5 Players to Draft Using Zero RB Strategy (Fantasy Football)

When the zero RB fantasy football draft strategy first came into focus, it was hotter than your favorite TikTok trend ever was. The strategy, consisting of drafting your first running back in round six or later, is highly correlated to the fragility of early round running backs. As such, the strategy has become less popular over the last few seasons as the top running backs have been largely healthy and productive.

Draft strategies, however, tend to swing like a pendulum. While we cannot predict injuries, we can take shots on players in ambiguous backfields and project how later round running backs could perform in a featured role.

Here are some of the best zero RB targets being drafted outside of the first five rounds.

Zero Running Back Draft Strategy Targets

Jonathon Brooks (RB – CAR) | ADP 102 Overall, RB37

A second-round draft pick in 2024, Jonathon Brooks enters his third season with just nine NFL carries to his name. Brooks suffered a devastating blow in week 14 of his rookie season, tearing the same ACL that kept him out the first 10 games of his NFL career. There will always be some level of concern with the knee, but Brooks finally appears to be healthy and the reports out of camp have been glowing thus far. His lack of experience in the NFL, combined with the injury history and Chuba Hubbard‘s relative success has capped Brooks’ fantasy ADP, making him an ideal zero RB target.

If not for the torn ACL at the end of his collegiate career, Brooks likely would have been a first round selection. He’s a smooth and slippery runner with a natural ability to cut and accelerate upfield with the best of them. Hubbard has been a pleasant surprise for the Panthers the last few seasons, rushing for 1,195 yards in 2024 and 511 last year, but his traits are far inferior to that of Brooks.

The Panthers have boasted one of the strongest run-blocking groups along the offensive line over the past two years. Although the offense as a whole is relatively weak, the running game has produced 1,000-yard rushers in each of the last two seasons, including 1,587 between Rico Dowdle and Hubbard last season. Hubbard is the perfect running back to keep a lower ceiling on Brooks’ draft value, while lacking the juice to prevent a potential breakout from Brooks. It’s rare to get this type of talent and path to success in the ninth round, making Brooks one of my top zero RB targets.

Rico Dowdle (RB – PIT) | ADP 58 Overall, RB29

I’ve long been a fan of Jaylen Warren and the efficiency he’s consistently posted, but he’s failed to fully take over the Steelers backfield in the last few seasons. Warren split the backfield with Kenneth Gainwell last season, with the former taking 56% of the opportunities (carries and targets). With Gainwell now residing in Tampa Bay, the Steelers inked Rico Dowdle to a two-year contract, reuniting him with Head Coach Mike McCarthy.

Dowdle has been highly productive since his usage increased in 2024 under McCarthy. He’s one of just five running backs to accrue 1,000+ rushing yards and 200+ receiving yards in each of the last two seasons. Dowdle is a more physical runner than Warren and finished 11^th in yards created last season (964) and 14^th in yards created per touch (3.51). Despite being more of an early down hammer, Dowdle has been no slouch in the passing game. He caught 39 of 49 targets under McCarthy in 2024, tallying 249 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns before notching 297 yards and a touchdown on 50 targets and 39 receptions last season.

Early reports out of Steelers camp suggest that Dowdle is the RB1 ahead of Warren, and while they’ll certainly split the workload, the familiarity with McCarthy and recent success suggests Dowdle has a stronger path to taking over the backfield and out producing his ADP.

Blake Corum (RB – LAR) | ADP 94 Overall, RB35

After becoming a third-round pick of the Rams in the 2024 NFL Draft, the outlook for Blake Corum was optimistic. The expectation was that Corum would eat into Kyren Williams‘ workload with the potential to eventually take over the backfield. Corum’s rookie season, however, left a sour taste in fantasy managers mouth while averaging just 3.6 yards per carry.

The tide turned for Corum in his second season, as the former NCAA national champion took 145 carries for 746 yards and six touchdowns, a big boost from his 58 attempts for 207 yards in his first season. From week 7 onward, Corum handled a 33% snap share with over 10 carries per game and was the RB9 in PPG in week’s 13-16. The prevailing assumption was that it would take an injury to Williams for Corum to carve out a role, but Corum made a splash with Williams in the lineup and was arguably more effective, posting 4.8 true yards per carry, good for the sixth best mark in the NFL.

Williams has stayed healthy over the last two seasons after dealing with a myriad of injuries in his first two seasons, but Corum has turned this into something of a split backfield with a path to dominate if Williams fails to stay injury free for the third consecutive season. The Rams led the league in yards per game and points per game last season with 397 and 30, respectively. Although they skew pass heavy with MVP Matthew Stafford at the helm, they ran the third most plays in the NFL last season and offer one of the most valuable running back spots in the league. As a result, Corum offers plenty of standalone value but also possesses massive contingency upside. Those are the bets you should be taking with a zero RB strategy.

Jordan Mason (RB – MIN) | ADP 113 Overall, RB41

It’s easy to discard Jordan Mason after he finished as the RB41 in half PPR PPG last season with 7.6. Mason was the RB9 in week’s 1-7 in 2024 while filling in for Christian McCaffrey and found himself as a popular zero RB target a year ago after a trade to the Vikings. Despite having a forgettable season in his first year wearing purple, there are many reasons to click Mason’s name at 113 overall on the draft board.

First and foremost, it should be noted that the Vikings had a dreadful season on offense last year that extended well beyond the running back room. That group has been largely revamped this year, headlined by the addition of Kyler Murray, and rushing quarterbacks have long proven to boost a running back’s efficiency on the ground.

Minnesota ran the third fewest plays per game last season, finishing at 26^th in points per game and 28^th in yards per game. Peel back the layers on that, and you’ll see that Mason wasn’t all that bad last year. He averaged 4.8 yards per carry, but his true yards per carry, which depicts a runner’s consistency and factors out long runs that skew the stat, were 13^th best in the NFL at 4.6. In other words, Mason was consistently hitting singles and doubles but didn’t deliver many crowd-pleasing homers. Yet somehow, through the last eight weeks of the season, Mason ranked third in explosive run percentage, ninth in success rate, and 10^th in missed tackles forced.

Looking at Mason’s entire body of work, his 91.3 PFF rushing grade over the past four seasons lands at 10^th best among all running backs, according to Nathan Jahnke of PFF. Jahnke also points out that over those four seasons, Mason has averaged 5.1 yards per carry, 3.4 yards after contact per carry, and a first down or touchdown on 26.6% of his runs, each of which rank third best among the 56 running backs with at least 300 carries during that stretch.

Although the team brought back Aaron Jones on a one-year contract, he will turn 32 this year and has dealt with countless injures over his career. He suffered a hamstring strain, a shoulder injury, and a hip injury last season alone enroute to missing five games, while his efficiency has trended downward over the last couple of seasons. Mason may very well be in line for a big workload in an offense that’s expected to put up more points this season, making him a value at his ADP of RB41.

Honorable Mention:

Jonah Coleman (RB – DEN) | ADP 143 Overall, RB47

Rookie Jonah Coleman is a dart throw that can be dropped for a waiver wire addition if things don’t break right for him, but I believe he will be involved alongside JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey. Sean Payton has been desperately missing a thumper out of the backfield, and Coleman can provide that. He’s the type of back that quickly becomes a coach’s favorite as he doesn’t put the ball on the ground and does all the little things, even if his film doesn’t blow you away. Harvey’s vision at the line of scrimmage was nonexistent last year as he struggled between the tackles. If Dobbins misses time again, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Coleman handle much of the early down and short yardage work, but he’s solid in the passing game as well.