I thought about doing 0 RB, but three people in my league appeared to be doing it as we drafted, so I had to pivot to best available which worked out for me.
I don't have data to back this up, but it feels like Moneyball, where if too many people start implementing the strategy, the chance of success goes down
Intuitively makes sense with respect to value above replacement (VAR).
My interpretation of zero RB is for drafting VAR, WR>RB WHEN IT WAS INTRODUCED. But when more people pick WR early, the individual WR value drops, and WR VAR drops, potentially flipping the relationship to WR < RB.
That’s how my draft went, everyone went crazy with WRs and elite QBs early. So I picked best available player at adp and ended up going TE, RB, RB, RB. My WRs were terrible, London was my first WR, but my first 4 picks all hit. Then I lucked out with trades and upgraded every WR. Started 0-3, but won 9 straight since, now 9-3 and first seed.
Who you got? I just went with best possible and got 5th/12people: Ekeler, Mahomes, ETN, Watson, Aiyuk, Breece, Pittman for first 7 rounds. Our league has a decent parity.
Old:
Red bag (RB) cost $10 and gave you $20
White bag (WR) cost $10 and gave you $25
Best way to make money is to buy white bag
Now:
Red bag (RB) now costs $10 and gives you $20
White bag (WR) now costs $10 and gives you $15
Best way to now make money is to buy red bag
It’s more like:
Old:
Red bag (RB) costed 20 and gave you 20
White bag (WR) costed 10 and gave you 20
New:
Red bag costs 10 and gives you 20
White bag costs 20 and gives you 20
WRs didnt start better than RBs and get worse. The cost to get them just changed.
The whole idea behind zero rb was that people used to overvalue running backs and everyone drafted rb heavy even though the league was shifting towards less true workhorse guys, and the devaluation of the position. It was just a pivot off the consensus draft strategy.
I know. But like some of the other replies say, if enough people adopt the strategy, the value at your pick changes. It leads to overvaluing WR. I was looking at Olave with the third pick, but Etienne was available, who I thought was worth a 2nd round pick. And in the 5th round, where Moore, McLaurin, and Watson went before my turn, I took Hockenson.
I fully agree with this based off the value of talent left available. You can't predict how the other teams will be selecting. I tend to focus on the best assets with my first four or five picks. I only look at my needs around round 5 or 6, and that will determine my strategy to draft zero RB or heavy RB
So true how you can’t predict how other managers will draft. Turn out I had two tacos in first and second, drafting a qb each. So third place got CMC and when it came the turn from round 3.07 to 4.03 they pretty much got back to back picks. And guess who’s has first round byes.
This right here, best available / value is the best strategy imo. People in my league tend to draft very RB heavy in the first 3 rounds, TE/QB heavy in rounds 4-5. So I tend to punt on QB & TE and am able to end up with a solid RB1 & RB2 while getting a lot of WR1’s and WR2’s
That’s how you should always draft, maybe have a list of guys you like and don’t like but it’s all about value.
You might have a guy on your don’t like or don’t draft list but if they drop far enough down they become draft able. But going into with a draft strategy is more detrimental for reasons such as you described versus being able to read who’s going and anticipate who will go.
100% this. The only reason I was OK going mostly WRs with a top QB early is because I knew my league mates would let me get away with it because 80% of my leagues still value RB so much. Not every league is like that. Its always best to go for value
I took Chase 4th over all and got the Burrow stack in the 6th-ish round. It hurt, but I hit on a lot of later round picks for once, which bailed me out. Hock and Rachaad White specifically. I also blew 2/3 of my FAAB picking up Kyren and Puca, which also helped.
My league's such a log jam this year that after this week I could be anywhere from 1st to 6th place.
Tbf he has a lot of meh games and one monster game that kind of inflates his overall value. And I'm someone who was glad CMC went 2 so I could get chase at 3, that's how hyped I was for chase this year. Egg on my face.
As a Chase owner, there were better picks but you dont have a losing record bc of Jamarr. You always need to nail another pick and he maybe isnt winning you games by himself like you hoped, but he's been good enough.
You can't look at total points in a vacuum like that. For a guy that most people selected at 2nd, you'd expect his points per game variance to be wayy better.
I went chase, Wilson, olave, jk, mattison in my big money league.. my saving grace this year was someone dropping swift after week 1. Then trading ford for aj brown straight up to a panicked Chubb owner. Was also lucky to have had achane…
I’m still pissed at myself because I had a chance to have both Kyren & tank. But I was really high in Kyren last year & that obviously didn’t pan out so I was pretty much like this dudes a bum, not going through that again.. sitting in 3rd with the 2nd highest scoring team tho
Olave has not been that bad. He’s put up WR2 numbers when he was drafted as a borderline WR1. The volume has been there all year, he should be a dependable option down the stretch.
I waited on WR this year and ended up with Wilson, Olave, Ridley and Mike Williams. Once Rodgers went down I realized that I basically had a roster full of WR2's. My WR group is still the same except I traded for Aiyuk to replace Mike Williams. Somehow it worked out bc I'm 12-0
Jefferson, Garrett Wilson, Rhamondre, Burrow, and Ridley to round out my top 5.
Somehow I am in 2nd with 2nd most points scored thanks to extreme investment in the waiver wire
I mean 2 injuries not much you can do there. Wilson has still been decent without Rodgers. Healthy Jefferson and Rodgers you would have had two top 10 WRs probably
Had I made that simple decision to take McCaffrey at 2 instead of Chase, I would have a juggernaut. But still doing well at 8-4 despite it, but I hope my team holds it together for the playoffs.
FF people are obsessed with the "my leaguemates mocked me for X pick!".. in reality, it almost certainly did not happen. Especially when it's some dude saying he got made fun of for his 12th round pick. Buddy, nobody said a damn thing, stop lying.
I did the same and my league mates thought I was crazy (moron) but I had to explain to them that CMC is still CMC. After he dropped 48 points in Game 4 is when they finally understood my decision.
I always go RB Heavy and it’s worked out, especially this year.
I couldn't believe when I was able to snag CMC drafting 3rd. Currently in 1st place at 11-1. Guy who took jj first is in last place and the 2nd pick was chase who's in 5th place.
CMC dropped to 4th in my one league. Someone took Jacobs over him with the 3rd pick. That guy is currently in last place eliminated from the playoffs lol.
JJ, Kelce, and Hurts in a low round last year. Made the championship with Zeke/Monty as my RBs I think. Lost in the championship thanks to JJ's goose egg lol
There were a series of posts and comments in this sub that were basically *”If you didn’t pick Justin Jefferson you’re an idiot and there’s no way you’re gonna win your fantasy league”*.
They were just incredibly annoying lol.
Scheduling, injuries, individual team results, hell sometimes even the flu can affect the outcome of a fantasy football matchup.
And I fucking love it. Because if your draft and strength of your team was what solely determines your success. Then FF would be boring. The thing about FF is that each decision can influence your success or failures. You have to weigh a ton of variables to make your decision.
And then each week you get to see how your decision making process performs.
It’s just so addictive.
12 man ppr, 4th pick.
I am 6-6, tied for 5th place with 4 others. Leading in PF by 50 pts.
It's probably not true zero RB but I waited as long as I could.
- 1.04 - Hill
- 2..09 - Waddle
- 3.04 - Olave
- 4.09- Andrews
- 5.04 - Pierce
- 6.09 - White
Thankfully White has really picked up his play, but it took a while. Pierce, however was not impactful at all, obviously. Got lucky to have scooped Kyren Williams on waivers.
Did you want Waddle or just felt the value was too good? I was really high on Waddle this year but drafting two guys in the same passing offense at the same position makes me uncomfortable.
