July 26, 2025 • 41 mins
Know what RB fantasy football positional battles to know as NFL training camps officially open for business! Join Seth Woolcock, Pat Fitzmaurice and Derek Brown for their top 16 players to draft or fade across these ambiguous backfields!
Will Jacksonville Jaguars RB Travis Etienne hold serve in Duval County, or do either RB Tank Bigsby or Bhayshul Tuten unseat him? Is Dallas Cowboys RB Javonte Williams destined to have a dominant season for the star? Plus, should you be drafting New York Giants RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. or rookie RB Cam Skattebo?
The Pros sort through depth charts as the boys of summer take the field!
Timestamps: (May be off due to ads)
Introduction - 0:00:00
Jacksonville Jaguars - 0:02:37
DraftKings Best Ball - 0:10:47
Dallas Cowboys - 0:12:22
Cleveland Browns - 0:19:25
FantasyPros Draft Kit - 0:27:08
New York Giants - 0:27:41
Kansas City Chiefs - 0:33:42
Outro - 0:40:28
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, and welcome into the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
It's one of the best times of the year as
all thirty two NFL training camps are open for business,
giving their fans hope that just maybe, just maybe this
is the year that they captured the Lombardi Trophy. We're
gonna help you go after some fans football trophies in
this episode as we break down the biggest depth chart dilemmas.
(00:24):
This is the two part episode. In part one, we'll
break down the messiest running back rooms, and then in
part two, you guessed it, it's messy wide receiver rooms.
I'm your host, Seth Wilcock, and today I'm joined by
two of the best in the business, including a man
who I'm sure has to probably be a scratch golfer
by now. He's been tearing up both the links and
the podcast streets this summer. He's Pat Fitzmore's FITZI great
(00:45):
to be with you. How are you as veterans report
to camp this week?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Jo and Will? Seth?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I've got like three drafts I'm juggling right now, so
that feels good.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
As far as the golf thing, doing better with the
golf betting than the actual golfing.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I'm not quite a scratch golfer.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I am if you you know, knock seventeen shots off
at a round. So yeah, man, ready to get into it,
looking forward to the start of training camp season, in
the flood of daily news coming out of camps.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It's coming, it's quick. And we're also joined by someone
who I consider my partner in crime. Yes, my PSC.
He's Derek Brown. Akd bro. What's going on, brother? What
kind of shenanigans are we getting into today?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Man?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Oh, dude, it's gonna be a wild one. We got
a lot to talk about.
Speaker 5 (01:27):
And I knew from the wind up when you were
going through the golf game, I could still smack it
around a little bit, but I knew you were definitely
not talking about me.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Dude.
Speaker 5 (01:36):
I'm top golf worthy, only in the right now, top
golf worthy, only the putting in the short game is
not there.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
That's all right. There's different ways to win at golf.
I'm usually the guy who I drink the most beers
during the round, So as long as I'm winning something,
I'm okay with it. Out there having a good time
with the boys and girls. Today's program does look like this.
We'll break down the top five messiest running back rooms.
We'll tell you what you need to know from a
fantasy football perspective, and as always, before we jump in,
(02:04):
I want to shout out everyone who's watching on the
Fantasy Pros YouTube channel or listening on the podcast feed.
Thank you so much for hanging out here with us.
The easiest freeway support us is give this video a
thumbs up if you enjoy this type of content. Also
make sure you're subscribing if you're new. The regular season
is just around the corner. We have a ton of
content between now and then. Word on the street from
the higher ups as well is that when we cross
(02:25):
that three hundred k subscriber mark, we're looking at a
Monster Energy sponsorship on deck just for Debro, So help
us help him feed the caffeine addiction. Come be a
part of our story. Gentlemen, let's go ahead. Let's jump
right in. Starting down in Duval County, Liam Cohen now
on the sticks for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Travis etn on
(02:46):
the final year of that rookie deal, just two years
removed from an RB one finish plotter. Tank Bigsby is
back as well, and two of my favorite rookie running backs,
Virginia Tech's base Shall Tuton and Syracuse's Laquin Allen. The
fold Pat, I'm incredibly biased because both Alan and Tooton
helped me cash some major tickets throughout their collegiate career
(03:07):
and at the NFL combine. So, being the unbiased big
Jay journalist that you are, how do we sort through
this backfield for phantasy?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Oh Man, Yeah, it is very ambiguous, and it's not
just a three headed monster. Maybe a four headed monster
if LeQuinn Allen can insert himself into the proceedings. But
there is opportunity with this ambiguous backfield because all of
these guys, like, no one is better than about RB
thirty or so in adp.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Travis Etn.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
You know, I've been kind of out on him for
most of the off season, but I have to admit
I'm kind of warming to Etn. A little part of
it is the Twuton. The fumble issues that he had
in college kind of came up in OTAs for the
Jaguars and he got called out for that, And like,
(03:56):
if he has trouble hanging under the ball in training camp,
it's going to be really hard for him to get
any sort of foothold in this offense early in the
year with Liam Cohen trying to establish things in Jacksonville.
So I'm getting a little more lukewarm on Tootin despite
his blazing speed. Maybe Etn benefits from this new running
(04:17):
scheme that Cohen has going on. It's more wide zone
kind of stuff, and maybe that suits Etn a little
better than what the Jaguars were doing last year because
the stats were bad. I mean, Etn was minus zero
point two eight rushing yards over expected per carry, so
he was underwater on what he was expected to get
per run.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I know he's a free agent, but I still feel
like maybe he fits best and offers the most upside
in this backfield. I don't mind taking a swing at
him in the middle rounds because he's only two years
removed from being a pretty productive running back like Lee.
Maybe for the first half of twenty twenty three he
was averaging like twenty PPR points per game before sort
(05:00):
of slipping a little bit in the second half. Then
we got the bad year last year. I'm kind of
avoiding Tank Bigsby. By all the metrics, he was really
effective last year in what he averaged in yards after
contact per carry, some of the other metrics, but he
he just offers zero upside as a pass catcher. And
even if there were to be an injury in this backfield,
(05:21):
like he's never playing on passing downs because all three
of the other guys can be the passing down back,
like all of them and that's actually LeQuinn Allen's specialty. Probably,
So just not a lot of appeal to Biggsby unless
I'm playing in like a sixteen team standard league or
something like that. But so yeah, right now, I think
(05:43):
Etn is the guy I would probably take a shot at.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Okay, Travis Etn is RB thirty one in Fantasy pros ECR.
