The 5 Craziest Values in FFPC $350 Redraft Contests: No. 1 – The Best Dead Zone RB Option Is Not James Cook

Shawn Siegele
August 29, 2024

Shawn Siegele brings you his five favorite upside values in the FFPC FantasyPros contest. At No. 1 we find a Dead Zone running back ready to make the leap to superstardom . . . and it’s not James Cook.

Right now there’s no question about your best chance to win $1 million in fantasy football this season. It’s the FFPC $350 FantasyPros contest.

Blair Andrews has been getting you ready for the contest with his 10 Best Value Picks in FantasyPros Contests, a look at the 6 Elite WRs and 6 Lottery Tickets to Help You Build a Juggernaut, and a full FFPC strategy session to help you understand all of the key tactical decisions for this format.

I’m profiling my five favorite FantasyPros selections as I get ready for Friday’s draft marathon with Ben Gretch — a special episode of Stealing Bananas on the Stealing Signals YouTube channel.

Looking for my home league player targets? Check out the 25 Priority Draft Picks and the 10 Best Upside Values.

The series so far.

No. 5 – We Love Jalen Tolbert, But This Late-Round WR Has Even More Upside
No. 4 – This Unfashionable, Young TE Star Is Headed for a Secondary Breakout
No. 3 – This Vertical Option Gives you George Pickens’ Upside at a Fraction of the Cost
No. 2 – The Breakout Star That Offers Brandon Aiyuk’s Scoring With the Drama

These five players are high-volatility options with some meaningful red flags but immense upside that’s not fully baked into price. The options in this series are not for the faint of heart, but they’re disproportionately likely to turn up on the eventual $1 million roster.

Before I reveal No. 1, be sure to check out our RotoViz Signature Series to launch your final 2024 draft prep.

The Must-Draft Players Series
The Home League Broken ADPs
The Breakout WR Series
The 2024 Auction Strategy Series
The 2024 Zero RB Candidates Countdown

No. 1 – The Best Dead Zone RB Option Is Not James Cook

I love James Cook. He was one of our Priority Targets a season ago, and he ranked among the very best RB values in FFPC best ball leagues.

He’s only risen to RB13 for the 2024 redraft season. That’s expensive but still viable at current RB prices. He’s selected in the middle of Round 4, right in between D.J. Moore and Rashee Rice. It sounds like sacrilege to say I’ve only managed a handful of shares this season, but those WRs are awfully tempting.

It’s also a bit of a problem for Cook that he’s not the best RB value in the Dead Zone. If you’re going to take the risk and make the plunge for an RB in this range, you need to select a back who could be viewed as the NFL’s biggest talent by the end of 2024.

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Shawn Siegele

Author of the original Zero RB article and 2013 NFFC Primetime Grand Champion. 11-time main event league winner. 2015, 2017, 2018 titles in MFL10 of Death.

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