How important is a top RB on a dynasty team? (1 Viewer)

[3quinox]

My league is PPR dynasty. Since WR's have the most longevity and consistency in fantasy football I went WR heavy in my recent dynasty start up draft. There are lots of strategies out there, but I just wanted to ask anyone's thoughts on at least grabbing one stud RB to anchor a team?

 

[JohnnyU]

Very important in must start 2 RBs. If you only have to start 1 RB then the importance dwindles significantly.

 

[az_prof]

Well, it is true that WRs have longer careers so from that angle they have more long term value. But the Tier 1 for WRs is much deeper than the Tier 1 for RBs. And the drop off in scoring from tier 1 RBs to tier 2 is greater than from tier 1 to tier 2 WRs.

In my own case, my two league championships coincided with great years by Ray Rice, who happened to be very good in PPR because of how many receptions he made.

There is no one way to win and PPR does give more value to WRs in general, but those handful of RBs who are heavily involved in the passing game can have exceptional value in PPR, all the more so because it is a pretty small group who can do it all.

 

[Todem]

I feel the 3 down back is an absolute premium position in PPR dynasty as that type of player is fast becoming extinct as teams are rapidly employing the whole RBBC approach now.

One day that cycle will change back to more workhorse backs IMO. Everything is cyclical. I think the rage is now multi purpose TE's. Guys who can line up in the slot, outside etc etc. Teams are looking for those types these days. It's a copy cat league.

But again if you can have a Jamal Charles, a Shady etc. Your ahead of the game. Surround him with solid PPR WR's a top 5 QB and your on your way.

 

[FUBAR]

Important but imo they're desert while qb and receivers are the main dishes. If I'm establishing my dynasty team, I'll generally get core players at receiver at qb. Go cheap first at rb. When value comes or I'm looking like a strong contender, I'll pay for a rb if I haven't already "developed" one with deep flyers.

Of course if during the draft or auction, rb becomes value you have to grab it

 

[Dragon1952]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

Top 6-10 RB - 3

Top 11-15 RB - 1

All of the champions with a top 5 RB had at least 1 additional RB in the top 17

The three champions with top 6-10 RB also had at least 1 additional top 13-20 RB

The one champion with nothing less than a top 11-15 RB also had 2 top 21 RB's

That's just 1 year and a small sample size but it says for last year you probably needed

a top 5 RB or at least a top 6-10 plus additional RB(s) in the top 20.

 

[Dragon1952]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

Top 6-10 RB - 3

Top 11-15 RB - 1

All of the champions with a top 5 RB had at least 1 additional RB in the top 17

The three champions with top 6-10 RB also had at least 1 additional top 13-20 RB

The one champion with nothing less than a top 11-15 RB also had 2 top 21 RB's

That's just 1 year and a small sample size but it says for last year you probably needed

a top 5 RB or at least a top 6-10 plus additional RB(s) in the top 20.

I also looked at 11 redrafts and if you combine those results with the 15 dynasties, out of 26 champions,

top 5 RB -18

top 6-10 RB - 6

top 11-15 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 17 RB's)

top 16 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 21 RB's)

 

[bucsbaby]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

Top 6-10 RB - 3

Top 11-15 RB - 1

All of the champions with a top 5 RB had at least 1 additional RB in the top 17

The three champions with top 6-10 RB also had at least 1 additional top 13-20 RB

The one champion with nothing less than a top 11-15 RB also had 2 top 21 RB's

That's just 1 year and a small sample size but it says for last year you probably needed

a top 5 RB or at least a top 6-10 plus additional RB(s) in the top 20.

I also looked at 11 redrafts and if you combine those results with the 15 dynasties, out of 26 champions,

top 5 RB -18

top 6-10 RB - 6

top 11-15 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 17 RB's)

top 16 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 21 RB's)

That's good info, but incomplete without a similar breakdown of the other positions. Were they rolling with a subpar QB? subpar group of WRs? subpar TE?

 

[cstu]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

Top 6-10 RB - 3

Top 11-15 RB - 1

All of the champions with a top 5 RB had at least 1 additional RB in the top 17

The three champions with top 6-10 RB also had at least 1 additional top 13-20 RB

The one champion with nothing less than a top 11-15 RB also had 2 top 21 RB's

That's just 1 year and a small sample size but it says for last year you probably needed

a top 5 RB or at least a top 6-10 plus additional RB(s) in the top 20.

