Post Free Agency .5 PPR Mock Draft: Here's how your roster looks after drafting RB-RB in the first two rounds

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Is RB-RB a good strategy to use in a 12-team, 0.5-PPR league where you start three receivers and a flex? Let's find out.

On Thursday, we held our first 12-team, 0.5-PPR mock draft with members of our CBS Sports staff since free agency. Brandon Howard, one of our Fantasy editors, had the No. 10 overall pick, and he started his team with Kyren Williams and Saquon Barkley.

Those two running backs have the chance to be special. Williams was awesome last season with the Rams at 19.2 0.5-PPR points per game, and he should be great again in 2024. And I love Barkley going to the Eagles with the upgrade in talent around him, especially on the offensive line.

Brandon passed on A.J. Brown and Garrett Wilson to draft Williams, and Brandon took Barkley ahead of receivers like D.J. Moore, Chris Olave and Nico Collins. I'm fine with both of those selections in 0.5-PPR, but I might have gone with the receivers in PPR.

The tricky part for Brandon after those picks is what receivers he would be able to get. And he did well with Brandon Aiyuk, Tee Higgins and Terry McLaurin with his next three picks.

While those receivers have some flaws (Higgins wants to be traded and McLaurin doesn't have a quarterback as of now), that's an amazing trio to pair with Williams and Barkley. Brandon also was able to get Chris Godwin in Round 7 as a fourth receiver, and that was sandwiched between Joe Burrow and Evan Engram. I love this starting lineup.

His bench has a lot of upside plays in Brock Purdy, Jerome Ford, Elijah Mitchell, Marvin Mims, Jalin Hyatt and Andrei Iosivas. But I like his starting group, and this is a good roster with a RB-RB start.

While that's not my favorite strategy -- I prefer Hero RB with one running back in the first five or six rounds -- Brandon made it work. You just have to hope you get four receivers as he did with Aiyuk, Higgins, McLaurin and Godwin after starting RB-RB.

I planned to go Hero RB from the No. 5 spot, and I started my team with Tyreek Hill and Josh Jacobs, who should be excellent with his move to the Packers. But in Round 3, a gift landed in my lap with De'Von Achane, so I changed my strategy.

I still wanted to focus on my receiving corps, so I drafted Tank Dell in Round 4, and I love that. But I felt like I got another gift with Mark Andrews in Round 5, which was too good to pass up.

My third receiver ended up being Marquise Brown in Round 6, and I expect him to be a top-30 Fantasy option with his move to the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes will hopefully bring out the best in Brown, and we'll see if he can challenge Rashee Rice to be the No. 1 receiver in Kansas City.

The next two picks I made were all about value with Nick Chubb in Round 7 and Austin Ekeler in Round 8. I actually think both are busts if they're going ahead of these rounds, but if Chubb (knee) is healthy for Week 1 and Ekeler can remain the lead rusher in Washington, these could be steals. And I just need one to be my flex.

In Round 9, I had my toughest decision of the draft with Kyler Murray vs. Chase Brown. At this point, I was one of three managers without a quarterback, and I knew Murray wouldn't make it back to me. But I love Brown, and I expect him to challenge Zack Moss to be the best running back in Cincinnati this season.

I went with Murray given the construction of my roster, and I don't regret it. Unless, during the season, Brown turns out to be the best Bengals rusher this year.

The rest of my team includes Tua Tagovailoa, A.J. Dillon, Jahan Dotson, Rashid Shaheed and A.T. Perry. I like this team a lot, especially with the value I got for guys like Achane, Andrews, Chubb and Ekeler.

In this league, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We also award 0.5-points for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft.

Our draft order is as follows:

1. Daniel Schneier, Senior Fantasy Editor

2. Thomas Shafer, FFT Podcast Producer

3. Zach Brook, FFT Social Media Coordinator

4. Heath Cummings, Senior Fantasy Writer

5. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer

6. Adam Aizer, FFT Podcast Host

7. Meron Berkson, CBS Sports HQ Producer

8. Rob Thomas, FFT Facebook Moderator

9. Joel Cox, CBS Sports VP Business Development

10. Brandon Howard, Fantasy Editor

11. Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer