Shawn Siegele looks at why the best running back option in the RB Dead Zone might not be one of the dynamic rookies. And unlike Travis Etienne, this 2021 value occasionally falls out of the Dead Zone entirely.
We’ve spent a lot of time at RotoViz the last several years explaining why you want to be careful about exposure to runners who are usually drafted in a range that crushes RB win rates. But you also want to remain flexible in your drafts and hyper-aware of values that might occur. In 2021, the weakness among the first-round RBs and the strength of the breakout group has created a situation where we might prefer to get our RB exposure for Modified Zero RB builds in Round 2.
In rare instances, we might even look at Rounds 3 through 5 for these options. As awareness of the Dead Zone has permeated fantasy this season, previously overpriced options are falling into Round 5. Or later. Last week, I wrote about 3 Austin Ekeler Clones Who Could Provide His Scoring at a Discount. One of those is my prediction for 2021’s 20% win rate back. The other two are solidly in the Dead Zone.
But your best option may be a back who’s already established himself with the profile we’re chasing. He won at a 10.7% rate in 2020 without hitting the league-winning scenario that’s embedded in his profile, and yet he’s slightly cheaper than a year ago.
