https://www.nbcsports.com/fantasy/football/news/fantasy-football-2025-keys-to-the-zero-rb-draft-strategy
Look away from your spreadsheets for a moment — even a half moment — and imagine it: Rostering elite fantasy football wideouts and running backs, having the best of the two most important positions in our nerdy little game.
You can make this fever dream a reality in one of two ways: Draft one or two (or three) top-end running backs in the opening rounds of your draft and hoping to hit on one or two (or three) wide receivers in the middle and second half of your draft, or use most of your early-round draft capital on the wideout position — or tight end, if that’s your thing — and stocking your bench with running backs one ankle tweak, one fumble, one missed blitz pick-up away from seizing their backfield’s reins.
I, as you might know after a decade of raving online, choose the latter approach. It’s called Zero RB, and it takes many forms. The Zero RB drafter invests heavily in non-running back positions, fills their roster with backs from the middle and late rounds, and usually sees their roster get stronger as the known unknowns of the NFL season unfold. A Zero RB roster is built not just to withstand the rigors of the season — role changes, benchings, injuries, things of that nature — but to improve as the season wears on and chaos reigns. It doesn’t always work, of course, unless Sam Altman has created an AI algorithm that predicts the football future. He might need another trillion dollars for that. I can contribute twenty bucks.
True Zero RB, or what I might call pure Zero RB, is best used in PPR leagues with three or four wideout spots and multiple flex spots. The more radical versions of Zero RB aren’t necessary in other, more traditional formats: Leagues where you can start a maximum of three wideouts, for instance, or leagues that use standard (caveman) scoring. The best case scenario, which makes your team an unstoppable juggernaut that haunts the dreams of your poor league mates, looks something like this: Your roster has a few top-15 receivers, an elite tight end, and a running back or two that functions as a top option at least for a little while, and maybe for the whole season. It’s a nice little combination.
In committing to the Zero RB draft strategy, you are creating a volatile roster, one that will become a dominant force or a sputtering mess, with not much in between. And a warning for the timid: Your team is going to be the butt of your league rivals’ ridicule. Your roster will look ugly, even hideous. People will mock and jeer. Science has shown human beings have physical reactions to rosters bereft of elite running back options. Many cannot tolerate such a sight. Shake off their mockery and be confident that you’ve cobbled together a roster bursting with upside your league mates can’t yet see.
If you play fantasy football with the overriding goal of finishing in fifth place, Zero RB is not for you. If you play to win — if you enjoy competing — it might be just your thing. Think about it before you gather with your league mates and everyone drafts their teams with as much fear and anxiety as possible.
Below are some running backs I see as keys to pulling off the Zero RB strategy in 2025. Some you’ll draft for short-term usability, others you’ll roster for the long-term upside that comes with taking over a backfield and seeing the high-leverage touches that produce the fantasy points we love so much.
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📋 Mid-Round Options
Jaylen Warren (Steelers)
Kaleb Johnson seems to have fallen out of favor with elder millennial QB Aaron Rodgers, and Warren looks to be the odds-on favorite to lead the Steelers backfield in snaps and opportunities come Week 1.
Rodgers has been much more amenable to checking down to running backs than he was during his prime years in Green Bay. Rodgers in 2024 had the third most passes to players out of the backfield, trailing only Bo Nix and Jared Goff. Only six QBs had more passing yards per game than Rodgers when targeting running backs. That should be quite the boon for Warren, an efficient pass catcher. Warren can function as a plug-and-play option for the Zero RB drafter while you stay patient with your late-round running backs to benefit from the chaos of the regular season.
Zach Charbonnet (Seahawks)
Ken Walker (foot) has logged a mere four practices over the past month and Charbonnet has impressed Seattle coaches and teammates throughout the offseason. Charbonnet looked incredible last week against the Chiefs, going for 45 yards and a touchdown on just five carries.
Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak says he wants running backs who are first and foremost available. That’s bad news for Walker, who has never been healthy. Charbonnet, who was top-10 last season in yards after contact per rush, is something of a must-draft option for Zero RB folks.
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JK Dobbins (Broncos)
RJ Harvey, the apple of the Broncos front office’s eye for months before the 2025 NFL Draft, apparently had a catastrophic training camp because no one expects Harvey to function as anything close to the lead back in the Denver offense. In fact, there have been whispers that Harvey — the 60th overall pick in the 2025 draft — could start the regular season as the team’s RB3 behind both JK Dobbins and Tyler Badie.
Dobbins has impressed Sean Payton and the Denver coaching staff since they signed him back in June. He’s reportedly picked up the playbook and shown himself to be the Broncos’ best blocking back — a trait Payton somehow values more highly than most coaches. Last year, according to Pro Football Focus, Dobbins was the league’s fourth best pass-blocking running back. Harvey, meanwhile, has reportedly struggled with pass protection. That might be all that matters to start the year.
Dobbins, with an injury history longer than a CVS receipt, might cede touches to Harvey down the stretch of the season, as often happens with rookie backs. But Dobbins should start the season as the unquestioned RB1 running behind one of the league’s best offensive lines. He could be important for Zero RB purposes.
Tony Pollard (Titans)
Tyjae Spears’ reportedly serious ankle injury has once again given Pollard the runway to establish himself as the unquestioned primary back in the Titans backfield. Pollard showed signs of life in 2024 following his catastrophic 2023 campaign, as his rushing metrics bounced back in ways that aren’t factored into his redraft ADP.
Pollard drew a target on 19 percent of his pass routes last season — not a terrible mark for a running back, and one that could make him more than a little interesting in PPR formats. Pollard is the kind of back who can stabilize a Zero RB roster while you wait for one of your later-round lottery tickets to hit.
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📋 Late-Round Options
Brian Robinson and Isaac Guerendo (49ers)
Christian McCaffrey, after managing just four games in 2024, is reportedly looking healthy and spry entering his age-29 season, and appears ready to take on a workload similar to the one that delivered a couple legendary fantasy seasons in the EPA Machine we know as Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
Shanahan eliminated all questions about the 49ers’ backfield pecking order when he said on Saturday that Brian Robinson, acquired from the Commanders last week, was brought in to be the team’s No. 2 back behind CMC.
The Niners this offseason dealt Jordan Mason to the Vikings and recently placed RB Patrick Taylor on injured reserve. That leaving Robinson and Guerendo as the only real backfield options behind McCaffrey. The workload will be there for Robinson — if Shanny is being truthful — if CMC gets dinged up or, in a worst case scenario, misses significant time with a major injury.
Robinson is Just A Guy (JAG). Over the past two seasons he has the same EPA per rush as a bunch of other JAGs. He’s one of the least explosive backs in football and does not break tackles at a high clip. I’m not sure why the Niners would even want Robinson, but they do, and that’s all that matters. I suppose he should be prioritized over Guerendo for now. I’m coping.
Guerendo — like most Shanahan backs — proved efficient on his 84 rookie season rushing attempts, averaging five yards per carry and gaining 10.3 yards per reception. He’s explosive too. Guerendo ranked fifth among all NFL running backs in breakaway rate, as measured by Pro Football Focus. His rush yards after contact per attempt (3.05) was in line with David Montgomery and Bijan Robinson. Guerendo would have a clear path to top-10 weekly upside should McCaffrey and Robinson struggle through injuries in 2025. Guerendo can still be drafted in deeper formats.
Braelon Allen (Jets)
Jets coaches have not stopped hyping Allen since the team’s new regime took over last winter. Seemingly every third Jets-related Rotoworld blurb this offseason quotes Aaron Glenn or another New York coach gushing about their big, burly, muscle-bound running back.
