We’re very early into draft season and with the NFL Draft kicking off in a month, it’s never too early to participate in a fantasy football mock draft and put forth all the practice we can handle. This fantasy football mock draft will be a little bit different, as it’s not for a specific draft slot or league format. It’s for a draft strategy, and a divisive one at that.

Zero RB.

You know it, you love it. OK, maybe you don’t love it, but being uncomfortable with Zero RB is very normal. Before we kick off this fantasy football mock draft, we’ll give a brief overview of how well Zero RB fared in 2024.

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Fantasy Football Mock Draft

The fantasy football mock draft below will help you research some of the early trends in drafts. While things may change wildly from now until Week 1 in September, we will draft from the seventh position in a 12-team draft to allow you to see how to construct a Zero RB roster. If you want to try out some early drafts for yourself, make sure to use our FREE fantasy football mock draft simulator.

How Did Zero RB Fare in 2024?

With the running back landscape always evolving, it’s let Zero RB become a dominant draft strategy in every season since people have been employing it in their drafts. Last year was no exception and there were plenty of late-round stars at the running back position.

While there were plenty of early-round stars taking their usual place at the top of the 2024 running back fantasy finishes in all formats, there were a bunch of top-24 running backs with an average draft position (ADP) in the fifth round or later:

• Chase Brown (RB – CIN) – RB10
• James Conner (RB – ARI) – RB11
• Bucky Irving (RB – TB) – RB13
• Aaron Jones (RB – MIN) – RB14
• Chuba Hubbard (RB – CAR) – RB15
• D’Andre Swift (RB – CHI) – RB19
• Najee Harris (RB – LAC) – RB20
• Tony Pollard (RB – TEN) – RB21
• Rico Dowdle (RB – CAR) – RB23
• J.K. Dobbins (RB – FA) – RB24

That’s just shy of half of the top 24 running backs from 2024 in total fantasy points. Last season represents one of the best times in recent memory to employ a Zero RB strategy as the low-end RB1s and RB2 have never been this productive across the board.

You're looking at the fantasy points per game of the RB1 through the RB20 in every season since 2012.

(PPR scoring)

We have never had a season where RB2s were as deep and productive as 2024. pic.twitter.com/9kwJDV1yte

— Ryan Heath (@RyanJ_Heath) January 27, 2025

Don’t forget about the numerous running backs who had weekly spike weeks with names like Jordan Mason, Tank Bigsby, Sean Tucker, Tyrone Tracy, Isaac Guerendo and Zach Charbonnet all spending time as a weekly top-five running back, plus the numerous backs that finished as an RB1 in all 18 weeks. The Zero RB eating is good if you’re capitalizing on the chaos that is the NFL season.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft

The Lineup settings for this mock: 1-QB, 2-RB, 3-WR, 1-TE, 2-FLEX and 6 Bench Spots. See the results and full draft board here.

1.07: Puka Nacua (WR – LAR)

Drafting Puka Nacua is a rock-solid way to start this mock. Nacua followed up his massive 2023 with one of the most productive and efficient 10-game stretches we’ve ever seen. With a league-leading 3.56 yards per route run (YPRR) and a maniacal 37% targets per route run, that left zero doubt about who the alpha was in the Rams’ offense.

With Matthew Stafford back and Davante Adams replacing Cooper Kupp, Nacua is the unquestioned top target in the Rams’ offense and still a huge value, even at 1.07.

2.06: Brock Bowers (TE – LV)

Brock Bowers is nearly automatic. What he’s done in his career from being an 18-year-old target leader on a National Championship-winning Georgia Bulldogs team to producing the best rookie tight end season ever with Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell and Desmond Ridder is unbelievable.

Imagine what Bowers could do with a real NFL quarterback? The Raiders brought in former Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. He’s a substantial upgrade over last season’s trio.

Geno Smith:

#1 in QB accuracy the last four years

Raiders offense last year:

#26 in QB accuracy

#29-of-36 in accurate TE target rate to Brock Bowers

#63-of-103 in accurate WR target rate to Jakobi Meyers

Geno Smith to the Raiders via @RMSummerlin https://t.co/vUAuivKAFK

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 8, 2025

In 2024, every team knew Bowers was going to get the ball and it didn’t matter. Bowers led all tight ends in targets, receptions, receiving yards and fantasy points. He also racked up the fourth-most yards after the catch (YAC) last season among all pass-catchers. His fantasy football ADP should be at the end of the first round, not the middle of the second round. I’m going to take him no matter where I am if I have any pick after 1.06.

3.07: Ladd McConkey (WR – LAC)

Ladd McConkey was a mainstay in the slot for the Chargers and put up double-digit PPR games in all but one game from Week 8 through the rest of 2024.

The Chargers’ passing game wasn’t highly thought of with Jim Harbaugh coming in as head coach and the team jettisoning long-time Chargers Austin Ekeler, Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. McConkey was the leader of the pack for Los Angeles as he tallied a robust 2.38 YPRR as the lone consistent target-earning option.

Ladd McConkey is a stud pic.twitter.com/i5avD4TZde

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 12, 2025

Out is Josh Palmer; in is the returning Mike Williams — a new positive for McConkey as the team didn’t bring in a target earner. Quentin Johnston was solid last year after a dismal rookie season, but his fantasy value was mostly derived from touchdowns with 27.4% of his fantasy scoring coming via getting into the end zone.

Besides Will Dissly‘s 61 targets last season, the next highest remaining target total from last season’s Chargers team is Derius Davis‘ 15. McConkey as a WR2 on this team is a huge way to make sure you’re ahead of your league mates at wide receiver in a Zero RB build.

