Mike Tyson once uttered the famous phrase, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” The same rings true for fantasy football strategies — they all sound wonderful until things go haywire. In recent years, many new strategies have been developed to help managers navigate the process of building the best team. Zero RB. Hero RB. Late-Round Quarterback. The list goes on.
Zero RB, in the simplest terms, is a strategy in which managers bypass drafting a running back in the first handful of rounds (usually the first five or seven rounds, depending on league size) in favor of selecting wide receivers and tight ends instead. Once a roster has been filled out to a reasonable amount, managers pivot to selecting dart throw options at running back — players with upside who have a chance to inherit a larger role should things break in their favor, either by injury or a rise in depth chart status.
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Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: Zero RB
The concept makes sense in theory. After all, the running back position traditionally has the highest injury rate (by far), and the highest opportunity to vault in front of a starter through usurping their snap share and touches. Nearly every backfield in the NFL is subject to some sort of committee situation, so why not opt to draft high-end receivers instead? Zigging where others zag, to reap the rewards.
Types of Zero RB Targets Used in 2025
Generally, there were three “buckets” that Zero RB targets fell into during the 2025 draft.
Rookies With Upside
No, this didn’t mean Ashton Jeanty — keep in mind that he was being selected as the RB6 overall in half-PPR formats. Nor Omarion Hampton — people had him as high as the RB14 during the 2025 draft season. Think instead about RJ Harvey (the RB22, per our 2025 expert consensus rankings), TreVeyon Henderson (RB19), Kaleb Johnson (RB27), Quinshon Judkins (RB37) and Cam Skattebo (RB38).
One tends to quickly forget, but last season’s NFL Draft was chock-full of talented options at the position who were supposed to make an immediate impact. It was a historic class in that regard.
Did dabbling within this territory pay off for managers?
Harvey outperformed his average draft position (ADP), finishing as the RB19. Though he was largely eased into the first seven games of the season, by Week 8 his production started to take off, and he finished with double-digit touches in each of his last seven starts.
Henderson finished nearly dead-on with his draft placement, ending the year as the RB20. As with Harvey, it took time for the coaching staff to fully trust him and feel confident incorporating him into the game plan. Henderson didn’t have a top-20 finish at the position until Week 9, and then he truly burst onto the scene.
Judkins was an odd case, since his playing status was in question during the offseason. His stock tumbled due to off-field issues and contract disputes, so a case could be made that he shouldn’t have been so devalued.
After he took the field during Week 2, Judkins was the clear-cut starter for Cleveland. He finished with nearly 1,000 all-purpose yards and seven rushing touchdowns, en route to an RB24 finish.
I’d argue that delving into this area was a good idea.
Everyone should be familiar with Skattebo’s season. Initially, in a time split with Tyrone Tracy Jr., Skattebo became the favored option for New York in Week 4 and looked to be on the verge of stardom before a gruesome knee injury derailed his season in Week 8 against Philadelphia.
Skattebo finished the year as the RB35, but if he had started the final nine games of the 2025 season, he was a sure-fire bet to blow past his RB38 ADP.
Then there was Johnson. Drafted in the third round, managers expected him to compete with Jaylen Warren for the starting role, but he was never given an opportunity by Mike Tomlin to actually seize the opportunity.
Perpetually in the doghouse, Johnson only carried the ball 28 times for 69 yards across 10 starts last season, after being surpassed by Kenneth Gainwell. He was the lone “swing and a miss.”
CPR Running Backs
I’m borrowing this term from Hayden Winks, who penned a wonderful Zero RB article for Underdog last June. Winks argued that this batch of veteran players available in rounds five to seven would “keep you alive until more help arrived later.”
They could be viewed as stopgap options in committee situations, who could lock down a No. 2 RB role until help or clarity emerged from the waiver wire.
Chuba Hubbard (the 2025 RB18, per ADP) highlighted this list, followed by Joe Mixon (RB34), Kenneth Walker III (RB17), James Conner (RB20) and Isiah Pacheco (RB25).
Prepare to get dicey.
Hubbard was the RB14 in fantasy in 2024, so he was a solid bet to be a nice complementary piece on one’s roster. Unfortunately, his efficiency metrics tumbled, he dealt with a calf injury for much of the season, and he ultimately lost his starting job to Rico Dowdle.