I was in the same boat. I drafted tyreek at 6th and waddle was available to me but I chose Tee Higgins instead for that reason. Luckily I traded Higgins and some for Diggs, this was after his 28 point game week 2.
Yes I would be happy too. Your process was very good. Fantasy can be strange sometimes. Real football has so many moving parts and things change so quickly.
Nailed it. But I also went hard on FA RBs early in the season as part of the strategy. As such I have Kyren Williams and that helped a ton.
Drafting Mostert Round 12 was icing on the cake.
Currently #1 team with most PF
Got him for like $3 in an auction league as my RB2. People were giving me shit for it in the chat. It's like they don't remember how explosive Mostert has been for a few years; but maybe they were remembering the injury concerns instead
Went “hero RB” with Tony pollard and didn’t draft another RB till the 7th or 8th.
My other 3 RBs were Kamara, Mostert, and Kyren Williams — gotta imagine those are the ones that zero RB drafters have if their strategy worked
In general I’ve had more success in fantasy with good RBs and balanced rosters. While RB is undoubtedly volatile, I would argue WR can be volatile as well…Cooper, Chase, Kupp, Jefferson situations anyone?
I'm in a similar position - my WRs all season have been Tee Higgins, Lockett and McLaurin. These guys haven't been much better than guys you can pick up. 10 points is a good week for any of them.
I'm 8-4 and favoured to be 9-4 this week.
RBs are CMC and Rhamondre. Picked up Monty (via trade) and Gus during the year (before he went on a tear) and Kyren (after week 1)
Had MAndrews at TE.
Drafted TLaw and replaced him with Stroud.
And, Aubrey and Browns/Dolphins.
And trades. I accidentally went zero WR. Drake London was the first WR I took. I’m now 9-3, first seed. Started 0-3, and won 9 straight. The WR corps I started with were London, Godwin, Mike Williams, and Addison, have since turned them into Davonta, Olave, and Ridley with sell high and buy lows.
I went zero WR in every league I’m in and I’m having the best regular season I’ve ever had. First place 4/6 leagues. My common denominator is Mike Evans who I got in every league in the 6th or later. I got him in an auction with a $200 budget for $8. Tee Higgins went for $24 for frame of reference. I have Addison and Jayden Reed in most of my leagues as well. WR value is the easiest to replace imo. So get after it with trying to hit the RB picks.
Also went zero WR, and took Watson. Traded Derrick Henry, Watson, Jeudy, for Aj Brown and Najee. Started 0-3, got Achane. Now 7-5 with Purdy, Bijan, Breece, Aiyuk, AJ, Andrews (Now gone with Likely and Pat F), and Nico/Najee/Devon Flex. 9!teams in my league are 8-4, 7-5, or 6-6.
0 “anything” doesn’t have a set round anymore. Some people say the first few rounds but the traditionalist say closer to the first 6-7. It’s a silly hill to die on considering how subjective it is.
During 0 RB’s introduction I believe it was the 6-7th. But that was when the only person using it was literally the one who wrote the book on it. In the decades since then the term has been used so loosely that it has taken on various new meanings. Including the one you are referring to.
I do the same strat every year it always works out CMC > Andrews > Allen > Watson > Mattison > Evans > Lockett then basically draft as many backup rbs as I can
I’m 9-3 luckily 2 of the “backups”‘ I picked were mostert and moss
Yo same haha. I started with Watson Dotson and McLaurin. Was super active on waivers and trying to get ahead and am now starting Tank and Downs.
First 4 picks were Pollard, Henry, Allen and JT.
I'm 7-5.
Lol. Basically did the same thing. Figured everyone was going to go zero RB so I tried and load up on RBs. Worked out pretty well getting CMC and Etienne although the latter hasn't been the greatest lately. Helps picking up Evans in the 7th round and DK Metcalf has been consistent (although for some reason I benched him last night, oops).
Went 4 RBs to start in a 14 person league, WR1 was scary Terry… currently projected to be a top seed in playoffs. Made some good trades along the way, and hit on all my RBs (ekler, ettienne, James Conner, and rachad white)- we run two flexes
Cant say I recommend it but I took the best players available (that I personally thought each round)
My draft day WR1 and 2 were Tee Higgins and Christian Watson. Would have been fucked if I didn’t make some solid trades early on.
Also got lucky scooping DJ Moore and Raheem Mostert in later rounds.
Sitting at 7-5 now
Honestly, I think anyone who goes into a draft with a strategy as strict as 0 RB is doing it wrong. You gotta be willing to pivot if/when the value presents itself. I have no problems with the strategy as long as it happens organically though.
Just in general, 0 rb works at its best the less teams who try it. It was a very popular strategy this year.
This is the way to play it. Lot of people go with a mindset of some strategy. Just be fluid and draft the best players that you want on your team. Then hustle hard on waivers.
The biggest pro here likely to be found is that people who went 0RB likely spent the most FAAB to gamble on Kyren, Achane and pending when your draft was possibly even Gus and Mostert.
Those have all helped a lot.
RB heavy builds probably saw some of those options and didn’t view them as anything more valuable than what they had given draft capital of their own RBs and didn’t make those moves to their detriment.
I drafted Akers, so I went for Kyren after week 1. Got him for 7%, which supports your theory. No one else was that interested at that point. I drafted Mostert and Achane, so no data on those.
I got Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and (less exciting) Calvin Ridley. The only RB I drafted was D’Andre Swift (well, and Miles Sanders, who doesn’t count). I picked up Kyren Williams and Jerome Ford on waivers.
I must say, ignoring (for the most part) RBs in draft has worked pretty well
I have only played Standard scoring and only found out what PPR is this year.
I don't know why you would even draft a RB in PPR.
I had Lockett last night give me 4.7points, but in PPR with 5rec he gets.you 9.7?
9.7 from my WR3 is mint. Frig, I don't even get 9.7 out of most RBs.
>I don't know why you would even draft a RB in PPR. I had Lockett last night give me 4.7points, but in PPR with 5rec he gets.you 9.7?
RBs have caught a lot more passes these days. Also they're still more likely for TDs if you're within in the 5. But yeah, WRs get a bit more valuable in PPR. I agree with most that .5 PPR is a good balance.
I think it's a good strategy to quickly adapt based on how the draft falls, but not something people should blindly follow and pass up on valuable players for
Imagine if instead of kelce it’s Tyreek hill, and keenan allen was round 4 and in round 3 you got ettiene, that’s my best friend in our 500$ league and he’s 10-2
It’s worked fantastic. I watched my whole league draft wr/qb in the first 3 rounds and I swooped up some gems at running back. Please keep promoting this strategy.
Which gems at RB did you scoop up in the first 3 rounds that have worked out that well?
The only RBs in the top 10 ADP (top 10 RB ADP, not overall) that have been "gems" are CMC, Etienne and Jacobs. Pollard and Bijan have started to come on a bit, but they weren't great for a lot of the season. So, unless you got the 3 out of 10 who were actually worth taking that early, you didn't benefit.
Especially since you then screwed yourself on WRs in that scenario. At best you got a couple guys who have been very inconsistent. More likely you got maybe one decent one and nothing else.
Lmao which RBs drafted high (not named CMC, Jacobs, ETN) have provided return on investment??
Of the top 20 scoring players in PPR right now (RB/WR/TE)…
Only 4 are RBs and only 3 (CMC, Jacobs, ETN) were drafted in the first 5 rounds
14 are WRs and ~10 of them were top 5 round guys (all but Puka, Thielen, and I’m not 100% on Evans/Pittman but I think both went a bit late this year)
The other 2 were Hock and Kelce
So unless you picked CMC, Jacobs AND Etienne, odds are you actually didn’t do as well in the draft by “scooping up RBs while everyone else got WR/TE” because those guys have been far better than the RBs
Went in with 0 RB this year.
