Late-Round Running Backs to Target in FFPC Drafts

Fantasy Football is back! For the best ball diehards it may have never fully left but for the majority of people only playing in redraft leagues, things will pick up in a big way over the next few weeks. FFPC is one of my favorite platforms to play fantasy football on. They have a variety of entry points with massive prize pools. Speaking from experience, there are few things better than a sweat to potentially win hundreds of thousands of dollars in Week 17. That type of potential doesn’t exist in most other leagues.

Leading up to the season I’ll be breaking down some of my favorite strategies for FFPC drafts using their ADP. If you are looking for more FFPC content, John Daigle live-streamed the FFPC Pros vs Joe's draft. I will also be recapping $2,000 drafts from FFPC’s Main Event when we get going in August as well. If you want to hop in, sign up here.

More FFPC Strategy: WR Fades | Running Draft Diary | FFPC ADP | TE Targets | Undervalued Targets

Late-Round Running Back Targets

The definition of “late-round” running back targets is important. 10-man leagues with short benches won’t even be drafting some of these players while those in leagues with 25+ rounds will scoff at a top-200 pick as a “late-round player.” So I’m going to talk about a few players in different buckets.

Running Back Target at Pick 120 or later

Elijah Mitchell (RB41, 128th overall)

Mitchell is one of the rare picks outside the top 100 that has some standalone value and massive upside if the starter goes down. To be clear, his standalone value in most games isn’t great. Yet in blowouts or later in games, the 49ers could opt to salt the game away with Mitchell and not Christian McCaffrey as they did against Seattle and Dallas in the playoffs. If McCaffrey were to go down, we have seen insane ceiling games from Mitchell over the past two years. At pick 128 he can be a great bench stash.

Running Back Target at Pick 150 or later

Jeff Wilson (RB42, 152nd overall)

The Dolphins look like they will head into the season with Jeff Wilson, Raheem Mostert, and Devon Achane as their stable of running backs. After a mid-season trade last year, Wilson was quickly introduced as the lead back.

Jeff Wilson out-touched Raheem Mostert in 6-of-8 games where they were both active with the Dolphins last season. In the only two games he didn't, Wilson was coming off an injury or was injured mid-game (Week 13/14).

Touches Per Game

• Week 9: 12
• Week 10: 19
• Week 12: 14 (injured at half)
• Week 13: 1 (returning from injury)
• Week 14: 4 (Injured, again)
• Week 16: 10
• Week 17: 18
• Week 18: 18

The Dolphins could decide to start Devon Achane from Day 1 but he profiles as more of a pass-catching back at just 5’9, 188 pounds. I expect Wilson and Mostert to receive most of the early-down and goal-line work. While that doesn’t sound enticing, the Dolphins could be one of the best offenses in the league this season with Tua healthy. They were top-5 in about every category when he was playing last season and they have only improved.

Assuming Wilson retains the starting job, he projects to have some standalone value and has massive upside if they treat him as the true No. 1 or Raheem Mostert were to be injured.

Running Back Targets at Pick 180 or later

Zamir White (RB71, 188th overall)

White has next to no standalone value but could prove to be extremely fantasy-viable in two circumstances. Josh Jacobs is currently holding out and there is a non-zero chance he misses actual games come September. Zamir White would immediately step into a sizable early-down role with goal-line work while Ameer Abdullah or Brandon Bolden soaked up pass-catching work. White is a former fourth-round pick out of Georgia who ran a 4.40-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in 2022. The other option is that Josh Jacobs isn't able to hold up after nearly 400 touches last season. The history of running backs in the following season after that much usage is pretty suspect.

At this point in the draft, you are likely just throwing darts. If one hits, you are in a great spot to gain an advantage over your opponents. I'll be back with my late-round wide receiver targets soon!