Most fantasy owners prep for the first few rounds of the draft and build around that. However, the real path to a championship is in the deeper rounds of the draft. Finding hidden gems in the final rounds of the draft or even hitting the waiver wire early in the season can lead you to the championship game.

Last year fantasy owners reaped the benefits of hitting the jackpot with late round draft picks like CJ Stroud, Puka Nakua and Josh Downs. Others were rewarded with being productive on the waiver wire swooping up players like Zach Charbonnet, Rashid Shaheed and Jordan Love. This year there will be plenty of gems out there available for owners.

Late round finds this year will be plentiful. As we learned last year some league winning talent was available for owners. This year I will be targeting a few running backs late. Rookie running backs include Trey Benson and Jonathon Brooks. Benson (Arizona) is currently holding an average draft position (ADP) of 121. His competition in the backfield is James Conner. Conner is a great talent and is a proven starter in both fantasy and reality. The downfall of Conner is he is entering his ninth season and is injury prone. I really think Benson will be the Cardinals starting running back by Thanksgiving. Brooks (Carolina) on the other hand is a long-term stash. Brooks tore his ACL in November; meaning he has a battle ahead of him to begin his career without landing on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Another roadblock the rookie faces is the offense. Carolina is a youthful offense and will likely be playing from behind throughout much of the season. This will take away from the Panthers rushing attack and being forced to throw the ball in the second half and abandon the run. Panthers current starting running back is Chuba Hubbard; a four-year veteran that will be playing in his final season of his rookie contract. Hubbard will be motivated to earn that big contract.

Hopefully this helped and next week we will explore how to approach trade offers.

Dennis D. Cruz is a staff reporter for The Oakdale Leader, The Riverbank News and The Escalon Times. He may be reached at drcruz@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 847-3021.