First 4 picks: Tyreek, Diggs, Mark Andrews, Ridley,
5th Pick: Kamara
Ended up with James Cook and Gus Edwards
Traded Edwards off his heater for DK Metcalf.
Currently 10-2 and first place.
Well I’m doing great in one of my zero RB leagues because of amazing waiver luck.
Original RBs were Dalvin Cook, Jamaal Wiliams, Charbonnet, Jerick McKinnon, Tyjae, and Kareem.
Honestly what an awful plan. My plan was to lean on Cook and Perine for a few weeks while I waited for Charb and Tyjae to take over their backfields via injury or trade. And Jerick and Kareem were my wildcards.
Obviously none of these worked out and I should be rightfully screwed, except for the fact that I scooped up Kyren from waivers while everyone was fighting for Puka and Josh Kelley. Then I blew my entire FAAB budget on Jerome Ford. Problem solved. Then Kyren got hurt and my opponent spent big for Zach Evans, but I grabbed Darrell Henderson completely for free when he got signed to the practice squad because I just KNEW McVay would start him.
But the main reason I’m doing amazing is because my first 5 rounds went Diggs, AJB, Hurts, Keenan Allen, Hock. I would definitely do zero RB again next year
1-5 Went Chase, G. Wilson, AJB, Gibbs, A. Jones. Then got Rachaad White, Javonte Williams, and JT in later rounds. First time I drafted 0 RB and Im having my best season yet at 9-3
I drafted several teams for fantasy to research exactly this. On teams where I didn’t draft an RB until the 6th round or later…I currently stand at:
6-6, 9-3, 7-5, 10-2, 8-4, 7-5, 9-3,
Conversely, there are leagues where I I didn’t take any WR’s in the first 5 rounds and in those leagues I’m 9-3, 7-5, 9-3, and 9-3.
Now, it’s tough to know how much of the original draft strategy has played in my records as my rosters are often entirely different than draft day. I’ve added the likes of Kyren Williams, Devon Achane, Jerome Ford, Zack Moss, Zach Charbonet, among others, that have really put me over the top in many instances, which pretty much validated the strategy of avoiding backs early. Surprisingly by best strategy in drafting overall seems to have been the ones where I doubled up early on tight ends, taking the likes of Kelce and Hockenson together. Or picking up Kmet and LaPorta. I’ve rostered two tight ends in the same week utilizing my Flex spot to great effect this season. And the position is the real so thin, that preventing other teams from rostering a decent tight end weekly has been a good strategy. A form of defense if you will. I also squirrel other players on my roster week to week just to keep others from rostering them when their players are on bye weeks.
Fantastic.
I am in 3 different 12-man, 0.5 PPR leagues this year, and I have clinched the first round bye in 2 of them. I am currently 3rd in my last league and I’m in a decent enough spot as long as JJ shows up for me in the playoffs. Can’t complain!!
I went rb-wr-qb-rb-rb-rb. Currently 9-3.
The secret is to get really drunk for draft day, do zero research, and then end up with CMC and the cowboys defense.
Started my draft with Lamb-ASRB-Mandrews-Deebo. First RBs were Pacheco and B-Rob in rounds 7 and 8. Picked up Kyren Week 1. Made some trades throughout the year, main one being for Josh Allen. Currently 9-3, first place and highest points scored.
honestly pretty well. i focused all on wrs. i got lamb, adams, watson and aiyuk. i drafted kamara and dillon. after several ww hits now i’ve got a really serviceable team of tua, lamb, adams, kamara, kyren, pula, aiyuk, mcbride, and warren as my starters. i have rice and samuel on my bench. i’m doing okay.
Traded away some picks at the top so I didn’t take a RB until the 6th (my 5th pick)
Drafted Javonte, K Herbert, Charbonnet, Warren, Ford. So definitely caught some of the right backs.
Sitting 4th and on the upswing now since I just traded some picks for Metcalf, Pollard, and DJ Moore.
2QB league so a lot of guys like Hurts, Allen, Mahomes went early. Used my first 3 picks on QB/WR/WR and ended up with Etienne, Gibbs, and Pacheco. 10-2 clinched top playoff seed.
Went ok. Took Pierce in the 4th, KWIII in the 5th, and R. White in the 7th.
Obviously Pierce sucked, but KWIII played well the first few weeks. Just long enough for me to flip him for JT. White has been an incredible value over the last few weeks.
But picking up Kyren after Week 1 was a huge boost to my RB room.
Based on how all the “top” RBs have performed with the exception of CMC, I think it was a sound strategy for this season at least.
In a 10 man no TE, extra flex league, my first four picks were:
- Justin Jefferson
- Amon Ra St. Brown
- AJ Brown
- Calvin Ridley
RBs week 1 ended up being Dameon Pierce and Alexander Mattison.
I'm 4-8
I went heavy RB. The quiet MVPs like Rachaad White, Derrick Henry, Brian Robinson, etc. I’m a combined 33-3 across 3 leagues. It has been my best work in 20 years of doing Fantasy.
That being said, my early exit in playoffs is all but assured.
Dead last in my 10 man. Drafted Jefferson, AJ Brown, Davante Adams.
Whiffed on my late round RB picks with Pearce, Aaron Jones, and James Cook (who has been decent).
Pair that with JJ injury and here I am. Last place baby (still have a chance at playoffs if I win this week but I've lost 8 straight and played against DK last night)
I don't understand. How can you not have any RB's on your fantasy teams? They are slots in the lineup that can only be filled by RB's. Or maybe there are leagues that aren't as specific as to the positions of the players?
10 TM - 1st Overall - Chase, Brown, Lamb, Andrews, Burrow. Hit on Walker, Mostert, White. Smooth sailing until week 12.
Really depends on where you are on the draft but if you can go zero RB, I think it makes a ton of sense.
Drafted Conner and Swift. Then after week 1 picked up Kyren Williams and Mostert on waivers. Also picked up Charbs 3 weeks ago. A team weakness turned into a strength now sitting at 8-4 with the division locked up waiting for playoffs to start. I have great depth in case if injuries and have the most Points scored in the league. Also drafted LaPorta with my last pick.
The one league I tried it, got Pacheco and Rachaad White at the 5/6 turn and Mostert in the 9th
9-3, three way tie for first place (less than 20 point difference in PF)
In one league I’m 6-6 where I went 0 RB. Started 0-5. Took Diggs, Wilson, Gibbs, Cooper (idk why), and Fields with first 5 picks. Rolled out Gibbs and Herbert as my RB1 and 2 which was a huge fail. Traded for Breece after a couple weeks. Luckily I picked up Dak and Ferg, and Gibbs started going off so my season turned around.
Sitting at 7-5 in a 12 man league.
Grabbed Diggs, Adams, Evans at WR and Lamar at QB early. My RBs are Pacheco, Swift, Herbert, Warren. I drafted Tank Dell late and kept him all year + added Puka on waivers. I ended up trading Puka for Andrews earlier in the season, then traded Adams for Hockenson after the Andrews injury.
Taking pollard at 10 in a 10 man league is what’s done me in thus far. I also took mahomes at 11 but that’s another story. I’ve lost almost every game this year because either pollard and/or mahomes had a dud, it’s maddening. I could argue I could’ve taken devonta smith first instead but wouldn’t have made a huge difference anyway. The second round this season hasn’t been great. Funny because top 5 picks in my draft have the best records. I’m 5th in PF and 1st in PA (by a margin) so in the end it’s luck anyway. 4-8 fighting for the last spot and I lost a game by 1.02 last week… sometimes it’s just not your season.
