Latest rankings update: Sept. 6

It's a quarterback-happy NFL world, and as fantasy football owners, we enjoy reaping the benefits of their staggering statistics.

Unfortunately, as quarterbacks seemingly rewrite the record book each passing fall, it is becoming increasingly true that standard, 10-team, one-starting-quarterback leagues force many standout performers to stand on the fantasy sidelines.

Consider: In 2014, a whopping 19 quarterbacks managed to score at least 200 fantasy points, the second-highest total in a single year in the history of the NFL. It marked the third consecutive year that at least 18 had done so, and before that, the NFL had never had as many as 18 in a season. Setting the bar higher, there have been 34 instances in NFL history in which a quarterback posted a 300-point fantasy season, and 17 of them have occurred in the past three seasons alone.

That means a lot of production gets left untouched.

Thankfully, there's a fantasy football format that addresses this shortcoming: It's called the two-quarterback league. Its definition is self-explanatory: Instead of one active quarterback in your weekly lineup, you start two. It's a double dip of fantasy goodness from a position that in 2014 accounted for each of the top six and 17 of the top 21 season point totals, as well as 19 of the 29 200-point campaigns.

If you've found yourself frustrated by making the wrong weekly quarterback choice -- for example, Andrew Luck or Eli Manning, Eli Manning or Andrew Luck, during the second half of 2014, during which they effectively alternated their "elite" performances -- or disappointed that you missed out on exploiting that Ben Roethlisberger 44-pointer in Week 8 of last season, switching to a two-quarterback league might be the way to go. That's where this column comes in; let's talk you through the process.

Structure: To 2-QB or not to 2-QB?

The decision to migrate to a two-quarterback league is not one to be taken lightly. As a commissioner creating a new such league, be sure to consider the following factors:

• How many teams do you want in your league? Mathematically speaking, a two-quarterback league could field as many as 13 teams while guaranteeing an average of at least one NFL starter per available quarterback spot in every eligible week; the only times when there would be an equivalent number of NFL starting quarterbacks and active quarterback spots (26) would be the one week in which six teams are on bye, Week 9. Understand that the larger the league, the more difficult it becomes for every team to field two starting quarterbacks every week.

• How many quarterbacks is each team allowed to roster? In ESPN leagues we allow you to dictate position maximums, and as there are a maximum 32 starting NFL quarterbacks in any given week (32 in weeks without byes, 30 in Week 4, 28 in Weeks 5-8 and 10-11, and 26 in Week 9), the position's pool of available resources drains much more quickly than in a one-quarterback format. Some might want to cap their league's quarterbacks at two per team, meaning the only ones owned are the ones in your active lineup. Perhaps three is a wiser limit, as that affords owners the luxury of a contingency plan for those bye weeks or matchup flexibility in regular weeks. Or perhaps you don't believe a maximum is necessary, as fantasy owners should be afforded the opportunity of utilizing "blocking" strategies -- adding a player to prevent your competition from using the player against you -- and be rewarded for being able to stash emerging quarterbacks (hello, Ryan Tannehill in 2013) in advance.

• If you're willing to put in the additional work as commissioner and prefer a deeper league with maximum flexibility, you could also consider instituting a quarterback "rental" system in the event of bye weeks or injuries. Fantasy owners could be allowed to "rent" a quarterback -- add one for only the current week, after which he'll be dropped -- when they own one who isn't scheduled to play for either reason. This provides a safety net for those owners in a pinch in certain weeks, preventing them from having to cut a star quarterback who is injured, or start a quarterback guaranteed to net them a zero. As commissioner, this means extra work: I recommend a commissioner-controlled add/drop system by which you process each of these individual (as well as all league add/drop) requests. That way you can prevent owners from freely adding or dropping quarterbacks; if you needed to cut Aaron Rodgers during his bye week to facilitate a rental, you wouldn't want someone else mistakenly misreading the transaction and adding him.

A commissioner must consider each of these league settings carefully, make educated decisions and communicate them to his or her ownership group as a whole. As with any less common fantasy league format, the intricacies can be tricky, so all owners need to have a thorough understanding of the rules in advance.

That goes for both commissioners and owners, so read up on your rules!

Strategy: It takes two to make a draft go awry

Strategy in a two-quarterback league is vastly different from strategy in a one-quarterback league, and anyone who tells you differently simply hasn't played in enough two-QB leagues to gain a thorough understanding. You cannot merely take rankings, or worse, average draft position (ADP) results from a one-quarterback league and cleanly apply them to a two-quarterback league.

Doubling the active quarterback pool vastly lowers the replacement level -- defined as the expected point total for a typical player available via free agency any week -- granting the better performers at the position additional value. As an example, let's take Matt Ryan: In 2014, his 248 fantasy points ranked seventh among quarterbacks, but in only four of his games all season did he register a point total that ranked among the top 10 at the position. He could've easily been classified a "matchups-oriented" quarterback in a 10-team, one-quarterback league. However, in 12 of Ryan's 16 games, he registered a point total that ranked among the top 20 at the position, making him a remarkably good starter in a two-quarterback league.

