Fantasy football 2025 strategy mock draft: From Hoard RB to Zero RB, and everything between

New York Times

01-08-2025

With mock drafts in abundance this time of year, we are once again adding a differentiating twist of strategy to ours. Six members of The Athletic's fantasy football staff — Mike Hume, Jess Bryant, Brandon Funston, Jake Ciely, Jay Felicio and Scott Engel — were tasked with drafting two teams each. One drafted 'of their own free will.' The other? Each was assigned a specific draft strategy to follow to the best of their ability.
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To ensure an adequate number of quarterbacks and tight ends are drafted, each team was required to draft two quarterbacks for one of the teams and two tight ends for the other. Each mock drafter could decide which team they would apply each mandate to during the draft.
Note: Of course, Ciely refused to follow the rules at the end as he couldn't possibly pick from the remaining TE 'trash' (his words), so he opted (through sheer force of will) to take a second QB for his open team instead of a second TE.
Draft settings were as follows:
Note: this draft was completed before some camp news was revealed that would have likely impacted where certain players were drafted, namely Joe Mixon (ankle) and Darnell Mooney (shoulder)
For an Excel spreadsheet with the results, click here.
Each participant was asked a series of questions post-draft:
Felicio: Slightly embarrassed here, but I actually like the team I was forced into a strategy with. It makes sense because waiting on tight end and quarterback is how I draft most of my teams. But the way the board fell just fit Late QB/TE like a glove. The elite wide receivers. The depth at running back. And especially after the Isaiah Likely injury news, ending up with Mark Andrews after waiting on tight end is a-ok with me. Plus, Jordan Love and Trevor Lawrence are two of my favorite quarterbacks for fantasy this season. I'm expecting big things for both.
Ciely: Open. The balance (having to fill my starting lineup first) forced me to take a QB and TE earlier than I would have, given the value at RB and WR that was still on the board.
Funston: Open. If I don't prefer my own free will over ADP consensus, I'm in trouble. My open squad especially looks better than my ADP team picks now that the troubling timeline for Joe Mixon's injury has been reported. And the ADP for Rashee Rice is too rich — he could conceivably be suspended for nearly half the season.
Engel: I like the open one, as I was able to follow my own strategies and ranks, but going Zero RB for several rounds sure made for an interesting build and made me reconsider some depth targets.
Bryant: I prefer my open draft. I like Justin Jefferson and DJ Moore as my top two receivers, with Jameson Williams, George Pickens and even Tre Harris having the potential for ceiling seasons. My top two RBs are solid, and if James Conner doesn't hold up, Trey Benson will be a steal. Otherwise, I still have three heavy workload starters ahead of him. I had to draft either two QBs or two TEs, and with Evan Engram comes the risk of injury, so I took Kyle Pitts behind him. Pitts is a perpetual letdown, but I'm chasing the ceiling. Baker Mayfield in the eighth round is about right where I wanted him to fall. Plus, my dog is named Baker (not after Mayfield), so it's an ode to him. No real complaints.
Hume: Honestly, I kind of like them both? The RB hoarding strategy is pretty reflective of how I normally like to draft. I just feel like most data suggests that having two truly studly RBs provides a significant advantage (assuming health, of course), so I'm very pleased to land Bijan Robinson and pair him with another workhorse in Kyren Williams. Chuba Hubbard feels like a good value and will probably serve as my flex for most weeks unless one of the two Patriots' RBs on the roster proves to be a true alpha. Getting Tyreek Hill in Round 3 was a gift. There's still a chance he can provide elite points in that Miami offense, and if he does, the 'penalty' for drafting so many RBs is mitigated. I'm admittedly worried about TE, but the draft never fell in a way that I felt I would get good value from a TE. If this is the year for Dalton Kincaid, then this will be a very formidable team each week.
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With the free form roster, I tried out another strategy I'm weighing for this season, which is HeroWR. The major caveat there is that I think there are only two WRs that I'd use for that scenario (Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson). Given I was able to snag Chase at 1.01, I decided to give it a shot and was able to create (in theory) pretty strong matchup advantages at WR, TE (Brock Bowers) and to a degree QB (Josh Allen, though I think the separation between the top 5 QBs in Jake's projections will be pretty small by season's end). Getting Aaron Jones and James Conner to slot in at RB is about as solid as I could have hoped for after paying a premium at QB and TE, but I'm very interested to see how this crew performs this year. And taking Mason Taylor last gives me a high upside flier that turns into a great trade chip if that lotto ticket hits.
Felicio: Not to toot my own horn, but I love the roster construction of my Late QB/TE team. If I were not considering my team, I'd have to go with the balanced team. The roster construction is similar, but Jake grabbed a quarterback a tad earlier.
Ciely: If I had to pick, I'd slightly lean Late QB/TE over Balance. It's not too different from my Open approach, though I'd prefer to have flexibility to draft a QB or TE earlier if the value warranted.
Funston: I actually like the way the Hero RB team turned out — getting Saquon off the top, then four rock-solid receivers and a top-2 tight end before landing two more RBs that I thought were good values that late (Brian Robinson and Jaylen Warren).