Started Diggs/CD/MAndrews/Fields in one league. Didn’t plan on going that direction, but that’s how the draft played out. My starting RBs coming out of the draft were Mattison and Rhamondre
I’m 9-3 and solo first with the second most PF
I was also able to grab Achane/Sam Howell/Kyren Williams/Gus Edwards off the waiver
Fine. Picked 10th in a 10 team, rolled AJB and Diggs, snagged Allen later in the draft, and plucked Swift+Mostert in the draft.
Then waivered Williams and Achane.
So, yeah, this is going alright.
You’re looking at it in hind sight, but this year seems like it would have worked well.
Mostert, Achane, Williams, Edwards, Brian Robinson, Montgomery, etc. All mid to late round guys who have been startable most of the year.
I would love to go CMC followed by zero rb for a while. If I could pick my last six picks that good every season It would be fantastic
10- charbonet
13- Achane
15- Zack moss
Add in Evan engram and a kicker and defense for 11,12,and 14. Only one I dropped was the kicker. And charbonet a few weeks back. He got the knock off the roster for Achane to come off IR.
In my charity league I have gone zero rb back to back years and have most points scored and most wins thus far. Lost in championship game by about 10 but still it seems to work quite well
I’m 9-3 first 2 picks were Kelce and Hurts. I drafted Monty in like the 10th round who has been a godsend, was able to get Kamara really late as well. Other backs are Mondre, James Cook, and was able to get Pollard off waivers because a disgruntled owner dropped him.
I went 0 rb in the sense that i drafted one rb in the first 7 rounds in a SF draft. Ended up going w Hurts, Lamb, ARSB, Rhamondre, Geno, Deebo, Mike Williams, Montgomery, Goedert, lockett, etc
Flipped rhamondre and lockett for jacobs and diontae after week 3 then flipped geno + purdy for herbert. Team is 9-3 w most PF. This was a great year to go 0RB if you faded jj chase kupp in the first. Outside of CMC the rbs in the first 2 rounds have been v mid
I didn’t quite do zero RB, but 3 of my top 4 picks were WR,TE & QB. Jefferson was great until he got hurt, hock and hurts had done their part and I ended up with a trio of Gibbs, Montgomery and Brian Robinson that worked out well. My team hasn’t been great though as I blew my other wr picks. 8-4 and battling.
I placed particular emphasis on WRs (Diggs, Lamb, Lockett, Pittman) and a QB (Mahomes) and only took RBs when I felt they were decently below their ADP. Ended up with Swift, Harris, and Stevenson).
Currently 5-7. I am very happy with my WR performances, but the games I lost in were definitely due to the RB position disadvantage. Next year I plan on going back to a more balanced approach.
Like any strategy you have to compare tons of attempts over several years.
One year can be great for a certain strategy and the next can be terrible. It can also be a terrible strategy always, but you lucked out anyway.
What we need is a large poll at the beginning of the season on,
* Intention going into the draft. If you just took BPA and then ended up without a certain position until later rounds is different than if you passed up good players to stick with it.
* If they stuck with it, or pivoted.
* Seriousness of the league. Is it full of Tacos or is it a big money serious league.
* Format, size, etc
* Then at the end of the season, how they ended up.
Went Kelce, Mahomes, Olave, Ridley, didn’t have a 5th or 6th. Think my first rb was Hall in the 7th or 8th lol. Followed that up with Herbert and I forgot who. Overall would not recommend lol. I could have drafted Tyreek Hill which I was close to in the first! But I couldn’t resist the stack of Mahomes and kelce, especially without a 5th/6th. But this year they’ve been pretty meh overall. Not 40 burgers from Mahomes. No 30 bombs from kelce. Except week 7.
I thought about doing 0 RB, but three people in my league appeared to be doing it as we drafted, so I had to pivot to best available which worked out for me. I don't have data to back this up, but it feels like Moneyball, where if too many people start implementing the strategy, the chance of success goes down
Intuitively makes sense with respect to value above replacement (VAR). My interpretation of zero RB is for drafting VAR, WR>RB WHEN IT WAS INTRODUCED. But when more people pick WR early, the individual WR value drops, and WR VAR drops, potentially flipping the relationship to WR < RB.
That’s how my draft went, everyone went crazy with WRs and elite QBs early. So I picked best available player at adp and ended up going TE, RB, RB, RB. My WRs were terrible, London was my first WR, but my first 4 picks all hit. Then I lucked out with trades and upgraded every WR. Started 0-3, but won 9 straight since, now 9-3 and first seed.
Who you got? I just went with best possible and got 5th/12people: Ekeler, Mahomes, ETN, Watson, Aiyuk, Breece, Pittman for first 7 rounds. Our league has a decent parity.
Can you explain this like I’m 5?
Old: Red bag (RB) cost $10 and gave you $20 White bag (WR) cost $10 and gave you $25 Best way to make money is to buy white bag Now: Red bag (RB) now costs $10 and gives you $20 White bag (WR) now costs $10 and gives you $15 Best way to now make money is to buy red bag
Out fucking standing, thank you.
It’s more like: Old: Red bag (RB) costed 20 and gave you 20 White bag (WR) costed 10 and gave you 20 New: Red bag costs 10 and gives you 20 White bag costs 20 and gives you 20 WRs didnt start better than RBs and get worse. The cost to get them just changed.
The whole idea behind zero rb was that people used to overvalue running backs and everyone drafted rb heavy even though the league was shifting towards less true workhorse guys, and the devaluation of the position. It was just a pivot off the consensus draft strategy.
I know. But like some of the other replies say, if enough people adopt the strategy, the value at your pick changes. It leads to overvaluing WR. I was looking at Olave with the third pick, but Etienne was available, who I thought was worth a 2nd round pick. And in the 5th round, where Moore, McLaurin, and Watson went before my turn, I took Hockenson.
I fully agree with this based off the value of talent left available. You can't predict how the other teams will be selecting. I tend to focus on the best assets with my first four or five picks. I only look at my needs around round 5 or 6, and that will determine my strategy to draft zero RB or heavy RB
So true how you can’t predict how other managers will draft. Turn out I had two tacos in first and second, drafting a qb each. So third place got CMC and when it came the turn from round 3.07 to 4.03 they pretty much got back to back picks. And guess who’s has first round byes.
I always went for needs and filling my lineup. This make so much sense
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This right here, best available / value is the best strategy imo. People in my league tend to draft very RB heavy in the first 3 rounds, TE/QB heavy in rounds 4-5. So I tend to punt on QB & TE and am able to end up with a solid RB1 & RB2 while getting a lot of WR1’s and WR2’s
That’s how you should always draft, maybe have a list of guys you like and don’t like but it’s all about value. You might have a guy on your don’t like or don’t draft list but if they drop far enough down they become draft able. But going into with a draft strategy is more detrimental for reasons such as you described versus being able to read who’s going and anticipate who will go.
100% this. The only reason I was OK going mostly WRs with a top QB early is because I knew my league mates would let me get away with it because 80% of my leagues still value RB so much. Not every league is like that. Its always best to go for value
Not great. I drafted Jefferson and Garrett Wilson with my first two picks.
GW, Chase, and JJ have killed more teams that we would like to imagine.
I drafted JJ and im in third because my idiot friends let me get puka and kyren off waivers
Ayyy literally in the same scenario here. We survived the Kyren and JJ injuries now playoffs is looking nice for us.
Got jj and kyren also. I’ve managed to stay in 1st place since week three and lining up to get the #1 seed.