You can find those at fancypros dot com slash rankings.
Bigsby RB forty three two and RB fifty one and
Allen all the way down going undrafted R B one
oh seven. De bro, How do you shake out this backfield? Because,
like Pat, it's hard for me to get that twenty
twenty three season from Etn where he helped me win
(06:09):
my league of record that year out of my mind.
But at the same time, if we following the cues
that Liam Cohen used in Tampa Bay. It points to
potentially two in being this year's Bucky Irving.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
Yeah, man, I mean, I'll keep this short and sweet.
We thought about this on Fantasy Court Andrew Erickson and
I and I am firmly out on Travis Etn. I'm
living in the present and seeing what we've seen over
the last few seasons. Like, look like I understand the
previous years where he was really good, but last year
shoulder hamstring issues, his efficiency metrics were putrid outside the
(06:44):
top twenty five running backs, and both miss tackles forced
and yards are to contact for attempt. And the thing
with Etn that I'll also bring up here is I
think the passing game stuff has really been overblown for
most of his career. I mean, he's never crested one
point two per route run. He's been a horrendous pass
blocker for a lot of his seasons, like last year
(07:06):
on fifty eight pass blocking snaps, he allowed eight hurries
and thirteen pressures.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
So I don't even know if he's a locked.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Like I'm actually going as far as if Basil Touton
and Tank Bigsby hit the ground running Laquent Allen looks competent.
I don't know if Etn's on this roster week one,
and I'm not saying they cut him, but if there
are camp injuries and what have you, or if Dallas
looks at their backfield and says, we ain't got nobody, baby,
and we're gonna talk about them in a little bit.
(07:33):
But like we ain't got nobody, Travis E ten could
be on the move. So Aten is a player I
don't want to invest in where we do have two
supremely talented running backs behind him. Three if you want
to go to la Quinn Allen and talk about the
passing game, but I mean I can't shy away. And
I will say one thing. The lead up set for
Tank bigsby plotter. Plotter, Sir, we're talking about him as
(07:57):
a plotter. He was twenty first and explus a run
rate second best in the yards ucher contact pre ten plotter.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
He is not man.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Now, I will agree with Pat, You're not gonna see
Tank catching any passes. So his value in this backfield
is a known commodity. He's gonna work in on early
downs and spell whoever is the compliment next to him,
which I'm guessing it is gonna be Bachial Tuton, and
I'm not pushing Bachial down, but yeah, the fumbling stuff
is a problem and stuff, but again, I think those things,
(08:26):
much like drops with wide receivers, can be corrected much
more so with fumbles with running backs. And if I
want to bet on a guy from this backfield, the
way where I feel like you attack a lot of
these ambiguous backfields and ambiguous situations that we're gonna discuss
here is.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Going with letting talent lead the day.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
And I think Baseil Tuton is the most talented running
back in this backfield considering where Etn is at in
his career. Can we talk about previous years, sure, but
I don't know if that's exactly where he's at considering
his talent today and Tuton, I mean, dude, like last year,
final year of college, top ten in yards up to contact,
per attend, breakaway percentage, elusive rating, it is all there, man,
(09:05):
And I think he's competent enough on passing down. So
I'll look at this backfield the guys that I want
to invest in. It's Tutin first, It's Bigsby next ys
miss me with Travis Etn.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Okay, the one thing I wanted to point about two
and two. You guys did mention the speed fastest forty
time for the position four point three to two seconds.
And here's a list of running backs who have posted
the fastest forty time since twenty twenty, twenty twenty four
Isaac Grendo twenty three, Devon ah Chan, twenty twenty two,
Isaiah Pacheco twenty twenty one, Elijah Mitchell, and then twenty
twenty Antonio Gibson. All those guys had pretty meaningful rookie seasons,
(09:40):
including one RB one season from a Chan and then
two RB two seasons. So that's kind of why I'm
on twotin here, Pat, But you make a great case
that Etn he is only two years removed from that
great season, so it's it's really tough to say, but
it sounds like you're kind of sticking by ETNS as
a value here, which I understand because he's going eighth,
(10:01):
ninth round here, where a year ago we're taking him
what second, third round.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Right, And that's kind of that's kind of it.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
The price point SETH is pretty tolerable, and if things
don't work out, and of course we have to acknowledge
the possibility that the Jaguars just sort of wash their
hands of Travis Etn and the final year of his
contract and start plotting for a future without him. And
they have three other backs that they could do that with.
But if you spend a ninth rounder on him and
(10:28):
it doesn't work out, you know, that's pretty so easy
to go in on waivers and week two replace him,
and like that is not going to cost.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
You your league.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Would you draft both? What would you draft both like
a Tuton or Etn? Or do you just not want
to tie up that much capital in Jacksonville backfield?
Speaker 2 (10:43):
That's exactly and I'm not saying two picks on this backfield.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
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Speaker 1 (12:22):
Next we head to Big D where Jerry Jones man
just saying wilder things each year as it keeps going
along Shody Brian Schottenheimer. He makes the jump from OC
to head coach and at his disposal in the backfield,
he has former Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams, journeyman
and former Penn State Nitney Lion Miles Sanders, and rookie
running back Jane Blue from Texas Debro. How do you
(12:44):
believe this backfield shakes out for the boys?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Woof?
Speaker 5 (12:48):
I've turned to one to eighty on this packfield since
the beginning of the offseason. I will okay, I was
either avoiding it or taking shots on Jayden Blue.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
And now I find myself.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
I don't want to say extremely high, but I will
find myself drafting a lot of Javonte.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
Williams and the more. If you take the.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Hundred foot view with Javonte Williams in last year, it
doesn't look pretty. Now I went more granular. I went
over fantasy points data, and I looked at all of
his splits broken down week by week and it was
really interesting. Guys like he hit a wall emphatically hit
a wall last year. So weeks one through eight, amongst
forty three qualifying running backs, Javonte Williams was breaking tackles. Now,
(13:31):
I'm not saying like close to where he was pre injury,
but he wasn't bad man twenty percent mistackle rate that
was thirteenth amongst forty three qualifying running backs. So if
he kept doing that for the entire season, I mean
we're looking at Javonte Williams season and probably a different light.
But unfortunately that didn't happen. After Week eight, Javonte Williams
(13:53):
did not force another mistackle for the rest of the season.
