I don't love starting my team with two RBs, but I'm more open to it this season, particularly in a 0.5 PPR league. Let me tell you something about RBs: They are just as safe, if not safer than WRs! If we analyze PPR average draft position data from FantasyPros over the last four seasons, we'll see that RBs who were Top 12 in ADP have actually been a little bit more reliable than WRs who were Top 12 in ADP. The idea that WRs are much safer than RBs is overblown and it's a borderline myth, so if the board falls in such a way that makes you end up with an RB/RB start, take that RB and don't look back!
I started with Breece Hall and Travis Etienne, and with this being a 3-WR league I knew I needed to focus on WR and I did that with four consecutive picks (Jaylen Waddle, Tee Higgins, Tank Dell, Christian Watson). That's the easy part. The hard part with a RB/RB start in a 3-WR league is standing out at QB and/or TE. I didn't want to be weak at both positions, so I grabbed Evan Engram in Round 7 and still was able to get Jordan Love and Jared Goff at QB. This is where you take advantage of the depth at QB – it's by far the deepest position – and figure out the rest of your roster before grabbing your QB.
Of course, if this were a 2-WR league instead of a 3-WR league, it's not hard to start RB/RB and still end up with a great QB and a great TE. In this case, replace Christian Watson in Round 6 with Anthony Richardson or Joe Burrow and you'll see what this type of build would look like in a 2-WR league.
Here's how my team shaped up from the 4th pick: Here is the team I drafted from the 5 spot:
1.5 Breece Hall, RB, NYJ
2.8 Travis Etienne, RB, JAC
3.5 Jaylen Waddle, WR, MIA
4.8 Tee Higgins, WR, CIN
5.5 Tank Dell, WR, HOU
6.8 Christian Watson, WR, GB
7.5 Evan Engram, TE, JAC
8.8 Zack Moss, RB, CIN
9.5 Rico Dowdle, RB, DAL
10.8 Jordan Love, QB, GB
11.5 Mike Williams, WR, NYJ
12.8 Jared Goff, QB, DET
13.5 Audric Estime, RB, DEN
14.8 Wan'Dale Robinson, WR, NYG
I'm willing to take Waddle in the back half of Round 2, and in this draft, I took him 29th overall. In 2022, he was the #14 WR per game in PPR and that was with only 117 targets in 17 games and with Tua Tagovailoa missing time with injuries. In 2023, Waddle's target per route run rate was way up and he improved his yards per route run and his catch rate. What was missing? Playing time and big plays. Waddle missed a lot of snaps due to minor injuries and didn't connect on those home run plays like he did in 2022. I think if he just plays a normal snap share, he'll be a Top 15 WR with Top 10 potential. Getting that player in the middle of Round 3 is exciting.
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It was Tank Dell vs. Christian Kirk in Round 5, and after much deliberation, I went with Dell. If this had been a full PPR league, I would have taken Kirk. Kirk is reliable and should be a Top 20 WR, but he is unlikely to crack the Top 12. Dell is less predictable. In 8 games in which he played more than 50% of the snaps, Dell was on pace for 87 catches, 1,313 yards and 15 TDs. Ridiculous. But now, Stefon Diggs is here and you can't expect Dell to be as efficient (especially with TDs) as he was last season. I could see Dell being frustrating on a week-to-week basis, but he should be solid overall.
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If you're going to make RB/RB work, you better nail those first two picks. With Etienne, we've seen the downside as he was not even a Top 20 RB per game in his last nine games of 2023. I expect better. I love him because I don't think he has serious competition in his backfield, he should have 50 or more catches, and if the Jaguars offensive line improves he could get back to being the dynamic playmaker we saw in 2022.
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