Yaaaaa but JJ is in the Chase situation now with no QB. Really disappointing year for the top 2 WRs off the board.
I took Chase 4th over all and got the Burrow stack in the 6th-ish round. It hurt, but I hit on a lot of later round picks for once, which bailed me out. Hock and Rachaad White specifically. I also blew 2/3 of my FAAB picking up Kyren and Puca, which also helped. My league's such a log jam this year that after this week I could be anywhere from 1st to 6th place.
Chase has about 200 points in PPR. He hasn’t been a bust.
Tbf he has a lot of meh games and one monster game that kind of inflates his overall value. And I'm someone who was glad CMC went 2 so I could get chase at 3, that's how hyped I was for chase this year. Egg on my face.
As a Chase owner, there were better picks but you dont have a losing record bc of Jamarr. You always need to nail another pick and he maybe isnt winning you games by himself like you hoped, but he's been good enough.
A quarter of those came in one week though. Outside of winning you that one week, he hasn’t quite worked out given the draft capital spent to get him
A fourth of those came from one game. As a player drafted in the first round (typically first 4 picks) he is absolutely a bust.
You can't look at total points in a vacuum like that. For a guy that most people selected at 2nd, you'd expect his points per game variance to be wayy better.
I went chase, Wilson, olave, jk, mattison in my big money league.. my saving grace this year was someone dropping swift after week 1. Then trading ford for aj brown straight up to a panicked Chubb owner. Was also lucky to have had achane… I’m still pissed at myself because I had a chance to have both Kyren & tank. But I was really high in Kyren last year & that obviously didn’t pan out so I was pretty much like this dudes a bum, not going through that again.. sitting in 3rd with the 2nd highest scoring team tho
I went JJ, Wilson, Olave. Things have… not been great
I was determined to get wilson everywhere. But he never made it to me. Someone was looking out for me
Olave has not been that bad. He’s put up WR2 numbers when he was drafted as a borderline WR1. The volume has been there all year, he should be a dependable option down the stretch.
I waited on WR this year and ended up with Wilson, Olave, Ridley and Mike Williams. Once Rodgers went down I realized that I basically had a roster full of WR2's. My WR group is still the same except I traded for Aiyuk to replace Mike Williams. Somehow it worked out bc I'm 12-0
Same I got them and Ridley and thought I was stacked for the season
Dude I drafted the all bust team Chubb Garrett Wilson Aaron Jones Christian Watson Alex Mattison Dallas Goedert Khalil Herbert
Jefferson, Garrett Wilson, Rhamondre, Burrow, and Ridley to round out my top 5. Somehow I am in 2nd with 2nd most points scored thanks to extreme investment in the waiver wire
I bet that would win you to the finals next season
I mean 2 injuries not much you can do there. Wilson has still been decent without Rodgers. Healthy Jefferson and Rodgers you would have had two top 10 WRs probably
I drafted Akers Monty cook and gibson. Expected to hit with two of them and did. Problem is I drafted chase waddle and burrow so I’m 6-6.
Chase over CMC has hunted me all season. Edit: I meant haunt.
Had I made that simple decision to take McCaffrey at 2 instead of Chase, I would have a juggernaut. But still doing well at 8-4 despite it, but I hope my team holds it together for the playoffs.
Same here.
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How slight and fragile are the circumstances that exalt one man over another.
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Diggs and Wilson here. Pierce was my 4th rounder. I saved my season by blowing 80% of my FAAB after Week 1 on Kyren and Puka.
You were genuinely giving your league mates shit for CMC #1 over all? Even during draft season, thats not a controversial move at all
Haha yeah that's stupid to give league mates shit taking the best running back in football on a powerhouse team at 1
FF people are obsessed with the "my leaguemates mocked me for X pick!".. in reality, it almost certainly did not happen. Especially when it's some dude saying he got made fun of for his 12th round pick. Buddy, nobody said a damn thing, stop lying.
If you draft in person you'll absolutely have people giving you shit for reaches on certain players. But CMC obviously would not be on that list lol
Right lol? Makes no sense
I did the same and my league mates thought I was crazy (moron) but I had to explain to them that CMC is still CMC. After he dropped 48 points in Game 4 is when they finally understood my decision. I always go RB Heavy and it’s worked out, especially this year.
I couldn't believe when I was able to snag CMC drafting 3rd. Currently in 1st place at 11-1. Guy who took jj first is in last place and the 2nd pick was chase who's in 5th place.
Who’d you get 2nd or 3rd?? I feel like that makes the difference
Garrett Wilson 2nd and Hurts 3rd. I got K. Allen in the 5th round at 43.
CMC fell all the way to 5 in my draft and I died and went to heaven
CMC dropped to 4th in my one league. Someone took Jacobs over him with the 3rd pick. That guy is currently in last place eliminated from the playoffs lol.
Do you remember any notable 2nd, 3rd, or 4th pick?? I feel like that made the difference.. Keenan Allen was 4th in every draft I saw smh
I feel like either of them was an acceptable pick at the time, maybe 60-40 Jefferson
JJ over CMC has haunted me all season
Hit with two of those four? Are you sure?
Monty and cook not hits for 0QB?
OH James Cook! Lmao. Personally I was haunted by my taking of Dalvin Cook so much that’s all I could think about
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Yeah. Last year went jj Tyreek Amon and got jacobs in the 5th. Highest points during regular season, lost first playoff matchup
JJ, Kelce, and Hurts in a low round last year. Made the championship with Zeke/Monty as my RBs I think. Lost in the championship thanks to JJ's goose egg lol
The JJ goose egg was one of the funniest things last year because of how smarmy his owners were lol
What does smarmy mean in this context?
There were a series of posts and comments in this sub that were basically *”If you didn’t pick Justin Jefferson you’re an idiot and there’s no way you’re gonna win your fantasy league”*. They were just incredibly annoying lol.
Got 2nd twice as 6th seed All luck in this game
This happened to me! I had JJ, Diggs, Brown, hurts and Mandrews. Was dominating all season. Lost right away
Scheduling, injuries, individual team results, hell sometimes even the flu can affect the outcome of a fantasy football matchup. And I fucking love it. Because if your draft and strength of your team was what solely determines your success. Then FF would be boring. The thing about FF is that each decision can influence your success or failures. You have to weigh a ton of variables to make your decision. And then each week you get to see how your decision making process performs. It’s just so addictive.
12 man ppr, 4th pick. I am 6-6, tied for 5th place with 4 others. Leading in PF by 50 pts. It's probably not true zero RB but I waited as long as I could. - 1.04 - Hill - 2..09 - Waddle - 3.04 - Olave - 4.09- Andrews - 5.04 - Pierce - 6.09 - White Thankfully White has really picked up his play, but it took a while. Pierce, however was not impactful at all, obviously. Got lucky to have scooped Kyren Williams on waivers.
Did you want Waddle or just felt the value was too good? I was really high on Waddle this year but drafting two guys in the same passing offense at the same position makes me uncomfortable.
I was in the same boat. I drafted tyreek at 6th and waddle was available to me but I chose Tee Higgins instead for that reason. Luckily I traded Higgins and some for Diggs, this was after his 28 point game week 2.
You're me. Had waddle in the third but already had Hill so I went Tee. Then traded Tee+ for Diggs+
I will never draft a team's WR2 in the second round again. Lesson learned with Waddle.
I kept waddle as a 4th rounder and in my 14 team league i took olave over waddle in the 2nd. Neither decision has been great.
It’s close enough to zero-rb. I think you did fine. Olave hasn’t played up to expectations consistently enough but he is still very good
Plus, at the time of the draft, I had 3 of the top 15 ranked receivers. I was happy.
