2020 was a rough year to be a sports fan. I've been a die-hard hockey and basketball fan my whole life, so not having as much live action to watch in the first half of the year was rough. Luckily, live sports eventually got back on our screens in the latter half of the year. The return of NHL and NBA season is usually like Christmas eve on steroids for me, and even though I'm really pumped to have thee both back on our screens, I'm really going to miss going to live games.
There's nothing like being there to witness the action in person. My buddies and I usually go to a ton of games every season, and always have a blast screaming our heads off at the game.
As I said, I'm still really happy to just have my favorite sports back, but this season is definitely clouded with a little disappointment for me. A lot of my friends always get involved in Fantasy Sports leagues, but I'm always way too engrossed in the live-action to pay attention.
We were chatting about how we can still keep up the betting action remotely when my buddy Jake told us he'd recently started using FanDuel Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS). I've seen FanDuel ads on TV but never thought about checking them out because we were having so much fun going to in-person games. But Jake told us they have an insane offer for first-time users that we couldn't miss out on.
I wasn't sure that joining a fantasy league could fill the void of going to the games in person, but I decided to check it out anyway.
I've tried a couple of traditional leagues in the past, and always found them overcomplicated and most times, I ended up getting stuck with an awful lineup. But FanDuel DFS works differently than other leagues by allowing you to pick an entirely new line up every week!
It's pretty simple; each individual player has a salary value, and the total value of your team has to be less than your weekly cap. I loved the idea of being able to draft a new dream team every week.
Signing up for a FanDuel account is actually really easy and can be done online or through their app, which is free to download and available for iOS and Android.
Then, all you have to do is provide some basic info, like your name and address, and you're good to go.
I was really excited to get the ball rolling, thanks to FanDuel DFS's great offer for new users! They'll match 20% of your first deposit up to $500! Cashing out your winnings is easy and can be done at any time- all you have to do is link your bank account or debit card.
FanDuel DFS has fantasy leagues for NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, and lots of other sports, too. Basketball and Hockey is what I know, so I'm getting my feet wet betting on that first.
The NBA and NHL seasons are underway, and I gotta admit- FanDuel DFS definitely makes watching from home more exciting. Our group chat has been on fire, and I've actually won a little cash. I'm still missing the live-action, but FanDuel DFS has put the excitement back into live sports for me.
A series on draft strategies for 2020 fantasy football drafts, this article focuses on zero RB.
Zero RB is a fantasy football draft strategy whereby the owner doesn't draft a running back (RB) until the 4th or 5th rounds of their fantasy draft. Zero RB is one of the riskier strategies to build a team around in 2020. The quality depth at WR this year, with more offenses moving to 3 WR sets as their base offense, leads to solid starting WRs in the 6th-9th rounds in most drafts. Also, with teams utilizing multiple running backs rather than just one workhorse back, finding consistent scoring RBs is harder than ever.
There are a few conditions that should be considered when building a team around a Zero RB draft strategy:
- Picking in the mid-late 1st round.
- Picking in the top half of the 1st round (Picks 1-5) would not be a wise spot to employ the Zero RB Strategy. The sacrifice you would be making in value by not taking one of the top 4 or 5 RBs could be catastrophic to your chances of building a winning roster. You would be drafting a WR that would most likely be able to be acquired at a later pick in the first round.
- League Scoring Settings (No additional settings that would make RBs more valuable)
- Most leagues run a scoring system that closely mimics the industry standard, but there are plenty of leagues that award bonuses to make different positions more valuable (1.5 PPR for tight ends, bonus points on long touchdown runs or chunk runs). Using a Zero RB strategy in a league that puts a premium on RB scoring could be setting your team up for failure before the first game is even played. Make sure you are checking your league's settings when developing your draft strategy.
- PPR vs Non PPR
- PPR (Points Per Reception) adds a different dynamic to fantasy football. There is immense value in running backs who can run AND act as a viable pass catcher out of the back field. You are not only getting points for the yards gained, but also points for the actual reception. This would make running backs, who may not get a ton of rushing chances but who catch a lot of passes out of the backfield, more valuable. By not taking advantage of that value early on in drafts, you could be missing on value by actively avoiding taking a RB early.
Your plan would be to target elite QB and TE players, as well as 1 top 5 WR from the draft board. While other teams are adding WRs in the later rounds, your goal is to draft players that may not have a direct path to starting jobs or who have immense talent but are playing second fiddle to a veteran RB. You're basically looking for Boom/Bust players and hoping that 1 or 2 end up being a top 25 scorer at RB.
Players you should be targeting each round are broken down in the table below, utilizing the Zero RB strategy while picking mid-late in the 1st round:
| QB | WR | TE | ||||
| Round 1 | Michael Thomas DeAndre Hopkins Davante Adams Tyreek Hill Julio Jones | |||||
| Round 2 | Lamar Jackson Patrick Mahomes | Chris Godwin Amari Cooper Mike Evans Kenny Golladay | Travis Kelce | |||
| Round 3 | Deshaun Watson | Adam Thielen Cooper Kupp TY Hilton | George Kittle | |||
| Round 4 | DK Metcalf AJ Brown Calvin Ridley DJ Chark Jr. | Mark Andrews |
*The table is divided into 4 rounds, with players to target in each round split by position, obviously leaving RB out since we are planning on not taking a RB in the 1st four rounds.
Remember to be flexible, if Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson are taken by the time you pick in the 2nd round, maybe think about adding a second WR or going with Travis Kelce. You can always nab Deshaun Watson at the back half of round 3 if Jackson and Mahomes go earlier than expected. If both Kittle and Kelce are taken by the time you get to Round 4, Mark Andrews is an excellent consolation prize.
The goal is to come out of Round 4 with a Top 3 QB, Top 3 TE and 2 Top 15 WRs.
