In my general dynasty startup draft strategies, I mentioned that more specific draft strategy articles would be on their way. I’m a man of my word! Today’s article will focus on the Zero RB strategy and how you can apply it in dynasty fantasy football startup drafts.
How To Thrive in a Draft Using the Zero RB Strategy
The term Zero RB has become a bit of a polarizing topic in recent years. It’s taken on characteristics of a political issue. When a fantasy manager hears the term, it’s rarely met with apathy. There’s usually a visceral reaction, whether positive or negative, to the notion of Zero RB drafting.
Zero RB is a risky, yet potentially very beneficial strategy for managers in dynasty startup drafts. What are the benefits and risks associated with ignoring running backs early in your draft?
What Is Zero RB?
There’s a reason people talk about the importance of first impressions. Humans are naturally predisposed to be heavily influenced by their first experience with something.
Fantasy football really started to rise in popularity in the mid-2000s. That’s not when it actually exploded into the mainstream, but it’s when it went from a game played by a very small percentage of the population to something most people were at least aware existed.
If you started playing this game in the 2000s or earlier, you did so in an era where the game was dominated by running backs. I’ve seen firsthand how those early years influenced how fantasy managers drafted, even when the game had clearly changed to a point where draft strategy had to change with it. To this day, it can be hard to accept the notion of not drafting running backs early.
For the younger generation of fantasy managers, you started playing during the era in which the NFL was already starting to shift heavily toward being a passing league.
Prior to the great quarterback boom of 2011, the foundation of every great fantasy team was the running back. When I first started playing fantasy football back in 2003, my leagues didn’t even have Flex positions. I distinctly remember the conversations.
The first two rounds were dominated by running backs. Beyond those rounds, there were only a handful of backs with three-down roles that had 300-carry upside. If you were able to secure three of them, it was game over. We couldn’t be allowed to start three running backs.
The NFL has since moved away from the traditional reliance on power football, which has caused fantasy managers to adapt. That led to Shawn Siegele coming up with the concept of Zero RB.
In retrospect, someone coming up with the concept of Zero RB in 2013 made all the sense in the world. It was the perfect time in the evolution of both professional and fantasy football.
Siegele laid out what was, at the time, a radical draft strategy involving drafting “zero” running backs. As an aside, it’s wild to think that Zero RB has only been around for a decade.
Obviously, Zero RB doesn’t actually mean you don’t draft a single running back. Rather, the idea is that you don’t draft any of the top running backs. The basic tenet of the strategy is to leverage the increasingly risky nature of running backs into a sizable advantage at the other positions, most notably, wide receiver.
Over the years, Zero RB has birthed multiple derivatives and variations. We can debate the specifics as to what round it becomes okay to draft a running back and still be able to say you’re using a Zero RB strategy.
MORE: Superflex/2QB Strategy for Dynasty Fantasy Football Drafts
The general rule of thumb is Zero RB involves not drafting any running backs until at least the sixth or seventh round. The idea is to stack your roster with wide receivers while adding an elite tight end or quarterback (or both).
If executed properly, you will obviously be weak at RB, but you should have the best WR corps in the league, as well as an advantage on most teams at QB and TE.
You know you are opening the season with the worst running back corps in the league. The idea is that, over the course of the season, enough usable RBs will pop up on the waiver wire for you to find startable options each week. Eventually, you will get a couple of guys to stick, and by the end of the season, you’ll have a juggernaut.
What Are the Risks of Using a Zero RB Strategy in a Dynasty Startup Draft?
Where dynasty differs from redraft most is in roster size and the implications that come with an inherently weaker waiver wire.
Most dynasty rosters are somewhere from 20-30 players in size. I just finished up a dynasty startup earlier this month (August 2024). By the 25th round (out of 30), I was wondering why the draft was still continuing.
In redraft, one of the most important aspects of the Zero RB strategy is the expectation that managers will constantly be shuffling running backs at the back of their roster.
You’re expected to work the waiver wire, stream spot starters, take advantage of injuries, and find reliable fantasy starters during the season.
As you might imagine, with 360 players rostered, there aren’t going to be many useful players who emerge on the waiver wire. Your dynasty league rosters may not be as large as mine, but they will be larger than a standard redraft league.
In dynasty, at least two running backs from every team are typically rostered. Some teams will have three players rostered.
When one inevitably goes down or a backup unexpectedly pops, that player is far more likely to already be on someone’s team, making it quite difficult to fix an RB problem in season without trading.
Therefore, even when implementing a Zero RB draft strategy, you need to draft some of these running backs with injury-related upside. Avoid older backs, and don’t draft floor players.
MORE: How To Win Your Dynasty League in 2024
You don’t need running backs who are locked into a role where they see a handful of carries and a reception or two. If an RB doesn’t have the upside for a larger role, you have no use for him. You want guys that can hit hard.
Look for young running backs — under the age of 25 — who are stuck behind an established starter. You want guys who can conceivably win a backfield either with performance or if the starter gets hurt/leaves the following season.
A Zero RB strategy in a dynasty startup draft can be very advantageous if done correctly, but it can also set your team back multiple seasons if things go awry. Now, to be fair, that’s the case with just about any strategy. If you don’t execute properly, or if you encounter a stroke of bad luck, you’re going to have to fix it.
Not everyone who implements this strategy will succeed. There’s an inherent risk in everything about fantasy football. Zero RB is a high-upside strategy, but it has a low floor if you miss on the receivers or can’t find startable running backs.
By no means should this scare you away, though. Every strategy has risks, and the risk of drafting busts exists in every draft in every league. It doesn’t matter what strategy you use if you get the players wrong.
Regardless of what you decide to do, make sure you commit to it. Going half-in on any strategy is a surefire way to lose. You’re better off going all-in on whatever you do, and if it fails, you hit the reset button and start from square one the next season.
There’s nothing worse in dynasty than having a team good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to win. The Zero RB strategy is designed to ensure your team doesn’t get caught in fantasy purgatory. If you do it right, you could be a dominant force for years.