PPR draft slot: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
It's getting to be that time of year.
There are some running backs you can target at the end of the first round of 2019 drafts, and I considered all of Joe Mixon, Damien Williams, and Dalvin Cook. But nearly every time I find myself at a pick like 12, having missed an opportunity to nab a true top-five pick at running back but staring at multiple top tier wide receivers and/or Travis Kelce, I find myself prioritizing the latter.
That puts me in an interesting spot, because I know that at the point of the draft where the 3/4 turn will hit, I'm significantly higher on the talent typically available at the wide receiver position than running back. So Zero RB comes into play, and I'm a big fan of it this year from a pick like 12.
Here's how a team built that way could look:
- 1.12 Odell Beckham, WR, CLE
- 2.01 Travis Kelce, TE, KC
- 3.12 Brandin Cooks, WR, LAR
- 4.01 Adam Thielen, WR, MIN
- 5.12 Allen Robinson, WR, CHI
- 6.01 Tevin Coleman, RB, SF
- 7.12 Ronald Jones, RB, TB
- 8.01 Miles Sanders, RB, PHI
- 9.12 Matt Breida, RB, SF
- 10.01 Kyler Murray, QB, ARI
- 11.12 Jalen Richard, RB, OAK
- 12.01 Giovani Bernard, RB, CIN
- 13.12 Tre'Quan Smith, WR, NO
- 14.01 Chase Edmonds, RB, ARI
- 15.12 Cleveland Browns, DST
Because this league starts three wide receivers and a flex, my first five picks will all be starters. I may not have an elite running back, but you'd be hard pressed to find a roster in this league with a better set of wide receivers and tight ends.
In fact, I think you can take this strategy even further than I did. It depends who is available in your particular draft, but taking a running back at 6.01 wasn't a lock for me. Deshaun Watson went at 5.11, and he was someone I would have considered at that turn, but I also am fine continuing to press my advantage by taking a bench WR before my RB1. Bye weeks, matchups and the potential for a bust or injury make depth on Draft Day an undervalued asset.
Of course, I couldn't just ignore running backs forever. But by taking seven in the later rounds, I gave myself plenty of bites at the breakout apple. Who I start at RB in Week 1 was of less concern to me than how this roster could shape over the first month of the season and beyond. And I'm almost solely referencing running back with that comment.
Ideally, one of Tevin Coleman or Matt Breida is a 15-touch back in Kyle Shanahan's offense at some point. If that doesn't happen, I have other solid options in similarly unsettled backfields in Ronald Jones and Miles Sanders. I also took pass-catcher Jalen Richard, whose role on this roster would be stopgap starter with limited upside should none of the backs ahead of him in my draft reach their ceilings.
Zero RB is an uncomfortable draft strategy, because the value of the running back position is clear. But reaching for uninspiring mid-round running backs is rarely the right call when talents like Cooks or Thielen are on the board, so if you find yourself forgoing RB at the end of the first round and then again early in the second, I recommend stockpiling WR difference-makers and then loading up on potential late-round breakouts.
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The more I dig into the Rams' receiving trio, the more I love Cooks, which isn't really a knock on the other two because both Cooks and Robert Woods were better before Cooper Kupp was lost for the season. But by the end of the regular season, Cooks had set a career high in receiving yardage, with his total line pulled down a bit by his fewest touchdowns since his rookie season. Then he went on to average 97.3 receiving yards over three playoff games, including back-to-back 100-yard performances in the NFC Championship and Super Bowl. There are a ton of strong wide receiver picks in that range of the draft, and it's guys like Cooks who reinforce why it's OK to wait at RB.
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It seems weird to highlight my presumable RB1 here, but if Coleman is not the lead back for the 49ers, this will have been a missed opportunity to be even deeper at WR. But I've always been enamored with Coleman's raw talent, and I do think the reunion with Kyle Shanahan could mean big things. Part of my concern is on the money side -- the 49ers gave Coleman a two-year deal with $5.25 million guaranteed and zero dead money in the second year; his contract says more about a lack of a market than the 49ers being desperate to bring him in. That doesn't mean they didn't want him, just that we can't really be sure they see him as their clear-cut No. 1.
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I haven't been particularly high on Sanders for most of the offseason, but getting him at the 7/8 turn has to be considered pretty solid value for a Zero RB team. My issue is the Eagles' penchant for committee backfields, something many in the Fantasy community seem to believe is because they haven't had a back of Sanders' caliber. And that might wind up being the case, but the recent addition of Darren Sproles added further concern, as Sproles is another situational player that further chop up the snaps and touches in an already crowded backfield.