And while yes, we can easily take the glass half
full approach and say, well that's will be bad, right,
my look at Javonte Williams is, what if we get
that first eight weeks at Javonte Williams for the entirety
of twenty twenty five. What if that happens, He's another
(14:14):
year post injury, another year like actually getting a full
offseason this year to work out get himself ready, and
you look at the rest of this backfield like Jade Blue, like, yeah,
he's exciting. He could play passing downs. He's good in
the receiving game, but there was a reason Texas never
fed him a ton of volume during his entirety of
his career. And the thing I think it gets lost
(14:34):
sometimes is this dude only had forty four pass blocking
snaps in college. So it's not like, yes, he's good
at running routes, Yes he's good as a pass game weapon,
but as a pass protector. Texas didn't even trust him
in that role. So he's relatively untested. And I look
at Miles Sanders and I'm like, I don't think he's
got much laugh, man, eleven percent is tackle rate one
(14:55):
point eight yards into contact for attempt, Like those are
not even backup worthy number. Those are You're probably gonna
find yourself on the street type of.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
Number UFL type numbers. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
So with Miles Sanders, like, I don't even know if
he makes this team. If he does make the team,
I think he is the clear RB three behind both
of these guys. But I think there's there's an opportunity
for Javonte Williams to be this year's JK. Dobbins, and
I don't think it's that crazy if you look at
how he started out last year. I think he is
the most trusted or at least the best pass protector
(15:28):
on this roster in the running back room. And unless
they add more competition, which could be possible, like we
could see injuries, we could see camp cuts, like if
some of these other backfields we're going to talk about
later decide to, you know, trim the tree, that could happen.
But right now as it stands and we're discussing it
right now, Yeah, I want to be above market on
Javonte Williams because we had all the skepticism about JK.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Dobbins.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
And I'm not using recency bias here, but a guy
we all loved in fantasy and he was an elite
tackle breaker. Telling me another year past the injury, he
can't get a little bit more of that zip back
and being RB two this year, considering the guys in
that backfield of competition, I think it can't happen.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Well, you make a great point.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
We've already always kind of heard from doctor Deepak Chona
when he joins us on Sunday Nights that it's really
the first year after the ACL you don't want to
be invested in a running back. And then even sometimes
that second year there's still some productivity issues. I like
Javonte Williams, I have him in a ton of best
ball leagues, but that's when I was getting closer, like
RB forty five. Now he's RB thirty four in the
(16:32):
ECR Blue RB fifty five, Sanders sixty seven. Reports are
coming out of camp path that is questioning Blues work
ethic and professionalism. So I'm kind of almost out as
a whole on the Cowboys backfield.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
What say you?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Though, I'm kind of with deebra on this, And you
mentioned the Jayden Blue work ethic issues. Yeah, that's not
a good thing to have attached to coming out of
just a mini camp. And then you know, like we
had seen red flags about that before. I know Dane Brugler,
the Excellence College slash draft analyst, he wrote in his
(17:09):
Big Draft guide The Beast that there were questions about
Jayden Blue and whether he has what it takes to
put in the work and succeed at the NFL level
and be an NFL back. So yeah, he's concerning, and
plus he's five to nine and under two hundred pounds,
so he was never going to have a real meaty
role I think in this offense anyway, it was going
(17:31):
to be part time work.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
If he could do what it took.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
From a work standpoint to get it right, now that's
in doubt. I am sort of with Debro on Javante Williams.
I'm a little above consensus. I've got him at RB thirty,
which is still just say but still yeah, Deebro. I
mean that's just above some of like the premium backup
types like Jordan Mason and Zach Sharboney. Javante has said
(17:57):
he is just starting to feel like his old self
after that knee injury in twenty twenty two, which wasn't
just a torn ACL also in LCL. So if he's
back to one hundred percent, it's possible he just takes
this lead running back job in Dallas and runs.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
With it and he catches passes.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
And Debro brought it up like he was an elite
tackle breaker in his rookie or remember how mad we
were that Melvin Gordon was sort of standing in his
way on Denver. I mean There's not really a lot
in Javante's way this year. So if he is back
to even ninety percent of that guy he was as
a rookie and he's still only twenty five, there is
(18:37):
some plausible upside here.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
The last thing I'll bring up on Javonte, I think
he'll be the clear passing down back on this team.
Last year for Denver one hundred and ten pass blocking rips,
he allowed zero sex and one QB hit on an
offense we think is going to be top ten and
passing attempts, I don't think it's going to be close.
I think he will be the passing down back on
this team.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Yeah, I do agree with you that we saw a
lot of Trey Wisner in the backfield for Texas. We
also saw CJ. Baxter when he was healthy. Like you
can go ask our friend Boggs, Like Jaden Blue for
a while has been you know, kind of pegged as
this guy who was supposed to be, you know, kind
of the air apparent to Jonathan Brooks at Texas and
never really took that role fully. I mean, man can
run a wheel route with the best of them, but
(19:20):
I don't know if that translates to fancy points, So
great discussion there on Dallas. Let's move to Cleveland, where
a few weeks ago looked like it would be rookie
running back Quinn Shawn Judkins backfield to lose. However, after
being arrested for an alleged domestic dispute, things are a
bit more complicated now, giving life to both veteran running
back Jerome Ford and rookie running back out of Tennessee
(19:42):
Dylan Sampson, who led the SEC in rushing pat How
do you project this running back room playing out?
Speaker 3 (19:49):
This is probably the hardest one to project, Seth because
of the Judkins status, and you know, I mean, we're
gonna have to monitor the situation with him and the
battle betwe queen Jerome Ford and Dylan Sampson to establish
the pecking order in this Cleveland backfield. This is a
training camp battle to watch. But we know some people
(20:10):
draft in late July early August and are going to
have to make calls on this sooner rather than later.
So right now I'm kind of just I mean, I've
got Judkins ranked in like the mid thirties or late
thirties at running back, but that's just sort of a
placeholder ranking. Really, I'm just not touching him at this point,
just because we don't even know if he's going to play,
and the Browns seem like they are in no rush
(20:31):
to sign him and bring him into camp until his
legal issues are resolved. And that leaves Ford and Samson.