I also looked at 11 redrafts and if you combine those results with the 15 dynasties, out of 26 champions,

top 5 RB -18

top 6-10 RB - 6

top 11-15 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 17 RB's)

top 16 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 21 RB's)

Start 1 or 2 RB?

 

[kutta]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

Top 6-10 RB - 3

Top 11-15 RB - 1

All of the champions with a top 5 RB had at least 1 additional RB in the top 17

The three champions with top 6-10 RB also had at least 1 additional top 13-20 RB

The one champion with nothing less than a top 11-15 RB also had 2 top 21 RB's

That's just 1 year and a small sample size but it says for last year you probably needed

a top 5 RB or at least a top 6-10 plus additional RB(s) in the top 20.

I also looked at 11 redrafts and if you combine those results with the 15 dynasties, out of 26 champions,top 5 RB -18

top 6-10 RB - 6

top 11-15 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 17 RB's)

top 16 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 21 RB's)

All this tells me is that you need to leave the house more...

 

[slackjawedyokel]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

Top 6-10 RB - 3

Top 11-15 RB - 1

All of the champions with a top 5 RB had at least 1 additional RB in the top 17

The three champions with top 6-10 RB also had at least 1 additional top 13-20 RB

The one champion with nothing less than a top 11-15 RB also had 2 top 21 RB's

That's just 1 year and a small sample size but it says for last year you probably needed

a top 5 RB or at least a top 6-10 plus additional RB(s) in the top 20.

I also looked at 11 redrafts and if you combine those results with the 15 dynasties, out of 26 champions,

top 5 RB -18

top 6-10 RB - 6

top 11-15 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 17 RB's)

top 16 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 21 RB's)

That's good info, but incomplete without a similar breakdown of the other positions. Were they rolling with a subpar QB? subpar group of WRs? subpar TE?

Incomplete, yes. Still very informative. It shows that last year, odds were against you, generally speaking, if you did not have a top guy.

The opposite type of team would have Frank Gore, Calvin Johnson, and Jimmy Graham, maybe a Matt Ryan'ish QB. Probably would be that ONE championship team with a top 16RB.

 

[slackjawedyokel]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

Top 6-10 RB - 3

Top 11-15 RB - 1

All of the champions with a top 5 RB had at least 1 additional RB in the top 17

The three champions with top 6-10 RB also had at least 1 additional top 13-20 RB

The one champion with nothing less than a top 11-15 RB also had 2 top 21 RB's

That's just 1 year and a small sample size but it says for last year you probably needed

a top 5 RB or at least a top 6-10 plus additional RB(s) in the top 20.

I also looked at 11 redrafts and if you combine those results with the 15 dynasties, out of 26 champions,

top 5 RB -18

top 6-10 RB - 6

top 11-15 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 17 RB's)

top 16 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 21 RB's)

That's good info, but incomplete without a similar breakdown of the other positions. Were they rolling with a subpar QB? subpar group of WRs? subpar TE?

Incomplete, yes. Still very informative. It shows that last year, odds were against you, generally speaking, if you did not have a top guy.

The opposite type of team would have Frank Gore, Calvin Johnson, and Jimmy Graham, maybe a Matt Ryan'ish QB. Probably would be that ONE championship team with a top 16RB.

Also, would not be surprised is a third to half of those winning teams had a guy like Josh Gordon, grabbed after the 6th or so, who anchored the WR side. He was on a LOT of championship teams last year.

 

[Dragon1952]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

Top 6-10 RB - 3

Top 11-15 RB - 1

All of the champions with a top 5 RB had at least 1 additional RB in the top 17

The three champions with top 6-10 RB also had at least 1 additional top 13-20 RB

The one champion with nothing less than a top 11-15 RB also had 2 top 21 RB's

That's just 1 year and a small sample size but it says for last year you probably needed

a top 5 RB or at least a top 6-10 plus additional RB(s) in the top 20.

