Written by NOThinkingGuru
Part 1
Part 2
Part 4
OK folks let’s destroy the current FAD strategies out there. The RB-RB strategy is one of the oldest and still most popular ways to draft. The biggest issue with this strategy is that in most leagues you only need to start 2 RB's and if you go RB in the 1st rd and then RB in the 2nd rd, the next couple of rounds force you get WRs/TEs/QBs. Some of you are thinking well that is not true I can use another RB for my flex position or for the bye weeks. But remember what I said about having players that start every week for you. You should not try to draft your flex spot. Your flex should come from round 9 and beyond. True flex player or players that surpassed where they were being drafted from.
RB/RB STRATEGY
So let’s go back to the RB in
the 1st and RB in the 2nd drafty strategy. Yes I get 2 guys I trust
to start every week. But what if one of the RB's I get later in the draft or a
RB I pick up on the waiver wire becomes a trust worthy guy. Then I can either
put them in the flex or try make a decision every week which guy to start in
the RB position. I consider RB as the most volatile position. These guys get
injured more than QB/WR/TE. In today’s game these guys also split carriers with
other RB's. RB's are easier to find on the waiver wire as they emerge every
year out of nowhere. I would rather have one trust worthy RB and a bunch of
RB's later in the draft that could end up as every week players. If you look at the draft from the guys
that won the high stakes leagues you will notice that they drafted one or two
guys a round BEFORE their ADP and you will also see at least one player that
fell a round to them. If you draft RB-RB then you can’t grab the special
player that falls to you (if it is a RB) without hurting the rest of your
draft. If you draft RB-RB then you are forced to draft a WR as I will explain
later in this article.
ZERO RB STRATEGY
Let’s discuss the opposite
strategy in zero RB. The zero RB strategy is when you draft other positions but
wait until at least the 6th rd before drafting your 1st RB. This strategy is
perfect if you are lucky enough to outsmart everybody else in your draft and
get 2 RB's late that produce every week. An example of this is drafting CJ
Anderson and Justin Forsett last year because both guys did not get drafted in
most leagues. So last year if you got your 3 WRs, 1 QB, and 1 TE in your first
5 rounds (last year) and got these RB's late in your draft or on the waiver
wire you should have had an awesome team. If you are a very lucky person go
ahead and use this strategy. The only
time you should ever think about using this strategy is BEFORE the preseason.
In the preseason the starting RB for many teams has not been established. Also
the rookie RB's have not been hyped up the draft board. As I said
earlier RB's get injured more than any other position. So grabbing a talented
backup that can be drafted late before the preseason and if the starter gets
injured then you are golden.
1 EARLY RB STRATEGY
Let’s get into a little safer
strategy which is the early one RB strategy. This means that you grab a stud RB
in the 1st couple of rounds and you don't worry about your 2nd RB until later
in the draft. I like this strategy this time of the year but it does not mean I
go into my draft thinking that this is how my draft will end up. This strategy also works better BEFORE
the preseason because there are lots of RB's going late that should end up as
the starting RB for their team. After the preseason you will have a
better idea of which one of these RB's will be the starter which will move them
up the draft board. I will give you an example of this. 2 years ago Gio Bernard
was being drafted between rounds 5 and rounds 8 before the preseason. After the
preseason I saw him being drafted as early as round 3. (By the way he had a
great season that year with the13th most fantasy points at the RB position). The
problem with this strategy is that all the RB's that have a prominent role will
be gone before round 6. This means that you really have to do your research and
find out who are the more talented and healthy backs. This RB also has to fit
the scheme of offense and have a decent O line. There are lots of factors and
this is why these RB's are going so late in the draft. If you don't feel
comfortable with the RBs going late, then avoid this strategy.
EARLY QB/TE STRATEGY
Let’s get into the stud QB or
TE early in the draft strategy which is something I liked to do a couple of
years ago. I don't like this strategy this year because there are so many
QBs/TEs that I trust every week. Both QB and TE are players going later in
drafts. What I mean by later is going between rounds 6-10. QB Andrew Luck and
QB Aaron Rodgers are both going in the 1st couple of rds. TE Rob Gronkowski and
TE Jimmy Graham are also both in the 1st couple of rds. I love the idea of
having any of these guys as my stud every week but what is the cost? The cost
is I can't get 2 RBs and 2 WR’s in first 4 rounds. This can be really good but
you need to be lucky for things to fall to you. So let’s say that you go RB in
the 1st rd and a QB or TE in the 2nd rd. If the best player available in the
3rd rd is a RB then your first WR will be drafted in round 4. Your #2 WR will
be drafted in rd 5 or 6. Look at the guys in these rounds. When starting 3 WR’s
every week and a possible WR in the flex having your 1st WR coming out of the
4th rd is really risky. This goes the same way if you draft 2 WR’s and a TE/QB
in first 3 rounds. I don't want my 1st RB coming from the 4th rd. Now let’s see how this strategy can work.
If you can get a RB, WR, and a TE/QB out
of the first 3 rounds then you can be flexible in the 4th rd based on how the
draft is going. This strategy works the best when you draft a WR/RB in 1st and
2nd rd then get one of those stud TE/QB’s. This does not work most of the
time since the 2 stud QBs are going (most of the time) in the 2nd rd. Gronk is
going late 1st rd and early 2nd rd. Jimmy Graham is going in the 3rd rd but he’s
in a new offense and he would be a guy I would target if he falls to the 4th
rd. The hardest way to draft is to take both a QB and a TE before round 4.
Since you only have to start 1 QB and 1 TE you can grab 2 of these guys later
in the draft. You only need 1 to be a trust worthy player each week. This is
why getting RB and WR is so important. Most likely you will only draft 2 total
QB’s and 2 total TE’s but you need to draft about 5 RB’s and 7 WR’s to cover
injuries, underperformance, and bye weeks. Having 2 roster spots for RB’s, 3
roster spots for WR’s and most likely a flex spot that is usually filled by a
RB/TE, means these positions need more attention than a QB/TE. Part 1
Part 2
Part 4
