why do people suggest drafting a starter and his backup? Wouldnt it be better to draft 2 decent starters?

Question

IF i had Deshawn foster, why would i get deangelo instead of say fred taylor

Answer 1

draft 2 backs.

Answer 2

Well first off, I wouldn't draft Fred Taylor anyway. Secondly, nobody says to draft the backup instead. The suggestion is that if you are drafting a player who has a good chance of being supplanted because he either is injury prone or has a good backup, to draft his backup. If he does go down or out, and someone else has the backup, that draft choice is pretty much wasted. If you have draft deshawn in the 3rd round and he ends up not playing its a waste of a 3rd round pick. If you pick up deangelo in the 5th rd and he ends up playing, both picks are somewhat justified.

Answer 3

First off, when they say to draft his backup, they usually mean to use one of your last picks to draft him, as he will most likely still be available.

As for the reasoning,:
(a) the RB is very injury prone and expected to suffer another injury this season. This makes the backup the new number one RB.
(b) some teams platoon their running back situation. The two RBs split the carries in a game. So having the backup, could help even out the fantasy points.

Overall, drafting the backup is an insurance thing. If you draft two starting RBs and one of them goes down, you could be in some trouble.

Answer 4

I would assume that whichever team/person made that decision is satisfied with the starters in the other positions that they already have.

Additionally, if the starter they drafted is already a risky move, or in a risky position (such as a quarterback behind a weak offensive line), then it makes sense to insure a replacement in whom they have faith in.

Answer 5

you only draft the backup when you are at the end of the draft. the last few rounds when you need bench players. the backups act as insurrance

Answer 6

Agreed, you cant do that unless you have a capable backup.