I also looked at 11 redrafts and if you combine those results with the 15 dynasties, out of 26 champions,top 5 RB -18

top 6-10 RB - 6

top 11-15 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 17 RB's)

top 16 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 21 RB's)

All this tells me is that you need to leave the house more...

Ha ha....it took about 30 minutes. Plus, I was curious (and it postpones cleaning the BBQ out)

to answer the questions, all of the dynasty were start 2-3 RB except for maybe one. About half of the redrafts were 1-3 RB. All were 1 PPR,except the redrafts which were .5 for RB. The question was about a stud RB so I think it's relevant when, out of 26 samples, 75% had top 5 RB's and 92% had at least a top 10. With 26 teams there are bound to be all different makeups but it's pretty telling that if you didn't have at least a top 10 RB your chances of winning a championship were slim. And, of course, you obviously have to have a really good overall team to win a championship. 20 out of 26 also had top 6 QB's and about 1/2 had top 5 TE's. But it's not a fluke either that 92% had a top 10 RB.

 

[Dragon1952]

....and to expand this....I only looked at championship teams. When the OP asks 'how important is a stud RB' he probably means as far as making the playoffs, so I doubt many teams even make the playoffs without at least a top 10 RB. If I really wanted to get out of cleaning the BBQ today I could go back and compile that info for all of the playoff teams.

 

[Dragon1952]

Something else I noticed that's kind of odd. QB's 3-20 last year only had an avg of approx. 1-3 ppg difference yet 20 of my 26 samples had just the top 6 QB's.

 

[RBM]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

Top 6-10 RB - 3

Top 11-15 RB - 1

All of the champions with a top 5 RB had at least 1 additional RB in the top 17

The three champions with top 6-10 RB also had at least 1 additional top 13-20 RB

The one champion with nothing less than a top 11-15 RB also had 2 top 21 RB's

That's just 1 year and a small sample size but it says for last year you probably needed

a top 5 RB or at least a top 6-10 plus additional RB(s) in the top 20.

I also looked at 11 redrafts and if you combine those results with the 15 dynasties, out of 26 champions,top 5 RB -18

top 6-10 RB - 6

top 11-15 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 17 RB's)

top 16 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 21 RB's)

26 ####in leagues?!?! WTF

 

[cstu]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

I also looked at 11 redrafts and if you combine those results with the 15 dynasties, out of 26 champions,top 5 RB -18

Jamaal Charles single-handedly won a lot of titles.

 

[mr roboto]

Charles and McCoy were steals last year iirc.

 

[Dragon1952]

Charles was on 8 of the 26 teams, McCoy 5. Some more interesting facts...Bernard was on 6 and MJD was on 5, but Forte who was the #2 scorer was only on 1. Moreno who was a great late round selection was on 4, as was Lacy.

 

[3quinox]

I know the shelf life of a RB is much shorter and unpredictable then a WR but is the general consensus to find a young workhorse like Lacey, Bell etc. and ride him for 4-5 years? I'd imagine the people who have had ADP since he was a rookie have had a solid teams for years.

 

[Dragon1952]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

Top 6-10 RB - 3

Top 11-15 RB - 1

All of the champions with a top 5 RB had at least 1 additional RB in the top 17

The three champions with top 6-10 RB also had at least 1 additional top 13-20 RB

The one champion with nothing less than a top 11-15 RB also had 2 top 21 RB's

That's just 1 year and a small sample size but it says for last year you probably needed

a top 5 RB or at least a top 6-10 plus additional RB(s) in the top 20.

I also looked at 11 redrafts and if you combine those results with the 15 dynasties, out of 26 champions,top 5 RB -18

top 6-10 RB - 6

top 11-15 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 17 RB's)

top 16 RB - 1 (also had 2 additional top 21 RB's)

26 ####in leagues?!?! WTF

Yes....I was able to retire in my early 50's so I've got lots of time. And,I was in the computer/IT field the whole time so I am addicted to my computer. Lots of time + addicted to computer + way into FF = lots of leagues. And actually I left a couple out by mistake.

 

[EBF]

It never hurts, but purely from a team building standpoint I prefer to have elite players at QB/WR/TE if forced to choose. A few reasons for that:

- RBs have the least longevity potential of all the skill positions. They also seem to get injured the most frequently.