4.06: Jalen Hurts (QB – PHI)

5.07: DeVonta Smith (WR – PHI)

This Super Bowl-winning duo maintained their productivity even when the Eagles weren’t the most pass-happy team in the NFL. It was quite the opposite as the Eagles had the second-lowest pass rate over expected (PROE) in the league, only ahead of the Indianapolis Colts. Despite that and missing four games, DeVonta Smith was still incredibly efficient as ever with over 2.00 YPRR, a 21% target share and a 21% targets per route run (TPRR) rate in 13 games.

Jalen Hurts will continue to be the benefactor of the tush push. With the Eagles being one of the highest-scoring teams in the league, Hurts will have plenty of ways to generate offense and scores via his arms and legs. What if Saquon Barkley doesn’t score 15 touchdowns and rush for over 2,000 yards in 2025? Hurts stands to reap some of those rewards. In the fourth round, that’s a great price for an uber-elite fantasy quarterback.

6.06: Rome Odunze (WR – CHI)

Rome Odunze’s 2024 was hit and miss. Maybe that had something to do with the leadership at the top as not only was offensive coordinator Shane Waldron fired, but also head coach Matt Eberflus a few weeks later after a disastrous Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions.

Odunze got on the field a ton, as he ran the seventh-most total pass routes in the NFL last season as part of a wide receiver trio that was one of the most condensed units we’ve ever seen.

Odunze’s fantasy production was much too sporadic to use in fantasy last season and it never felt good plugging him into a lineup. Case in point, all three of Odunze’s top-24 fantasy performances last season were surrounded by a previous and subsequent week of no better than a WR53 finish. Odunze couldn’t string quality games together and you simply can’t trust that in your lineup.

Things should be much better with no Keenan Allen and former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson now the head coach. Public sentiment was down but Johnson’s hiring and the team not adding any notable wide receiver pieces to challenge D.J. Moore and Odunze should help bolster the public’s perception of the Bears’ passing game.

Until that happens fully, getting somebody of Odunze’s talent in the sixth round after a sub-par season is a massive get with a great chance of a hefty return on investment.

7.07: Jaylen Warren (RB – PIT)

Year after year and season after season, we keep repeating the same talking points regarding Jaylen Warren and his fantasy value. He’s been undervalued for a long time and now enters his first season at the top of the depth chart and without Najee Harris as his backfield mate. Yet, he’s still going after the “RB Dead Zone” in the seventh and into the eighth round.

All Warren has done is produce on the field. With an Arthur Smith-led rushing attack, it’s been extremely fruitful for whoever the running backs are. Add in Warren’s per-carry efficiency.

(*Stats above per NFL Next Gen Stats)

Warren should get much more opportunity than he’s received in seasons past. As the first running back on this team, we expected Warren to maintain his role as the efficiency star of this Steelers’ ground attack and provide a ton of value in the receiving game.

8.06: Jauan Jennings (WR – SF)

We’re going to find out if Jauan Jennings’ 2024 was a fluke or not this season because the receiving corps of the 49ers could shake out to be much different than the last few seasons in San Francisco.

Deebo Samuel is in Washington, Brandon Aiyuk may not be ready for Week 1 and the 49ers brought in Demarcus Robinson to add to Jennings and Ricky Pearsall. At least the latter two wide receivers showed a lot of promise during the 2024 season.

Last season, Jennings was 14th among all wide receivers with at least 150 routes with a 2.26 YPRR and was 14th in TPRR as well, earning a target on over 25% of his routes. Frankly, he wasn’t just “third and Jauan,” he was first and second as well.

Jennings is a fun value with some ambiguity reflected in his ADP. Thanks to his efficiency last season, the price is right to see if Jennings can give a worthy encore to this 2024 campaign.

9.07: Rachaad White (RB – TB)

10.06: Quinshon Judkins (RB – OHIO ST.)

11.07: Jordan Mason (RB – MIN)

12.06: Isaac Guerendo (RB – SF)

13.07: Dontayvion Wicks (WR – GB)

14.06: Devin Neal (RB – KAN)

15.07: Kareem Hunt (RB – KC)

After drafting Warren, six of the last seven picks were running backs with one wide receiver pick: Dontayvion Wicks. This running back room was very intentional in their selections with Rachaad White being an early-season points scorer whose role is very safe in the high-scoring Tampa Bay offense despite the presence of Bucky Irving.

Both Quinshon Judkins and Devin Neal represent rookie upside with the ability to grow into roles on whatever team they are drafted by.

Jordan Mason and Isaac Guerendo have had their values changed massively thanks to a trade that sent Mason to the Minnesota Vikings. Mason will be the backup to Aaron Jones, who is nearly 30 years old and hasn’t exactly been a picture of health throughout his career.

Even Kareem Hunt, who was re-signed by the Kansas City Chiefs in the last week, had a very successful 2024. The team brought him back as continued insurance for Isiah Pacheco. Pacheco didn’t look great in his return from injury at the end of 2024, so it’s fair to wonder if Hunt already has the leg up on Pacheco to begin 2025.

FantasyPros Draft Wizard Insights

The Draft Wizard gave us a B- grade and an 80/100 score. We have multiple elite wide receivers, an elite quarterback, the top tight end and a ton of running back lottery tickets in the back half of the draft. Those backs are spearheaded by Jaylen Warren, who will get increased opportunity for the first time in his career without Najee Harris in Pittsburgh.

There are a ton of reasons to love this team, but our squad was drafted like it was a seasonal redraft league where if the rookies or other backs don’t work out, staying vigilant on the waiver wire will only help bolster this team.

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Kevin Tompkins is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Kevin, check out his profile and follow him on Bluesky @ktompkinsii.bsky.social