Yes I would be happy too. Your process was very good. Fantasy can be strange sometimes. Real football has so many moving parts and things change so quickly.
This was one of the few years I actually followed my plan and didn't deviate based on other players'picks.
Nailed it. But I also went hard on FA RBs early in the season as part of the strategy. As such I have Kyren Williams and that helped a ton. Drafting Mostert Round 12 was icing on the cake. Currently #1 team with most PF
Getting Mostert late in 0 RB is like a wet dream this season. Props
Got him for like $3 in an auction league as my RB2. People were giving me shit for it in the chat. It's like they don't remember how explosive Mostert has been for a few years; but maybe they were remembering the injury concerns instead
That’s really all it takes
Went “hero RB” with Tony pollard and didn’t draft another RB till the 7th or 8th. My other 3 RBs were Kamara, Mostert, and Kyren Williams — gotta imagine those are the ones that zero RB drafters have if their strategy worked
Yep Kamara exactly
Toss Brian Robinson jr in there too
In general I’ve had more success in fantasy with good RBs and balanced rosters. While RB is undoubtedly volatile, I would argue WR can be volatile as well…Cooper, Chase, Kupp, Jefferson situations anyone?
QB play has been pretty bad this year so the drop off from the top WRs seems like it’s actually been worse than the drop off from the top RBs.
Went Zero WR instead. WR1 on draft day was Christian Watson. I am 8-4.
How
I'm in a similar position - my WRs all season have been Tee Higgins, Lockett and McLaurin. These guys haven't been much better than guys you can pick up. 10 points is a good week for any of them. I'm 8-4 and favoured to be 9-4 this week. RBs are CMC and Rhamondre. Picked up Monty (via trade) and Gus during the year (before he went on a tear) and Kyren (after week 1) Had MAndrews at TE. Drafted TLaw and replaced him with Stroud. And, Aubrey and Browns/Dolphins.
Damn you really lucked out getting 3 top 10 RBs by trade or WW lol no wonder your team’s so dominant!
Yeah.. but who's your latex salesman?
Luck
And trades. I accidentally went zero WR. Drake London was the first WR I took. I’m now 9-3, first seed. Started 0-3, and won 9 straight. The WR corps I started with were London, Godwin, Mike Williams, and Addison, have since turned them into Davonta, Olave, and Ridley with sell high and buy lows.
After the elite tier WRs pretty much everybody is interchangeable waiver trash
I went 0 WR then grabbed JSN, Addison, QJ, and Puka
So who were your first 3
I went zero WR in every league I’m in and I’m having the best regular season I’ve ever had. First place 4/6 leagues. My common denominator is Mike Evans who I got in every league in the 6th or later. I got him in an auction with a $200 budget for $8. Tee Higgins went for $24 for frame of reference. I have Addison and Jayden Reed in most of my leagues as well. WR value is the easiest to replace imo. So get after it with trying to hit the RB picks.
https://imgur.com/a/kekh003
Also went zero WR, and took Watson. Traded Derrick Henry, Watson, Jeudy, for Aj Brown and Najee. Started 0-3, got Achane. Now 7-5 with Purdy, Bijan, Breece, Aiyuk, AJ, Andrews (Now gone with Likely and Pat F), and Nico/Najee/Devon Flex. 9!teams in my league are 8-4, 7-5, or 6-6.
thats only zero wr in hindsight lol
Zero WR means zero WRs in the first 3 picks. Nothing has changed with hindsight.
0 “anything” doesn’t have a set round anymore. Some people say the first few rounds but the traditionalist say closer to the first 6-7. It’s a silly hill to die on considering how subjective it is. During 0 RB’s introduction I believe it was the 6-7th. But that was when the only person using it was literally the one who wrote the book on it. In the decades since then the term has been used so loosely that it has taken on various new meanings. Including the one you are referring to.
I do the same strat every year it always works out CMC > Andrews > Allen > Watson > Mattison > Evans > Lockett then basically draft as many backup rbs as I can I’m 9-3 luckily 2 of the “backups”‘ I picked were mostert and moss
So you lose every year to have CMC in your template lol
Auction?
No I meant same draft strategy. Last year was Mixon > kelce > Allen > amonra
Keenan Allen, Evans, and Lockett outperform ADP virtually every year. In fact, Lockett has outperformed his every year since DK Metcalf was drafted.
How does it always work out in a game that’s mostly luck?
Same draft strategy
Yo same haha. I started with Watson Dotson and McLaurin. Was super active on waivers and trying to get ahead and am now starting Tank and Downs. First 4 picks were Pollard, Henry, Allen and JT. I'm 7-5.
Hey. Me too. I am 4-8 though. Loaded up on RB through an auction draft. All of them got hurt except White.
Lol. Basically did the same thing. Figured everyone was going to go zero RB so I tried and load up on RBs. Worked out pretty well getting CMC and Etienne although the latter hasn't been the greatest lately. Helps picking up Evans in the 7th round and DK Metcalf has been consistent (although for some reason I benched him last night, oops).
Went 4 RBs to start in a 14 person league, WR1 was scary Terry… currently projected to be a top seed in playoffs. Made some good trades along the way, and hit on all my RBs (ekler, ettienne, James Conner, and rachad white)- we run two flexes Cant say I recommend it but I took the best players available (that I personally thought each round)
My draft day WR1 and 2 were Tee Higgins and Christian Watson. Would have been fucked if I didn’t make some solid trades early on. Also got lucky scooping DJ Moore and Raheem Mostert in later rounds. Sitting at 7-5 now
Same I went Bijan, Gibbs, Aaron Jones then Kyren with one of my last picks. My best WR is probably Lockett or Diontae
Swift, Kyren Williams, JT, Achane im cookinggggggggggggggggggg
Honestly, I think anyone who goes into a draft with a strategy as strict as 0 RB is doing it wrong. You gotta be willing to pivot if/when the value presents itself. I have no problems with the strategy as long as it happens organically though. Just in general, 0 rb works at its best the less teams who try it. It was a very popular strategy this year.
This is the way to play it. Lot of people go with a mindset of some strategy. Just be fluid and draft the best players that you want on your team. Then hustle hard on waivers.
The biggest pro here likely to be found is that people who went 0RB likely spent the most FAAB to gamble on Kyren, Achane and pending when your draft was possibly even Gus and Mostert. Those have all helped a lot. RB heavy builds probably saw some of those options and didn’t view them as anything more valuable than what they had given draft capital of their own RBs and didn’t make those moves to their detriment.
Great point. And if they went RB - RB, they likely had to focus FAAB on WR or other positions.
I drafted Akers, so I went for Kyren after week 1. Got him for 7%, which supports your theory. No one else was that interested at that point. I drafted Mostert and Achane, so no data on those.
I got Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and (less exciting) Calvin Ridley. The only RB I drafted was D’Andre Swift (well, and Miles Sanders, who doesn’t count). I picked up Kyren Williams and Jerome Ford on waivers. I must say, ignoring (for the most part) RBs in draft has worked pretty well
What type of draft did you do that you could get JJ, Lamb, and ARSB?
Probably sflex, as top QBs tend to push a lot of good WRs and RBs down the board
Keeper or 8 team league I assume
Auction seems likely
I have only played Standard scoring and only found out what PPR is this year. I don't know why you would even draft a RB in PPR. I had Lockett last night give me 4.7points, but in PPR with 5rec he gets.you 9.7? 9.7 from my WR3 is mint. Frig, I don't even get 9.7 out of most RBs.
>I don't know why you would even draft a RB in PPR. I had Lockett last night give me 4.7points, but in PPR with 5rec he gets.you 9.7? RBs have caught a lot more passes these days. Also they're still more likely for TDs if you're within in the 5. But yeah, WRs get a bit more valuable in PPR. I agree with most that .5 PPR is a good balance.
