Draft Strategy: Zero RB/WR

Uh, yes, Zero Running Back and Zero Wide Receiver. A draft strategy that I'll probably never recommend and I absolutely hate. However, we have seen an increased popularity in this draft strategy over the last several years, especially when it comes to Zero Running Back. A lot of people feel like running backs just don't give you the value that they used to, and they decide to go Zero Running Back. But what is this strategy, and how do you accomplish it? Even though I don't like it, I'm still going to try and help explain it to you.

As the strategy itself states, we're going Zero Running Back or Zero Wide Receiver—meaning we're completely passing on that position altogether to start your draft. And normally, you go into your draft thinking to yourself, “I am not drafting a wide receiver,” or “I am not drafting a running back until I've accomplished A, B, and C.” Zero Running Back and Zero Wide Receiver allow no flexibility when it comes to drafting, because you've already gone into it with the mindset that you're going to be skipping on this position for X amount of rounds. So, if in the third round you're doing Zero Running Back and you get a really good value at the running back position—it doesn't matter. You're skipping on that position. One of the reasons why I'm not a fan of this strategy.

This seems to be the biggest misconception when it comes to Zero Wide Receiver or Zero Running Back, however—and it's the fact that you're truly waiting on drafting a running back or a wide receiver until you have filled all of your starter spots. And we've gotten comments on our videos in the past. For instance, if we talked about doing a Zero Running Back strategy last year, someone may have said, “Well, I drafted Josh Jacobs at number 38 overall in the third round.” That's not Zero Running Back. That's not how that works.

Essentially, what you're doing with a Zero Running Back or a Zero Wide Receiver strategy is you're going to fill all of your starter spots. So, if you start two or three wide receivers, you're going to draft two or three wide receivers. You're typically going to draft your quarterback. You're typically going to draft your tight end. And you may even fill a flex spot as well before you even decide that you're going to be jumping in on running backs.

So, for instance, last season you could have accomplished a successful Zero RB draft strategy if you took like a Chase Brown, who was going into the hundreds. You could have also drafted a guy like Rico Dowdle or Chuba Hubbard. Those guys would have been late-round picks that—if you skipped on all of your running backs early—you may have been successful with them. But that’s why this draft strategy is such boom or bust, because it’s the ability to find high-upside players later on.

Like I just mentioned, there is a possibility that you could have been successful last season if you would have waited on running backs and gotten guys like a Chase Brown, a Chuba Hubbard, a Rico Dowdle—guys that would have given you RB1 or RB2 type of performances throughout the season that you could have played while having some of the top-tier players at other positions. But for every Chase Brown and every Tony Pollard that you could draft in the late rounds, you're going to run into Zamir White, Tyjae Spears, Jerome Ford, Jonathan Brooks. Those are the type of guys that Zero RB drafters try to get really, really late that don’t end up working out. So you really have to make sure that you nail your late-round picks.

If you decided to go Zero Wide Receiver last year, then there would have been guys at the end of the draft such as a guy like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who went 82 overall last year. Ladd McConkey went 94. Brian Thomas Jr. went 87. Jameson Williams went 95. Jordan Addison went 103. Now, going Zero Wide Receiver can be a little bit more successful than Zero Running Back, because you have a larger group of wide receivers to choose from. It still means it's going to be very risky. And even though I like my running backs early, I try to stay as balanced as possible. So even Zero Wide Receiver, for me, is not something I love.

So if you're interested in performing either of these strategies in 2025, start diving deep into the running backs and wide receivers that you could draft very late, after all of your starters have already been filled, that you think could be true game-changers on your roster. We're not playing it safe. You need high-upside plays. So look for guys that could end up becoming the starter. Look for guys that have fantasy standalone value, even if they may be a backup—guys that catch passes, guys that score touchdowns. You do things like that, then maybe this strategy will work for you this year.