Fantasy Football Draft Targets: Trey Benson, Jaleel McLaughlin, MarShawn Lloyd

Derek Brown shares 10 Zero RB Running Backs he’s targeting in his fantasy football drafts. Here are 10 10 Zero RB Running Backs to Draft in your upcoming fantasy football drafts.

Zero RB Running Backs to Draft

When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and others to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few notable fantasy football Zero RB Running Backs to Draft.

MarShawn Lloyd (GB)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably already aware that MarShawn Lloyd was one of my man crushes throughout the NFL Draft cycle. While his landing spot has turned many off, I’m not fazed. Will Josh Jacobs be heavily involved weekly? Sure, but that doesn’t mean that Lloyd is a zero or change-of-pace option only. Lloyd crushed every part of the predraft process after jumping off the stat sheet during his final two collegiate seasons. In each of those two years, he finished in the top 20 in yards after contact per attempt, breakaway percentage, and PFF elusive rating. Lloyd will quickly be a major factor in this backfield, with his main competition for touches (Josh Jacobs) hoping for a bounceback year. Last year, Jacobs struggled mightily to break tackles and create big plays as he ranked (among 49 qualifying backs last season per Fantasy Points Data) 41st in explosive run rate, 37th in missed tackles forced per attempt, and 44th in yards after contact per attempt. Lloyd is an RB3/4 who can easily out-kick his ADP this season.

Trey Benson (ARI)

Benson will have to contend with a still-spry James Conner for touches all season. Yes, Conner hasn’t played more than 13 games in a season over the last two years, so Benson could get some run as the team’s starter in 2024. It’s impossible to project that with the uncertainty of injuries, but it has to be mentioned. Even in a 1B role to Conner, Benson could make some noise with big plays. Over the last two collegiate seasons, Benson has ranked 10th and third in breakaway percentage and 42nd and first in elusive rating (per PFF). With an offense that ranked fourth in neutral script rushing rate last year, there should be enough rushing volume weekly for Benson to have flex viability. He’s a priority handcuff this season with some standalone value.

Jaleel McLaughlin (DEN)

Fully expect me to be above consensus regarding Jaleel McLaughlin this season. Last year, he was electric with every touch he earned. Among all running backs with at least 50 rushing attempts or 20 targets, McLaughlin ranked 14th in explosive run rate, fifth in missed tackles forced per attempt, fourth in yards after contact per attempt, and fourth in yards per route run. Denver made it a point to get him involved in the passing game when he was on the field, as he also ranked first in targets per route run. McLaughlin could easily earn more opportunities this season, as Samaje Perine wasn’t amazing last season, and Javonte Williams looked like a shadow of his former self. At this juncture, I’m not worried about Audric Estime and Blake Watson stealing any of McLaughlin’s work this season. If McLaughlin earns Sean Payton’s trust, he could be an RB3/4 that vaults into steady RB2 production.