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Running back is the most volatile and valuable position in fantasy football. Brett Mitchell reviews his #AllBenchRB draft strategy of stashing RB on your bench during fantasy drafts.
Fantasy Bretheren, listen up. There has never been a year that is more fitting for #AllBenchRB. Just ask @Raphstradamus and El Camello! These suckas each drafted six bench RBs in their league of record to shoot for fantasy gold.
Actually I can’t support that last statement, but if you talk to them, tell them they should! Let’s recap what #AllBenchRB is, why you should strongly consider it as a strategy and then discuss my key targets for the 2020 season.
Before your draft, check out RotoBaller's constantly updated preseason rankings.
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What is #AllBenchRB?
#AllBenchRB refers to a strategy, coined by yours truly, that has you draft and maintain a bench full of RBs (or close to it). Does BrettMitchell hate WRs? No I actually prefer WRs, but I want to win my leagues and use the money to purchase sushi and movies on Amazon Prime once the season ends. And having a bench full of RBs will help you and me accomplish this. Here are the reasons why, in no particular order:
- RB is the most volatile position due to injuries and depth chart changes
- RB replacements provide the largest upside due to position scarcity and opportunity
- RB is the most opportunity-based position. Talent is important but QB, Offensive Line and Game Scripts can allow a mediocre RB to boom
- RBs yield the largest FAAB Bids
For these reasons, having RBs on your bench is like having a handful of lotto tickets. Hit on just one or two in a season and you could have a league winner. Think of guys from the past few years like Damien Williams, Dion Lewis, C.J. Anderson and Kenyan Drake. It’s not always sexy and often times an aggregate of boring and unknown players as well as handcuffs. This makes the #AllBenchRB strategy one that requires a tremendous amount of discipline.
It is very difficult to pass up on promising WRs and TEs who flashed in a game in favor of guys who are buried behind a stud. But, it only works if you stick with it, because deviating could mean missing out the one week a starter goes down and having to bid a fortune on the replacement RB or miss out on a guy that could have been on your bench.
I push this strategy every year, but this year in particular is the golden year for #AllBenchRB. We have a unique combination of COVID-19 and no preseason. This means that there will be more volatility than ever this season due to COVID and injuries and more players than ever will get an opportunity. And when those opportunities open, I want the replacement RB on my bench.
Who Do I Target?
This should be very straightforward, but we want to target players that will have a huge opportunity if the lead back on a team should get Covid, get injured or maybe even get traded. And by opportunity I mean # of carries, high scoring team, great Offensive Line, running QBs. The two types of players that fit this category are guys that are already in a committee and straightforward handcuffs. And most importantly guys that have already shown they can crush if given the chance like Chase Edmonds. here are my top teams and #AllBenchRB targets (top targets*):
- Kansas City Chiefs: *Darrel Williams, *
DeAndre Washington - Seattle Seahawks: *Carlos Hyde
- Baltimore Ravens: *J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards
- Arizona Cardinals: *Chase Edmonds
- Indianapolis Colts: *Marlon Mack
- Philadelphia Eagles: *Boston Scott
- San Francisco 49ers: *Tevin Coleman, *Jerick McKinnon
- Detroit Lions: *Kerryon Johnson, Bo Scarbrough, Adrian Peterson
- Atlanta Falcons: *Brian Hill, Ito Smith
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: *Ke'Shawn Vaughn, *LeSean McCoy
- Minnesota Vikings: *Alexander Mattison
- Dallas Cowboys: *Tony Pollard
- Los Angeles Rams: Darrell Henderson
- Green Bay Packers: A.J. Dillon, Jamaal Williams
- Washington Redskins: Adrian Peterson, Bryce Love
- Los Angeles Chargers: Justin Jackson, Joshua Kelley
Caveat: Save all your comments about bye weeks and player injuries because I am well aware that you have to manage your own team based on your own circumstances. Of course you need to drop an RB if you have a bye week and your TE is sitting or one of your WRs gets hurt. The point is that you should strive to have as many RBs on your bench as possible because they can be your ticket to the promised land.
Thanks as always for listening to me talk seriously about a fantasy sport. You can find me on Twitter @BrettMitchellFB. I love comments and questions so hit me up suckas.
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