Running backs to target if you go WR early in fantasy football

The best fantasy football draft strategy is a flexible approach. Going into a draft with just one strategy in mind isn’t going to provide you with long-term success. In the early rounds, you really need to take what the board is giving you.

Sometimes, that will mean a balanced roster in the early rounds where you end up with two running backs and two wideouts. Other times you may be slanted more toward one position or the other.

If you end up going wide receiver heavy over the first four or five rounds, you’ll need to have a plan of attack in place for running backs to start targeting in the fifth round and beyond. The good news is that I put together that list based on current ADP data.

Below you’ll find 12 running backs to target if you go WR early in 2020 fantasy football drafts. While I included their current ADP, don’t take that information as a recommendation for where you should draft them. Be sure to use a set of tiers, or better yet, my fantasy football draft board so that you can see their value during your actual drafts. And check out Thursday’s piece, on wide receivers to target if you go RB early.

Want Jeff Ratcliffe’s person fantasy football draft board? You can get that along with rankings, projections, and player profiles in the 2020 Fantasy Football Game Plan.

D'Andre Swift — ADP 5.11

The exciting rookie slides into the Lions backfield and figures to make an impact right out of the gate. Sure, the oft-injured Kerryon Johnson is already in house, but Detroit wouldn’t have selected Swift on Day 2 of the NFL draft if they didn’t plan to use him. His three-down ability is very appealing in this range of drafts.

Cam Akers — ADP 6.03

Only a few picks after Swift, Akers is also in a position to contribute immediately. With Todd Gurley out of the mix in Los Angeles, Akers figures to be the immediate early-down option and has the chops to contribute in the passing game.

J.K. Dobbins — ADP 8.01

Three rookies in a row on our list, but Dobbins isn’t in quite as good of a position as the first two. He’ll start his NFL career out behind Mark Ingram in the pecking order but has mouthwatering upside if anything happened to Ingram. Dobbins isn’t an ideal second running back, but his implied value makes him an appealing third option.

Matt Breida — ADP 8.12

He isn’t going to be a three-down option in the Miami backfield, but Breida does at least offer significantly more big-play juice than his teammate Jordan Howard. He also typically goes a half-round to a round after Howard in drafts.

Antonio Gibson — ADP 9.04

Don’t expect this to stick, as Gibson has come screaming up the board since Washington released Derrius Guice. I really think we see Gibson go at least one round ahead of this ADP in August drafts, which is still a fair place to target him given how favorably his numbers look in our 2020 fantasy football projections. Gibson will likely be behind Adrian Peterson in early downs, but he has the passing-down chops to have success out of the gate.

Latavius Murray — ADP 10.02

At this point in drafts, we’re really in full-blown handcuff territory. Murray won’t do very much as long as Alvin Kamara is health, but he posted top-five fantasy finishes in both weeks Kamara missed last season.

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Alexander Mattison — ADP 10.06

Like Murray, Mattison is one of the top handcuffs on the board in 2020, but he should have slightly more independent value in the run-heavy Vikings offense. I actually prefer him ahead of Murray even though ADP has it the other way around.

Zack Moss — ADP 10.09

The rookie will be behind Devin Singletary to start the season in the Buffalo backfield, but I expect this to be a committee situation. Of the two, Moss is also better suited for short-yardage work. However, he did display a three-down skillset at Utah, so he has appealing upside as a handcuff to Singletary.

Ke'Shawn Vaughn — ADP 11.03

Fears over the Tampa backfield with Ronald Jones and LeSean McCoy ahead of Vaughn have caused his fantasy stock to drip three-and-a-half rounds from its peak of ADP 7.12 a month ago. That feels like a major overreaction, and I’ll gladly take him in this spot knowing that he won’t make much of an impact over the first half of the season. However, Vaughn was a Day 2 pick for a reason and could surprise down the stretch.

Tony Pollard — ADP 11.08

There isn’t that much of a gap between Pollard and Mattison in terms of their implied value if their respective starts go down with injury. However, Pollard sits a tad behind Mattison in my fantasy football rankings because he isn’t likely to see much work as long as Ezekiel Elliott is healthy.

Justin Jackson — ADP 12.11

This one is a little fluid because rookie Joshua Kelley is also in the mix in the Chargers backfield, but I want a piece of whoever earns the No. 2 job. Austin Ekeler is not going to carry the ball much more than 150 times this year, which means there are a lot of carries to be had along with some intriguing handcuff potential at a nice discount.

Damien Harris — ADP 13.03

The New England backfield is always a pain in the neck for fantasy purposes, but Harris is worth a late-round dart with Sony Michel banged up to enter the season. Despite showing almost nothing in his rookie season, Harris impressed at Alabama is could be one fantasy’s biggest surprises in 2020 if he gets a crack at the starting job.