Though Hubbard only “missed” two games, he hardly touched the ball from Week 9 onward — during that timespan, he had only one start with double-digit carries. Across 15 starts, he totaled just 511 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. Ouch. Hubbard was the RB42 in 2025.
Anyone who drafted Mixon last year — well, shame on you. Mixon missed the entirety of the 2025 season due to some sort of knee issue. Houston remained incredibly cryptic regarding updates all year, which was infuriating to cover.
Heading into last draft season, Conner was coming off his strongest season since 2021, finally stringing together a season with more than 13 starts. He had consecutive 1,000+ rushing yard seasons with nine total touchdowns — clearly, that means we should trust him, right? Wrong. Foot injuries limited him to just three starts total. Another whiff, from a veteran in a timeshare.
Pacheco endeared himself to fantasy owners for his bruising running style, but a distinct lack of passing chops made him a secondary option in most PPR formats entering 2025.
Kansas City drafted a converted wide receiver in Brashard Smith in the seventh round to aid in that endeavor, forming a three-headed monster running back committee along with Andy Reid-favorite Kareem Hunt.
Pacheco remained the best pure runner of the three. He had the highest yards per carry (3.9), but losing goal-line opportunities to Hunt crushed his value. Injuries ultimately limited Pacheco to 13 starts, and he finished as the fantasy RB51, which was disappointing.
What about Walker? The silver lining was that he was drafted as an RB2 and finished as an RB2. Walker finished with 1,027 rushing yards (his highest total since his rookie season in 2022), and started all 17 games for the first time in his career.
Even in the midst of fending off Zach Charbonnet for touches, Walker helped carry Seattle to a playoff run, eventually taking over as the bell-cow back once Charbonnet was injured in the playoffs. He is the lone bright spot for this group of players.
Handcuff/Backup Running Backs
This grouping of players is somewhat self-explanatory. While the starter remained active, they couldn’t be relied upon for consistent production, but they were drafted in the (somewhat grim) hopes that an injury would occur, leading to more playing time or that they would simply outperform the starter entirely.
Jordan Mason (RB30) was a popular choice amongst handcuff options, along with Zach Charbonnet (RB32) and Tyler Allgeier (RB55).
Managers knew from the gate that all of these backs had incumbent options in front of them that were perhaps more talented, but they were dart throws worthy of late-round selections that could provide value on bye weeks, with the off-chance that the starter would miss some time.
This grouping is the most speculative and riskiest play of them all for Zero RB truthers — we know they are backups, but we are willing to take the presumptive risk in hopes of a major payoff.
Charbonnet dramatically outperformed his ADP, finishing with the best totals of his career — 730 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns over 16 starts, good for an RB23 finish.
Charbonnet was the hammer to Kenneth Walker’s lightning. Even with limited touches, he showed that he could be relied upon throughout the course of the season. Even if you are only handed the ball 8-10 times per week, if most of the opportunities occur in the red zone, good things are bound to happen.
Predictably, Aaron Jones missed time last year, which Mason owners were counting on for fantasy relevance. Mason ended up drawing the start in multiple weeks, finishing with the highest fantasy points total (121.9 in 16 games) and finish (RB35) of his career.
Even though he was a non-factor in the passing game for Minnesota and was capped by horrific quarterback play, when Mason was handed the ball, good things happened. His final statistics were what owners banked on when they selected him.
Tyler Allgeier’s work around the goal line also led to his being considered a success. Though Bijan Robinson didn’t miss any time for the third consecutive season, Allgeier provided Atlanta with a spark whenever he was on the field. He finished with a career-high eight rushing scores.
In the middle of the 2025 season, when fantasy managers were dealing with bye-week issues, Allgeier scored six rushing touchdowns between Week 6 and Week 13. This might seem trivial at first, but remember how harrowing some of those weeks were, amidst injuries and starters sitting.
Bottom Line
Fantasy managers who attempted the Zero RB strategy in 2025 were largely successful, provided that they honed in on rookie players, which required patience to start the season, and selecting veteran handcuff options who were established within their roles.
A deep draft filled with outstanding talent that eventually took over large roles was a major factor in this being an effective way to build one’s roster. Avoiding the RB Dead Zone of low-upside, committee backs was crucial in the strategy’s overwhelming success.
Managers should think carefully when deciding if this approach is viable for 2026, as the running back class entering the league is incredibly shallow compared to the year prior. Banking on mid-round selections like Mike Washington Jr. or Jonah Coleman to have the same sort of impact might not be the wisest course of action.
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