- RB is also the position with the quickest impact. It's not terribly uncommon for a rookie RB to give you really good production, but more rare at WR and virtually unheard of at QB and TE. So if you have a team with a great QB/WR/TE group and horrible backs, it's conceivable for you to plug that hole immediately in the rookie draft. However, if you have a great QB/RB/TE group, but nothing at WR, you might have to wait 2-3 years on your rookie to peak. By that time, maybe your elite RB group has dissolved.

- It's really hard to find an elite NFL WR. Most of them were 1st round draft picks and require premium rookie picks to acquire in FF leagues. Despite the stereotype of rookie drafters being RB-hungry, I feel like it's slightly more conceivable to find an eventual elite NFL RB with a modest rookie pick than it is to find an elite WR with the same. I think if you looked at the unanimous elite players at each position, you'd find that 2nd+ round draft picks represent a higher percentage of the population at RB than they do at WR. Off the top of my head, Frank Gore, LeSean McCoy, Ray Rice, MJD, and Matt Forte were all 2nd-3rd rounders.

- Personally, I think RB is the position that I'm the best at evaluating, so I like my chances of finding a quality player there late more than I do at WR or TE. If you're better with WRs or QBs then maybe that's an incentive for you to go with solid safe picks at RB and then use your "rabbit out of a hat" skills at WR/QB, but that's not me. RB has a reputation for being a difficult position to fill, but I feel like I can almost always find players there.

While it's not the case in every year, I'd also say the late value this year is a lot juicier at RB than it is at WR. I really don't see a lot of good cheap dynasty WRs, but on the flipside you can get Tre Mason, Bryce Brown, Jerick McKinnon, Jonathan Stewart, and Mark Ingram in the late rounds of dynasty startups right now. Not to say all of those guys are great prospects or locks for success, but I like their chances relative to most of the WRs drafted in the same range.

 

[EBF]

Having said that, you have to look at your league settings and try to figure out how much an elite RB is going to score and how valuable that production will be relative to your other options. Questions like this always depend pretty heavily on your format.

 

[Todem]

Look.it is easier to draft WR's and QB's. If you have a chance to grab a prime true 3 down PPR back in a start up draftyou do it.

Scarcity.

You will find plenty of great talent at WR and QB in the second 3rd and 4th rounds in a start up. The premium is on RB's and WR's in my dynasty leagues because we must start 2 RB's and 3 WR's. Value RB's will be there later as well. But a true workhorse? Rare these days. Couple a true 3 down back with some specialty PPR backs later. You will get varying degrees of opinions. But most title teams have at least one true stud at RB.

 

[cstu]

Charles was on 8 of the 26 teams, McCoy 5. Some more interesting facts...Bernard was on 6 and MJD was on 5, but Forte who was the #2 scorer was only on 1. Moreno who was a great late round selection was on 4, as was Lacy.

My guess on Forte is that a lot of owners depended on him every week and his 9 points week 16 did them in.

 

[MAC_32]

If you are strong elsewhere it is important. It's what will make your team the best in the league.

If you are not strong it is very important you trade him to patch those holes.

Been rebuilding a team for a couple of years that I used to co own, solo now. I wanted to sell Chris Johnson, co owner didn't. I let it go. Our roster otherwise was very mediocre and it showed once he faded, fast.

 

[thriftyrocker]

You can win PPR leagues without elite RB. I won my past two startups the first year going 0RB. Last year's I started Stacy and Donald Brown in the finals. The previous year's I started Moreno and Montell Owens, and guys like Benson, LSH, and Andre Brown kept me in contention. In both leagues, my W1 starters were not even top 30 redraft options. The idea is you can make the playoffs just from the strength of your other positions and you can find RB by the end of the year who can provide solid production. You do have to aggressively pursue stopgap RB though, so its not for everyone. And there are years you end up starting a FB in a playoff game and you curse your luck.

 

[domvin]

Majority of my dynasties I will eschew the top level rbs, building up core at wr and qb first.

One dynasty I have won back to back titles with fjax, bush, pierre, moreno at rb. Core is calvin, graham, marshall, aj green. Start 2 at rb, 2 qb flex league. Romo and cutler at qb...

it can be done either way.

