Zero RB Strategy

[ppierce 2]

Kind of an interesting strategy I heard about on the Fantasy Feast podcast with Ross Tucker and Evan Silva. Basically, you dont take a RB until the 5th round or later. Your first 4 -5 picks should be WR's and a Stud TE. If you're in a ppr league, i really like this strategy. I've been burned every year by early RB's. The premise of the strategy is an anti-fragile approach. Essentialy stating that RB's get injured most often, and are the most unpredictable.

 

I may imploy it this year. Keep in mind, if you have the first 4-5 picks i probably would employ a Zero-RB lite strategy and would take 1 RB in the first 6 rds.

 

Thoughts?

[$epphori$ 118]

yeah I just tried that last night and every time I went to take a RB I wanted he was swept up b4 me. In the end I ended up with Richardson, Sproles, Freeman, Ingram, and a bunch of other long shots. I screwed myself and have lots of work to do to fix my team. Be careful

[ppierce 2]

yeah I just tried that last night and every time I went to take a RB I wanted he was swept up b4 me. In the end I ended up with Richardson, Sproles, Freeman, Ingram, and a bunch of other long shots. I screwed myself and have lots of work to do to fix my team. Be careful

yeah but who are your other pieces?

[$epphori$ 118]

http://www.fftodayforums.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=435181

[Kent 228]

yeah I just tried that last night and every time I went to take a RB I wanted he was swept up b4 me. In the end I ended up with Richardson, Sproles, Freeman, Ingram, and a bunch of other long shots. I screwed myself and have lots of work to do to fix my team. Be careful

I'm going to do the same thing if I simply can't take a RB I don't believe in. I bet your other positions are loaded.

[$epphori$ 118]

I am loaded at WR and I can start 3 WR and one WR/TE flex

 

but it didnt work as well as I hoped

[Kent 228]

I am loaded at WR and I can start 3 WR and one WR/TE flex

 

but it didnt work as well as I hoped

I saw your draft. I'd have taken Ball or Murray in the second and felt good. But who knows, they both could bust.

[Saints1 4]

I tried it from the 7 spot and at least right now I couldn't be happier. Calvin, Dez, Fitzgerald, Julius Thomas and Reggie Bush, first five picks. Was able to snag Joquie in the 7th and sankey later. Got lucky in that I was able to draft Romo and back him up with Russell Wilson. Being a local league things worked out. Its 6 pt per passing TD so I knew Manning and Brees would go before me. Went against being a homer and passed on Graham. My son took Graham and 10 and Rodgers at 11 and doesn't like his team at all.

[PackYourNut 47]

This works in a PPR league with a flex, but most people don't execute it right.

 

They key is to take the passing back in the time shares of RBBC at 1/4 the cost. That way if the starter does get hurt, you have gained and the other team has lost.

 

If he doesn't get hurt, then you still have a chance to score via receptions.

[$epphori$ 118]

I saw your draft. I'd have taken Ball or Murray in the second and felt good. But who knows, they both could bust.

I would have taken ball knowing now what RBs were taken in front of me in RD 3

RBs I targeted after RB1 were Miller, Gerhart, Stewart, J Bell, Martin, Morris all were taken b4 me in thhe RD I was taking them

Live and learn...and this is a small $$$ league with a few rookies so I will recover.

 

I did trade Julius and AJ for Graham and J Bell

[trucarl 1]

I had my draft wednesday night and went into fully prepared to go Zero RB. My first two picks were Demaryius Thomas and Dez Bryant. However, when the draft came back to me for rounds 3,4 Montee Ball was still on the board so I had to change my strategy and I took Montee Ball and Randall Cobb. You never know who is going to fall to you in the draft, so be prepared to alter and deviate from your strategy as needed.

 

In my case, I was able to get the two elite WRs but got lucky enough that a potential top RB fell down to me at my next pick.

[Upper Class Trash 67]

I tried it from the 7 spot and at least right now I couldn't be happier. Calvin, Dez, Fitzgerald, Julius Thomas and Reggie Bush, first five picks. Was able to snag Joquie in the 7th and sankey later. Got lucky in that I was able to draft Romo and back him up with Russell Wilson. Being a local league things worked out. Its 6 pt per passing TD so I knew Manning and Brees would go before me. Went against being a homer and passed on Graham. My son took Graham and 10 and Rodgers at 11 and doesn't like his team at all.

What kind of league is this? I only ask because the draft order isn't making sense to me, especially in a PPR. I'm at around 25ish redrafts right now, all PPR Scoring, and J. Bell has gone off the board BEFORE R. Bush in all of them over the last two weeks and he's going in the 5th round, never later. Sankey has gone anywhere from the late 4th to the late 5th, but never once has he fallen as low as you got him. I've seen him go in the 4th more than the 5th, especially lately.