And that's a hard one to handicap too, because Ford
has been a very competent running back whenever he's been
thrown into the fray and has shown he can be
fantasy relevant when he gets meaningful touches. But Dylan Sampson
(20:53):
pre draft, I mean, was one of my favorite guys
really class Yeah, I think I had him after the
Big five, the two Ohios eight guys obviously Ashton Genty,
Omarian Hampton, and who Am'm forgetting Caleb Johnson.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Yeah, So Samson was six for me, and he was
still a fourth round pick, even though they took Quinn
Shun in the second, which obviously squelched a lot of
our enthusiasm. Great lateral agility, faster than any timed at
the combine, surprisingly good contact balance for a smaller back,
pretty good in the passing game, Like I thought Dylan
(21:29):
Sampson coming out of Tennessee much more impressive than Jalen
Wright was to me. And there are still people who
are in on Jalen Wright. So I wonder, I mean,
I think people are going to give for the sort
of incumbent edge here in this battle. But I wonder
if there's not some really interesting upside with Sampson here,
(21:51):
as this potentially explosive rookie who now could get a
lot of playing time with quin Shawn Judkins' status very
much in jeopardy.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Man, Dee bro.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
This is such a frustrating situation because you and I,
I think, in the pre draft process a lot lower
than consensus on Judkins as a prospect, and I finally
took him in scott Fishbowl because it's the volume based league. Yeah,
so burn myself there. Luckily I was able to grab
Sampson in the later rounds, and now we have this
situation here where Judkins has moved down to RB thirty
(22:23):
three in ECR Ford and Sampson continue to rise RB
fifty for Ford, RB fifty eight for Samson. So how
do you crack open this backfield? Is it kind of
a situation like Pat where you're just staying away for now?
Maybe grabbing a dart throw in Ford or Sampson.
Speaker 5 (22:40):
I'm avoiding all these guys to be honest, I I
don't want to fight over what could be a two
to three way committee and what we're all projecting to
be a terrible offense.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Like to me, that like where's where's the meat on
the bone.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Here's some respect on Joe Flacco's name, please, bro.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
I look, if he's starting, I mean that it could
be Canny Pickett season, like cool and this is all.
It could just be burned down and we're just going
to suck and get like a top three pick and
pick a quarterback. Like I'm not saying, like you know,
Cleveland's just gonna fully throw in the towel. But I
don't think this is gonna be a very good team.
And I was much lower than consensus on Judkins and Samson.
(23:20):
Sorry Patty, but like Mike Renner when we were doing
the NFL Draft show had to hear that he was
all in on Samson too, and we fought on that
show and it was just like for all the narratives
about Samson, it's like, oh, he's really fast and he's
got big play potential. But over the last two years,
he's one hundred and eighteenth and eighty third in breakaway percentage,
but he's shifty, but he was fifty first and seventy
(23:40):
seventh in yards at the contact per attempt. Like, I
just didn't feel like the narratives and the testing kind
of matched the on field productivity for Samson and the efficiency.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Metrics, So like I get pushing him up the board.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I did.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
I did that as well just because of how if
Judkins misses four to six weeks and we're all kind
of projecting suspension length, we don't know. It could be
two games, it could be four, could be nothing in
this sea exactly, nobody knows. What we do know is
he's still unsigned. So missing camp time is detrimental. Now
the question is not okay, at this point is he
(24:16):
missing camp time? It's how much of the camp time
does he miss and how much does that set him back?
And then you have a suspension on top of all
of that. So in a backfield with an offense that
I have major questions on how much are they going
to score? How much are they going to be in
the red zone? Are they going to be trailing a
lot in games? So how much positive game script, Do
(24:37):
you have to feed Judkins because we know he's not
a passing down back, Like, he's not going to catch passes.
The guy had zero point seven to six yards per
out running college. That's not part of his game. He's
the early down grinder. Part of this we also know
from Cleveland and they've told us with their moves by
drafting two running backs, they don't want Jerome Forward to
be a workhorse. They had the chance to do that
(24:57):
last year and then put them on top of it,
and he could have walked into this season as the guy,
or at least as the workhorse.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Dante Forman has taking like a ton of carries.
Speaker 5 (25:07):
Clayton said, no, we're gonna draft two running backs. That's
how much we think about Jerome Ford. We're drafting two
running backs. That's how much faith we have in Jerome Ford.
So like this could be if Judkins doesn't get suspended,
I mean like and he misses the camp time, would
any of us be shocked if they walk into Week
one and say Judkins is active, but he's missed a
lot of the preseason, a lot of training camp.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
That this is a three.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
Way committee and everybody's getting eight to ten touches or
what have you, and.
Speaker 4 (25:34):
Nobody is viable.
Speaker 5 (25:36):
I think it definitively can happens, Like if this is
even if this is on a good offense, maybe I'm
talking I'm throwing darts at some of these guys, and
I understand in best ball formats, but I'm just avoiding
this man, like I'm avoiding this backfield. If I'm gonna
pick anybody, it's probably Jerome Ford just because he is
the price of freemium and I can get.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
Him with like the last pick of a draft. But
outside of that, missed me with Cleveland Browns running backs, Okay,
I get it to me.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
It kind of reminds me if you go back in
the way back machine of that twenty seventeen Packers backfield
where Aaron Jones was picked higher than Jamal Williams. He
faced him off the field and injury issues to begin
his career. Jamal Williams by the end of that season
was kind of the guy you wanted for fantasy. So
I don't mind taking a shot on Dylan Sampson last
round of drafts. But other than that, it sounds like,
(26:25):
for the most part, you know, pick your poison with
these guys, but pretty much an avoid here, definitely one
I think though overall, Pat like keep your head on
a swivel when we get into training camp and I
know we'll be out there and can at the fantas
Football Expo. There's always training camp games on. That's one
that I'll be watching out for is Cleveland and how
this backfield situation shakes out in the preseason.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah for sure.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
And the thing is these guys are going for like
running back five prices, right, Yeah, so there it is
a pretty low level of investment for the possibility of
a decent workload on an NFL team. So there is
some appeal here, low level appeal, I get it. And
you know at this price point, like the risk is
very minimal.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Still torn on who to trust in these murky situations, Well,
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(27:29):
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we've got big question marks in the Big Apple, maybe
all around, but in particular in this backfield. Tyrone Tracy
returns after finishing RB thirty three and fantasy points per
(27:52):
game as a rookie. Devin Singletary is coming off a
season of career lows but still making over six million
dollars guaranteed this and rookie running back Cam Skataboo is
ready to make his mark after finishing fifth in the
Heisman voting and taking Arizona State on a Cinderella run
to the CFP last year. De Bro, what do you
think the workload split is like and how are you
(28:14):
approaching it in fantasy drafts? When it comes to the
New York.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Giants, I feel like I'm gonna channel my best Scott
Bogman here. I'm gonna draft all the Cam Skataboo possible
this year. That's how I'm approaching this backfield. I think
that the Giants told us last year they want one
running back to carry the mail. And this isn't even
just looking back at Dave Ball's history like last year,
Saquon before him, Devin Singletary before him, and Devin Singletary
(28:40):
getting shoved to the side by Tyrone Tracy. I think
he is a nothing burger in this backfield, so I'm
not worried about him. But looking at the Giants last
year and Devin Singletary is in this sample, you had
seven games worth running back played seventy percent of more
of than snaps for the Giants. You had twelve games
where running back played at least sixty five of the
snaps for the Giants. So everybody is talking about this
(29:00):
backfield is like, oh, it could be thunder and lightning.