 

[KellysHeroes]

it really depends on scoring system and line up requirements... I have destoried avg joe leagues (Yahoo / ESPN) with WW flobber at RB while in my $$$ leagues the guys with a top 4 RB are always a favorite; looking back at many championship games they were filled with guys like McCoy, Charles and Forte (ADP was banged up at playoff time last yr). Many of my $$ leagues have been start 1 RB for yrs but the scoring is designed were a top RB will out score a top WR 8 out of 10 times.

 

[fightingillini]

It's not a 100% absolute necessity to have a top RB in a dynasty league, but it's really nice to have one, as most of the champions either have a top RB or decent RBs and are stacked at other positions. It's rare to win any fantasy league without having at least good production from the RB spots. When I won my 8-player keeper PPR league in 2012 (behaves a lot like dynasty), my RBs were Rice, Richardson and Spiller. That was a huge advantage over anyone else at the RB spot (one of these was a flex).

It's easy to ignore the RB position in dynasty, since stud QBs and WRs have longer lifespans. But in dynasty, you really should only be looking at 1-2 years down the road, becuase the NFL changes so fast. No one can predict what's going to happen more than 2 years down the road. So while it's nice to have Andrew Luck locked up for the next 8 or so years, it's getting an elite top 5 workhorse RB for the short term is the way to go to contend for titles now.

 

[thriftyrocker]

It's rare to win any fantasy league without having at least good production from the RB spots.

While that's certainly true, I think the counterargument is that alot of people ignore how relatively easy it is to find or obtain "at least good" production from the RB spots. Old starters are greatly devalued. Receiving backs in committees provide baseline production at low cost. Low value handcuffs become reliable starters every year. The waiver wire sporadically produces starters even in deep leagues.

When I won my 8-player keeper PPR league in 2012 (behaves a lot like dynasty), my RBs were Rice, Richardson and Spiller. That was a huge advantage over anyone else at the RB spot (one of these was a flex).

No one's asking can you win with elite RB production. Everyone assumes you can.

 

[Shutout]

I looked back at my 15 dynasty leagues last year and the championship team had the following,

Top 5 RB - 11

I also looked at 11 redrafts and if you combine those results with the 15 dynasties, out of 26 champions,top 5 RB -18

Jamaal Charles single-handedly won a lot of titles.

Yes he did. That week 15 performance was ridiculous.

As a long-time promoter of building dynasty teams around elite WRs and QBs in ppr, I stand by it because I have seen it be beneficial in the short and long run. You tend to get perennially consistent, contending teams.

With that being said, when you have a year like last year where you run into an opponent who has a stud RB and then stole one of these guys last year and ended up with some Charles/McCoy/ADP/Lacy/Forte combo, then that's just one of the years where you run into a buzzsaw and nothing is going to derail it.

I saw two different leagues I was in last year start a Shady/Forte or Charles/Lacy type of combo and they just put it on autopilot and cashed in.

It reminds me of those handful of years when guys used to draft Marshall Faulk or Priest Holmes at the top of the draft and say "see you guys in the playoffs". Right now, there are about 5-7 RBs who can give you an advantage that can't be matched (ppr).

 

[steveski]

It's not a 100% absolute necessity to have a top RB in a dynasty league, but it's really nice to have one, as most of the champions either have a top RB or decent RBs and are stacked at other positions. It's rare to win any fantasy league without having at least good production from the RB spots. When I won my 8-player keeper PPR league in 2012 (behaves a lot like dynasty), my RBs were Rice, Richardson and Spiller. That was a huge advantage over anyone else at the RB spot (one of these was a flex).

It's easy to ignore the RB position in dynasty, since stud QBs and WRs have longer lifespans. But in dynasty, you really should only be looking at 1-2 years down the road, becuase the NFL changes so fast. No one can predict what's going to happen more than 2 years down the road. So while it's nice to have Andrew Luck locked up for the next 8 or so years, it's getting an elite top 5 workhorse RB for the short term is the way to go to contend for titles now.

So you were lucky in 2012 and all the stars aligned and all your RBs had great year. Probably felt great going into 2013 as well. How'd that go for you with those RB's in 2013? How do you feel about going into 2014? Spiller, Richardson and Rice would be great RBs this year if that was the weakest point of your team, but not if you drafted them in years when they were considered top 5-10 dynasty RB's and you blew your early round picks on them.