 

If you are truly able to get RB's this late, I applaud your team. In my experience, this is either an enigma, or a draft full of newbies, or a draft consisting of guys who are friends and half of them only do it because of the friendship. Very odd draft, but nice job on your part. I would be very happy with that lineup. The problem is it may be one of a kind. I can't state enough that I've never seen those RB's fall that far in any of my PPR redrafts this season.

[ppierce 2]

I actually like the Zero RB "lite" strategy the best. After 5 rounds try to have 1 solid RB.

[weepaws 2,511]

Balance , I always draft looking for balance , and of course that also depends on the scoring system .

[PackYourNut 47]

What kind of league is this? I only ask because the draft order isn't making sense to me, especially in a PPR. I'm at around 25ish redrafts right now, all PPR Scoring, and J. Bell has gone off the board BEFORE R. Bush in all of them over the last two weeks and he's going in the 5th round, never later. Sankey has gone anywhere from the late 4th to the late 5th, but never once has he fallen as low as you got him. I've seen him go in the 4th more than the 5th, especially lately.

 

If you are truly able to get RB's this late, I applaud your team. In my experience, this is either an enigma, or a draft full of newbies, or a draft consisting of guys who are friends and half of them only do it because of the friendship. Very odd draft, but nice job on your part. I would be very happy with that lineup. The problem is it may be one of a kind. I can't state enough that I've never seen those RB's fall that far in any of my PPR redrafts this season.

 

it's obviously a 10 team league based on his son having pick 10 and 11...

[Saints1 4]

UCT, I would say you are right that this in an enigma. No newbies, we all been playing for years, talk smack and decent enough pay in 125.00. All local, so Saints go earlier than normal and Falcons later than usual. It just played out this way and it seems to be to my benefit.

[DamageIncVacc 6]

This is not a new strategy but has gotten more popular lately. I have used it for the last 5 years . Made my championship 3 times and won twice. I always go WR WR WR then my RB then my QB , TE and then another RB. Example when I won 2 years ago I grabbed Megatron, Marshall,J Nelson,then E Decker , Then a RB which was Steven Jackson then my QB which was Ryan (try for a value pick in QB , example J Cutler this year) . Then my picks in the 7th . 8th and 9th (My 2nd was A Bradshaw) round are best available RB with an emphasis on pass catching (PPR league) . I wound up trading Jackson for McFadden and Brashaw for Chris Johnson by week 3 and those were my RB's. My 4 WR's , my good guess on QB and drafted V Davis and he was great during playoff time carried me . Just mixed up backs a bit. This is a passing league now and I always want stud WR's more then RB's . This year in my main league I was intent on taking Megatron no matter where the pick, even #1 if I had it. I had #4 and took Megatron. Cornerstone of my team will always be a WR.until they change the rules favoring the passing game. But also you still need luck. Maybe if my good guess on M Ryan was correct i would have not won it all. Luck will always be a factor.

[rallo 132]

I will be trying a similar strategy in a league this year, as looking at the boards... I only feel confident in 4 QBs to be my starter, and i'm very picky on how good of a TE and WR2 I want. That said, I'm taking a hard look at Arian Foster at the end of round 2 or ray rice in the 4th depending on where I draft. I think those 2 RBs give you the biggest bang for your buck for where they are being drafted. After loading up at other positions I'm looking to go heavy at RB for the next few rounds... people like Ridley/MJD/Trich come to mind. Slightly later i'll be looking to pick up either fred Jackson or D. Williams as a solid rb4... I think there are more ?s with the RBs that aren't in the top 5 than there have been in a long time... could be the year of the QB/WR/TE for me

[The Bag-O-Bones 5]

14 team league and I also went this strategy.

 

1.12 - AJ Green

2.03 - A. Jeffrey (I feel he will have a monster year, so i took a gamble and passed on RB's)

3.12 - CJ Spiller (was hoping for a RB to fall but it didn't work out)

4.03 - Kenan Allen (i think this was a steal)

5.12 - S. Ridley

6.03 - J. Cameron

 

I'm ok with these 6 but do need help at RB, but also picked up Kapernick and was able to land C. Hyde, K. Moreno and Jonathan Stewart and M. Evans is my WR4.

 

Time will tell but there are always RB's to be found off waivers as the season progresses.

[xenophobe 1]

Anybody taking a late flier on Khiry Robinson or Andre Williams? I can see one or both having fantasy relevance as the season progresses.