I'm like, based off of what what has Brian Dave
all showed over the last few years that makes any
of us believe this is going to be a committee
situation outside of seeing Tyrone Tracy perform as a workhorse
last year until he wasn't and then he was again,
and then what they draft cam'skataboo, and everybody's like, oh,
(29:21):
it must be a committee. No one of these guys
is going to take over, And I think people need
to be making their decisions on who they believe that
player is. And for me, it's Cam'skataboo because they put
more draft capital behind Scataboo's name than they did with
Tyrone Tracy Tyrone Tracy tried his best to fumble away
the job last year, and I think that's notable. And
(29:42):
for I mean, it's not like he's a great pass protector.
They didn't utilize him as a receiver, which could have
been his calling card, and none of those things happened.
So while Tracy was awesome last year and carried a
lot of people, especially in the back half of the season,
I mean, look weeks five through eighteen, RB twenty two
and fan points per game. That's awesome. But he also
had the twenty third most touches and he tied for
(30:05):
the third most fumbles. That's also notable.
Speaker 4 (30:08):
So you take a.
Speaker 5 (30:09):
Guy like Cam Scataboo, and let's just talk about the archetype.
This is a guy that can handle volume. He can
play all three downs. You don't take a guy like
that to one make him a committee back and two
not use him, and three to put more draft capital
on his name and behind him than you even did
with last year's starter. So I think this is clearly
Cam Scataboo's backfield to be taken over. I think he's
(30:29):
going to do it in short order through training camp
and the preseason. I don't know if he comes out
and he's like the sixty five seventy percent guy in
week one, but by week four, I think that's probably
what we're looking at. And for a guy that's getting
drafted in RB three price tags, there's an easy avenue
and pathway that Cam Scatabo. By week four, we are
ranking as a top twenty running back every single week
(30:53):
for fantasy. So I want to be above market and
aggressive on drafting a guy like that.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Skataboo RB F nine in Fantasy Pro's EC currently money
Tracy RB thirty two, so going above him, Patt, I
do think this is a bit more of a committee
that than Debro, I think, But I still think by
the end of the day, this is going to be
a sixty to forty split in favor of Skataboo by
the end of the season. But what does that mean
for fantasy And what's your take on this split here?
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Yeah, I think I kind of see it the way
you do, Seth, and I, you know, to some extent,
see the way Debro does, but maybe not with the
same degree of confidence that Debro has.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
And the outcome here.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Like ADP and ec Are, both have Tyrone Tracy ranked
ahead of Cam Scatabo, and like Debro, I have Scataboo
ranked higher than Tracy.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
I think it's right now.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
I've Skataboo RB thirty three, which might be a tad low,
and Tracy RB thirty six, which might be a tad high.
I mean, there is some possibility that we see sort
of a split, and we're looking for those high value touches,
which is like carries close to the goal line and
passing down work, the targets and receptions, and there's a
(32:03):
chance that we see those high value touches split up
with Skataboo as more the goal line guy and Tyrone Tracy,
the converted former college wide receiver as the primary passing
down back.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
You know, he did have thirty eight catches.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
I know that wasn't a ton for a guy who
played seventeen games last year, but he was involved in
the passing game. So but to Deebro's point, there is
also a world where Skataboo just shoves Tyrone Tracy aside
and takes over this role. And yeah, like Devin Singletary
is kind of a thorn here was Lord knows, he
(32:35):
was a thorn for Zack Moss for four years in Buffalo.
Zach Moss a lot of people wanted that to happen,
and it just never did because he could never beat
out Devin Singletary for touches. But last year we did
see like the fewest touches per game of Devin Singletary's career.
That was with nine about nine touches a game, and
that was with really only Tyrone Tracy. Now we've got Scataboo,
(32:58):
so it is kind of hard to see Devin Singletary
being a major factor here. Could be a little annoying
for us, but probably is not going to steal significant
touches from both uh Scatabo and Tracy. Maybe from one
of them, but I do think one of those two
is going to step forward and claim a pretty substantial role.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
And my money is also on Skataboo.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
And I think sometimes people think of Cam as just
again throughout the word plotter, but he's really not. I mean,
this is a guy who's really not great receiving back.
Also has a little bit of a cannon, as we
saw in the CFP as well, So I think they
can do some fun things with him, and I think
he'll be involved potentially on all three downs. So it
sounds like Cam Skataboo is the one we are targeting
out of the New York Giants backfield. Let's go ahead
(33:42):
and round it out with what could be an ambiguous
backfield or could also be a one man show. In
Kansas City, Isaiah Pacheco missed ten games with a broken fibula,
but still somehow made it back by the end of
the regular season. Did not look like himself though. That
led the way to Kareem Hunt posting the most rushing
yards he's had since twenty twenty. They're both back as
(34:03):
his former forty nine ers running back Elijah Mitchell and
rookie running back Brichard Smith out of SMU PAT. I
think it was one of your Dynasty shows I was
listening to last week, and I think Worm made a
pick of Pacheco late in that startup draft you were doing,
and you were intrigued that Pacheco could resume some type
of starter worthy role for fantasy. Do you feel the
(34:24):
same when it comes to redraft formats? Right here in
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
I do, Seth.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
I mean he fractured his fibula early last season and
was back in about two and a half months, and
like upon his return, he was just not anything close
to the same guy he had been. Couldn't get the
lead job back from Kareem Hunt. There's no way Isaiah
Pichecko was anything close to one hundred percent. And you
mentioned doctor d pak Chona earlier in the show. I
(34:49):
think Deepak felt the same way about that. So, yeah,
this is a guy we were talking about going in
the mid to late second round of drafts last year,
and now you can get Isaiah Pachecko in like the
seventh or the eighth in a backfield that includes you know, Hunt,
who's wasn't really good last year. I mean he kept
(35:11):
falling into the end zone. But as far as being
an effective running back, I don't see him as a
threat to Pachecko's dominance in the early down role. They
have Elijah Mitchell and Burchard Smith, and maybe those guys
con factor it in some meaningful way. Maybe Burchard Smith
is a pass catcher, but I do think Pachecko is
the best running back the Chiefs have on the roster.