Engel: Probably the balanced approach of Jake's team. This roster could be good at winning a regular 12-team league, but in a high-stakes format, I would opt for more upside plays.
Bryant: It may be in poor taste to choose HeroRB, as I drafted the team, but the approach worked well and chips fell right. Given Saquon Barkley stays healthy following his massive 2024 workload, I have two solid RBs, a great receiving room, Trey McBride at tight end and ceiling potential in Bo Nix at QB, with Jared Goff's solid floor and weekly ceiling potential as a safer option. I also like Jaylen Warren and Keon Coleman at the price. I think Dylan Sampson has some potential with the news of Quinshon Judkins' battery and domestic violence charges, and if not, I head to waivers. Waiting until the seventh round to draft my second RB worked well and allowed me to grab a Tier 1 TE and several good receivers. That said, I would like to have Rounds 10-12 back and take a second QB (stipulated in our draft rules) with the last pick, given some solid backups were available later, which would've allowed me better skill-position players. But all in all, I like how the team turned out, and I think the strategy is solid for certain formats.
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Hume: I'm biased, but I like the mighty RB Hoard. I'm slightly worried that QB could go south with Dak Prescott and an unproven J.J. McCarthy, but I love the RB/WR corps there. I think Jake's Balance model is also really strong if Justin Fields pans out with the Jets. I just don't have any faith in the Jets' ability to enhance any player's value.
Felicio: It's a close race between the ADP and Zero RB teams, but I have to go with Funston's ADP team. If Mixon misses significant time, there's a realistic possibility that the team has no starting running backs. (Reminder: Mixon's injury news came after the draft). Cam Skattebo can absolutely overtake Tyrone Tracy in the Giants' backfield, and the same goes for Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris. That's not even considering the Fourth of July eye injury Harris is dealing with.
Ciely: Tough call between Hoard RB and Zero RB. Hoard RB might have no WR production, thereby offsetting any strength from the RBs. The same goes for Zero RB, as while yes, the WRs are enviable, the collection of RBs might not produce two fantasy starters. Heck, it might not even provide one.
Funston: I actually hated the ADP team I had to draft. Being beholden to consensus with every pick is just a tough way to go. There's nuance to every draft that you need to be able to react to, and adhering strictly to ADP doesn't allow for that.
Engel: The best available player (ADP) team. I disagree with some of the available selections, and it reflects how ADP is just a loose guide.
Bryant: In this draft, I'd have to say Zero RB. While I love the receivers, QB Joe Burrow and TE George Kittle, the RBs on this team are competing for starting roles or backups. Even if these RBs earn starting roles, they will likely be in timeshares. There aren't two dependable RBs to slot into the RB1 and RB2 positions. I don't think the points can be made up at the other positions, especially when considering the composition of the other teams in the league.
Hume: Hero RB will be a popular strategy this season, given the drop-off between the top-tier RBs and those below, but I just can't get aligned with it. I don't think there's anything bad about the roster Jess pieced together; I just don't think there is enough top-tier value at WR (outside of Chase and Jefferson) to warrant not trying to stack two of the top 8-10 RBs in the early rounds.
Felicio: The running backs in the middle rounds are gross. There are tons of middle-round receiver values to be had. And as much as I love elite quarterbacks, late-round quarterback is still a completely viable strategy.
Ciely: Not a lesson learned, but more of a lesson I try to convey to others yearly. Please don't go in with a preset strategy or plan and ignore the need to change plans or adapt to the draft. Yes, multiple strategies can work and provide super strong rosters, but if you ignore the value falling to you (or evaporating quickly), your team can easily fulfill your plan while also turning into one of the weakest constructions.
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Funston: Apologies for the boring answer, but not really any grand lessons learned. I'm not a strategy drafter; I just take the best available player while being mindful of positional value pockets.
Engel: Doubling down on the Zero RB approach reminded me that I cannot wait too long for ideal starters. I want to get one in the first two rounds and the second no later than the fifth. But every draft will be different.
Bryant: I liked the Late QB/TE strategy, which is commonly used (even unknowingly by its users), and I had fun with Hero RB (which works when the chips fall right). Open drafts with experienced players lead to the best rosters because each strategy can be considered and adapted depending on draft position and players on the board. Good players often draft the next best available player on the board who fits the team's needs and has separation from others left at the position. But, for newer players, some of these strategies can be used as guidelines. I don't like strategies that deprioritize WRs to a great extent (Hoard RB); they are essential in PPR and half-PPR leagues. On the other hand, Zero RB may also not be viable this year. But there are several paths to a well-built fantasy roster.
Hume: I don't see much differentiation between the Rounds 2-5 WRs, so I will be pretty inclined to lock down RB early and capitalize on one of the top 4 TEs and top 5 QBs if I can.
(Photo of Ja'Marr Chase: Katie Stratman / Imagn Images)