Waiting for RB

[nalathegreat]

I know its early, but it seems to me the top of the draftboard is going to be littered with running backs with only one good 1st-round-caliber season under their belts. (Eg. Ray Rice, Rashard Mendenhall, Cedric Benson, Shonn Greene, Jamal Charles, etc.) You get the picture. Dont get me wrong, Im not saying Im definitely going to be avoiding these guys, it's just that they seem to be too risky for first-rounders. I will have absolutely no problem picking Brees in the first, Moss/AJ in the second, VJackson/Fitzgerald/Marshall/CJohnson in the third, and waiting all the way until the 4th round for my first RB. Im already looking at Steve Slaton and Matt Forte, who last year were extremely similar to the guys above - breakout seasons in '08 and high picks the following fantasy year. They have shown the potential to be fantastic. What do you guys think?

I might make it seem like Im a hypocrite because I like one-year wonders Slaton and Forte but not Rice or the others. That is very untrue. I'll gladly take Cedric Benson in the fourth round, but he's not worth a 1st round pick. I want consistent players with my first pick, and although Mendenhall may prove to be rock-solid, he hasn't proven it yet. I will be more prone to take high-risk, high-reward picks later in the 4th and 5th rounds.

[djadrock]

Last year I tried a new drafting idea and it worked wonders on my teams. You do need 1 no. 1 back. Then go WR, WR, TE (only gates, clark, gonzo), RB. WRs have similiar value to RBs anymore in this pass first league. Heck reach with that second back and get Matthews in SD. He is going to get loads of oopportunities.

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[DemonDeacon]

i fully agree with you. after about the top 6ish backs theres a huge drop off and the rest of the field seems to be fairly similar. Ive implimented the RB/WR picking style the last 2yrs in my leagues and have gotten great results, probably b/c my WR was AJ both years haha but theres enough good talent to slide to rd 3 and get a legit #2 RB imo

[TruNinerFan]

I understand your thinking. But, I don't expect benson to be around in the 4th round in many drafts. He is one of the few backs that gets goal line carries and is not involved in a RBBC. There were a lot of owners last year who waited until rounds 3-4 to draft Rb's and they ended up with guys like McFadden, Pierre Thomas and Moreno. That didn't work out too well.

[nalathegreat]

I understand your thinking. But, I don't expect benson to be around in the 4th round in many drafts. He is one of the few backs that gets goal line carries and is not involved in a RBBC. There were a lot of owners last year who waited until rounds 3-4 to draft Rb's and they ended up with guys like McFadden, Pierre Thomas and Moreno. That didn't work out too well.

No no no. I wasnt trying to imply that Cedric Benson will be available in the 4th round. Hes going to be gone by the end of the 2nd in most leagues. What Im trying to say is that Benson is what Steve Slaton and Matt Forte were last year: high 1st-2nd round picks who only have produced one worthy year.

Also, if I remember correctly, Moreno and Thomas were borderline top-20 backs last year, making them starters in most leagues. Ill take that again if I can land the best quarterback and 2 stud wide receivers early in the draft.

[Indibuck]

In most standard scoring leagues, if I can grab a pretty good RB in round 1, I don't mind taking 2 WRs and maybe even an elite QB before taking that 2nd RB. I just need to make sure that I hedge my bets by picking up my 3rd and 4th RBs pretty quickly after that.

Not picking a RB in the first 2 rounds is a mistake 99% of the time -- you have to draft PERFECTLY and get lucky at the same time. Otherwise you have to try and unload premium players at other positions for less-than-equitable value just to get a few starting RBs.