Arguably the most important early picks – certainly the most popular – the running back might not be as values in the NFL as he was 20 years ago, but he’s just as important as ever in Fantasy, especially in our league where you’re not dependant on TD’s, and a back who catches a lot of screens can be more valuable than one who gets goalline touches. This year 46 running backs got the call on draft night. That’s an average of about 3.8 RBs per team for you math nerds, and it’s pretty much on par. No team took fewer than 3, and no team took more than 5, so we’re all in the same range on this one.
Additionally, a new trend in leagues this year is the “Zero RB” draft – where you don’t actually take no RBs, but you wait as long as you can. This allows you to grab more elite players at QB, WR, and TE – which can make a huge difference in Flex leagues especially. Not sure how this is going to work out for people, but those taking on this strategy, who drafted more than a week ago might already be tanked. If they were relying on Ronald Jones or D’Andre Swift or Latavius Murray they likely didn’t cheer recent news of injuries Fournette to Tampa, injuries to Swift, or contract extension for Kamara. The closest anyone in SC League got to trying this would be John Sanchez, as BE A MAN HOGAN took only one RB in the Top 100 picks, and that wasn’t till Pick 64 (Ingram). He came back in the 9th and 10th rounds with Swift and James White and then finished out with Marlon Mack at #201. Mack might be a nice steal that late, but let’s see they got in those first eight rounds while the rest of us were scrambling for RBs. He got a Top 2 QB in Lamar Jackson, a top 5 WR, a top 5 TE, and 3 of the best LBs in the league. Not too bad, and he added in Hollywood Brown, who is thought by many to be a prime “breakout” candidate this year. It’s basically my strategy from last year – take a lot of Ravens. A lot of risks here, but could mean big payoffs…
Let’s take a look at the Draft Order;
- Christian McCaffrey – Flying Dutchmen (1)
- Saquon Barkley – TIM! (2)
- Ezekiel Elliott – Red Bank Mallrats (3)
- Derrick Henry – The Tim Brady’s (7)
- Alvin Kamara – C Tan vs the World (8)
- Dalvin Cook – QAnon (10)
- Clyde Edwards-Helaire – The Quasars (12)
- Nick Chubb – The Quasars (12)
- Joe Mixon – Nacho Team (14)
- Aaron Jones – C Tan vs the World (17)
- Josh Jacobs – Murphy Inn-ies (21)
- Austin Ekeler – Red Bank Mallrats (22)
- Kenyan Drake – Murphy Inn-ies (28)
- James Conner – SECOND DECK (29)
- Chris Carson – The Tim Brady’s (31)
- Miles Sanders – QAnon (34)
- Todd Gurley II – Nacho Team (38)
- Jonathan Taylor – TIM! (47)
- Raheem Mostert – Murphy Inn-ies (54)
- David Johnson – Sc4_Skippers (54)
- Mark Ingram II – BE A MAN HOGAN (64)
- Le’Veon Bell – Sc4_Skippers (67)
- Leonard Fournette – SECOND DECK (68)
- Melvin Gordon III – Flying Dutchmen (73)
- Kareem Hunt – Red Bank Mallrats (75)
- D’Andre Swift – BE A MAN HOGAN (105)
- James White – BE A MAN HOGAN (112)
- Devin Singletary – The Tim Brady’s (127)
- Cam Akers – TIM! (143)
- David Montgomery – C Tan vs the World (152)
- Tarik Cohen – QAnon (159)
- J.K. Dobbins – Sc4_Skippers (163)
- Phillip Lindsay – SECOND DECK (173)
- Kerryon Johnson – Nacho Team (179)
- Matt Breida – Murphy Inn-ies (189)
- Jordan Howard – Sc4_Skippers (198)
- Marlon Mack – BE A MAN HOGAN (201)
- Antonio Gibson – The Quasars (205)
- Sony Michel – Nacho Team (206)
- Chris Thompson – C Tan vs the World (209)
- Damien Harris – Sc4_Skippers (222)
- Boston Scott – Flying Dutchmen (240)
- Alexander Mattison – Flying Dutchmen (241)
- Zack Moss – TIM! (242)
- Latavius Murray – Red Bank Mallrats (243)
- Ronald Jones II – Murphy Inn-ies (244)
TOP TIER (1-3)
These are a little tougher to breakdown since there are just so many. But most experts put McCaffrey, Barkley and Elliott as the top three in most any scoring. After that, however, it gets a little tougher. So we’ll just say the Dutchmen, TIM!, and the Mallrats all had easy decisions to make after the draft order was revealed. CMac was a fucking monster last year, and while I can’t see him repeating those numbers, he’s still the favorite to end up RB1. Barkley is looking for a bounceback year off his injury, and there seems to be a lot more talent around him this year, so he’d probably got the best chance to unseat McCaffrey. As for Zeke, he was solid for me last year, and while I had no plans on bringing him back this time around, that kind of consistency is hard to say no to.
