flex, TE premium, unusual scoring, deep starting lineups) and a ton of fun.

I am grateful to have played in SFB every year since 2015 when there were “only” 360 participants. Now there are well over 3,000. Plus, Draft Buddy is a regular sponsor of the SFBPodathon. The podathon is a weekend-long YouTube live stream of fantasy analysts discussing SFB, fantasy football strategy, and raises money for charity.

For more information about the Scott Fish Bowl and to sign up for next season, make sure to visit scottfishbowl.com.

Scott Fish Bowl League Format

Before I get to my specific draft strategy and picks, I need to expand on the format because this is not your normal fantasy football league. The leagues are 12-team and start 11 players, which is quite deep compared to most traditional 12-team leagues. Start 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE plus 4 Flex with a max of 2 QB, and players can start a kicker if so desired.

Scott alters the scoring every season in various ways. To start, think PPR scoring but with the following alterations for 2023:

points for pass completions and rushing attempts
points for passing, rushing and receiving first downs
double points for receptions and receiving first downs for tight ends
no negative points for interceptions, or missed field goals

Scoring is key. It heavily values running backs and tight ends ahead of wide receivers. Plus, being a super-flex with 6 points per passing touchdown, and additional scoring for pass completions, quarterbacks go early and often. Anyone would be remiss to not grab two quarterbacks relatively early.

All SFB13 drafts use third round reversal (3RR). A 3RR draft order does just what is says – Round 3 is the opposite of what you would expect in a more common serpentine draft. Team 12 gets the first pick in Round 3. Team 1 gets the last pick in Round 3. And it is back and forth from there.

The leagues use an 11-week regular season to play each team once in a head-to-head format. Teams advance to the large group playoffs based on record or total points.

Draft Strategy

I did select the third spot, although I’m not sure that is an ideal spot for this format, this season. Since the third spot locked in, from which I expected to draft one of Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, or Josh Allen, I got to thinking maybe a Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow start would be just as good. And, then I would get an earlier pick in the second round and third round.

Many early drafters are targeting Travis Kelce as the clear top TE. I had him on my SFB team last year, which was fantastic, but I don’t like drafting a TE this early in a draft. The risk of counting on a repeat, plus taking a hit with a lower tier QB, is not worth it.

I usually prefer stockpiling top wide receivers in PPR scoring, start 3 WR leagues. Receivers are generally more reliable, but that isn’t the best strategy here.

My plan is to take one of the aforementioned quarterbacks, stockpile running backs, and try to draft my second QB and a TE at a good value. The second QB and first TE should be good tier 2 or tier 3 players. I don’t want to go dumpster diving at these spots and have to hope to hit the lottery.

Draft Recap

1.03 QB Josh Allen, BUF

My QB rankings commentary says I have concerns about Josh Allen, but come on, this league is for charity and I’m a huge Bills fan. Could I honestly pass on him here once Hurts and Mahomes were both gone? No, I could not. I certainly hope my concerns are unfounded.

2.09 RB Nick Chubb, CLE

This was a tough call because WR Stefon Diggs fell to this spot, and an Allen-Diggs stack makes a lot of sense. However, I know the scoring strongly favors running backs and a player like Chubb in particular with very high projected carries.

3.09 RB Tony Pollard, DAL

Not surprisingly, Diggs did not make it back. Without the 3RR, he might have. I am not the biggest Tony Pollard supporter but I cannot deny the current opportunity he has in front of him. I don’t even really want his volume to go up considerably as I’m not sure he can handle it. Bring Zeke back, that would be fine, and let Pollard keep wowing us like he did last season.

4.03 QB Tua Tagovailoa, MIA

This is not going to be exceptional value for my second QB but at the same time if I don’t take one, it could be slim pickings next time around. Kirk Cousins just went, and looking at the board, two teams to the right of me have no QB, six teams have one, and only one team has a pair. There is going to be a run on QB soon.

Why Tua? He was 9th in PPG last year, including the partial games. Young, upside, love the coach’s scheme and Tua’s skill players. Please bring in Dalvin Cook. Many are worried about injury or repeat concussion. It is a risk but let’s play to win, not play scared.

Daniel Jones would be the preferred target here but he went all the way back at 3.01, plus he shares the same bye week as Allen. Consideration given for Geno Smith and Jared Goff.

5.09 TE Darren Waller, NYG

Above I wrote that I didn’t want to go scrounging at TE, but we are getting there with the first five off the board. Waller does have injury concerns as well but I’m buying into the Giants plan bringing him in as a top target to support Daniel Jones’ development. In Brian Daboll I trust.

6.03 TE Dallas Goedert, PHI

It might be time for a WR. Even with lower relative scoring, we still need to start three. Joe Mixon would be a great value grab here too. However, a TE has to do a lot less on the field in this scoring to match the points of a RB or WR. Goedert is the last of my Tier 2 tight ends. Grabbing him here gets the TE-needy teams, half the league, to start grasping.

7.09 RB Alexander Mattison, MIN

Mattison is surely a talent drop-off from Dalvin Cook, but I’m surprised how late he is going in drafts. Maybe I’m missing something, but later than James Conner (terrible offense) or Javonte Williams (major injury rehab concern), among others, doesn’t make a lot of sense. Playing in a good, wide-open offense, and a thin RB room behind him, leaves a lot of opportunity for Mattison. Oh, and I’m fairly indifferent at WR so willing to wait a little longer.

8.03 WR Mike Williams, LAC

This was between Mike Williams and Diontae Johnson, maybe Tyler Lockett, and possibly DeAndre Hopkins. As a WR1, Hopkins is pretty risky as he was still unsigned at the time. Ultimately went with Williams because of the Chargers offense. He had six Top-20 weeks last season in 13 games, versus one in 18 games for Johnson.

9.09 WR Diontae Johnson, PIT

Very surprised Johnson came back to me. The lack of touchdowns last season were certainly a problem but Johnson is a talented receiver. He finished WR19 with 7 TD in 2020 and WR8 with 8 TD in 2021. His occasional lapses of concentration resulting in drops seem to depress his fantasy value. His drop % is significantly better from 2021-22 compared to 2019-20. Kenny Pickett should show strong improvement off his rookie campaign to further benefit Johnson.

10.03 WR Treylon Burks, TEN

News broke of DeAndre Hopkins signing with the Tennessee Titans not too long after this pick. This looks like a poor value proposition now as DHop steps into the number one receiver role. Burks slides down the pecking order in a not very pass-heavy scheme. Regardless, I liked what we saw from Burks in limited action his rookie season.

To view my remaining picks you can check the full draft board at Sleeper.