Reviewing 2/2/1 RB Draft Strategy
Last week I took a look at the 2-2-1 RB strategy and offered some hypothetical picks for maximum value in the RSO format. How did the strategy work in reality? Here’s a rundown of how I used the strategy in three leagues.
RSO Home League – Year 2 – 10 Team, PPR, Superflex
I went into our free agent auction with Jonathan Stewart, David Johnson and Le’veon Bell on my roster. So, that meant my 2-2-1 strategy would need to be modified to account for the fact that I already had studs in Johnson and Bell. Rather than look for value, I decided I needed to ensure I was able to handcuff Stewart and Bell because they have clear handcuffs, while Johnson could lose touches to both Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington. I did manage to get both Cameron Artis-Payne (1 year, $1.5 mil, due to some price enforcing) and DeAngelo Williams (2 years, $7 mil total). So, in 2016 I’m spending about $5.0 mil to lock down the Steelers and Cardinals backfields – not bad at all considering they were both Top 5 scoring offenses last year.
RSO Experts League – Year 1 – 10 Team, PPR, Superflex
I stuck to some of my original picks in this start up auction and grabbed JStew, CAP, Isaiah Crowell and Ka’Deem Carey. I also added the tandem of Doug Martin and Charles Sims. Unfortunately, I missed out on Duke because he went for more than I had budgeted (signed for 1 year, $8.0 mil) but then I spent more on Stewart and Martin than I really wanted to. Our auction went a little screwy with RB value and was all over the place. In hindsight, Duke only ended up being the 21st most expensive RB for 2016 but at the time it seemed like a lot. At the end of the day, starting RBs like Frank Gore, Thomas Rawls, CJ Anderson and Matt Jones all went for between $3.5-6.0 mil. Faults and all those are real bargains because I will be paying Stewart and Martin about $24 mil combined in 2016. I probably should have abandoned the strategy mid-auction once I realized the value wasn’t there for me but I ended up sticking with it and the depth of my roster is weaker because of it.
Yahoo Home League – Year 9 – 10 Team, PPR, Superflex, Keep 3
Despite this being a keeper league, I went in with a clean RB slate as I didn’t keep any. I missed out on the Carolina RBs (being a snake draft I did not have the flexibility I had in the auctions) but did manage to land both Cleveland RBs. I paired them with the duo of Arian Foster and Jay Ajayi. I also got two PPR RB steals in Theo Riddick and Giovani Bernard who will end up starting for me at RB2 and Flex until I see how the Miami backfield shakes out. Between keepers and my first picks, I started with Rob Gronkowski, Allen Robinson, Mike Evans, Kelvin Benjamin, Russell Wilson and Blake Bortles. Some draft pick trades meant I did not pick in Rounds 3 through 5 but from Round 6 on, I was concentrating on using my RB strategy to build a solid roster and I think it worked.
So, after putting the strategy into practice, what is the final verdict? I actually really like it. I was never one for handcuffing, but the knowledge that you have a team’s backfield locked up is comforting – less worry about injuries. To double down on the idea and handcuff both your RB1 and RB2 just adds to the roster stability. As long as you keep to teams with a clear handcuff, I think this strategy can work, especially if you’re able to nail the “1” part of the 2-2-1.
Robert F. Cowper is a freelance writer who lives in New Jersey. Robert works as a recreation professional, specializing in youth sports, when he isn’t acting as commissioner for his many fantasy sports leagues.