The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt recently called Allen “one of the stars” of the team’s training camp. Rosenblatt said the Jets’ running back room “might be more 1A-1B than 1-2″ and noted how hard it’s going to be to keep the second-year back off the field. It’s possible Allen provides some weekly usability behind Breece Hall, and that Hall’s fantasy upside is gashed by Allen’s involvement in short yardage and goal line situations.
The Jets under Glenn are widely expected to be one of the league’s run heaviest offenses. It wouldn’t stun me to see the Jets — with an improved defense — lead the league in rushing attempts this season. That offers Allen plenty of contingency upside, especially if he takes on a pass-catching role in the case of a Breece injury.
DJ Giddens (Colts)
The reviews out of Colts camp have been wildly positive for Giddens, a rookie who ran for more than 2,600 yards and 17 touchdowns in his final two seasons at Kansas State. Head coach Shane Steichen has complimented Giddens’ hands, his toughness, and his understanding of the Colts’ offense. The arrow is pointing all the way up for the rookie.
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Though Giddens would likely be limited to breather back status while Jonathan Taylor is healthy, he would appear to be the team’s RB1 if Taylor — who’s missed 16 games over the past three years — were to miss time in 2025.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt (Commanders)
JCM, or “Bill,” has taken Brian Robinson Jr.’s job this summer. The rookie has blown away Washington coaches with his explosiveness and one-cut ability, something they did not have with Robinson. It’s looking more and more like JCM will start the season as Washington’s primary back.
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The Robinson role is a valuable one, as you may know. Last season Robinson was top-10 in running back carries inside the ten yard line and inside the five yard line. The presence of hyper-mobile Jayden Daniels will make any running back more efficient as opposing defenses cower at the prospect of Daniels faking a handoff and taking off. Croskey-Merritt may not see much in the way of pass game involvement — that role likely belongs to Austin Ekeler — but should have a real shot at double-digit touchdowns in 2025.
That JCM was held out of the Commanders’ final preseason game against the Ravens tells us explicitly that he will line up alongside Daniels as the team’s starter come Week 1. He’s a key to the Zero RB strategy.
Ollie Gordon and Jaylen Wright (Dolphins)
I listed Gordon first here because Wright has two factors working against him headed into the regular season: He’s been miserably inefficient and mistaken prone this preseason and he’s now dealing with some kind of leg injury and is considered a “week to week” situation, per head coach Mike McDaniel. Wright, by the bye, had the NFL’s fourth lowest EPA per rush last season. He might just be bad.
That likely leaves Gordon, a hyper-productive back at Oklahoma State, as Miami’s RB2 behind De’Von Achane, who’s dealing with a calf injury that could have him sidelined for the next week or so. Gordon has impressed this preseason, rushing for 128 yards on 26 carries (4.9 YPC) while averaging a gaudy 4.3 yards after contact per rush. Gordon has been good enough to possibly carve out a weekly role in a Dolphins offense that has usually used two backs (think back to Raheem Mostert running alongside Achane).
Gordon, I think, should be the Zero RB priority over Wright. He profiles as the kind of back I often pursue in fantasy: A guy who piled on a bunch of yards in college, even if he didn’t blow away the NFL Combine.
Tyler Allgeier (Falcons)
Almost entirely a contingency option, Allgeier would (almost) certainly take on one of the most valuable roles in fantasy football if Bijan Robinson misses any time in 2025. The Falcons are widely expected to be among the league’s run heaviest teams in 2025 — they were massively run heavy during Michael Penix’s 2024 starts— and the Atlanta offense provides a great environment for a primary back. Only seven teams had a higher yards before contact per rush last season, and only three teams had a lower stuff rate.
Allgeier would instantly become a top-12 weekly option should Bijan get dinged up. And if you’re skeptical about Allgeier’s standing in the Atlanta offense, consider this recent comment from Robinson: “I think it’s just a 1-A, 1-B situation.”
https://www.nbcsports.com/fantasy/football/news/fantasy-football-2025-keys-to-the-zero-rb-draft-strategy