[PackYourNut 47]

I will be trying a similar strategy in a league this year, as looking at the boards... I only feel confident in 4 QBs to be my starter, and i'm very picky on how good of a TE and WR2 I want. That said, I'm taking a hard look at Arian Foster at the end of round 2 or ray rice in the 4th depending on where I draft. I think those 2 RBs give you the biggest bang for your buck for where they are being drafted. After loading up at other positions I'm looking to go heavy at RB for the next few rounds... people like Ridley/MJD/Trich come to mind. Slightly later i'll be looking to pick up either fred Jackson or D. Williams as a solid rb4... I think there are more ?s with the RBs that aren't in the top 5 than there have been in a long time... could be the year of the QB/WR/TE for me

 

I wouldn't draft a single guy you mentioned, maybe Fred Jackson....

[DamageIncVacc 6]

You cant go too late on running backs. The you get stuck with some real duds . Start 5th round or so and get guys like PThomas , D Sproles, D McFadden , D Wood Head etc. Like this year in my 10 team league I grabbed P Thomas , Sproles and Woodhead (all 7th to 10th round) to go with Andre Ellington. (I grabbed him in the 3rd as I just have a man crush on him )

[Filthy Fernadez 2,696]

Wild strategy; I wouldn't attempt this unless I'm drafting from the 7th spot or beyond.

[ree10 0]

I implemented this strategy in my draft, 14 Team PPR, 6 points per QB TD

 

Starters:

QB - Aaron Rodgers

RB - Bishop Sankey

RB - Pierre Thomas

WR - Calvin Johnson

WR - TY Hilton

TE - Rob Gronkowski

Flex - Cecil Shorts

DST - Eagles

K - Bailey

 

Bench:

Josh Gordon

Brian Hartline

Kenny Stills

Terrance West

Knowshon Moreno

Khiry Robinson

 

I'm ok with my team as I ended up with top players at QB WR and TE, but defintely going to have to hope for a Tate injury and/or Moreno to somehow overtake Miller in MIA to compensate for the lack stud RBs. If Sankey blows up, then I'm golden.

[rallo 132]

 

I wouldn't draft a single guy you mentioned, maybe Fred Jackson....

 

Balancing high risk RBs with top tier qbs/WR/TEs isn't for everyone... i may lose my ass this year

[Serpent 51]

Anybody taking a late flier on Khiry Robinson or Andre Williams? I can see one or both having fantasy relevance as the season progresses.

 

I like Andre Williams, but I'm drafting him as a 4 or 5RB. He might do well, but you can't expect anything from him and rely on him.

[Ray_T 602]

Kind of an interesting strategy I heard about on the Fantasy Feast podcast with Ross Tucker and Evan Silva. Basically, you dont take a RB until the 5th round or later. Your first 4 -5 picks should be WR's and a Stud TE. If you're in a ppr league, i really like this strategy. I've been burned every year by early RB's. The premise of the strategy is an anti-fragile approach. Essentialy stating that RB's get injured most often, and are the most unpredictable.

 

I may imploy it this year. Keep in mind, if you have the first 4-5 picks i probably would employ a Zero-RB lite strategy and would take 1 RB in the first 6 rds.

 

Thoughts?

In theory, this approach could work.

 

I know if you draft last or second last, all the good RB's may be gone already anyhow.

 

I have always theorized that you should be able to make a good case for grabbing a QB and a Stud WR/TE early or two WR/TE's studs then a QB next and that you could get good value on RB's later when everyone is taking the leftover WR's and TE's.

 

I've never tried it, but I suspect the strategy may work if your draft position is late.

 

if drafting early, I still think the stud RB strategy may be the way to go.

[cnasty 5]

Anybody taking a late flier on Khiry Robinson or Andre Williams? I can see one or both having fantasy relevance as the season progresses.

 

Yes, especially on Robinson. Possibly the best RB on that team. Think he'll have the #1 job locked up by week 4-5.

[WhiteWonder 2,210]

this "strategy" could work under some specific situations. I could see myself doing it if i drafted at the end of a 14 team league. but still... not sure.

 

in a 10 team league, I don't see the sense in it. Your loading up at WR/TE won't give you a huge advantage over some other teams that still grab a top 10 back and then go heavy at WR/TE...

 

If I draft Dez/Julio/Julius Thomas/ Fitzgerald and my top back ends up being Sankey am I really that much better off at WR/TE than the team that went Lacy / Marshall / Cobb / Roddy / Cameron? and then while you're throwing darts at RBs in rounds 7-10, trying to hit someting, the other owners are drafting from the still fairly deep WR/Te pool. Getting guys like Wright, TSmith, Colston, Maclin, VD, Witten, Reed, Wayne etc....

