Shawn Siegele looks back at performances that won titles in Week 16, discusses the Zero RB stars who emerged in 2020, and offers a handful of 2021 dynasty targets to acquire before prices get out of control.
The Ultimate Zero RB Watch is for all fantasy owners, regardless of your RB strategy. Last week we looked at the Perfect Draft and How It Helps Us Prepare for 2021, including three separate scenarios depending on your draft slot. Alvin Kamara then put an exclamation point on the discussion and claimed the perfect draft all for his own.
Kamara’s 155-yard, six-touchdown performance resulted in the best Week 16 RB score in the last 20 years.
It also gave Kamara one of five RB playoff performances of 50 points or more. Jamaal Charles’ Week 15 in 2013 and Clinton Portis’ Week 14 in 2003 were the only higher scores. Kamara also earned the 2020 playoff crown with 97 points, edging Stefon Diggs (96.3) by less than a point.
Fortunately for us, the perfect draft scenario favored by Kamara was the one Curtis Patrick and I followed in the FFPC Main Event. Our Kamara/Diggs squad scored 220 points in Week 16, climbing from 37th to 12th in the championship tournament.
As we close another successful fantasy season, I want to give most of the credit to our writing staff and the fantastic tools from Mike Beers. The work from our community provides a large competitive advantage as I plot my strategy in the offseason and tweak my rosters during the NFL campaign.
Researching the Ultimate Zero RB Watch List has been a blast, and it wouldn’t be the same without these tools and more.
NFL Stats Explorer
GPS Matchup Rater
NFL Pace Tool
RotoViz Screener
Strength of Schedule Streamer
Weekly Stats Explorer
Game Splits
2020 Best Ball Win Rates
Box Score Scout
Team Splits
Today we’re going to look at how all 16 NFC teams used their RBs during the fantasy finals. We’ll examine the key trends, credit the Zero RB saviors, and look to make some early-offseason dynasty moves.
Ultimate Zero RB Watch List – Week 17
Arizona Cardinals
Chase Edmonds left the Week 16 contest with a hip injury, leaving 52 snaps for Kenyan Drake. The 63% snap share was his highest since Week 6.
Drake stands out as a glaring object lesson in chasing RB points, both in terms of draft slot and year-over-year results. Despite his RB1 workload – he ranked 10th in EP and eighth in total opportunities – in an offense that was run-heavy and effective around the goal line, Drake’s lack of talent pushes him into the RB2 category. In a stat even critics will struggle to believe, he finished as a weekly RB1 only three times this season.
Drake deserves credit for his explosive efficiency to close out 2018, but it wasn’t a sign that his talent profile had changed and reminds us not to overhype fantasy playoff results.
D.J. Foster played 17 snaps but earned only a single opportunity. It would be a lot more exciting if the Cardinals activate Eno Benjamin for their final game, but he may already be going the way of Andy Isabella and Hakeem Butler, albeit at far less draft cost.
Chicago Bears
Even as they eviscerated the Jaguars, David Montgomery played 83% of the snaps and generated 25 more opportunities. Once Tarik Cohen was lost for the season in Week 3, Montgomery led the RB position with 53 snaps per game and an 80% snap share.
Montgomery’s pedestrian athleticism limited his results during the tougher part of the schedule, but we urged you to buy his late-season cake walk. Then this happened.
Dave Caban’s Strength of Schedule Streamer, with advanced strength of schedule metrics, is worth the cost of subscription alone. Now comes the hard part. With Montgomery rehabbing his value as the fifth-highest playoff scorer in 2020, do you have the guts to sell and avoid a Drake situation?