SECOND TIER (4-11)
This is where opinions start to deviate. Kyle made Derrick Henry our RB4, and who could blame him given the display he put on last year. Though some experts – especially in PPR scoring – are dropping him down their lists a little further, in large part thanks to the Titans losing MSU alum Jack Conklin in the offseason, who graded out as one of the best run-blocking Tackles in the NFL last year. Of course, taking him with the 7th pick rather than the 4th is something. After Zeke, the draft went WR1 – QB1 – WR2 before Henry, which means Kamara slipped to #8 and fell in Tan’s lap, likely helped out by the contract/trade rumors last week.
Dalvin Cook, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Nick Chubb, and Joe Mixon were the next four off the board, all still considered in that same tier. Where we skew from the experts is with the last consensus pick in this range, who wasn’t the next RB off the board. After Mixon we moved away RBs for a few picks, but when we came back, CTan took Aaron Jones, rather than the player he had last year – Josh Jacobs, whom Sportsline actually has rated as the 7th best back in PPR leagues, ahead of Kamara and Edwards-Helaire. Of course, they had Jones just a few spots later (and ahead of Mixon), but this might turn out to be a real steal for Murphy Inn-ines, as Jason end up with Jacobs at pick 21.
TIER C (12-16)
We’re into the third tier here and there are still some real quality backs on the board. First of this group, with the 22nd pick overall, Kronner attempts to make amends for the 2019 season, where he drafted Austin Ekeler in the 12th round and then dropped him before the season started…like a dumbass. With Gordon no long on the Chargers roster, Ekeler has a chance to put up even better numbers this year, and I know Rivers is gone, but Rivers was also terrible last year. Five picks later Jason comes back with another solid pick, grabbing up Kenyan Drake, who will be the lead back in a Cardinals offense expected to be pretty explosive this season. With the very next pick, SECOND DECK, run by a contingent of Alley Brothers, snags a big Rick/Reward pick in James Conner. The dude has a propensity for getting hurt (have to imagine the cancer did some permanent damage there), but by all reports, he is healthy right now, and if Ben and JuJu stay on the field as well, the Steelers offense could be right back near the best in the NFL.
Chris Carson, much like the aforementioned Russell Wilson, seems to get no love in this league (perhaps just a result of those west coast games not always being shown here) but is expected to put up some numbers this season as the lead back in an offense that recently added veteran TE Greg Olsen and improved the O-Line in the offseason. Finally, Kaiser comes back and takes the Eagles starter, who I have to imagine would have gone higher if not for a nagging hamstring injury. There is a lot of talent in Philly, so the ball is going to get spread around, but Sanders should be good enough to demand 20 touches/targets a game once healthy.
THE FOURTH TIER (17-25)
These guys make up a good mix or potential RB1 or disappointing RB4. Taylor is a highly projected rookie, but you never really know how a rook is going to prepare, and Gurley and David Johnson are coming off multiple injuries and trying to recapture their youth with new teams. Johnson looked good in the opener, but as always its just a question of if he can stay healthy. Also going to new teams are Fournette and Gordon. Now, Fournette, if he works out, could be a League Winner kind of pick, or get could play No. 2 to Ronald Jones, and never really reach his original NFL draft position. That leaves Mostert and his new contract hoping to recreate some of his production from last year, and Kareem Hunt, who also just signed a new contract, and should prove to be a productive RB3 – but if Chubb were to go down, Hunt could be a stud. Then there is Bell, who was a monster in Pittsburgh but looks to have aged quite a bit on the Jets. I always liked this guy, but if he’s ever gonna be a difference-maker again, Sam Darnold needs to take a step forward this year.
THE FIFTH ELEMENT TIER (26-32)
Here we have lower rung starters, 3rd down pass catchers, or high potential rookies.
Swift has had some injuries, and the Lions bringing in 83-year-old AP might cut into Swift’s carries, but this pick looked a lot better a week ago. James White is a proven pass catcher, and while Cam might not check down as often as Brady, given he can just pick up yardage with his legs, in PPR, White is still worth rostering. Singletary probably could have gone higher, just have to see what impact the rookie Moss has here. Cam Akers could prove one of the bigger steals of the draft, but again – never know with rookies. Montgomery isn’t part of a high powered offense, but he does have a good Week One Matchup against the Lions…Uncertainty about him leads to Cohen being taken with the next pick. Dobbins, the youngest player on the Skippers by a decade, looks like a beast and joins the best running team in the league. This could be Jon’s best pick of the draft when it’s all said and done.
THE BOTTOM RUNG (33-47)
Here is where we start drafting for bench spots and backups. This is basically the “If __________ gets injured this will be a great pick” team. These are all either backups or guys expected to lose their starting jobs. Zack Moss, who was one of the last backs taken here, might have some of the most upside. We also have multiple Washington RBs in this section, and this was before Peterson was cut, so they probably get a little boost. Sony Michel might be more valuable than originally thought as well, now that Harris is headed to the IR. Marlon Mack is another guy that might be able to hold his gig for a little bit given the fumbling problems Taylor had in camp. If any of these guys were locks though, they wouldn’t have last this long.
SC League Forever 