Salary Cap Leagues, Should You Target Elite RBs?

Footballguys Staff's Salary Cap Leagues, Should You Target Elite RBs? Footballguys Staff Published 08/02/2023

The running back position is being devalued in the NFL, but there are still a handful of elite workhorse backs available to salary cap drafters.

We asked our staff how to handle these increasingly rare running backs.

Note: All answers assume the following criteria:

  • Start 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE
  • 4-point passing TDs
  • $200 cap
  • 12 teams

How important do you consider running back in your salary cap build? Will you attack the top-tier running backs (Christian McCaffrey, Austin Ekeler, Bijan Robinson, Saquon Barkley)?

Ben Cummins: I will attack the top-tier wide receivers first but leave open the possibility of going after this tier as well, depending on how the order of nominations shakes out.

Flip Side: See Should You Target Committee RBs? here >>>

Jason Wood: No, as history has been unkind to tailback productivity from year to year. The injury risk creates volatility, and you don't want to overpay for that kind of instability.

Already a subscriber?

Continue reading this content with a ELITE subscription.

An ELITE subscription is required to access content for Salary Cap leagues. If this league is not a Salary Cap league, you can edit your leagues here.

Photos provided by Imagn Images
Share This Article

More by Footballguys Staff

 

Everything Season Long and DFS for the Super Bowl

Your landing page for all of our weekly fantasy football content.

02/05/26 Read More
 

Passing Matchups: Super Bowl

Devin Knotts

A top-to-bottom ranking of this week's NFL passing matchups, while providing details on both sides of the ball for the best and the worst pairings.

02/05/26 Read More
 

Rushing Matchups: Super Bowl

Devin Knotts

A top-to-bottom ranking of this week's NFL rushing matchups, while providing details on both sides of the ball for the best and the worst pairings.

02/05/26 Read More
 

Then There Were None; the 2026 Coaching Carousel Winds Down: The Fantasy Notebook

Bob Harris

Sorting out the chaos with a big-picture look at fantasy-specific news, notes, and analysis from around the NFL.

02/05/26 Read More
 

Game Predictor: Super Bowl LX

Clayton Gray

Blending our expert projections with Vegas lines to predict the stats and score for the Super Bowl.

02/04/26 Read More
 

9 Lessons from Last Season: Wide Receivers

Sigmund Bloom

A look back at the 2025 season for fantasy football wide receivers and what we can learn from it.

02/04/26 Read More