Fantasy Football Mock Draft: The Zero Running Back Strategy, Featuring Puka Nacua, Jalen Hurts and More

Labor Day Weekend is the final hurrah of fantasy football drafts. The season starts on Thursday, so the leagues that prefer to wait until the last minute either must use this weekend or have the draft during the week in the last few days before the season, a tough task when trying to get multiple people for the event.

The “Zero Running Back” fantasy draft strategy involves skipping running backs early in the draft while securing top players at wide receiver, quarterback, and/or tight end. The reasoning goes that running backs get hurt as much as any other position, and guys wear down quicker as they age, whereas the other positions tend to hold their value longer and not fall off a cliff.

Let's go through a mock draft in which I used the Zero Running Back strategy to fill the other starting spots in my fantasy lineup with high-level options before taking any RBs. For this exercise, I had the 10th pick in a 10-team PPR league. The number listed with each player is the pick at which he was drafted.

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Non-RB Starters

• 10. WR Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams
• 11. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
• 30. QB Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
• 31. WR Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
• 50. TE Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions

These guys could be replaced with other big names to fill my starting slots outside of running back, defense, and kicker. I really like the top quarterbacks and tight ends, but in this case, I went for players in the second tier at those positions in order to lock down WR with top-line players.

This group of five is super strong; I can't really take issue with any pick. Some might not like having both a top receiver and tight end from the same team, but I don't have a problem with that when they are both productive players. I would be happy to walk away with this top five if I were following this strategy.

“Zero” Running Backs

• 51. Breece Hall, New York Jets
• 70. Kaleb Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers
• 71. Joe Mixon, Houston Texans
• 90. Javonte Williams, Dallas Cowboys
• 91. Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns
• 110. Tank Bigsby, Jacksonville Jaguars
• 111. Cam Skattebo, New York Giants
• 130. Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Of course, saying zero running backs doesn't actually mean you're taking zero running backs. Instead, the word is meant in the opposite of hero, in that you're not going for the top guys and instead looking for lesser players at the position that you're hoping will either pop or at least offer enough value to support the strong roster elsewhere.

I'm more interested in the players who could pop, so I went with higher-ceiling, lower-floor players in many instances, guys who might do nothing but could also be legit fantasy starters during the season. Hall is a great example: he is next to a running quarterback in the backfield now with Justin Fields in New York, and he catches the ball a lot, averaging over 50 receptions per season despite missing 10 games as a rookie. He also has competition from other backs on his team and has fallen from his top-level billing of last season, making him a risky proposition who could hit big.

Johnson, Judkins, and Skattebo are all rookies with veterans they will likely split carries with, at least early in the season. If the young guys show they are the better players, though, they could rise to RB1 status, making them valuable mid-round picks. They each have reasons why they won't reach that level (Judkins hasn't even signed his contract yet), but I was looking for potential with those picks.

Mixon is a former top back who is dealing with a foot injury and will miss at least the first four games. He fits well on an IR spot for now, as he should step right into the top RB role for Houston when he returns, assuming Nick Chubb doesn't find the fountain of youth.

Williams is a low-ceiling player, someone who will probably split carries with Miles Sanders but could also take the lead back spot for Dallas at some point; I'm not excited about him, but it's the type of player to add to the bench with this strategy. Bigsby should lead the way for the Jaguars, but he won't be the pass catcher, as Travis Etienne will fill that role, so Bigsby's value drops in PPR leagues.

White is the opposite of that coin: he is the pass catcher in Tampa Bay behind Bucky Irving, having caught over 50 balls in each of his three seasons, averaging 55 per year. White is an intriguing PPR player who has a low ceiling but could also see a big role if Irving were to miss time with injury.

Last Bench Spot

• 131. Efton Chism III, New England Patriots

I have three strong receivers but having one guy on the bench isn't a bad idea. You could draft a few bench receivers after getting so many backs, but I like to have as many RB possibilities as I can in hopes of finding guys who outplay their draft spot.

Chism is an intriguing player, as New England has a subpar receiver group, and Chism has been getting major praise all offseason. He was fantastic in the two preseason games in which he played, first catching six passes for 50 yards and a touchdown then hauling in six more receptions in the second game for 71 yards and another score. The last time I remember hearing about a late-round pick/undrafted guy doing so well in the offseason was Puka Nacua…just saying.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Chism as a regular fantasy WR2/3 by the end of the season, particularly in PPR leagues. That's a player well worth drafting with the 131st pick, especially as he can easily be dropped if things don't work out.

Kicker and Defense

• 150. Harrison Butker, Kansas City Chiefs
• 151. Arizona Cardinals D/ST

As usual, kicker and defense wait until the final two picks. There could have been a few different choices here. Butker is a good kicker on a good team; there's not much else needed to make him a feasible fantasy pick.

The Cardinals are my favorite early-season streaming defense, as they have loaded up on good players over the past two years and start the season against the Saints and Panthers, two teams likely to be among the best streaming targets for defenses all season.

Conclusion

As someone who likes loading up on running backs early, I'm not too thrilled with the final product. I get the reasoning behind the Zero Running Back strategy, but it's not for me. I'd rather at least get one great back early, especially since there are so many more good receivers available than running backs.

This roster is OK; there's an opportunity to win a lot of games if things break right. Multiple things must go right at RB to make it feasible, though, and finding other backs in free agency later in the season is much tougher than at wide receiver, a main reason I went into running back hoarding mode in the middle rounds.