(35:31):
Without question, and being able to get him as a
high end RB three not too bad. And we know
the Chiefs offense is going to be anywhere from good
to great, so there's a lot of touchdown potential there.
And maybe the injury issue always comes up with Pachecko
because he does and you have said this before, a
guy who looks like he's trying to run through a closed,
(35:53):
locked door.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
But this guy has given us value in the past,
and I think he's going to give us value this year.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Pacheco RB twenty seven in ECR hunt RB sixty one,
Richard Smith down at RB seventy nine. De Bro, Your
love for Brichard Smith is no secret to anyone who's
tuned into Fantasy pros before. But how do you think
this backfield as a whole shakes out in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 5 (36:15):
Man, Man, I think this backfield is going to be
a committee situation. I think that we've seen enough out
of Pacheco, and I know, like last year, like in
the abbreviated version that we got of him, like you know,
before he got hurt, he had an eighty percent snapshare
when he opened the season seventeen touches. I think that
he's proven because of to Pat's point, like the play
(36:36):
style that he has. If Casey wants to keep him healthy,
they're gonna need to sit here and limit some of
his volume. And the other thing about it is he's
not been an amazing pass catcher. It's not like this
guy has proven himself to be a top tier pass catcher.
Like a career zero point eighty six yards per route run.
That's not fantastic, Like it's it's okay, but it's not great.
(36:58):
So I look at Pacheco. I think the KC backfield
is going to be a committee situation. I think they
brought Kareem Hunt back because they know what they're going
to get out of him. It's not flashy, it's not great,
but it's dependable. If Pachecko does go down, they know
that Kareem Hunt can at least get what's blocked for him.
If he gets anything more than that, hooray. But they
know what they can get out of him, and that's
a stable veteran. Elijah Mitchell. I don't even know if
(37:21):
he makes his team. Man, he's on basically a proven deal.
He's got one point one million in dead cap. If
they were to move on from him. So if Pachecko
looks healthy, Kareem Hunt still looks he has some gas
left in the tank, which he I mean, he was
good enough in what Casey asked him to do last year.
So I don't even know if Mitchell makes this team.
(37:42):
But so I have no problem with people taking shots
on Pachecko as being the goal line early down option
for the KC backfield. But I don't see him being
this bell cow like. I don't think he's going to
get seventy to eighty percent of the snaps every single week.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
I just don't.
Speaker 5 (37:58):
I don't think that's what's going to happen in this backfield.
And again I'm going to bring up Burshard Smith. I
think that they've needed and wanted this type of passing
down specialist back in this offense. I mean, dude, I'm
old to remember how good Jared McKinnon was for us
in fantasy and I think that can definitively happen again
this year. I think burchhard Smith is a guy that
I want to be taking shots on with the last
(38:19):
pick of every single draft that I've got, because I
think that he has the talent and for everybody says, well,
he's a seventh round pick. Hello, Isaiah Pachecko. You remember
what brown he was drafted in and we don't think
that a seventh round pick can ascend in this backfield. Well,
Pacheco says, high, So I want to take the shots
on Burchard Smith.
Speaker 4 (38:39):
Again.
Speaker 5 (38:39):
I think he's incredibly talented. I think his ability and
utility both on early downs and in the passing game
is going to show up in a big way in
this offense. And if Pojeco goes down, I mean, dude,
if Pachecko would have miss any time, you're probably looking at,
again a committee with Kareem Hunt and Breshard Smith. But
I think Burchhard Smith can have standalone value in that
(39:00):
McKinnon role from week one. So that's the guy I
want to garner in this backfield. That again, we're talking
about injury histories. We're talking about three yards and a
cloud of dust. Richard Smith is lightning in a bottle man.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
So you don't want Pachaco at all at the RB
twenty seven ECR ranking.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
No, I mean I'm not against people. Am I thinking
shots on him in drafts?
Speaker 2 (39:20):
No?
Speaker 5 (39:21):
I'm going other directions on most drafts am I against
people drafting him where he's going, No, not at all.
RB three price tag is perfectly fine for him. If
he does like catching his steam and he gets into
like the top twenty four, then I'll probably just full
of void because I just don't see the meat on
the bone there because of how I'm projecting this backfield,
and again all of these ambiguous situations, you've got to
(39:43):
come down with what do you think is going to
play out in this backfield? And that's how you're gonna
follow your draft plan. Now are you gonna bury? If
you're playing in ten to twelve leagues, Sure, you get
exposure to a lot of different players. But this all
comes back to and it's all tied to how are
you diagnosing this situation and how is that leading you
to a attack drafts? And I look at this as
going to be a committee situation, not Pachecko being a
(40:05):
bell cow or a workhorse.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Pat was he in RB one in twenty twenty three
or pretty close to it, I believe on a points
per game basis, I know he was right up there
somewhere on the leader board because he was definitely someone
I thought, whoever, you know, if you drafted him late
that year. You're probably sitting pretty good in the Fantasy Football.
Speaker 5 (40:22):
Player RB fourteen and Fantasy Points per Game in twenty
twenty three.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
For the checko okay RB two.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
All right, well that's going to do it for us
today on this episode of the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast,
make sure you check out Part two as we dive
into messy wide receiver rooms next. Thank you so much
for watching. As always, the best freeway support us. Give
this video a thumbs up if you enjoy this type
of content. Make sure you're subscribing if you're new. Also,
let us go down in the comments below what you
(40:48):
think about these backfields, how you think it shakes out
For Pat fits Morris and Derek Brown, I'm Seth Wilcock.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
Take care of y'all.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
If you love the show, the best free way to
support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple
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Follow us on x Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros,
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slash Fantasy pros,
All right, and welcome into the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
It's one of the best times of the year as
all thirty two NFL training camps are open for business,
giving their fans hope that just maybe, just maybe this
is the year that they captured the Lombardi Trophy. We're
gonna help you go after some fans football trophies in
this episode as we break down the biggest depth chart dilemmas.
