Looking Back

[BigBlueNation]

A lot of us start drafting early in the year with the uncertainty of what hand the future will deal us. With position battles, player suspensions and injuries clearing up the picture a little, I ran across this Cutline team I drafted a couple months ago. If it stays intact, this team is starting to shape up...Obviously a WR heavy draft in the early going, but these RB's may produce early.

QB...ALuck, JWinston, MMariota
RB...JRandle, TGurley, AAbdullah, DukeJohnson, DColeman, JAjayi, ABlue, JAllen, CArtis-Payne
WR...JulioJones, AJGreen, BCooks, JMatthews, BLafell, DParker, DGreen-Beckham, DFunchess, NToon
TE...MBennett, JHill
PK...SGostkowski, MCrosby
DS/T...Miami

I realize this is a 10team Cutline, but the stars are aligning...

[Tom Kessenich]

That's some sick WR talent, even in a 10-teamer.

[CALI CARTEL]

A lot of us start drafting early in the year with the uncertainty of what hand the future will deal us. With position battles, player suspensions and injuries clearing up the picture a little, I ran across this Cutline team I drafted a couple months ago. If it stays intact, this team is starting to shape up...Obviously a WR heavy draft in the early going, but these RB's may produce early.

QB...ALuck, JWinston, MMariota
RB...JRandle, TGurley, AAbdullah, DukeJohnson, DColeman, JAjayi, ABlue, JAllen, CArtis-Payne
WR...JulioJones, AJGreen, BCooks, JMatthews, BLafell, DParker, DGreen-Beckham, DFunchess, NToon
TE...MBennett, JHill
PK...SGostkowski, MCrosby
DS/T...Miami

I realize this is a 10team Cutline, but the stars are aligning...

Rookie-mania (12 rookies)

I like that team a lot, get Randle, Abdullah and the early Blue/late Gurley combo. Add in Luck, 4 stud WR's, Martellus, two good Kickers and a good Defense, very strong.

[FantasyJC]

I don't know how it is possible to even draft those four WRs and get Luck. That is not possible in drafts now because Cooks is not available in the 3rd always. Matthews gets taken in 3rd sometimes as well.

[Tom Kessenich]

I don't know how it is possible to even draft those four WRs and get Luck. That is not possible in drafts now because Cooks is not available in the 3rd always. Matthews gets taken in 3rd sometimes as well.

This would be an excellent argument in favor of early drafts. We all know the injury risks and roster changes that can occur but the values you get in these drafts is a huge factor in their favor without question.

[Marc Quitsch]

0 RB method done to a T....Nice job Bill. I;m not a believer in Randle, but I'm sure you will find a way to fill rb points, with or without Randle...Good luck!

[Sandman62]

I'm also fond of waiting on RBs and loading up on breakout types, but not necessarily 100% Zero-RB.

Teams like this can be dominant IF some of those RBs pop. But if they don't, you could be looking at an awful lot of weeks of <10 point production from both RB spots. Obviously, the hope is that the strength at other positions is enough to cover that. And Bill is incredibly strong everywhere else.

I wonder if a worthwhile trade-off would be to sacrifice the stud WR4 for a RB who has a shot to get meaningful work and decent production right from the start of the season? i.e. Swap out JMatthews for a Latavius or Gore? At least that way, if none of these new RBs start out hot, you have a higher floor RB1 to help out? I don't know Bill's projections, but if you figure a roughly 40-pt difference between Matthews and LaFell, how comfortable are you that any of those breakout RBs will come within that range of a true starter like Latavius or Gore? I guess I'm admitting that we all tend to be pretty glass-half-full regarding the upside of young, unproven, sexy RBs - but they do have a floor too, and it may be pretty low.

[Tom Kessenich]

Zero RB is like any other strategy in my opinion. It all comes down to hitting on the right players. If you went Zero RB last year and took guys like Hyde, Starks and Knile Davis I doubt you won too many leagues or even finished in the money. Every strategy works when you land the right players and every strategy fails when you don't. That's prophetic.

[BigBlueNation]

Zero Rb theory was never a plan for me prior to this draft, it just worked out that way. With Julio, Luck, and AJ as my first three, I couldn't resist Cooks in the 4th and then JMatthews in the 5th. From then on, I was looking for upside RB's. I felt there were a lot of upside rookie RB's coming into this year and I took all I could get.

Also, to reiterate Tom's comment, FF has become a year-round event, early drafts can yield positive results..