When and How to Draft Running Backs in Extreme Zero RB Builds
Image Credit: Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire. Pictured: Nyheim Hines.

Our writers are drafting in real events and breaking down the player picks and draft tactics for readers. In this edition, Shawn Siegele and Blair Andrews get to Round 11 of their Main Event draft without a single running back on the roster. Where will they go from here?

It’s an unfortunate reality of most fantasy football leagues that running backs are a requirement. As the Win the Flex tool shows, in FFPC scoring, there is never an ADP level at which wide receivers do not outscore their RB counterparts.

Points Implied by ADP in FFPC Leagues – 2017-2019

If the goal were simply to score as many points as possible, with no regard for positional allocations or filling specific starting lineup slots, you would take a WR with every pick.[1]

Shawn and I started our FFPC Main Event draft along exactly these lines. To review, here’s our board through 10 rounds:

Alas, the FFPC is a format that does require RBs. So how do you attack the RB position if you’ve already gone 10 rounds without taking one? Keep reading to find out how Shawn and I approached this problem.

The Running Back Picks

When we decided to take Mecole Hardman in the 10th, we knew we probably weren’t going to be able to get Kerryon Johnson. But we had already begun feeling the pressure of being stuck without any good RB options to start the season, which meant that in the 11th, with two TEs and seven WRs already on the squad, RB was a top priority.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 At least with every non-QB/non-TE pick.

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Blair Andrews

Managing Editor, Author of The Wrong Read, Occasional Fantasy Football League Winner. All opinions are someone else's.

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