The way we treat the running back position has changed DRASTICALLY since I first started playing this game 20+ years ago. In the early 2000s, it wasn’t crazy to see the top 10-20 players in fantasy football rankings consist entirely of RBs. 

This set of CBS rankings from 2007, for instance, did not have a single WR or TE in the top 15. It wasn’t until 2013 when Shawn Siegel wrote his famous Zero RB, Antifragility, and the Mythe of Value-Based Drafting that the idea of Zero RB really came into the mainstream. And for years, it was dismissed as a “gimmick”.

Today, anyone who has drafted on sites like Underdog Fantasy will tell you that Zero RB is the most popular strategy in best ball formats. Based on recent ADP, the RB10 (Travis Etienne) goes off the board on average at pick 43.4, which is right around when the WR30 (Christian Kirk) is being drafted at pick 44.6. Yes, we’ve come so far now that drafting WRs early is the norm vs. loading up on bell cow running backs and handcuffs. 

So, what we’re going to do here is take a look at the current running back landscape for best ball drafts. We’ll talk about the strategies and some important concepts to execute them properly. That along with the tiered rankings in our 2024 Best Ball Cheat Sheet should have you feeling good about drafting against the pros at the most important position in fantasy! So, here are the basic strategies, how to approach them and which one we believe is best. 

 

 

 

Hero RB/Anchor RB

Rather than start with Zero RB, we’ll instead first look at Hero RB (or Anchor RB as some call it) because it’s both the “safest” and the easiest approach to drafting the modern running back position. The idea is that you recognize both the fragility of the position and that there are still a handful of true bell-cow running backs out there that have insane, difference-making upside. 

So, you still draft heavy wide receivers in general, but you do your best to get one of the top guys within the first couple of rounds as your “anchor”. Then later, you still go after all the same sleeper RB picks as the Zero RB guys. The sweet spot for total number of running backs is drafting between four and seven so, if you go Hero RB, you might want to be towards the higher end of that range to give you more shots at hitting on a late pick. 

My suggestion is to make a list of all the running backs that you truly believe have difference-making upside. If you grabbed a copy of our Best Ball Cheat Sheet and you’ve seen the Tiered Rankings, then you have a pretty good idea what mine are. Often big Zero RB fans out there will still take a guy like Christian McCaffrey if he’s there then they just get back to drafting WRs.

Analyst Pat Kerrane has been a big proponent of early WR but, when he won Best Ball Mania, he drafted Austin Ekeler in the first round. Just know that, if you like the values, your “anchor” RB doesn’t need to be drafted in the first or second round either.

 

 

 

Robust RB

After the Hero RB discussion, this one is fairly easy and obvious. Remember that list of stud RBs that you like? Well, with everyone drafting wide receivers so aggressively, you might get a couple of them at a great value. Or three. Or four. The more stud RBs you draft, the fewer you need to draft later and in total. And that’s especially true for big tournaments. 

If you invest in a guy like Christian McCaffrey and he either gets hurt or is somehow a bust, you are probably not bouncing back from that. So, no need to play it safe later – just lean into the idea that you picked the right guys and they are going to be healthy and awesome. Robust RB is usually the only time I will draft only four RBs on the lower end of our range, but I typically draft at least five.

 

 

 

Zero RB

It amazes me that some folks don’t fully comprehend what they are getting themselves into with this strategy, both in best ball and redraft. The number one mistake I see are players thinking this is a strategy where you just ignore running back completely because you love wide receivers. And it’s actually quite the opposite. 

You need to know MORE than everyone else about the running back position. You need to know every flavor of late running back and what their range of outcomes is. And that is especially true in best ball where waivers or trades can’t bail you out. There’s no going back to scoop this year’s breakout – you need to draft them. And, if you are like us and drafting now, you need to draft them based on the little bit of information we have. 

It’s not always easy but hitting on the right guys, and the right mix, can pay off big. That “mix” is up to you. In some of the big tournaments, maybe you just want to go with all crazy high-risk, high-reward plays and hope you hit. Take rookie Kimani Vidal for instance. He’s a rookie with the new Chargers regime that was drafted in the SIXTH round. That’s deep. But Kyren Williams was also a Day Three pick. So, maybe Vidal does nothing or maybe he wins that open starting job and crushes. 

For me, I like to mix some safe guys with some risky guys. So maybe if I wait super late at RB, I will take the Kimani Vidals of the world, but I might also grab an Ezekiel Elliott (who has been surprisingly healthy even if he is boring at this stage) or a Zach Charbonnet (who is splitting a backfield, but at least he catches passes). That gives me some weekly floor to go with my season-long upside. 

 

 

 

Which Strategy Is Best?

Anyone that has read the quarterback or tight end articles in this series already has a good idea of which strategy we like best. Which is all of them. What matters most to us is VALUE. Take the best player available early on in your drafts then PIVOT to these strategies if need be. 

Know all the Zero RB targets in case you love the early wide receiver values and can’t pass on it. And, if everyone else is going Zero RB, go robust and know the late-round QBs, WRs and TEs so you can make up the difference. There is no best way to do things, but our 2024 Best Ball Cheat Sheet will ensure that you’re getting the best bang for your buck along the way!