Many fantasy football managers consider the league startup draft their favorite part of the game. The crapshoot NFL season has yet to dash every ounce of hope from our souls with wild bounces of the leather spheroid or pitiful coaching decisions. Star players haven’t yet tweaked a hammy or popped a Lisfranc. Some dynasty managers are sneezing out startups through the haze of allergy season before the NFL teams have even laid out their war room tablecloths.
“Of course, I know him, he’s me” is the Obi-Wan Kenobi refrain that comes to mind when the word “degenerate” is thrown around in the springtime. The merry band of dynasty degens is forming new leagues almost daily. We are mocking to prepare for startup drafts. Heck, we’re mocking for other mocks. We’re zigging while the ADP reliant zag. I am drafting running backs early, even if it isn’t hip or cool. How many running backs am I taking in dynasty startups? The answer is: as many as I can to be considered robust.
Running backs are injury prone, correct? Wrong. There is no such thing as “injury prone.” Football is a collision sport, yet most injuries that cost NFL players meaningful time on the field are non-contact. Football players get hurt, running backs included. Robust-RB strategy is the overt act of drafting a running back at every selection until you fill the RB and Flex spots before addressing other needs. Robust-RB strategy casts a heavier net in startup dynasty drafts, practically hoarding the upper tier at a position of great scarcity. There are literal droves of fantasy-relevant wide receivers and quarterbacks, many of whom don’t repeat the past performance baked into their ADP.
Many fantasy football managers consider the league startup draft their favorite part of the game. The crapshoot NFL season has yet to dash every ounce of hope from our souls with wild bounces of the leather spheroid or pitiful coaching decisions. Star players haven’t yet tweaked a hammy or popped a Lisfranc. Some dynasty managers are sneezing out startups through the haze of allergy season before the NFL teams have even laid out their war room tablecloths.
“Of course, I know him, he’s me” is the Obi-Wan Kenobi refrain that comes to mind when the word “degenerate” is thrown around in the springtime. The merry band of dynasty degens is forming new leagues almost daily. We are mocking to prepare for startup drafts. Heck, we’re mocking for other mocks. We’re zigging while the ADP reliant zag. I am drafting running backs early, even if it isn’t hip or cool. How many running backs am I taking in dynasty startups? The answer is: as many as I can to be considered robust.
Running backs are injury prone, correct? Wrong. There is no such thing as “injury prone.” Football is a collision sport, yet most injuries that cost NFL players meaningful time on the field are non-contact. Football players get hurt, running backs included. Robust-RB strategy is the overt act of drafting a running back at every selection until you fill the RB and Flex spots before addressing other needs. Robust-RB strategy casts a heavier net in startup dynasty drafts, practically hoarding the upper tier at a position of great scarcity. There are literal droves of fantasy-relevant wide receivers and quarterbacks, many of whom don’t repeat the past performance baked into their ADP.
How Robust?
Assuming it’s a 1QB league, I can assure myself three to four elite producers at the running back position using Robust-RB. Not to discount the other skill players, but with another bustling crop of young wide receiver talent this year, the points per game difference from WR1 to WR24 is nearly indistinguishable. That same gap at the running back position is staggering, with a sizable cliff after the top-12. I find it helpful to create tiered positional dynasty rankings for myself (or use the myriad of tools at FantasyPros). As enjoyable as it would be to have the 1.01 every draft to lock in Jonathan Taylor (RB – IND), tiered rankings can aid dynasty managers in avoiding reach picks once a higher tier has dried up. They can also help identify top-tier assets that may fall later than their ADP.
Who should you target? Startups put a premium on the players with youth and production. There has been a mass exodus away from the running back position in the early rounds. Are there any fewer quality running backs than before? No, there are more. Players of the desired ilk include Javonte Williams (RB – DEN), Najee Harris (RB – PIT), Antonio Gibson (RB – WAS), D’Andre Swift (RB-DET), J.K. Dobbins (RB – BAL), Cam Akers (RB – LAR), David Montgomery (RB – CHI), and rookie Breece Hall (RB – FA). And that’s not even including stud veterans like Christian McCaffrey (RB – CAR), Dalvin Cook (RB – MIN), Austin Ekeler (RB – LAC), Alvin Kamara (RB – NO), Saquon Barkley (RB – NYG), Joe Mixon (RB – CIN), Nick Chubb (RB – CLE), Derrick Henry (RB – TEN), Aaron Jones (RB – GB), and perennial top-12 back, Josh Jacobs (RB – LV). Some will even have Travis Etienne (RB – JAX) and Michael Carter (RB – NYJ) in their robust plans. Starting a dynasty roster with three or four of these backs is formidable and doesn’t prevent one from having elite receivers available afterward.
Non-Toxic Masculinity
The running joke among fantasy football thought leaders is that Robust-RB proponents are knuckle-dragging Neanderthals and Zero-RB cliques are full of woke critical thinkers and stately gentlemen. I say neither is true or completely false. Robust-RB isn’t quite as extreme as full-on Zero-WR, but it is a gateway to that deviant philosophy. In my youth, I must admit that I put off wide receivers in such cavalier fashion that I’m probably still invited to the secret meetings among Zero-WR mavericks. I get a primal rush of heightened sensory ability whenever I draft a running back.
The prevalence of running back committees in the NFL has harmed the position’s reputation just as much as injuries to elite players. While the ADP among running backs plummets, the pendulum swings back into an advantageous territory for Robust RB drafters. Committees are beneficial for the position in specific ways. They preserve the health of young, talented backs and prolonge veterans’ careers who we would otherwise cull from the fantasy-relevant conversation. Loading up at the running back position early on with young, talented players is as risky as it is teeming with upside within a two to three-year contention window.
Luck of the Draw
Skill is more prevalent in dynasty than redraft, but the element of chance is still involved. Risk is guaranteed. Running backs are the most volatile position in fantasy but provide an unmatched payoff in their health. I foresee the influx of star wide receivers to continue to water down that position and render the predictability of breakout league winners impossible. We can identify who the star running backs are and how viable their replacements are. In health, our vision of start-sit decisions among running backs is 20/20. Robust-RB strategy in a dynasty startup provides clarity in a game of divination. The top running backs show their faces, while the other positions are oceans of wholesale mannequins. Winning dynasty championships requires good luck. Fortune favors the bold, or better yet, the robust.
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