It's Fantasy Football Time
It's Fantasy Football Time
Ken Zalis, a writer for FansFantasyFootball.com, talks fantasy football with Scott and Jeremy and takes calls from fans on who to draft.
It's become relatively common knowledge that the most valuable position to draft in fantasy football is running back. As many top backs will be coveted in the first couple of rounds this year, Zalis expects one in particular to break out.
"I really like Forte this year. I think the [Bears] offense is ready to explode. He'll be a factor."
However, if you're thinking about straying from common fantasy football strategy and drafting something other than a running back, Zalis says it's not worth the risk, as tempting as the player's production may be.
"If you're going to take Jimmy Graham in the first round I'm not going to argue, but the problem with that is what your running backs will look like if you do so," said Zalis. "I'm not a big fan of drafting a receiver in the first round, either. When you have so many guys throwing for 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns—we might have six or seven this year—you shouldn't veer from running back at all in the first round," Zalis added.
Building off of the belief that quarterbacks are at a surplus in most drafts, it may make sense to take a third running back and wait until the double-digit rounds to select a signal-caller. "I'm not taking a QB until the 10th or 11th round. You look at Andy Dalton, and he gets overlooked. He's lest risk than a Griffin, Wilson, or even Kaepernick," said Zalis.
As for which running back sleepers may actually be available, there's quite a bit of depth out there.
"I love Lamar Miller in Miami this year, Moreno is supposedly back healthy but I'm not buying that," said Zalis.
"Khiry Robinson is a guy I like a lot. All the Mark Ingram talk will slow down, he's just not very good," Zalis added.
Although some running backs had off years last season, Zalis insists that it's worth the trouble of taking chance on those backs returning to pro-bowl form.
"They're going to give Doug Martin every opportunity to be the RB he was two years ago. He's a great guy to put in the flex."
