Thanks Marc. I love the idea of getting Moss, but this league generally player to player loves rb's with the exception of one person who wound up with owens and moss last year. He has never won. Everyone in my league picks rb-rb their first two picks, and if you take a wr, its just hard to land any statring rb in the 3rd that is not in a rbbc situation. Should I still draft Moss if Taylor or Edge isn't there? What kind of running backs that could be potential sleepers should fall to me in the third round that are worth soomething if I end up going wr wr with getting like Moss and Harrison for example. Overall, I'm curious what people could expect at the rb position if they go they go the route of wr-wr toward the end of the serpentine in round three. Players I expect to be there toward the end of round three and the beginning of four are maybe julius jones, kevin jones, thomas jones, anthony thomas, moe williams, and tyrone wheatley. Are there any I'm missing, or am I being to pessimistic about one's chances of landing a descent rb at that slot.
Warning - this is a LONG reply.I believe you are being pessimistic - if your league is as RB-heavy as you say, you will be extraordinarily lucky to have Fred taylor there at #11. You are probably looking at a player in your personal RB11-13 range. Also, if your league is as RB heavy as you imply, Moss or Harrison will be there in the second - go RB in round one. PERIOD. Then see what is available for your RB2 in the second. I do not recommend stud WR as a way of drafting unless you are in a three-wide mandatory or a pt/rec. for WRs/TEs only league. And, no I would not rate Moss higher than a top-10 RB, of which I believe Edge and Fred are two, but you are drafting from #11.The RB13/14 (think '03 Tiki Barber numbers) is probably outscored by Moss or Harrison, and you will have the edge of a top WR to pair with your RB1. I am not necessarily recommending you take a WR, but I think it is a good idea if Moss or Harrison are there in the second. If you go that way, filling the RB2/flex RB spots with your 3/4 round picks is virtually required. Grab two from the list you mention - or look for TJ Duckett or Lee Suggs. I have seen good RB2 candidates drop to the bottom of the third in a lot of mock drafts - the guys you've mentioned I see going in the 4th or later.A platoon of RB2 level players can work, but you are really banking on that RB1 when you accompany the RB1 with an elite WR. And if you go WR early, you will need to ignore something else while you spend some time up top on RB value picks and top shelf WRs who fall through the cracks I'd forego any TEs or QBs before the 6th round - your "splurge" pick in the top half of the draft was on the elite WR and filling in the starting WR and RB spots is more crucial than the luxury of an elite TE or a QB whose production can be nearly matched with a QBBC - recall that QB is the position most clearly affected by matchups - and a platoon can play like the fifth or sixth best QB on most weeks.Fill in the RB2 and RB flex spot with 3/4, then take more upper level WRs - hopefully two of them - with the 5/6 - expect in such a RB friendly league that really strong WRs like Booker, Koren Robinson, Price, Toomer, Andre Johnson, and Jimmy Smith will slip through to the mid-sixth in most 12 team drafts. This gives you a very solid three-wide rotation OR (if your 4th round RB flex pans out) a three-RB option each week. Three-wide can beat three-RBs on any given week. Especially if you are fielding Fred Taylor level at RB1, Moss, Jimmy Smith, and Amani Toomer every week. All you need is your RB2 to perform "ok" and you can beat almost any three RB rotation on any given week.If you are really worried about that 2nd round WR putting you behind other teams in ability to consistently score, consider this: last year, in one league, I went THenry in the first from the #10 spot and Moss n the second. I platooned my RB2 spot with a variety of guys, including Hearst, George, DDavis was added through the WW, and TJ Duckett. I had a REALLY bad run of luck in this H2H league that saw my points against approximately 165 (nearly 14 points each game of the FF regular season) more than the next highest points against - and I was more than 15 points behind the rest of the league's average points against. I was outscored 8 games in the year and missed the playoffs, but the TEAM was the second highest scoring team in the league. The strategy was done in by poor luck, but the strategy is sound. The inclination if you can start three RBs is to do so. My main league is a flex league, and I traditionally have three RBs to play. However, last year I suffered with Faulk and had WGreen as his accompanying RB2. I was forced to play at the RB1/2 spots their backups and occasional players like OSmith until Faulk started carrying the position from week 9 on. I played with three-wide lineups for at least 3/4 of the regular season, and I used three-wide exclusively in the playoffs since I lost JJax, WGreen, Gordon and Arlen Harris as serviceable players - I was playing Faulk and either Emmitt Smith or Trung Canidate through the playoffs at RB2. I won that league for the second year in a row, with Horn and ChadJohn at WR1/2, Faulk at RB1, and Javone Walker/Rod Gardner pulling duty at the flex. I got the #1 overall seed in the playoffs. After the bye week, I beat the #1 scorer and three-RB playing team that had Fred Taylor and Jamal Lewis at the RB1/2 spots. In the Super Bowl, I beat the three-RB team that had Deuce, Curtis Martin, and Tiki Barber. You CAN beat three-RB rotations using three-WRs on a consistent basis if you are a good FF player - do NOT be intimidated by stud-RB lemmings who tell you you have to have three RBs to start if you possibly can start three. The only thing drafting RBs 1-2-3 does for you is frees the rest of your draft to concentrate on other positions - those people find WR "values" late and figure that's all you need to do - ignore them and think for yourself on WRs. There are likely to be 6-8 top level WRs who can acrtually perform like a WR1 - and they will be gone by the end of the third,top of the fourth round. Meanwhile, RB2 level this year will probably stretch past your mandatory 24. The RB25-30 will probably make a decent, or at least adequate, RB2 - especially when the injuries starrt to hit the position, as they always do.You can really take advantage in a RB heavy league of those WR values that everyone allows to fall into the 5th and 6th rounds. Your QB position has to suffer - but take two in the 7th-9th rounds and you end with a good combination - last year, never drafting a QB before the 6th resulted in several interesting and productive combos, including one league of Green/Garcia, another of Ramsey/Hasselbeck, and another of McNair(!!)/Ramsey.This year, players like Plummer (8th in pts/game in most leagues), Brunell, Leftwich, Drew Bledsoe, Palmer, and a variety of other decent passers will fall. TE depth is excellent this year, too. Waiting at QB and TE to the 7th-9th rounds will still generate quality players that have upsides at the top of the charts.