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USATSI

Is RB-RB a good strategy to use in a 12-team, 0.5-PPR league where you start three receivers and a flex? Let's find out.

On Thursday, we held our first 12-team, 0.5-PPR mock draft with members of our CBS Sports staff since free agency. Brandon Howard, one of our Fantasy editors, had the No. 10 overall pick, and he started his team with Kyren Williams and Saquon Barkley.

Those two running backs have the chance to be special. Williams was awesome last season with the Rams at 19.2 0.5-PPR points per game, and he should be great again in 2024. And I love Barkley going to the Eagles with the upgrade in talent around him, especially on the offensive line.

Brandon passed on A.J. Brown and Garrett Wilson to draft Williams, and Brandon took Barkley ahead of receivers like D.J. Moore, Chris Olave and Nico Collins. I'm fine with both of those selections in 0.5-PPR, but I might have gone with the receivers in PPR.

The tricky part for Brandon after those picks is what receivers he would be able to get. And he did well with Brandon Aiyuk, Tee Higgins and Terry McLaurin with his next three picks.

While those receivers have some flaws (Higgins wants to be traded and McLaurin doesn't have a quarterback as of now), that's an amazing trio to pair with Williams and Barkley. Brandon also was able to get Chris Godwin in Round 7 as a fourth receiver, and that was sandwiched between Joe Burrow and Evan Engram. I love this starting lineup.

His bench has a lot of upside plays in Brock Purdy, Jerome Ford, Elijah Mitchell, Marvin Mims, Jalin Hyatt and Andrei Iosivas. But I like his starting group, and this is a good roster with a RB-RB start.

While that's not my favorite strategy -- I prefer Hero RB with one running back in the first five or six rounds -- Brandon made it work. You just have to hope you get four receivers as he did with Aiyuk, Higgins, McLaurin and Godwin after starting RB-RB.

I planned to go Hero RB from the No. 5 spot, and I started my team with Tyreek Hill and Josh Jacobs, who should be excellent with his move to the Packers. But in Round 3, a gift landed in my lap with De'Von Achane, so I changed my strategy.

I still wanted to focus on my receiving corps, so I drafted Tank Dell in Round 4, and I love that. But I felt like I got another gift with Mark Andrews in Round 5, which was too good to pass up.

My third receiver ended up being Marquise Brown in Round 6, and I expect him to be a top-30 Fantasy option with his move to the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes will hopefully bring out the best in Brown, and we'll see if he can challenge Rashee Rice to be the No. 1 receiver in Kansas City.

The next two picks I made were all about value with Nick Chubb in Round 7 and Austin Ekeler in Round 8. I actually think both are busts if they're going ahead of these rounds, but if Chubb (knee) is healthy for Week 1 and Ekeler can remain the lead rusher in Washington, these could be steals. And I just need one to be my flex.

In Round 9, I had my toughest decision of the draft with Kyler Murray vs. Chase Brown. At this point, I was one of three managers without a quarterback, and I knew Murray wouldn't make it back to me. But I love Brown, and I expect him to challenge Zack Moss to be the best running back in Cincinnati this season.

I went with Murray given the construction of my roster, and I don't regret it. Unless, during the season, Brown turns out to be the best Bengals rusher this year.

The rest of my team includes Tua Tagovailoa, A.J. Dillon, Jahan Dotson, Rashid Shaheed and A.T. Perry. I like this team a lot, especially with the value I got for guys like Achane, Andrews, Chubb and Ekeler.

In this league, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We also award 0.5-points for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft.

Our draft order is as follows:

1. Daniel Schneier, Senior Fantasy Editor

2. Thomas Shafer, FFT Podcast Producer

3. Zach Brook, FFT Social Media Coordinator

4. Heath Cummings, Senior Fantasy Writer

5. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer

6. Adam Aizer, FFT Podcast Host

7. Meron Berkson, CBS Sports HQ Producer

8. Rob Thomas, FFT Facebook Moderator

9. Joel Cox, CBS Sports VP Business Development

10. Brandon Howard, Fantasy Editor

11. Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer

12. R.J. White, Managing Editor, SportsLine and CBS Fantasy

Round By Round
Round 1
Pos Team Player
1 Thomas Shafer
2 Jamey Eisenberg
3 Heath Cummings
4 R.J. White
5 Joel Cox
6 Brandon Howard
7 Dave Richard
8 Adam Aizer
9 Rob Thomas
10 Dan Schneier
11 Meron Berkson
12 Zach Brook
Round 2
Pos Team Player
13 Zach Brook
14 Meron Berkson
15 Dan Schneier
16 Rob Thomas
17 Adam Aizer
18 Dave Richard
19 Brandon Howard
20 Joel Cox
21 R.J. White
22 Heath Cummings
23 Jamey Eisenberg
24 Thomas Shafer
Round 3
Pos Team Player
25 Thomas Shafer
26 Jamey Eisenberg
27 Heath Cummings
28 R.J. White
29 Joel Cox
30 Brandon Howard
31 Dave Richard
32 Adam Aizer
33 Rob Thomas
34 Dan Schneier
35 Meron Berkson
36 Zach Brook
Round 4
Pos Team Player
37 Zach Brook
38 Meron Berkson
39 Dan Schneier
40 Rob Thomas
41 Adam Aizer
42 Dave Richard
43 Brandon Howard
44 Joel Cox
45 R.J. White
46 Heath Cummings
47 Jamey Eisenberg
48 Thomas Shafer
Round 5
Pos Team Player
49 Thomas Shafer
50 Jamey Eisenberg
51 Heath Cummings
52 R.J. White
53 Joel Cox
54 Brandon Howard
55 Dave Richard
56 Adam Aizer
57 Rob Thomas
58 Dan Schneier
59 Meron Berkson
60 Zach Brook
Round 6
Pos Team Player
61 Zach Brook
62 Meron Berkson
63 Dan Schneier
64 Rob Thomas
65 Adam Aizer
66 Dave Richard
67 Brandon Howard
68 Joel Cox
69 R.J. White
70 Heath Cummings
71 Jamey Eisenberg
72 Thomas Shafer
Round 7
Pos Team Player
73 Thomas Shafer
74 Jamey Eisenberg
75 Heath Cummings
76 R.J. White
77 Joel Cox
78 Brandon Howard
79 Dave Richard
80 Adam Aizer
81 Rob Thomas
82 Dan Schneier
83 Meron Berkson
84 Zach Brook
Round 8
Pos Team Player
85 Zach Brook
86 Meron Berkson
87 Dan Schneier
88 Rob Thomas
89 Adam Aizer
90 Dave Richard
91 Brandon Howard
92 Joel Cox
93 R.J. White
94 Heath Cummings
95 Jamey Eisenberg
96 Thomas Shafer
Round 9
Pos Team Player
97 Thomas Shafer
98 Jamey Eisenberg
99 Heath Cummings
100 R.J. White
101 Joel Cox
102 Brandon Howard
103 Dave Richard
104 Adam Aizer
105 Rob Thomas
106 Dan Schneier
107 Meron Berkson
108 Zach Brook
Round 10
Pos Team Player
109 Zach Brook
110 Meron Berkson
111 Dan Schneier
112 Rob Thomas
113 Adam Aizer
114 Dave Richard
115 Brandon Howard
116 Joel Cox
117 R.J. White
118 Heath Cummings
119 Jamey Eisenberg
120 Thomas Shafer
Round 11
Pos Team Player
121 Thomas Shafer
122 Jamey Eisenberg
123 Heath Cummings
124 R.J. White
125 Joel Cox
126 Brandon Howard
127 Dave Richard
128 Adam Aizer
129 Rob Thomas
130 Dan Schneier
131 Meron Berkson
132 Zach Brook
Round 12
Pos Team Player
133 Zach Brook
134 Meron Berkson
135 Dan Schneier
136 Rob Thomas
137 Adam Aizer
138 Dave Richard
139 Brandon Howard
140 Joel Cox
141 R.J. White
142 Heath Cummings
143 Jamey Eisenberg
144 Thomas Shafer
Round 13
Pos Team Player
145 Thomas Shafer
146 Jamey Eisenberg
147 Heath Cummings
148 R.J. White
149 Joel Cox
150 Brandon Howard
151 Dave Richard
152 Adam Aizer
153 Rob Thomas
154 Dan Schneier
155 Meron Berkson
156 Zach Brook
Round 14
Pos Team Player
157 Zach Brook
158 Meron Berkson
159 Dan Schneier
160 Rob Thomas
161 Adam Aizer
162 Dave Richard
163 Brandon Howard
164 Joel Cox
165 R.J. White
166 Heath Cummings
167 Jamey Eisenberg
168 Thomas Shafer
Team by Team
Thomas Shafer
Rd Pk Player
1 1
2 24
3 25
4 48
5 49
6 72
7 73
8 96
9 97
10 120
11 121
12 144
13 145
14 168
Jamey Eisenberg
Rd Pk Player
1 2
2 23
3 26
4 47
5 50
6 71
7 74
8 95
9 98
10 119
11 122
12 143
13 146
14 167
Heath Cummings
Rd Pk Player
1 3
2 22
3 27
4 46
5 51
6 70
7 75
8 94
9 99
10 118
11 123
12 142
13 147
14 166
R.J. White
Rd Pk Player
1 4
2 21
3 28
4 45
5 52
6 69
7 76
8 93
9 100
10 117
11 124
12 141
13 148
14 165
Joel Cox
Rd Pk Player
1 5
2 20
3 29
4 44
5 53
6 68
7 77
8 92
9 101
10 116
11 125
12 140
13 149
14 164
Brandon Howard
Rd Pk Player
1 6
2 19
3 30
4 43
5 54
6 67
7 78
8 91
9 102
10 115
11 126
12 139
13 150
14 163
Dave Richard
Rd Pk Player
1 7
2 18
3 31
4 42
5 55
6 66
7 79
8 90
9 103
10 114
11 127
12 138
13 151
14 162
Adam Aizer
Rd Pk Player
1 8
2 17
3 32
4 41
5 56
6 65
7 80
8 89
9 104
10 113
11 128
12 137
13 152
14 161
Rob Thomas
Rd Pk Player
1 9
2 16
3 33
4 40
5 57
6 64
7 81
8 88
9 105
10 112
11 129
12 136
13 153
14 160
Dan Schneier
Rd Pk Player
1 10
2 15
3 34
4 39
5 58
6 63
7 82
8 87
9 106
10 111
11 130
12 135
13 154
14 159
Meron Berkson
Rd Pk Player
1 11
2 14
3 35
4 38
5 59
6 62
7 83
8 86
9 107
10 110
11 131
12 134
13 155
14 158
Zach Brook
Rd Pk Player
1 12
2 13
3 36
4 37
5 60
6 61
7 84
8 85
9 108
10 109
11 132
12 133
13 156
14 157