It feels like this is a good season to be heavy on running backs early in your draft. The position is loaded at the top of the rankings, and you can start RB-RB and still build a quality receiving corps.
But what if everyone knows that? And what do you do when you're in a draft with people who preach that strategy for a living?
The annual FLEX Leagues drafts started this past weekend in New York, and it was a great event as always, featuring some amazing Fantasy analysts. I participate in the one-quarterback FLEX league, but there are seven different FLEX leagues with different scoring formats.
The FLEX Leagues have been around since 2013, and it was started by Jake Ciely of The Athletic, who came up with the concept. I'm privileged to be part of the FLEX Leagues since its inception, and I've won two titles. I want the championship belt back, which is awesome thanks to TrophySmack.
In this draft, which is a half-PPR league, I knew running backs would be flying off the board. I had the No. 4 pick, and I expected Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs to be gone already, so I was just waiting to choose from Ja'Marr Chase and Puka Nacua. The first three picks were Robinson, Gibbs and Chase, which left me with Nacua. You can see the full results here.
Nacua has the chance to repeat as the No. 1 receiver in 2026, and I was thrilled to start my team with him in Round 1. But Round 2 was where the draft would start for me and map out my strategy.
Based on the CBS Sports Average Draft Position data, I was hoping that Kenneth Walker III, Saquon Barkley or Derrick Henry would be available at No. 21 overall, but all three were gone. By this point, 12 running backs were off the board (Robinson, Gibbs, Christian McCaffrey, Ashton Jeanty, James Cook, Jonathan Taylor, Barkley, Chase Brown, Omarion Hampton, Walker, De'Von Achane and Henry), and I'm not drafting Jeremiyah Love, Travis Etienne, Kyren Williams, Javonte Williams or Josh Jacobs in Round 2.
Instead, I pivoted to Drake London, who should be a great value pick at this spot. He has top-five upside at receiver, but now my running back corps was in trouble.
I wasn't about to panic in Round 3, and Love, Etienne and Kyren Williams were drafted before my selection at No. 28 overall. My strategy was now in place where I was taking more of a Zero-RB approach.
With that in mind, I drafted Trey McBride in Round 3. Even though we don't need a tight end in our starting lineup, I still expect McBride to produce like a top-12 Fantasy receiver, and he will fill one of my two flex spots.
The wide receiver run started after McBride in Round 3 of the high-end No. 2 receivers with Malik Nabers, Emeka Egbuka, DeVonta Smith, Ladd McConkey, Chris Olave and Zay Flowers. In Round 4, it was Luther Burden III, Tetairoa McMillan, Terry McLaurin and Jameson Williams before my next pick at No. 45 overall.
I was thrilled to get Tee Higgins in this spot -- I would draft him in Round 3 and he has 21 touchdowns in his past 27 games -- and now my starting receivers and one flex spot should compete with anyone's roster in this league. My running backs, however, were a different story.
I had a tough call to make in Round 5, and this is where your draft date matters sometimes. My top options were D'Andre Swift and Quinshon Judkins, and I went with Swift since Kyle Monangai had missed several practices at that point with what turned out to be a soft-tissue injury. I like Swift and Judkins in the same tier, so any reason to value one over the other is important, and Monangai's injury pushed me toward Swift. We'll see if that decision works out.
I was looking at running back again in Round 6 since I didn't want to be chasing the position too much, and Tony Pollard will be my RB2. He's not sexy, and he was the No. 29 running back off the board. But Pollard averaged 100 rushing yards per game in his final five outings last season, as well as 14.2 half-PPR points per game over that span. The offense in Tennessee should improve in 2026, and I like Pollard better than several running backs who were drafted before him (Jaylen Warren, TreVeyon Henderson, Rhamondre Stevenson and Jadarian Price).
My next two picks were two of my favorites in Drake Maye (Round 7) and Wan'Dale Robinson (Round 8). I'm not usually going to draft a quarterback early, and Maye was the No. 3 quarterback off the board behind Josh Allen (Round 3) and Lamar Jackson (Round 6). Hopefully, Maye will improve on his 2025 season -- he was the No. 3 Fantasy quarterback behind only Matthew Stafford and Allen -- and getting A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs should help.
I considered drafting Josh Downs instead of Maye, and Downs went one pick later in Round 7. I got another player similar to Downs, who doesn't have as much buzz, but does have a better resume in Robinson. So far, reports out of Tennessee are that Robinson has already built a solid rapport with Cam Ward, and Robinson has 185 catches for 1,714 yards and seven touchdowns on 280 targets in his past two seasons with Brian Daboll, who is the new offensive coordinator for the Titans.
I liked the way this team was built through Round 8, but I needed running back depth. My next three picks were J.K. Dobbins (Round 9), Jacory Croskey-Merritt (Round 10) and Tyrone Tracy Jr. (Round 11), and I like to target players like this with a mix of floor and upside if you need help at a certain position, as I do here at running back.
For example, I'm not sure how great Dobbins will be in a backfield with RJ Harvey and Jonah Coleman, but I expect Dobbins to lead the Broncos in carries and touchdowns when healthy. He's the floor option, although he could be a nice surprise if he stays on the field.
Croskey-Merritt and Tracy are the upside plays, and I love the recent report that Croskey-Merritt will be more involved in the passing game in Washington. I need to see it first, and I like Rachaad White better in PPR. But in half-PPR, Croskey-Merritt is my favorite Commanders running back.
As for Tracy, he should get work in tandem with Cam Skattebo, and the Giants want to be run-heavy this season under new coach John Harbaugh. We know Skattebo is coming off a broken ankle, and Tracy is a high-end handcuff. Last year, Tracy closed the season with at least 13.5 half-PPR points in four of his final seven games, and he would have top-20 upside if Skattebo were to miss any time again in 2026.
I added another running back with upside in Ray Davis (Round 13), and he would be a league winner if something happened to James Cook. Despite waiting on running back until Round 5, I like the way this group came together.
The rest of my draft was about finding players with upside, and I loved getting Jalen Nailor in Round 12. I also drafted Tre Tucker in Round 14, and one of these two should be the No. 1 receiver in Las Vegas, complementing Brock Bowers. So far, Nailor is getting rave reviews in training camp.
I also drafted Travis Kelce in Round 15 and Malik Willis in Round 16. Kelce can be a flex option, and he performed well when Patrick Mahomes was healthy last year, averaging 9.9 half-PPR points per game in the first 14 games of 2025. To put that in perspective, the only tight ends with a better season average in 2025 were McBride, Tucker Kraft, George Kittle and Bowers.
Willis could be a Fantasy stud with his rushing ability. I hope I never have to play him because I invested in Maye, but Willis is a high-upside player. And those are the types of players you want on your bench.
As a reference point, our starting lineup is QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 2 FLEX (RB/WR/TE), and one WR/TE FLEX with seven reserves for a 16-round draft. The scoring is 0.5 PPR with six points for all rushing and receiving touchdowns. Passing touchdowns are worth four points.
