Should you draft three running backs early in a league where you start only two?

YES

In last season's TSN experts league, only two owners took running backs in three of the first four rounds. Those owners met in the championship game. It's as much of a coincidence as a bowling alley being crowded on dollar beer night.

Running backs are the most dependable scorers in the game from week to week and season to season. They also are the scarcest commodities. In standard leagues, 24 backs will start each week, but there are barely that many worth starting. Do you really want to use Kevan Barlow? Selecting a third back early gives owners the necessary depth to handle injuries, off-weeks and bad matchups.

Having running back depth also makes it easier for owners to improve through trades during the season.

Although focusing on running backs early is advantageous, owners should give themselves leeway to pick an elite receiver or quarterback if it makes more sense. Take the most valuable players. More often than not in the early rounds, they'll be running backs.

NO

It's risky to go for the luxury of backfield depth early in the draft with the intent of trading it away later. No one can knock you for drafting running backs with your first two picks, but reaching for a fringe No. 2 in Round 3 will hurt your strength at other positions, most notably at wide receiver.

You'll then become desperate to land a wideout in Round 4, but there won't be any elite ones available who can carry your starting group. As a domino effect, you'll be looking at a lower-tier QB further down the line. What if a couple of your backs are busts? Then you're stuck with no value there and a second-rate bunch of receivers.

Sure, you never can have enough running backs on your team, but if yon already have a nice combination of Deuce McAllister and Curtis Martin, you can add good depth much later by picking their veteran backups, Antowain Smith and Derrick Blaylock. When you jump on three backs, you're handcuffed to making need-based picks, forcing you into more predictability and less flexibility.

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