As you start your draft prep for the upcoming season in 0.5-PPR leagues, one question you have to ask yourself is what's your approach at running back? Do you want to load up at the position? Or is running back something you don't need to prioritize anymore?
We'll take a look at two different strategies in our latest 12-team, 0.5-PPR mock draft. George Maselli, picking at No. 5 overall, started his team with four running backs in a row -- Dalvin Cook, Saquon Barkley, James Conner and Ezekiel Elliott.
He drafted his first receiver, Gabriel Davis, in Round 5, and his other starting receivers in this three-receiver league are Drake London and Russell Gage. He also has Julio Jones, Jarvis Landry and DeVante Parker on his bench. Jalen Hurts is his quarterback, and Cole Kmet is his tight end. And George has Alexander Mattison and Gus Edwards as reserve running backs.
No team in this league comes close to this running backs corps, and George doesn't even need to start Elliott until the bye weeks if everyone is healthy. But his receiving corps is clearly weak, at least going into the season, and we'll find out if that matters in this format.
I took a different approach from the No. 3 overall selection, starting my team with Austin Ekeler. But that was the lone running back on my roster until Round 8 when I selected Rhamondre Stevenson.
The strength of my team is at receiver with Mike Evans, Michael Pittman, Terry McLaurin, Marquise Brown and Adam Thielen. I don't have to play Thielen until the bye weeks as long as everyone is healthy, and I'm thrilled with this roster construction, which also includes Russell Wilson at quarterback and Dalton Schultz at tight end.
Now, my running back corps is weak coming out of the draft, even with Stevenson as a starter, although he's one of my favorite breakout candidates. He'll likely need Damien Harris to miss time to be a consistent Fantasy option, but I don't mind rotating guys at RB2 given the talent that I have at every other position.
My reserve running backs are Isaiah Spiller as a handcuff to Ekeler, Rachaad White, Tyrion Davis-Price and Brian Robinson. All of these rookies have lottery-ticket appeal, and I just need one of these running backs, including Stevenson, to prove trustworthy.
Study these two teams -- and every roster in this league -- to see what strategy works best for you. For George, it was a robust-RB approach, while I leaned into drafting receivers. Hey, maybe George and I can make a trade at some point during the season.
In this league, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We also award 0.5 points for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft.
Our draft order is as follows:
1. R.J. White, Managing Editor, SportsLine and CBS Fantasy
2. Michael Pollex, CBS Sports Fantasy Player
3. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer
4. Meron Berkson, CBS Sports HQ Producer
5. George Maselli, Fantasy Editor
6. Robert Thomas, FFT Facebook Moderator
7. Jonathan Lazar, CBS Sports Fantasy Player
8. Chris Towers, Senior Editor, Fantasy Sports
9. Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer
10. Jack Capotorto, FFT/CBS Sports HQ Producer
11. Daniel Schneier, Fantasy Editor
12. Heath Cummings, Senior Fantasy Writer
