Everyone knows superflex "boosts QBs." Almost nobody can say by how many ranks, or which quarterbacks capture the premium. We measured it on a fixed pool.
Same golden IDP dynasty fixture as our other engine-output posts: synthetic player IDs, full golden scoring held constant, only the roster dial changes. 1QB board: remove the SUPERFLEX starter. Superflex board: golden settings (QB=1, SUPERFLEX=1, plus the usual skill and IDP slots). Redraft horizon, market weight zeroed — pure roster math.
The headline
Across 22 QBs in the pool:
- 22 / 22 improve board rank under superflex (mean rank gain 107 spots).
- Mean VORP lift: +257.5 points. Every QB gets the same VORP delta because replacement drops by a constant when you add a full second starter-equivalent at the position.
- Projected points do not change. The premium is 100% replacement and roster construction.
That last line is the whole lesson. Superflex does not make Dax Maransky throw more yards. It makes the 12th QB in a 10-team league a starter-quality asset instead of a streamer.
Elite vs depth: who "gains" rank?
| Player | 1QB rank | SF rank | Rank gain | VORP 1QB → SF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dax Maransky (qb01) | 5 | 1 | +4 | 105.8 → 363.2 |
Marlon Vantrease (qb02) | 12 | 2 | +10 | 92.3 → 349.8 |
Tevin Boyette (qb03) | 28 | 3 | +25 | 78.8 → 336.3 |
Jaxon Trask (qb05) | 61 | 5 | +56 | 51.8 → 309.2 |
Omar Grimes (qb08) | 119 | 8 | +111 | 14.2 → 271.7 |
Kellan Quarles (qb10) | 150 | 10 | +140 | 0.0 → 257.5 |
Elite QBs move the fewest slots because they were already near the top. Depth QBs move the most slots because 1QB replacement had them at or below the waterline. Under superflex, the top of the board is a QB wall: ranks 1–5 on the SF board are the five highest-projecting QBs (470 → 416 points). On the 1QB board only Maransky sits inside the top 5; Boyette is 28th and Trask is 61st.
The largest rank movers in the dump are deep fillers jumping ~198 spots (from the 210s into the teens). That is not a draft tip to take QB16 at the turn — it is the engine saying the second starter slot reprices the entire position curve.
Why the VORP delta is flat
With 10 teams and one SUPERFLEX, starter-equivalent QBs go from 10 to 20. Replacement is the Nth-best projection at the position. Drop that bar by roughly one full tier of QB production and every quarterback's surplus rises by the same amount (+257.5 in this pool). Relative order among QBs is unchanged; relative order versus skill and IDP is not.
So the premium is real, quantified, and mechanical:
- Points stay put.
- Replacement falls.
- VORP rises in lockstep.
- Board rank compresses QBs toward the top until the second starter is filled.
What managers actually get wrong
- Pricing SF "one round earlier" off a 1QB sheet. In this pool, mid-QB (
qb05) jumps 56 ranks — multiple rounds on a deep board. - Treating SF as only a top-5 story. The mean rank gain is three digits because the middle of the position is where starter-equivalent demand shows up.
- Comparing ADP across formats without rebuilding replacement. Consensus 1QB ADP is not a noisy SF board; it is a different object.
Methodology
- Engine 1.11.0, redraft,
marketWeight = 0. - Scoring: golden
idp-dynasty-league.json(unchanged between boards). - Rosters: golden starters with SUPERFLEX present vs removed.
- Artifacts:
marketing/research/scoring-formats/superflex-qb-premium.json. - Illustrative golden pool — re-run the harness for your own league rather than importing these ranks.
Want the SF vs 1QB delta on the league you actually play? Connect it and read the ranks the engine builds from your starter slots.