With the NFL regular season just two weeks away and many fantasy football drafts taking place now, it’s time to discuss different strategies when drafting your team. Some of my favorite strategies are Hero RB or Zero RB, especially in PPR formats. Today, we will discuss the Hero RB fantasy football draft strategy and which players to target when employing this strategy in your upcoming drafts.
- Fantasy Football Rankings
- Fantasy Football ADP
- 2025 Best Ball Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Free Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Hero RB Fantasy Football Draft Strategy Overview
What is the Hero RB Strategy?
Hero RB or Anchor RB is a strategy that involves drafting one elite running back early on and then waiting until later in the draft to select additional running backs. Usually, around rounds, 6-8 is a good time to start adding RB help.
Elite Running Backs to Target
Your draft position will heavily factor into which RB you take. Below is a list of running backs I am comfortable taking in rounds 1 or 2 and building around according to ESPN’s latest ADP.
- Bijan Robinson (3.12)
- Saquon Barkley (3.62)
- Jahmyr Gibbs (5.38)
- Christian McCaffrey (8.20)
- Ashton Jeanty (13.79)
- De’Von Achane (14.63)
- Derrick Henry (15.43)
- Jonathan Taylor (19.38)
- Josh Jacobs (20.37)
- Bucky Irving (25.11)
How to Make Hero RB Work
When implementing the Hero RB strategy, you really want to focus on getting an ELITE RB with top-tier talent combined with a workhorse role. Avoid older running backs or backs that may have to deal with some competition.
Ideally, I’d love to anchor my team with one of the following: Bijan, Gibbs, Barkley, Jeanty, Achane or King Henry. You’ll have to have a top pick to grab either of the first three with a chance to grab Jeanty, Achane or Henry in the middle of the second round.
JT, Jacobs and Irving are not terrible options at the 2-3 turn if you managed to secure the #1 overall pick and couldn’t force yourselves to pass up on Ja’Marr Chase (which I totally understand).
Once you have found your guy, you can move on to other positions like WR, TE or even QB for the next handful of rounds.
I am personally looking for pass-catchers in high-powered, pass-first offenses, or guys locked into WR1 roles that may expect to see high volume targets.
Here are a few guys that catch my eye in rounds 2 through 4:
- Nico Collins (15.34)
- AJ Brown (19.02)
- Brock Bowers (20.83)
- Drake London (22.25)
- Trey McBride (26.25)
- Tee Higgins (28.37)
- Ladd McConkey (32.02)
- Garrett Wilson (44.89)
- Terry McLaurin (45.98)
Middle Round Running Backs to Target
Use the middle round to build up your RB room. Focus on guys with high upside potential and/or handcuffs to an injury-prone starter.
You could also look for backs that are in timeshares, as one of the lesser-known names could emerge as the lead back later in the season. A lot of teams are going with the RB by committee, so this could provide a ton of value later in drafts.
RBs I’d target in the 5th round or later:
- Chuba Hubbard (50.01)
- Breece Hall (56.10)
- TreVeyon Henderson (65.72)
- RJ Harvey (70.54)
- Kaleb Johnson (78/34)
- JK Dobbins (113.98)
- Travis Etienne (99.22)
- Cam Skattebo (103.58)
- Quinshon Judkins (113.61)
- Jordan Mason (105.57)
- Tank Bigsby (132.18)
- Tyjae Spears (125.37)
- Trey Benson (143.35)
- Jaydon Blue (146/82)
Tight Ends and Quarterbacks
As I mentioned earlier, if an elite tight end like Trey McBride or Brock Bowers falls far enough down the board, don’t hesitate to draft one of them. Those are the only two TEs I’d consider drafting in the first four rounds.
Other Tight Ends I like to target in the mid rounds
- George Kittle (42.61)
- Sam LaPorta (63.22)
- TJ Hockenson (78.32)
- Mark Andrews (93.29)
When using a Hero RB strategy, I tend to wait until the later rounds to grab a quarterback. In fantasy, a dual-threat quarterback like Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, or even Jayden Daniels will come with a high price tag.
You can find high-upside guys later in the draft who could outperform their ADP. Also, taking a quarterback this late gives you the opportunity to stack them with a WR or TE you drafted earlier. For example, if you took Marvin Harrison or Trey McBride in the early rounds, you could pair them up with Kyler Murray in the 7th or 8th rounds.
Other QBs I like that are going in the 7th round or later:
- Bo Nix (78.91)
- Brock Purdy (94.46)
- Dak Prescott (116.07)
- Justin Fields (123.36)
- Caleb Williams (124.82)
- Drake Maye (139.72)
- CJ Stroud (143.47)
Implementing the Hero RB strategy to your team allows you to have access to the top wide receivers, tight ends and, of course, one of the best RBs in the league. I have personally used this strategy for many years and have had much success with it. I hope this helps you with your 2025 fantasy football teams!
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | TuneIn