You don't realize it but you're arguing the opposite point. Imagine if all the stars didn't align for you in 2012 and only 1 or 2 out of 3 of those guys hit? You didn't win "now" and your RB group is most likely in shambles and you have to rebuild again.

That's why you don't build dynasty teams around RB's. You build them around other positions and wait for the stars to align.

I'm in a league that did a startup this year and my starting RBs are most peoples RB3's, but my WRs are Cobb, Floyd, Evans, Patterson, and Hunter. I also have Graham at TE. I did a lot of trading to get my team like this, but I also acquired a bunch of rookie/questionable RBs like David Wilson, Andre Williams, Freeman, Bryce Brown, Donald Brown.

I'm hoping that after a year or two at least 3 of my WRs are studs and I'll have Graham at TE. Then all I need is one of my young/questionable RB's that I plan to continue to load up on each year will hit and I have a championship team.

If I grabbed RB's early, even if they are young like Martin, Bell, etc, you are planning to win now even if you don't think you are. Guys that are perceived as young stud RB's rarely become the next Adrian Peterson who plays at a high level his whole career. Most guys get passed on the depth chart sooner than expected.

 

[Noah Davis]

- It's really hard to find an elite NFL WR. Most of them were 1st round draft picks and require premium rookie picks to acquire in FF leagues. Despite the stereotype of rookie drafters being RB-hungry, I feel like it's slightly more conceivable to find an eventual elite NFL RB with a modest rookie pick than it is to find an elite WR with the same. I think if you looked at the unanimous elite players at each position, you'd find that 2nd+ round draft picks represent a higher percentage of the population at RB than they do at WR. Off the top of my head, Frank Gore, LeSean McCoy, Ray Rice, MJD, and Matt Forte were all 2nd-3rd rounders.
Are you talking about the NFL Draft as 2nd rounders or Rookie Drafts - the devaluation has pushed most rookie RBs down the NFL draft board, but those guys regularly end up in the 1st round of rookie drafts.

 

[Noah Davis]

I don't know if I agree on the QB sentiment. I'm in a Salary Cap contract league (maximum 4 years) and I built the following squad that contended last year, and I'd put it up against any squad any given Sunday this year.

Note: I had Gio last year who I traded for Keenan Allen, also had Dez Bryant who I trade for T. Smith, Montee Ball, 1.11 and 3.11 midway through the year.

QB: Russel Wilson

RB: McCoy, M. Ball, S. Vereen, L. Miller, Devonta Freeman, Charles Sims, James White

WR: K. Allen, T. Smith, C. Patterson, K. Benjamin, P. Richardson, K. Thompkins

TE: Gronk, Travis Kelce

PK: Who cares?

IDP: B. Wagner, G. Hardy, M. Burnett

Do I wish I had an Elite QB - yes but I don't think I'm losing anything to the guys that have them as the cost spent to attain them equalizes across the additional funds I had to spend at other positions. I plan on supplementing Wilson with Cutler or Foles this year.

 

[fightingillini]

It's not a 100% absolute necessity to have a top RB in a dynasty league, but it's really nice to have one, as most of the champions either have a top RB or decent RBs and are stacked at other positions. It's rare to win any fantasy league without having at least good production from the RB spots. When I won my 8-player keeper PPR league in 2012 (behaves a lot like dynasty), my RBs were Rice, Richardson and Spiller. That was a huge advantage over anyone else at the RB spot (one of these was a flex).

It's easy to ignore the RB position in dynasty, since stud QBs and WRs have longer lifespans. But in dynasty, you really should only be looking at 1-2 years down the road, becuase the NFL changes so fast. No one can predict what's going to happen more than 2 years down the road. So while it's nice to have Andrew Luck locked up for the next 8 or so years, it's getting an elite top 5 workhorse RB for the short term is the way to go to contend for titles now.