(00:24):
This is the two part episode. In part one, we'll
break down the messiest running back rooms, and then in
part two, you guessed it, it's messy wide receiver rooms.
I'm your host, Seth Wilcock, and today I'm joined by
two of the best in the business, including a man
who I'm sure has to probably be a scratch golfer
by now. He's been tearing up both the links and
the podcast streets this summer. He's Pat Fitzmore's FITZI great
(00:45):
to be with you. How are you as veterans report
to camp this week?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Jo and Will? Seth?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I've got like three drafts I'm juggling right now, so
that feels good.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
As far as the golf thing, doing better with the
golf betting than the actual golfing.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I'm not quite a scratch golfer.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I am if you you know, knock seventeen shots off
at a round. So yeah, man, ready to get into it,
looking forward to the start of training camp season, in
the flood of daily news coming out of camps.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It's coming, it's quick. And we're also joined by someone
who I consider my partner in crime. Yes, my PSC.
He's Derek Brown. Akd bro. What's going on, brother? What
kind of shenanigans are we getting into today?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Man?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Oh, dude, it's gonna be a wild one. We got
a lot to talk about.
Speaker 5 (01:27):
And I knew from the wind up when you were
going through the golf game, I could still smack it
around a little bit, but I knew you were definitely
not talking about me.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Dude.
Speaker 5 (01:36):
I'm top golf worthy, only in the right now, top
golf worthy, only the putting in the short game is
not there.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
That's all right. There's different ways to win at golf.
I'm usually the guy who I drink the most beers
during the round, So as long as I'm winning something,
I'm okay with it. Out there having a good time
with the boys and girls. Today's program does look like this.
We'll break down the top five messiest running back rooms.
We'll tell you what you need to know from a
fantasy football perspective, and as always, before we jump in,
(02:04):
I want to shout out everyone who's watching on the
Fantasy Pros YouTube channel or listening on the podcast feed.
Thank you so much for hanging out here with us.
The easiest freeway support us is give this video a
thumbs up if you enjoy this type of content. Also
make sure you're subscribing if you're new. The regular season
is just around the corner. We have a ton of
content between now and then. Word on the street from
the higher ups as well is that when we cross
(02:25):
that three hundred k subscriber mark, we're looking at a
Monster Energy sponsorship on deck just for Debro, So help
us help him feed the caffeine addiction. Come be a
part of our story. Gentlemen, let's go ahead. Let's jump
right in. Starting down in Duval County, Liam Cohen now
on the sticks for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Travis etn on
(02:46):
the final year of that rookie deal, just two years
removed from an RB one finish plotter. Tank Bigsby is
back as well, and two of my favorite rookie running backs,
Virginia Tech's base Shall Tuton and Syracuse's Laquin Allen. The
fold Pat, I'm incredibly biased because both Alan and Tooton
helped me cash some major tickets throughout their collegiate career
(03:07):
and at the NFL combine. So, being the unbiased big
Jay journalist that you are, how do we sort through
this backfield for phantasy?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Oh Man, Yeah, it is very ambiguous, and it's not
just a three headed monster. Maybe a four headed monster
if LeQuinn Allen can insert himself into the proceedings. But
there is opportunity with this ambiguous backfield because all of
these guys, like, no one is better than about RB
thirty or so in adp.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Travis Etn.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
You know, I've been kind of out on him for
most of the off season, but I have to admit
I'm kind of warming to Etn. A little part of
it is the Twuton. The fumble issues that he had
in college kind of came up in OTAs for the
Jaguars and he got called out for that, And like,
(03:56):
if he has trouble hanging under the ball in training camp,
it's going to be really hard for him to get
any sort of foothold in this offense early in the
year with Liam Cohen trying to establish things in Jacksonville.
So I'm getting a little more lukewarm on Tootin despite
his blazing speed. Maybe Etn benefits from this new running
(04:17):
scheme that Cohen has going on. It's more wide zone
kind of stuff, and maybe that suits Etn a little
better than what the Jaguars were doing last year because
the stats were bad. I mean, Etn was minus zero
point two eight rushing yards over expected per carry, so
he was underwater on what he was expected to get
per run.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I know he's a free agent, but I still feel
like maybe he fits best and offers the most upside
in this backfield. I don't mind taking a swing at
him in the middle rounds because he's only two years
removed from being a pretty productive running back like Lee.
Maybe for the first half of twenty twenty three he
was averaging like twenty PPR points per game before sort
(05:00):
of slipping a little bit in the second half. Then
we got the bad year last year. I'm kind of
avoiding Tank Bigsby. By all the metrics, he was really
effective last year in what he averaged in yards after
contact per carry, some of the other metrics, but he
he just offers zero upside as a pass catcher. And
even if there were to be an injury in this backfield,
(05:21):
like he's never playing on passing downs because all three
of the other guys can be the passing down back,
like all of them and that's actually LeQuinn Allen's specialty. Probably,
So just not a lot of appeal to Biggsby unless
I'm playing in like a sixteen team standard league or
something like that. But so yeah, right now, I think
(05:43):
Etn is the guy I would probably take a shot at.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Okay, Travis Etn is RB thirty one in Fantasy pros ECR.
You can find those at fancypros dot com slash rankings.
Bigsby RB forty three two and RB fifty one and
Allen all the way down going undrafted R B one
oh seven. De bro, How do you shake out this backfield? Because,
like Pat, it's hard for me to get that twenty
twenty three season from Etn where he helped me win
(06:09):
my league of record that year out of my mind.
But at the same time, if we following the cues
that Liam Cohen used in Tampa Bay. It points to
potentially two in being this year's Bucky Irving.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
Yeah, man, I mean, I'll keep this short and sweet.
We thought about this on Fantasy Court Andrew Erickson and
I and I am firmly out on Travis Etn. I'm
living in the present and seeing what we've seen over
the last few seasons. Like, look like I understand the
previous years where he was really good, but last year
shoulder hamstring issues, his efficiency metrics were putrid outside the
(06:44):
top twenty five running backs, and both miss tackles forced
and yards are to contact for attempt. And the thing
with Etn that I'll also bring up here is I
think the passing game stuff has really been overblown for
most of his career. I mean, he's never crested one
point two per route run. He's been a horrendous pass
blocker for a lot of his seasons, like last year
(07:06):
on fifty eight pass blocking snaps, he allowed eight hurries
and thirteen pressures.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
So I don't even know if he's a locked.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Like I'm actually going as far as if Basil Touton
and Tank Bigsby hit the ground running Laquent Allen looks competent.
