The End Of The RB Era

cctekguy

cctekguy

Staff member
I think we've touched on this before but now I want to bring up the question: What are we going to do about it?

It's no longer speculation. WR is the best value for your top picks.

It's time to start thinking about ways to make the RB position more relevant again. As fantasy players, we can't change the face of the NFL but we CAN change the way we do things in fantasy.

Some simple ideas to get the ball rolling would be:

Drop WR from the flex position.

Add a 3rd RB

Award pts per carry.

Some more complicated ideas would be:

Draft entire backfields (counts as 1 player) instead of just 1 RB

Add a "Change of Pace/ goal line" position to rosters. (specifics would have to be worked out)


Or is this not something to worry about yet?

I just fear that much of the strategy of fantasy will be lost if we allow it to become a 1 position game.
 
Phicinfan

Phicinfan

Expert on nothing, opinionated on everything
Administrator
Depends on worry.

Football like all the sports are cyclical. The big deal is passing right now. However, there are those niche teams that are going to run, and run alot. Houston, Tennesee, Seattle, Dallas as well(if for nothing else protect Romo).

Now is the years of big scoring and big passing offenses, eventually you will get back to teams driven by the run, and defense. It really is cyclical.

As for what you can do.....well assuming you score rush Tds as 6, you get 1pt per reception, same as Wr, and you get rushing yards and receiving yards like a receiver, then thats all you can really do. Some leagues I am in offer up pts for games over 100 yards...., or a long rush attempt over 60yrds....but that isn't really a new idea.

the key is , you just don't draft them as high anymore, as most teams are into at least 2 back systems now. The scat back is just as useful to you as the lead back in a ppr league. in some leagues more so.

You just have to adjust your drafting, not your league scoring.
 
German CTL

German CTL

Circle City Outlaw
I agree with Phic, you have to adjust your drafting not your league scoring.

WRs have been all the rage for the past few years but there will still be years in the near future in which the RB position takes the cake. Could even be this year?

Perhaps take advantage of those that follow the herd and may be overdrafting certain WRs this year.
 
cctekguy

cctekguy

Staff member
So what about a guy like Tavon Austin?

54 receptions, 53 runs from scrimmage.

Will we ever entertain the idea of a duel position player in fantasy?
 
Phicinfan

Phicinfan

Expert on nothing, opinionated on everything
Administrator
cctekguy said:
So what about a guy like Tavon Austin?

54 receptions, 53 runs from scrimmage.

Will we ever entertain the idea of a duel position player in fantasy?
Click to expand...
We have had them in the past. But most systems don't allow it in Football, which is curious cause they do in Baseball. Right now in most leagues Austin is listed as a Wr, but I have seen in a very, very few he is listed at Rb.
 
Remote Controller

Remote Controller

Well-Known Member
cctekguy said:
So what about a guy like Tavon Austin?

54 receptions, 53 runs from scrimmage.

Will we ever entertain the idea of a duel position player in fantasy?
Click to expand...
I can't remember the player......might have been alstott......anyway one year they had a player marked as a TE when drafting and I stumbled upon it. I drafted him (late or 1st week of the wire) as my backup TE and basically won a championship when he went off to end the seaso (last 9 games) I guess the dual position thing is mute since you get anything from there arms or kegs in the totals column.
 
Miller

Miller

Who Dey
Administrator
If you go back into FF past.... Ppr became the rage to close the disparity between the rb and wr positions....

Fast forward many years and is the very rule meant to flatten the disparity the same one that is now killing the rb value?

If you go old school and play in a non ppr league.... Rb is not exactly a dead position. You get rid of flex and it's really not. It really puts a premium on the 3 Down back... The rare unicorn of the NFL now.

Just comes down to league set up. For so many years leagues pushed to pump up the wr position and scoring.... Might be time to look at a return to old school set ups if you really want more parity at positions.
 
cctekguy

cctekguy

Staff member
Talk is cheap, I guess.

Looking at the AP thread and some of the current ADPs of players, there doesn't seem to be that big of a shift away from RB after all.

Top 3 ADP is WR. After that, it's business as usual. 5 of next 9 are RB.

2nd and 3rd rounds are a little more WR top heavy but there are enough coveted RBs in the 1st 3 rounds to make the "End Of An Era" claim exaggerated.



But it's not over. I see a much better chance of some of the 2nd rd WRs trending up to the 1st then I do RBs.
 
Phicinfan

Phicinfan

Expert on nothing, opinionated on everything
Administrator
disagree. I feel most have the top 4 or 5 spots in first round going to Wrs - A.Brown, J.Jones, Bryant and so on.

I also think you MIGHT see some more Qbs go in first round.

From what I read, most only have AP, Elliot and maybe Bell as first round Rbs. Heck, that could very well mean Gronk makes a first round appearance again this year.

But I remember draft after draft in the past where it was non-stop Rb in first and most of 2nd round.

Again, its cyclical.
 
Deacon

Deacon

Bacon=greatest of all!
Remember when M. Colston first came to the league he was categorized as a TE. He helped me win a 'ship with his production being slotted at TE.

Really the problem is not that WR has more value now, its that teams don't use RB like they used to. It is rare now for a team to have a true feature back. I mean one that averaged 25-30 carries a game. Too many teams have specialist backs. The 3rd down back, the blocking back, the screen back, etc. There are only a few teams that leave their RB in for every play regardless of situation. Heck the greatest RB currently playing (Peterson) comes out on 3rd down.

Back in the day you had full backfields with a RB and FB. The RB would get 90% of the carries and the FB would get the rare short yardage and counter runs. Now most team (read all) use one back sets so it is less effective to have one back do all the work.
 
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