So you were lucky in 2012 and all the stars aligned and all your RBs had great year. Probably felt great going into 2013 as well. How'd that go for you with those RB's in 2013? How do you feel about going into 2014? Spiller, Richardson and Rice would be great RBs this year if that was the weakest point of your team, but not if you drafted them in years when they were considered top 5-10 dynasty RB's and you blew your early round picks on them.

You don't realize it but you're arguing the opposite point. Imagine if all the stars didn't align for you in 2012 and only 1 or 2 out of 3 of those guys hit? You didn't win "now" and your RB group is most likely in shambles and you have to rebuild again.

That's why you don't build dynasty teams around RB's. You build them around other positions and wait for the stars to align.

I'm in a league that did a startup this year and my starting RBs are most peoples RB3's, but my WRs are Cobb, Floyd, Evans, Patterson, and Hunter. I also have Graham at TE. I did a lot of trading to get my team like this, but I also acquired a bunch of rookie/questionable RBs like David Wilson, Andre Williams, Freeman, Bryce Brown, Donald Brown.

I'm hoping that after a year or two at least 3 of my WRs are studs and I'll have Graham at TE. Then all I need is one of my young/questionable RB's that I plan to continue to load up on each year will hit and I have a championship team.

If I grabbed RB's early, even if they are young like Martin, Bell, etc, you are planning to win now even if you don't think you are. Guys that are perceived as young stud RB's rarely become the next Adrian Peterson who plays at a high level his whole career. Most guys get passed on the depth chart sooner than expected.

Couple of comments:

1) yes I did get lucky in 2012, the point was.....RBs are usually the reason why you win. And at the time, I thought I did have 2 elite dynasty RBs in Richardson and Spiller. I was wrong. And they did kill me in 2013. I ended up trading Rice and Richardson during last season. Note it's an 8 player keeper and not a true dynasty league....but it does behave a lot like a dynasty league, without the player stashing for the future.

2) you can win the title with decent but not great RBs.....if you're stacked at other positions. Noboby is arguing that isn't the case. Manning and Graham definitely carried some of their teams to titles last season.

2) While it's great to get that elite WR or elite QB that can be on your team for 5+ years, you can't think that far ahead. As I saw in 2013, my RB picture took a 360 turn for the worse. Which is why I feel having that stud RB in dynasty is so crucial.....they lead you to titles now. It's too hard to plan for more than 2 years ahead.

 

[spreagle]

It never hurts, but purely from a team building standpoint I prefer to have elite players at QB/WR/TE if forced to choose. A few reasons for that:

- RBs have the least longevity potential of all the skill positions. They also seem to get injured the most frequently.

- RB is also the position with the quickest impact. It's not terribly uncommon for a rookie RB to give you really good production, but more rare at WR and virtually unheard of at QB and TE. So if you have a team with a great QB/WR/TE group and horrible backs, it's conceivable for you to plug that hole immediately in the rookie draft. However, if you have a great QB/RB/TE group, but nothing at WR, you might have to wait 2-3 years on your rookie to peak. By that time, maybe your elite RB group has dissolved.

- It's really hard to find an elite NFL WR. Most of them were 1st round draft picks and require premium rookie picks to acquire in FF leagues. Despite the stereotype of rookie drafters being RB-hungry, I feel like it's slightly more conceivable to find an eventual elite NFL RB with a modest rookie pick than it is to find an elite WR with the same. I think if you looked at the unanimous elite players at each position, you'd find that 2nd+ round draft picks represent a higher percentage of the population at RB than they do at WR. Off the top of my head, Frank Gore, LeSean McCoy, Ray Rice, MJD, and Matt Forte were all 2nd-3rd rounders.

- Personally, I think RB is the position that I'm the best at evaluating, so I like my chances of finding a quality player there late more than I do at WR or TE. If you're better with WRs or QBs then maybe that's an incentive for you to go with solid safe picks at RB and then use your "rabbit out of a hat" skills at WR/QB, but that's not me. RB has a reputation for being a difficult position to fill, but I feel like I can almost always find players there.

While it's not the case in every year, I'd also say the late value this year is a lot juicier at RB than it is at WR. I really don't see a lot of good cheap dynasty WRs, but on the flipside you can get Tre Mason, Bryce Brown, Jerick McKinnon, Jonathan Stewart, and Mark Ingram in the late rounds of dynasty startups right now. Not to say all of those guys are great prospects or locks for success, but I like their chances relative to most of the WRs drafted in the same range.

