Scott Fish Bowl strategy: A few thoughts on SFB16 scoring, for those about to draft

If you commit just one fact to memory about Scott Fish, let it be this: He is the chief mouthpiece and propagandist for America's tight ends. 

In fact, Fish is a wholly owned subsidiary of Big Tight End. No one has done more over the years than him to normalize TE premium scoring, which of course is an abomination — a perversion, a corruption of our game's most cherished founding principles.

Fish has been well compensated for his efforts, too. He and his entourage are spending another summer jetting from one live draft location to the next aboard the SFB Gulfstream — and who, exactly, do you think is paying their expenses? Tight ends, of course. They have funded Fish's ostentatious lifestyle dating back to the days of Jermichael Finley and Jeremy Shockey. (Good luck following the money, however. The Fish Bowl financial empire is like an endless cup snake of shell companies.) 

As a prominent fantasy football influencer, Fish also wields significant power with respect to industry-wide scoring preferences. Even when he's promoting a league format as obviously flawed as TE premium, the herd will follow. 

So, to no one's surprise, tight ends are once again the most favored players in SFB:

Outrageous. If you asked Brock Bowers and Trey McBride to determine this year's scoring system, it might look something like the above. Any 5-yard catch for a first down will be worth 3.5 points to a tight end and 1.5 points to everyone else. Scandalous. A shameful giveaway. Participation trophies on top of participation trophies. Honestly, tight ends at all levels of the game should feel deeply embarrassed. 

Instead, the deep-pocketed tight end lobby has chosen to enrich Fish while making themselves the essential players in one of fantasy football's largest and most entertaining (also most socially responsible and charitably minded) contests. 

Which brings us to the first thing you need to know about drafting your SFB squad in 2026...

This is the one league in which TEs cannot be overdrafted

Bowers should probably be the overall top selection. McBride should certainly be a first round pick. Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren (and maybe Tucker Kraft) in the second? It's the right call. SFB16 settings amplify the difference between the elite tight ends and the position's middle tiers, so feel free to get weird and reckless in the early rounds. 

You gotta get two quarterbacks

Just like last year, Fish is allowing two QBs in your 10-player starting roster (but no more). Let's not get cute. You definitely want a solid pair in your weekly lineups. We have 20-22 quarterbacks in the player pool who are likely to score at the level of the elite receivers and running backs. I don't hate the idea of opening your draft in this ridiculous manner: TE-QB-QB-TE. When the settings are wild, your picks should feel insane.

Beyond the opening rounds, running backs don't matter

You can absolutely nail your SFB16 draft while aggressively avoiding this position. If you miss out on Bijan, Gibbs or CMC — or any of the other half-dozen or so full-workload featured runners — you have the option to simply punt running backs altogether. Ignore 'em. Add them in-season as they emerge, fine, but don't sweat this spot in your draft. 

We're filling two superflex spots and eight flexes in this league. The board is wide open. No one is gonna make you start some sketchy 10-touch running back, not ever. This league is designed to upend running back privilege. 

One of these yardage bonuses is not like the others

Most of the big-game and big-play bonuses available in SFB16 will be awarded for degree-of-difficulty achievements and uncommon occurrences. Jared Goff and Dak Prescott led the league in 300-yard passing performances last year, each finishing with six. Matthew Stafford delivered with the most completions of 40 or more yards (19). Gibbs produced the most rushing plays of 40-plus yards, although the total wasn't significant (6). 

But folks, 20-yard receptions occur all the time. They are basically routine plays, happening hundreds of times each year. Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba each finished with 27 receptions gaining 20-plus yards last season. JSN delivered at least one catch of 20-plus yards in 14 of his 17 games. Forty-seven different NFL players produced at least 10 receiving plays of 20 yards. 

We shouldn't be shocked that Fish snuck in yet another favor to the tight ends (and to all receivers), of course. It's the one big-play bonus you can reliably build into weekly forecasts for a substantial number of players, the scoring nugget that tips things in favor of the pass-catchers.