Another Fantasy Football Draft Day Myth Exposed

I hear it on the radio, I see it on the web, and I read it in the Fantasy Football pre-season publications, but I just don't understand it.

The scenario goes like this: You draft a top running back from a high powered offense, like a Priest Holmes, and for insurance (should Priest get injured) you pick his backup Larry Johnson sooner than you would normally draft a 2nd string RB.

You know their logic. Your starter goes down so all you have to do is plug in the backup and off you go, hardly encountering a bump in the road. Oh, and don't forget their final scare tactic comment. It usually goes something like "You wouldn't want to see someone else have your backup and get the points that should have belonged to you".

Well, all I have to say about this is... Bull!

Let's look at this thing logically. Starting with a 14-man roster, you will most likely have a maximum of 4 RBs on your team. In a 10 team league that means a maximum of 40 RBs would be taken.

Since there are 32 starters in the league at most 8 teams will have a backup running back on their roster assuming all the starters are drafted. In reality, some owners will be content with three RBs. Combine this with the fact that there are a few teams like the Titanics that have a pair of valid starters (Chris Brown and Travis Henry) and pre-draft hype on the Rookies, you might not even make it all the way through the first stringers.

So what is going to happen if I do go ahead and draft both Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson? Consider the following assuming I can have any 2 of my RBs active on game day:

• To start with, I'll never play both Priest and Larry at the same time. That would be Fantasy Football suicide. As such, while I've got 4 RBs, I've effectively limited my options to only 3.

• Also, at least half of my stable of RBs will have the same bye week. That forces me to play the remaining two no matter what the opposition look like. (Hopefully neither one of them will also have the same bye week)

• What if Priest doesn't get hurt? I've carried Larry all season and gotten no production from him. Even if Priest misses a game or two who is to say I'd pick a backup Larry over one of my other two starters anyway.

No, my preference is to load up on starting RBs. With four decent quality starters, I've got lots of options. Also, depending on the draft, there may still be several starters and/or good quality backups available in the free agent pool. If one of my guys does go down, well, I've still got three starters left and a good chance to pick up a quality sub at that time.

As we get closer to draft day, check back for some more hints.