Fantasy Football: Use Your Late Draft Slot to Your Advantage

If you've got a late draft slot (8, 9, or 10 in a 10-team league), use this to your ADVANTAGE.  Tier One RBs are only four deep this year (Adrian Peterson, Michael Turner, Maurice Jones-Drew and Matt Forte), and they will be long gone by your pick. 

So rather than take a two second-tier RBs, be sure to grab one of the tier one WRs (Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson).

By doing this, you're somewhat negating the advantage the teams with the tier one RBs have because they are likely not going to get a tier one WR, too.  In over 200 mock drafts I've participated in, Fitzgerald, AJ and Moss were all taken by pick 16, which means most of the teams that got the top four RBs will likely not get one of the top three or four WRs. 

The second reason you should go WR-RB with your first two picks is BALANCE.  The best teams I have drafted have been the ones in which I allow a player to fall to a spot at which I didn't expect to get them. 

By selecting two RBs right out of the gate, you aren't allowing a solid player to fall to you at that position because you'd be INSANE to draft three RBs with your first three picks. 

You'll almost HAVE to select a WR if you went RB-RB with your first two picks, and your WR1 will end up being someone like Terrell Owens or Brandon Marshall.  Not bad, but certainly not ideal.

RB2 is very deep this year, so use your FOURTH pick to get an RB like Ryan Grant, Pierre Thomas, Kevin Smith, Ronnie Brown or Joseph Addai.  Plus, solid RBs emerge throughout the fantasy season more than solid WRs due to frequent injuries at the RB position.

So, despite what the old strategists say, do NOT go RB-RB if you're picking late in your 10-team fantasy draft.