 

i think the experts who advocate and give cutesy names to these strategies, well for starters they need something to fill air time or page space and secondly, I think they discount just how much depth there is at all the other positions and just how many WRs come out of nowhere each season.

[Kent 228]

this "strategy" could work under some specific situations. I could see myself doing it if i drafted at the end of a 14 team league. but still... not sure.

 

in a 10 team league, I don't see the sense in it. Your loading up at WR/TE won't give you a huge advantage over some other teams that still grab a top 10 back and then go heavy at WR/TE...

 

If I draft Dez/Julio/Julius Thomas/ Fitzgerald and my top back ends up being Sankey am I really that much better off at WR/TE than the team that went Lacy / Marshall / Cobb / Roddy / Cameron? and then while you're throwing darts at RBs in rounds 7-10, trying to hit someting, the other owners are drafting from the still fairly deep WR/Te pool. Getting guys like Wright, TSmith, Colston, Maclin, VD, Witten, Reed, Wayne etc....

 

i think the experts who advocate and give cutesy names to these strategies, well for starters they need something to fill air time or page space and secondly, I think they discount just how much depth there is at all the other positions and just how many WRs come out of nowhere each season.

Agree about end of draft order to try this. If I draft at the 11 or 12 spot tonight I may roll the dice.

[We Tigers 71]

I've never had a good feeling about avoiding RB for that long, but I've done a 1st round RB and then no more until the 5th or 6th several times in 12-team redrafts.

 

For a few years, WR/WR/QB/WR or whatever felt like a really good way to draft while the general fantasy mindset was still yoked to RB/RB. Nowadays, though, I think we're so far from RB/RB/RB being the consensus ideal approach that avoiding running backs is no longer a clear "value" strategy. It was potentially brilliant if you were getting the #1 and #2 WRs, the #1 or #2 QB, and the #1 TE with your first 4 picks, but now you're more likely to end up with the #3 and #4 WRs, the #4 or #5 QB, and the #2 or #3 TE.

[Djgb13 2,338]

Agree about end of draft order to try this. If I draft at the 11 or 12 spot tonight I may roll the dice.

That's what I've been doing in mocks when I drafted from those late spots where the the remaining backs were questionable. However in my actual drafts I got 5th and 6th so I ended up with a good RB in both cases. That being said I wouldn't wait too long before collecting a RB. The thing with this strategy is you want a RB who will give you a steady production. Fred Jackson and Steven Jackson come to mind for your "RB anchor" position. Then you want some high upside guys to go along with him. A homerun hitter like Vereen or Chris Johnson would be smart here.

[Kent 228]

Agreed Tigers.

 

Well, off to the draft. Thanks for all the help FFToday! It's definitely an advantage coming to the forum every year.

[We Tigers 71]

May you crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.

[Djgb13 2,338]

Oh you know just have them say good job. Either one works lol

[Ray_T 602]

I agree. The strategy is most likely to work if you draft 11 or 12 in a 12 teamer or if you draft the same or later in a 14 team draft.

 

Dont know if this is likely to work well in a 10 team draft.

[tanatastic 2,061]

Its a tough situation starting in rnd 5. I can see waiting til rnd 4 to start getting rbs at the latest. I do hate it when the teams that win at the end of the year are just the guys who got the lucky zac Stacy or rookie Alfred Morris off waivers. They rode a free rb1 while the starters they drafted busted. But if you can pick those 2 rbs correct, man you have a strong team.

[Djgb13 2,338]

Its a tough situation starting in rnd 5. I can see waiting til rnd 4 to start getting rbs at the latest. I do hate it when the teams that win at the end of the year are just the guys who got the lucky zac Stacy or rookie Alfred Morris off waivers. They rode a free rb1 while the starters they drafted busted. But if you can pick those 2 rbs correct, man you have a strong team.

That's usually how fantasy football goes. Your team you draft can be great and go into the playoffs win the best record while the guy who barely squeaks in has his players go off during the playoffs and boost him to a championship

[Ray_T 602]

I've always been a believe that to win a championship, you need to draft well, and you need to play the waiver wire effectively during the season.

 

This means knowing who is likely to emerge as a fantasy force Keeping an eye on their situation and jumping on them before others do.

[The Scoop 0]

I couldn't read through all of the posts, so this may have been covered, but I completely believe it lies in your draft position. I had 2nd pick in a 12 tm PPR and got JC and Antonio Brown in the first 2 rnds. I had 9th pick in a 12 tm PPR and got D Thomas and Dez...

 

Obviously, w the first 1-4 picks, you can't go no rb, it would be a mistake....After 1-4, have at it