RotoViz has long been synonymous with Zero RB. But never before this season has it been tougher to hit Shawn Siegele’s preferred benchmark: to draft six wide receivers with realistic top-15 upside. The WR rush in Underdog’s BBMIV contest is so pronounced that drafters are passing on three-down running backs to stay ahead of the avalanche. Just a few years ago Rachaad White would have been a third-round pick in many leagues. Now you can often get him in the eighth, after Brandin Cooks and Gabe Davis.
Trying to find the best ways to play formats like Underdog and FFPC are a fun puzzle for summer, and our tools like the Roster Construction Explorers, the Advance Rate Explorers, and the Win the Flex can help us find exploitable loopholes. Building a WR-heavy juggernaut is easier in the FFPC, which employs a 2-2-2 format (instead of Underdog’s 2-3-1). In Underdog that third WR is a necessary part of your starting lineup. In the FFPC, that receiver is helping you win the race to fill the flex. Here’s a look at the top 50 WRs by ADP at Underdog compared with FFPC drafts.
Jameson Williams (WR50 at FFPC) represents the last WR with truly elite upside in most drafts, and he’s not without red flags. That means at Underdog you need to have six WRs by the end of Round 7 to guarantee six high-ceiling WRs. But at the FFPC you can get the same players over two rounds later. By pushing the elite WR window out to Round 10, we can acquire those six elite-upside WRs, and still devote multiple early picks to elite players at other positions.
There are valuable WRs aplenty in the early rounds of FFPC drafts, but it’s the presence of potentially elite WRs in Round 7 and beyond that make Zero RB and Anchor RB so viable. Let’s take a look at some of those specific players.
FFPC Wide Receiver Targets
Marquise Brown
- Underdog ADP: 61.3 (Round 6)
- FFPC ADP: 77.6 (Round 7)
- ADP Delta: 16.3 picks
Meng Song made a great case back in April for Brown being a huge upside play in the absence of DeAndre Hopkins. No WR in the first eight rounds has had a larger ADP rise in Underdog formats, as Brown flirts with Round 5.
He’s seen his price rise by only 7.9 picks in the FFPC over that same span, and is still available in the mid-seventh.
George Pickens
- Underdog ADP: 73.8 (Round 7)
- FFPC ADP: 84.2 (Round 8)
- ADP Delta: 10.4 picks
Blair Andrews called Pickens his favorite pick in the sixth round of Underdog drafts. Since then he’s actually become a little bit cheaper in that format, as both teammate Diontae Johnson and the next player on this list have overtaken him. However, he’s still available nearly a full round later in FFPC drafts.