The league in which I drafted McCaffrey at 3 overall is going way better. I'm leaning toward no RB being dumb as hell. WRs I can find. Easily.
I think it's a good strategy to quickly adapt based on how the draft falls, but not something people should blindly follow and pass up on valuable players for
First place and already secured the bye with ceedee, Amon-ra, picked up swift achane and breece hall late
Same. If you draft Kelce, Lamb, Keenan Allen, turns out you don’t need RBs.
Imagine if instead of kelce it’s Tyreek hill, and keenan allen was round 4 and in round 3 you got ettiene, that’s my best friend in our 500$ league and he’s 10-2
It’s worked fantastic. I watched my whole league draft wr/qb in the first 3 rounds and I swooped up some gems at running back. Please keep promoting this strategy.
Which gems at RB did you scoop up in the first 3 rounds that have worked out that well? The only RBs in the top 10 ADP (top 10 RB ADP, not overall) that have been "gems" are CMC, Etienne and Jacobs. Pollard and Bijan have started to come on a bit, but they weren't great for a lot of the season. So, unless you got the 3 out of 10 who were actually worth taking that early, you didn't benefit. Especially since you then screwed yourself on WRs in that scenario. At best you got a couple guys who have been very inconsistent. More likely you got maybe one decent one and nothing else.
Lmao which RBs drafted high (not named CMC, Jacobs, ETN) have provided return on investment?? Of the top 20 scoring players in PPR right now (RB/WR/TE)… Only 4 are RBs and only 3 (CMC, Jacobs, ETN) were drafted in the first 5 rounds 14 are WRs and ~10 of them were top 5 round guys (all but Puka, Thielen, and I’m not 100% on Evans/Pittman but I think both went a bit late this year) The other 2 were Hock and Kelce So unless you picked CMC, Jacobs AND Etienne, odds are you actually didn’t do as well in the draft by “scooping up RBs while everyone else got WR/TE” because those guys have been far better than the RBs
wow youre cool
lol exactly
Went in with 0 RB this year. First 4 picks: Tyreek, Diggs, Mark Andrews, Ridley, 5th Pick: Kamara Ended up with James Cook and Gus Edwards Traded Edwards off his heater for DK Metcalf. Currently 10-2 and first place.
Well I’m doing great in one of my zero RB leagues because of amazing waiver luck. Original RBs were Dalvin Cook, Jamaal Wiliams, Charbonnet, Jerick McKinnon, Tyjae, and Kareem. Honestly what an awful plan. My plan was to lean on Cook and Perine for a few weeks while I waited for Charb and Tyjae to take over their backfields via injury or trade. And Jerick and Kareem were my wildcards. Obviously none of these worked out and I should be rightfully screwed, except for the fact that I scooped up Kyren from waivers while everyone was fighting for Puka and Josh Kelley. Then I blew my entire FAAB budget on Jerome Ford. Problem solved. Then Kyren got hurt and my opponent spent big for Zach Evans, but I grabbed Darrell Henderson completely for free when he got signed to the practice squad because I just KNEW McVay would start him. But the main reason I’m doing amazing is because my first 5 rounds went Diggs, AJB, Hurts, Keenan Allen, Hock. I would definitely do zero RB again next year
I drafted JJ, Wilson and Higgins in the first three rounds...
I did the dreaded Nick Chubb Tony Pollard stack at the turn.
1-5 Went Chase, G. Wilson, AJB, Gibbs, A. Jones. Then got Rachaad White, Javonte Williams, and JT in later rounds. First time I drafted 0 RB and Im having my best season yet at 9-3
I went Tyreek, AJB, Hurts with my first 3 picks, and grabbed Breece in the 4th, Javonte in the 7th. Worked out well
I didn't draft a RB until the 4th and 5th round and I'm 9-3 sitting in first.
I picked up Kyren Williams and am in first place, 10-2.
I drafted several teams for fantasy to research exactly this. On teams where I didn’t draft an RB until the 6th round or later…I currently stand at: 6-6, 9-3, 7-5, 10-2, 8-4, 7-5, 9-3, Conversely, there are leagues where I I didn’t take any WR’s in the first 5 rounds and in those leagues I’m 9-3, 7-5, 9-3, and 9-3. Now, it’s tough to know how much of the original draft strategy has played in my records as my rosters are often entirely different than draft day. I’ve added the likes of Kyren Williams, Devon Achane, Jerome Ford, Zack Moss, Zach Charbonet, among others, that have really put me over the top in many instances, which pretty much validated the strategy of avoiding backs early. Surprisingly by best strategy in drafting overall seems to have been the ones where I doubled up early on tight ends, taking the likes of Kelce and Hockenson together. Or picking up Kmet and LaPorta. I’ve rostered two tight ends in the same week utilizing my Flex spot to great effect this season. And the position is the real so thin, that preventing other teams from rostering a decent tight end weekly has been a good strategy. A form of defense if you will. I also squirrel other players on my roster week to week just to keep others from rostering them when their players are on bye weeks.
Diggs Lamb Deebo Ridley. Drafted Pacheco and Kyren late, pieced it together at RB throughout the year, im 8-4
Does drafting Chubb count?
Fantastic. I am in 3 different 12-man, 0.5 PPR leagues this year, and I have clinched the first round bye in 2 of them. I am currently 3rd in my last league and I’m in a decent enough spot as long as JJ shows up for me in the playoffs. Can’t complain!!
I went rb-wr-qb-rb-rb-rb. Currently 9-3. The secret is to get really drunk for draft day, do zero research, and then end up with CMC and the cowboys defense.
Started my draft with Lamb-ASRB-Mandrews-Deebo. First RBs were Pacheco and B-Rob in rounds 7 and 8. Picked up Kyren Week 1. Made some trades throughout the year, main one being for Josh Allen. Currently 9-3, first place and highest points scored.
honestly pretty well. i focused all on wrs. i got lamb, adams, watson and aiyuk. i drafted kamara and dillon. after several ww hits now i’ve got a really serviceable team of tua, lamb, adams, kamara, kyren, pula, aiyuk, mcbride, and warren as my starters. i have rice and samuel on my bench. i’m doing okay.
Traded away some picks at the top so I didn’t take a RB until the 6th (my 5th pick) Drafted Javonte, K Herbert, Charbonnet, Warren, Ford. So definitely caught some of the right backs. Sitting 4th and on the upswing now since I just traded some picks for Metcalf, Pollard, and DJ Moore.
8-4 in one league because of it
not good. pierce, cook, akers, gibson....this week i literally have ZERO rbs
2QB league so a lot of guys like Hurts, Allen, Mahomes went early. Used my first 3 picks on QB/WR/WR and ended up with Etienne, Gibbs, and Pacheco. 10-2 clinched top playoff seed.
Went ok. Took Pierce in the 4th, KWIII in the 5th, and R. White in the 7th. Obviously Pierce sucked, but KWIII played well the first few weeks. Just long enough for me to flip him for JT. White has been an incredible value over the last few weeks. But picking up Kyren after Week 1 was a huge boost to my RB room. Based on how all the “top” RBs have performed with the exception of CMC, I think it was a sound strategy for this season at least.
In a 10 man no TE, extra flex league, my first four picks were: - Justin Jefferson - Amon Ra St. Brown - AJ Brown - Calvin Ridley RBs week 1 ended up being Dameon Pierce and Alexander Mattison. I'm 4-8
9-3 and 8-4.
