For today, I'll be discussing the hotly contested topic of whether or not you should ALWAYS draft a running back in the first few rounds. So you should use your 1st or 2nd round pick on a RB?
The answer is....(drumroll, por favor)....It depends.
It depends on several factors such as draft position or scoring system. Back
in the good old days of stud RBs like Priest Holmes, Marshall Faulk,
and LaDainian Tomlinson (in his prime), it was simply a no-brainer to
draft a stud RB early. Nowadays, more teams are employing the use of running back by committee (e.g., Smash/Dash from the Tennessee Titans or the other Smash/Dash duo from the Carolina Panthers) so it's perfectly normal to be hesitant with your early draft pick.
If you ended up with a below-average drafting position (e.g., pick no 9 in a 12 man league), you don't have the luxury of drafting a true stud RB anymore. In addition, you don't have the benefit of having back-to-back picks so you have to worry about the people who are drafting after you. Just like Texas Hold'em poker, position is very important aspect that is often overlooked in a fantasy draft. So instead of having the 9th best RB on the board, wouldn't you rather have the no. 1 QB or the no. 1 WR on the board? It's a legitimate concern unless you want to end up want plugging in Chris Simms and his weak spleen as your QB in mid-season (sorry...can't get over how disappointing he was for the Bucs).
Another issue is how your scoring system is set up. Are passing touchdowns worth as much as rushing touchdowns? Does the league award a point for each reception? Try pulling up the fantasy stats from last year based on your league's scoring system. You would be surprised at who some of the top scorers were last year. For example, in my league last year (1 pt for every 10 rushing/receiving yards, 6 pts for every TD), the top 5 RBs were
- Deangelo Williams
- Michael Turner
- Adrian Peterson
- Matt Forte
- Thomas Jones
Out of that list, the only definitive 1st round pick was Adrian Peterson. This just goes to show you that good RBs can be drafted in the later rounds. Not to brag but I did have Deangelo Williams, Michael Turner, and Thomas Jones on my roster (well, maybe I wanted to brag...just a little).
So before you simply dismiss the notion of NOT drafting a RB early, think about it again and assess your individual situation.
P.S. In case you're wondering who that person is in the skimpy outfit, it is Cassie Trammell, a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. And yes, I do realize that the picture has nothing to do with my post. In the end, do either one of us really care?
