10 Fantasy Football Draft Targets: Middle Rounds (Running Backs)

Welcome back to another summer of best ball fantasy football drafting. There’s no better way to gear up for the start of redraft season than by drafting best ball teams to your heart’s desire.

This piece will break down the early rounds of fantasy football drafts. It’s Part II of a three-part series and is a part of the FantasyPros best ball draft kit. We are tackling the middle rounds of best ball drafts. Before diving in headfirst, be sure to read my Early Round Fantasy Football Strategy: Best Ball (2025), where we covered the first four rounds.

Let’s dive into players I love to target in the middle rounds of fantasy football drafts.

Fantasy Football Middle Round Strategy: Players to Target

Players to Draft

Some of our favorite player targets from rounds five to nine:

Fantasy Football Notes

James Conner (ARI)

Despite entering his age-30 season, Conner showed no signs of decline in 2024. He finished as the RB11 overall and RB14 in fantasy points per game, matching Kenneth Walker while playing 13-plus games for the first time since 2021. His 283 touches translated into 1,508 total yards and nine touchdowns, reaffirming his bell-cow status in an improving Arizona offense. Over the past two seasons, Conner ranks 10th among all RBs in total yards from scrimmage.
– Andrew Erickson

Isiah Pacheco (KC)

Isiah Pacheco fractured fibula early last season and was back in roughly two and a half months. Upon his return, he wasn’t the same player and was unable to reclaim the lead RB role from Kareem Hunt. But it’s hard to imagine Pacheco was anything close to 100% after coming back from a broken leg in under three months. Pacheco was being drafted in the mid to late second round last year , and now you can get him in the seventh round in most drafts. In a backfield that includes Hunt, Elijah Mitchell and Brashard Smith, I still think Pacheco is the best lead-RB candidate the Chiefs have. Pacheco looks like a draft value.
– Pat Fitzmaurice