To illustrate this effect upon the position as a whole, let's use value-based drafting (VBD) data from the past three seasons. You can read more about VBD here, but to summarize: VBD estimates how much better a player was, statistically, than a replacement player at his position, allowing us to compare different players playing different positions of differing scarcity. For this exercise, let's use 2014 statistics and define "replacement player" as the point total of the ranking spot of the first player on a bench -- so the No. 11 quarterback in a 10-team, one-quarterback league, No. 21 in a 10-team, two-quarterback league, and so on.

Using this as our VBD model, here's how a one-quarterback and a two-quarterback league stack up. The numbers are VBD rankings among the entire player pool, and top players at other positions are also listed to reflect the impact of the additional starting quarterback on their overall value.

1-QB vs. 2-QB leagues, based on VBD ranks Player Team Pos 1QB rank 2QB rank Aaron Rodgers GB QB 13th 2nd Andrew Luck IND QB 15th 3rd Russell Wilson SEA QB 25th 6th Peyton Manning DEN QB 29th 7th Ben Roethlisberger PIT QB 36th 8th Drew Brees NO QB 38th 11th Matt Ryan ATL QB 57th 14th Tom Brady NE QB 61st 15th Ryan Tannehill MIA QB 63rd 17th Eli Manning NYG QB 67th 20th Tony Romo DAL QB 79th 23rd Philip Rivers SD QB 89th 24th Joe Flacco BAL QB 96th 26th Jay Cutler CHI QB 106th 27th Matthew Stafford DET QB 120th 29th DeMarco Murray DAL RB 1st 1st Le'Veon Bell PIT RB 2nd 4th Marshawn Lynch SEA RB 3rd 5th Antonio Brown PIT WR 4th 8th Demaryius Thomas DEN WR 8th 15th Jordy Nelson GB WR 9th 18th Rob Gronkowski NE TE 11th 21st Antonio Gates SD TE 21st 36th Jimmy Graham NO TE 27th 41st Stephen Gostkowski NE K 38th 52nd Cody Parkey PHI K 46th 59th Adam Vinatieri IND K 53rd 66th

That's as compelling an argument as there is for building around quarterbacks -- or at least taking one with one of your first three picks -- in a two-quarterback league. A whopping 16 quarterbacks ranked among the top 30 overall players in terms of VBD in 2014, and 19 quarterbacks earned VBD rankings that were the equivalent of a pick in the first seven rounds in two-quarterback leagues; only four quarterbacks ranked among the top 30 and 10 in the first seven rounds in one-quarterback formats. With so many elite quarterbacks these days, it's well worth taking your first one in the first round -- or by the second or third rounds at the latest.

I've played in two-quarterback leagues for nearly two decades, and in every one of those drafts, as many as 10 quarterbacks were selected by the conclusion of the third round. You can wait if you choose, if you believe in your ability to unearth gems at the position. But even if you do, at some point you're going to be pressed to select one significantly sooner than would be your preference in a one-quarterback league. Wouldn't you rather that "reach" at the position be an elite passer, a Rodgers or Luck, in the first round than a Roethlisberger or Tannehill in the fourth or fifth?

As for what position suffers in a two-quarterback league, as someone has to slip further down draft boards if quarterbacks are being selected significantly earlier, tight ends tend to last longer, by as much as one or two rounds. In two-wide-receiver leagues, wideouts aren't far behind, moving down approximately as much in the lower tiers. In three-wide-receiver leagues, however, running backs tend to move down almost equally with wide receivers, approximately a round for each position (though neither to the extent of tight end).

Stud-and-streamer: It takes a QB2 to tango

If overpaying for two quarterbacks doesn't interest you, another angle you might consider is locking in a stud quarterback and using your QB2 spot to exploit matchups. In this arrangement, you'd openly try to select the best QB1 you could: This means most likely spending your first-round selection on either Rodgers, Luck or even Russell Wilson or Peyton Manning, depending on who is available when your turn comes.

Then, with your QB2 pick, you'd select two or more mid-to-late-round, high-upside quarterbacks in the hopes that one would provide a great return on investment. In the event none does, you'd be aggressive via free agency in-season; and even if you did nab a useful QB2 in the draft, you'd still be proactive in looking for free agents.

In 2014, this is a strategy that would have paid off nicely: Three of the top four quarterbacks in terms of ADP, Manning (No. 1), Rodgers (No. 2) and Luck (No. 4), finished first (Rodgers), second (Luck) and fourth (Manning) in fantasy points, while Drew Brees, who ranked third in ADP, finished sixth in points. This suggests you'd have had an excellent chance at a good return on your first-round investment.

Now look at where some of the top 20 quarterbacks in fantasy points were selected in the preseason (or as in-season pickups): Wilson (No. 3 in fantasy points, No. 10 in ADP), Roethlisberger (No. 5, No. 21), Tannehill (No. 9, No. 22), Eli Manning (No. 10, No. 17), Joe Flacco (No. 13, No. 19) and Derek Carr (No. 20, undrafted). That's six of 20 (or 30 percent) who returned a good amount of profit on your investment, which is pretty good odds considering the volatility of quarterbacks as a whole after the top 12-14 or so.

Tristan's two-quarterback league rankings

Whatever your desired strategy, formulating a detailed draft sheet is critical to two-quarterback league success. Listed below are my personal rankings for the format.