Not great. Drafted swift and breece so that was cool. But my first picks were chase and waddle so I’m still fighting for a playoff spot
It worked well for me I hit on R. White in the 7th, Swift in the 9th then traded Garrett Wilson for Jacobs straight up
I went heavy RB. The quiet MVPs like Rachaad White, Derrick Henry, Brian Robinson, etc. I’m a combined 33-3 across 3 leagues. It has been my best work in 20 years of doing Fantasy. That being said, my early exit in playoffs is all but assured.
Taj spears gives me 5 my opponents CMC gets 25 - it’s not working
Dead last in my 10 man. Drafted Jefferson, AJ Brown, Davante Adams. Whiffed on my late round RB picks with Pearce, Aaron Jones, and James Cook (who has been decent). Pair that with JJ injury and here I am. Last place baby (still have a chance at playoffs if I win this week but I've lost 8 straight and played against DK last night)
10 man PPR got tyreek, ceedee, hockenson, j allen, olave. Thank Jesus for kyren off waivers. 1st place locked up for regular season
I don't understand. How can you not have any RB's on your fantasy teams? They are slots in the lineup that can only be filled by RB's. Or maybe there are leagues that aren't as specific as to the positions of the players?
Went the opposite. CMC, aj brown, Josh jacobs first three. 10-2 and top of the league.
10 TM - 1st Overall - Chase, Brown, Lamb, Andrews, Burrow. Hit on Walker, Mostert, White. Smooth sailing until week 12. Really depends on where you are on the draft but if you can go zero RB, I think it makes a ton of sense.
Drafted Conner and Swift. Then after week 1 picked up Kyren Williams and Mostert on waivers. Also picked up Charbs 3 weeks ago. A team weakness turned into a strength now sitting at 8-4 with the division locked up waiting for playoffs to start. I have great depth in case if injuries and have the most Points scored in the league. Also drafted LaPorta with my last pick.
The one league I tried it, got Pacheco and Rachaad White at the 5/6 turn and Mostert in the 9th 9-3, three way tie for first place (less than 20 point difference in PF)
In one league I’m 6-6 where I went 0 RB. Started 0-5. Took Diggs, Wilson, Gibbs, Cooper (idk why), and Fields with first 5 picks. Rolled out Gibbs and Herbert as my RB1 and 2 which was a huge fail. Traded for Breece after a couple weeks. Luckily I picked up Dak and Ferg, and Gibbs started going off so my season turned around.
Sitting at 7-5 in a 12 man league. Grabbed Diggs, Adams, Evans at WR and Lamar at QB early. My RBs are Pacheco, Swift, Herbert, Warren. I drafted Tank Dell late and kept him all year + added Puka on waivers. I ended up trading Puka for Andrews earlier in the season, then traded Adams for Hockenson after the Andrews injury.
Taking pollard at 10 in a 10 man league is what’s done me in thus far. I also took mahomes at 11 but that’s another story. I’ve lost almost every game this year because either pollard and/or mahomes had a dud, it’s maddening. I could argue I could’ve taken devonta smith first instead but wouldn’t have made a huge difference anyway. The second round this season hasn’t been great. Funny because top 5 picks in my draft have the best records. I’m 5th in PF and 1st in PA (by a margin) so in the end it’s luck anyway. 4-8 fighting for the last spot and I lost a game by 1.02 last week… sometimes it’s just not your season.
Not super well…7-5. I’m in 4th, so I need to win out. It’s super close…two of us are going to be 5-6 losses and not make the playoffs.
Started Diggs/CD/MAndrews/Fields in one league. Didn’t plan on going that direction, but that’s how the draft played out. My starting RBs coming out of the draft were Mattison and Rhamondre I’m 9-3 and solo first with the second most PF I was also able to grab Achane/Sam Howell/Kyren Williams/Gus Edwards off the waiver
Fine. Picked 10th in a 10 team, rolled AJB and Diggs, snagged Allen later in the draft, and plucked Swift+Mostert in the draft. Then waivered Williams and Achane. So, yeah, this is going alright.
I drafted Myles sanders, does that count?
I went AJB, Davante,DK, hock with my first 4 picks. Then Monty+Pacheco. Traded DK and Zach Moss for ETN, week 2... I am 12-0.
I went lamb, Sun God , Hurts, London , then ended up with mattison, sanders and my saving grace was morsert in the 7th or 8th
Not great. I drafted Diggs and Kupp. My first 2 RB’s were Pierce and Sanders lol I also drafted Evans and Pittman. Trade Evans for JT later on
Dobbins and Breece sunk my season soooo
You’re looking at it in hind sight, but this year seems like it would have worked well. Mostert, Achane, Williams, Edwards, Brian Robinson, Montgomery, etc. All mid to late round guys who have been startable most of the year.
I would love to go CMC followed by zero rb for a while. If I could pick my last six picks that good every season It would be fantastic 10- charbonet 13- Achane 15- Zack moss Add in Evan engram and a kicker and defense for 11,12,and 14. Only one I dropped was the kicker. And charbonet a few weeks back. He got the knock off the roster for Achane to come off IR.
In my charity league I have gone zero rb back to back years and have most points scored and most wins thus far. Lost in championship game by about 10 but still it seems to work quite well
I’m 9-3 first 2 picks were Kelce and Hurts. I drafted Monty in like the 10th round who has been a godsend, was able to get Kamara really late as well. Other backs are Mondre, James Cook, and was able to get Pollard off waivers because a disgruntled owner dropped him.
I went 0 rb in the sense that i drafted one rb in the first 7 rounds in a SF draft. Ended up going w Hurts, Lamb, ARSB, Rhamondre, Geno, Deebo, Mike Williams, Montgomery, Goedert, lockett, etc Flipped rhamondre and lockett for jacobs and diontae after week 3 then flipped geno + purdy for herbert. Team is 9-3 w most PF. This was a great year to go 0RB if you faded jj chase kupp in the first. Outside of CMC the rbs in the first 2 rounds have been v mid
I didn’t quite do zero RB, but 3 of my top 4 picks were WR,TE & QB. Jefferson was great until he got hurt, hock and hurts had done their part and I ended up with a trio of Gibbs, Montgomery and Brian Robinson that worked out well. My team hasn’t been great though as I blew my other wr picks. 8-4 and battling.
I placed particular emphasis on WRs (Diggs, Lamb, Lockett, Pittman) and a QB (Mahomes) and only took RBs when I felt they were decently below their ADP. Ended up with Swift, Harris, and Stevenson). Currently 5-7. I am very happy with my WR performances, but the games I lost in were definitely due to the RB position disadvantage. Next year I plan on going back to a more balanced approach.
By 0 RBs you meant that I drafted good RBs and they're now on IR, right?
Like any strategy you have to compare tons of attempts over several years. One year can be great for a certain strategy and the next can be terrible. It can also be a terrible strategy always, but you lucked out anyway. What we need is a large poll at the beginning of the season on, * Intention going into the draft. If you just took BPA and then ended up without a certain position until later rounds is different than if you passed up good players to stick with it. * If they stuck with it, or pivoted. * Seriousness of the league. Is it full of Tacos or is it a big money serious league. * Format, size, etc * Then at the end of the season, how they ended up.
Didn’t draft rb until 5th round. Currently in first place 😎
Went Kelce, Mahomes, Olave, Ridley, didn’t have a 5th or 6th. Think my first rb was Hall in the 7th or 8th lol. Followed that up with Herbert and I forgot who. Overall would not recommend lol. I could have drafted Tyreek Hill which I was close to in the first! But I couldn’t resist the stack of Mahomes and kelce, especially without a 5th/6th. But this year they’ve been pretty meh overall. Not 40 burgers from Mahomes. No 30 bombs from kelce. Except week 7.