After looking over recent Fantasy Football Calculator 12 team Half-PPR ADP, I think I really want to go RB heavy early, almost regardless of my draft slot, so I can avoid these 10 RBs in 2019 Fantasy Football Drafts.

I will attack the WR position hard in the middle rounds, filling my roster with depth at the position.

After reading through the write-up, check out the four mock drafts at the bottom of the post! I drafted from the 2nd, 5th, 9th and 11th slot to see how I can implement this draft strategy.

There are so many RBs I want to avoid, but here are 10 of them!

The Cowboys and Ezekiel Elliott have agreed to a six-year extension, according to a source. The plan is for Elliott to be at practice Wednesday. — Todd Archer (@toddarcher) September 4, 2019

Just take David Johnson or DeAndre Hopkins instead, let some other owner deal with that headache!

Looks like those of you who were willing to gamble on Zeke have been rewarded!

10 RBs to Avoid in 2019 Fantasy Football Drafts

Free five-minute mock drafts against industry experts and custom analysis for your team with the FantasyPros Draft Wizard.

Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville Jaguars – 3.02 ADP / RB14

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Early in the third round, you need to ensure that you are drafting a player that you can rely on. Fournette can potentially do that, but he just can’t stay on the field and the injury risk can’t be ignored.

Assuming you didn’t do something crazy with one of the first four picks in the draft, like not draft a RB, you are looking for one of three things here.

WR1, RB2 or TE.

If you need a WR, hopefully, Adam Thielen falls to you. If not, you have to worry about Antonio Brown even wanting to play football without HIS helmet and T.Y. Hilton possibly missing Andrew Luck.

That leaves Keenan Allen as your best option if you trust he can stay healthy.

For me, it just makes more sense to grab Mike Evans in 2nd round, if available, and not have to worry about what happens at the turn. You can grab a RB2 in the third and you will have some nice options to pick from in Devonta Freeman, Aaron Jones and Chris Carson. Oakland Raiders rookies RB Josh Jacobs won’t be on my rosters this season, but I can’t tell you to completely avoid him or Chicago Bears rookie David Montgomery either.

If you feel like drafting George Kittle or Zach Ertz, I won’t stop you. I know I won’t be spending a second or third-round pick on a TE.

Melvin Gordon, Los Angeles Chargers – 3.10 ADP / RB20

This one is cheating as far as writing goes, but he is still being drafted at the end of the third round.

If he plays a majority of the games this year, it’s a great value pick. However, we are nowhere near him playing at the moment.

Owners at the back end of drafts often find themselves going WR/WR in the first two rounds which means you are looking for a RB1 here. Best case scenario, Chris Carson falls to you. If not, I am perfectly happy with Marlon Mack or Mark Ingram as my RB1 in this situation.

If you want to continue the zero RB draft strategy, you get to choose from a handful of solid WRs in Stefon Diggs, Julian Edelman, Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods, Chris Godwin, Kenny Golladay and Tyler Lockett – all fourth-round picks. I mentioned all of those guys because I think ADP is showing us that we are better off grabbing one WR and one RB or two RBs at the one/two turn.

Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans – 4.05 ADP / RB22

For those of you drafting in the middle of drafts, focus on RBs early. As mentioned in the Gordon section, there are a plethora of WRs available in the fourth round. The drop-off in RB quality is significant.

Instead of praying Derrick Henry breaks one of his infamous long TD runs, go get a proven, consistent, veteran WR in Edelman, Cooks or Woods. Want to go for upside? Roll with Godwin.

Kenyan Drake, Miami Dolphins – 7.06 ADP / RB33

Rashaad Penny, Seattle Seahawks – 7.07 ADP / RB34

Derrius Guice, Washington Redskins – 7.08 ADP / RB35

The fifth and sixth rounds all offer fair value, but in the seventh round, I recommend avoiding Drake, Penny and Guice.

This is a good time to target a TE in Jared Cook and Vance McDonald or a QB in Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz and Cam Newton.

Hopefully, you already have two RBs you are comfortable starting.

If you are, you might be lacking at WR and now is a good time to take a chance and add one of these WRs with questions marks.

Can Will Fuller avoid injury?

Will Josh Gordon avoid another suspension?

Kalen Ballage, Miami Dolphins – 8.04 ADP / RB38

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Who knows how Miami’s backfield will play out…and who wants to worry about starting a Dolphins RB anyway?

I am much more comfortable drafting Jordan Howard, but it has to be as an RB3/4. Sure he is in a deep RB committee with the Eagles but he is a proven veteran and should dominate the goal line work. One or two mistakes by rookie Miles Sanders and Howard could see a full workload again.

If you don’t need or want a RB here and don’t have a QB yet, please don’t draft Drew Brees. He is super inconsistent! Wait for Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston or Lamar Jackson at this point.

Also, avoid drafting Kareem Hunt here too. No reason to draft a guy who is suspended for the first eight weeks and the Browns have a week 7 bye! He won’t see action until week 10.

There are still some quality WRs at this point in the draft, in Packers Geronimo Allison and Marquez Valdez-Scantling, Larry Fitzgerald and even Sterling Shepard.

Devin Singletary, Buffalo Bills – 9.04 ADP / RB42

Adrian Peterson, Washington Redskins – 9.07 ADP / RB43

LeSean McCoy, Kansas City Chiefs – 10.10 ADP / RB48

These two veterans and rookie are three of the final RBs being drafted in the first ten rounds.

The Redskins offense just seems like it is going to be a mess this year and who knows how much the coaching staff wants to see Derrius Guice play, after missing his rookie season.

**September Update**

LeSean McCoy was cut and has signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. He will have some value this season, but I would imagine it won’t be very consistent value!

In Buffalo, Singletary is a great Dynasty option, and in redraft leagues, his value has now greatly improved. However, T.J. Yeldon is also on the roster, along with Frank Gore (whatever that means).

Mock Draft Results

Free five-minute mock drafts against industry experts and custom analysis for your team with the FantasyPros Draft Wizard.

12 teams, Half PPR Scoring

QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, WR/RB/TE, 5 BN

2nd Pick

I usually would not draft a backup QB, but with a guy like Winston, it’s best to play it safe! Also, as the 12th team to grab a QB, I probably should have waited another round or two to lock up a QB.

5th Pick

I know I said avoid Drew Brees, but sometimes things just happen. He was the 12th QB drafted and I got him five rounds after everybody else drafted a QB!

9th Pick

I switched things up a little this time, grabbing Russell Wilson in the seventh round, but it was right in the middle of a QB run. Even though I drafted Vance McDonald, again, in the 8th round, I added Mark Andrews as a backup TE. I grabbed Jordan Howard one round later and looking back at the draft board, probably prefer Duke Johnson and would pick him if I could to do it all over again.

11th Pick

I am not sure that I would actually draft Baker Mayfield in the sixth round, or the QB4. However, I wanted to play it a bit differently this time.

I was really torn between Tarik Cohen and Latavius Murray at 7/8 turn. I went with the pass-catcher over the TD dependent player.

From four different positions in the draft, I was able to avoid drafting garbage backup RBs.

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In the four drafts, the only RBs I picked after round three were Mark Ingram, James White, Tevin Coleman, Tarik Cohen, Jordan Howard (Duke Johnson) and Justice Hill!

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