Approaching your draft with the zero-RB strategy in mind? You might want to consider taking one of these two draft neighbors at RB…
Rachaad White - RB25, 82.1 (7-8 Turn)
Everyone’s assuming that the Bucs are going to add another RB to the fold, but Tom Brady isn’t there to convince any of these RBs to do that anymore. It seems like it’s going to Rachaad White’s show - and we might see him on all three downs.
He’s definitely the pass catcher, and catching 50 balls as a rookie while sharing the load with another RB who was actually the primary pass catcher out of the backfield says a lot - Fournette had 73 catches last year.
Now, he wasn’t overly efficient last year, and I will say that he’s only a target in PPR leagues - and you’re targeting him as someone who will get an opportunity on a bad offense. So you’re drafting him for volume - but we’ve seen RBs who get volume on bad offenses still have the potential to finish as RB1s. Baker Mayfield targeted CMC at an extremely high rate last year.
Rachaad White was also an extremely good pass-catching RB prospect coming out of college. He had the highest yards/touch of the 2022 RB class and had elite yards/route run numbers. So if you can draft an every-down back as the RB25… who will be getting opportunities like a Top-12 guy, who can take a step forward in efficiency, I’ll take that shot, especially if I’m going zero RB.
James Conner - RB26, 83.2 (7-8 Turn)
Similar thing with James Conner as Rachaad White. Conner’s definitely had his share of injury issues, but Conner was 10th among all RBs last year in weighted opportunity. Yet he’s going off the board as the RB28…. And in the 2nd half of the season, when the Cardinals were hot trash without Kyler Murray, Conner was the RB4 in fantasy points/game.
He was a RB1 in FPPG last year guys - he was the RB10. Colt McCoy only targeted DeAndre Hopkins more than Conner last year. And Hopkins is gone now. They have no one good behind Conner this year. I’m expecting a lot of negative game scripts, so Conner should be able to rack up ~5 catches/game. You can draft this dude in the 7th or 8th round. Strictly a volume play, and someone who’s going to be very involved in the receiving game.