In my league, it wasn't hard to get the current elite WRs. The current elite WRs were going late first to second round of drafts (not for premium rookie picks) because everyone KNEW rookie WRs were always horrible and wouldn't amount to anything for a least three years. Now .... Its a different story, top rookie WRs will be going at a premium, making the search for RBs easier, at least this year.

 

[DerekR]

It's nice to have an elite running back but you don't have to. I only have 4 running backs in a PPR dynasty. Mathews, Vereen, Alf Morris, and Freeman. But my Wrs and Tes make but for it with DT, Antonio Brown, Jeffery, Jimmy Graham, and a couple other decent players.

 

[fightingillini]

- It's really hard to find an elite NFL WR. Most of them were 1st round draft picks and require premium rookie picks to acquire in FF leagues. Despite the stereotype of rookie drafters being RB-hungry, I feel like it's slightly more conceivable to find an eventual elite NFL RB with a modest rookie pick than it is to find an elite WR with the same. I think if you looked at the unanimous elite players at each position, you'd find that 2nd+ round draft picks represent a higher percentage of the population at RB than they do at WR. Off the top of my head, Frank Gore, LeSean McCoy, Ray Rice, MJD, and Matt Forte were all 2nd-3rd rounders.
Are you talking about the NFL Draft as 2nd rounders or Rookie Drafts - the devaluation has pushed most rookie RBs down the NFL draft board, but those guys regularly end up in the 1st round of rookie drafts.

It's hard to find elite players, period. Even highly rated QBs have busted over the years. Elite RB propsects in good situations or with elite talent also require premium rookie picks.

So you're kind of missing the point. It's irrelevant to when you take a RB in a rookie draft. It's having the elite RB on your roster is what matters. Charles carried a lot of teams to a title last year, as did Peterson in 2012, and McCoy/Rice in 2011.

And also, I am pretty sure that you needed a premium rookie pick to draft McCoy, Rice, MJD, Gore, or Forte when they came out of college. All these RBs were really talented, and they met or exceed their expectations in the NFL. No different than a premium pick needed to get Calvin or Julio or Dez or DT or AJ Green.

 

[Noah Davis]

- It's really hard to find an elite NFL WR. Most of them were 1st round draft picks and require premium rookie picks to acquire in FF leagues. Despite the stereotype of rookie drafters being RB-hungry, I feel like it's slightly more conceivable to find an eventual elite NFL RB with a modest rookie pick than it is to find an elite WR with the same. I think if you looked at the unanimous elite players at each position, you'd find that 2nd+ round draft picks represent a higher percentage of the population at RB than they do at WR. Off the top of my head, Frank Gore, LeSean McCoy, Ray Rice, MJD, and Matt Forte were all 2nd-3rd rounders.
Are you talking about the NFL Draft as 2nd rounders or Rookie Drafts - the devaluation has pushed most rookie RBs down the NFL draft board, but those guys regularly end up in the 1st round of rookie drafts.

It's hard to find elite players, period. Even highly rated QBs have busted over the years. Elite RB propsects in good situations or with elite talent also require premium rookie picks.

So you're kind of missing the point. It's irrelevant to when you take a RB in a rookie draft. It's having the elite RB on your roster is what matters. Charles carried a lot of teams to a title last year, as did Peterson in 2012, and McCoy/Rice in 2011.

And also, I am pretty sure that you needed a premium rookie pick to draft McCoy, Rice, MJD, Gore, or Forte when they came out of college. All these RBs were really talented, and they met or exceed their expectations in the NFL. No different than a premium pick needed to get Calvin or Julio or Dez or DT or AJ Green.

Yeah that is exactly what I was trying to highlight.....I just didn't quote the original poster which was EBF....I just copied the paragraph and then asked my question. I think for rookie drafts the round in which they were taken by an NFL team is inconsequential.

 

[jtd13]

I won my main league rotating MJD, Todman, Bobby Rainey, Donald Brown, and Edwin Baker as my starting rbs, after entering the season with my "stud" pair of starters in Martin and Richardson. So I'd say it's certainly possible to win without stud RBs.