I don't know if Etn's on this roster week one,
and I'm not saying they cut him, but if there
are camp injuries and what have you, or if Dallas
looks at their backfield and says, we ain't got nobody, baby,
and we're gonna talk about them in a little bit.
(07:33):
But like we ain't got nobody, Travis E ten could
be on the move. So Aten is a player I
don't want to invest in where we do have two
supremely talented running backs behind him. Three if you want
to go to la Quinn Allen and talk about the
passing game, but I mean I can't shy away. And
I will say one thing. The lead up set for
Tank bigsby plotter. Plotter, Sir, we're talking about him as
(07:57):
a plotter. He was twenty first and explus a run
rate second best in the yards ucher contact pre ten plotter.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
He is not man.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Now, I will agree with Pat, You're not gonna see
Tank catching any passes. So his value in this backfield
is a known commodity. He's gonna work in on early
downs and spell whoever is the compliment next to him,
which I'm guessing it is gonna be Bachial Tuton, and
I'm not pushing Bachial down, but yeah, the fumbling stuff
is a problem and stuff, but again, I think those things,
(08:26):
much like drops with wide receivers, can be corrected much
more so with fumbles with running backs. And if I
want to bet on a guy from this backfield, the
way where I feel like you attack a lot of
these ambiguous backfields and ambiguous situations that we're gonna discuss
here is.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Going with letting talent lead the day.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
And I think Baseil Tuton is the most talented running
back in this backfield considering where Etn is at in
his career. Can we talk about previous years, sure, but
I don't know if that's exactly where he's at considering
his talent today and Tuton, I mean, dude, like last year,
final year of college, top ten in yards up to contact,
per attend, breakaway percentage, elusive rating, it is all there, man,
(09:05):
And I think he's competent enough on passing down. So
I'll look at this backfield the guys that I want
to invest in. It's Tutin first, It's Bigsby next ys
miss me with Travis Etn.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Okay, the one thing I wanted to point about two
and two. You guys did mention the speed fastest forty
time for the position four point three to two seconds.
And here's a list of running backs who have posted
the fastest forty time since twenty twenty, twenty twenty four
Isaac Grendo twenty three, Devon ah Chan, twenty twenty two,
Isaiah Pacheco twenty twenty one, Elijah Mitchell, and then twenty
twenty Antonio Gibson. All those guys had pretty meaningful rookie seasons,
(09:40):
including one RB one season from a Chan and then
two RB two seasons. So that's kind of why I'm
on twotin here, Pat, But you make a great case
that Etn he is only two years removed from that
great season, so it's it's really tough to say, but
it sounds like you're kind of sticking by ETNS as
a value here, which I understand because he's going eighth,
(10:01):
ninth round here, where a year ago we're taking him
what second, third round.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Right, And that's kind of that's kind of it.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
The price point SETH is pretty tolerable, and if things
don't work out, and of course we have to acknowledge
the possibility that the Jaguars just sort of wash their
hands of Travis Etn and the final year of his
contract and start plotting for a future without him. And
they have three other backs that they could do that with.
But if you spend a ninth rounder on him and
(10:28):
it doesn't work out, you know, that's pretty so easy
to go in on waivers and week two replace him,
and like that is not going to cost.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
You your league.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Would you draft both? What would you draft both like
a Tuton or Etn? Or do you just not want
to tie up that much capital in Jacksonville backfield?
Speaker 2 (10:43):
That's exactly and I'm not saying two picks on this backfield.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
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Speaker 1 (12:22):
Next we head to Big D where Jerry Jones man
just saying wilder things each year as it keeps going
along Shody Brian Schottenheimer. He makes the jump from OC
to head coach and at his disposal in the backfield,
he has former Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams, journeyman
and former Penn State Nitney Lion Miles Sanders, and rookie
running back Jane Blue from Texas Debro. How do you
(12:44):
believe this backfield shakes out for the boys?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Woof?
Speaker 5 (12:48):
I've turned to one to eighty on this packfield since
the beginning of the offseason. I will okay, I was
either avoiding it or taking shots on Jayden Blue.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
And now I find myself.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
I don't want to say extremely high, but I will
find myself drafting a lot of Javonte.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
Williams and the more. If you take the.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Hundred foot view with Javonte Williams in last year, it
doesn't look pretty. Now I went more granular. I went
over fantasy points data, and I looked at all of
his splits broken down week by week and it was
really interesting. Guys like he hit a wall emphatically hit
a wall last year. So weeks one through eight, amongst
forty three qualifying running backs, Javonte Williams was breaking tackles. Now,
(13:31):
I'm not saying like close to where he was pre injury,
but he wasn't bad man twenty percent mistackle rate that
was thirteenth amongst forty three qualifying running backs. So if
he kept doing that for the entire season, I mean
we're looking at Javonte Williams season and probably a different light.
But unfortunately that didn't happen. After Week eight, Javonte Williams
(13:53):
did not force another mistackle for the rest of the season.
And while yes, we can easily take the glass half
full approach and say, well that's will be bad, right,
my look at Javonte Williams is, what if we get
that first eight weeks at Javonte Williams for the entirety
of twenty twenty five. What if that happens, He's another
(14:14):
year post injury, another year like actually getting a full
offseason this year to work out get himself ready, and
you look at the rest of this backfield like Jade Blue, like, yeah,
he's exciting. He could play passing downs. He's good in
the receiving game, but there was a reason Texas never
fed him a ton of volume during his entirety of
his career. And the thing I think it gets lost
(14:34):
sometimes is this dude only had forty four pass blocking
snaps in college. So it's not like, yes, he's good
at running routes, Yes he's good as a pass game weapon,
but as a pass protector. Texas didn't even trust him
in that role. So he's relatively untested. And I look
at Miles Sanders and I'm like, I don't think he's
got much laugh, man, eleven percent is tackle rate one
(14:55):
point eight yards into contact for attempt, Like those are
not even backup worthy number. Those are You're probably gonna
find yourself on the street type of.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
Number UFL type numbers. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
So with Miles Sanders, like, I don't even know if
he makes this team. If he does make the team,
I think he is the clear RB three behind both
of these guys. But I think there's there's an opportunity
for Javonte Williams to be this year's JK. Dobbins, and
I don't think it's that crazy if you look at
how he started out last year. I think he is
the most trusted or at least the best pass protector
(15:28):
on this roster in the running back room. And unless
they add more competition, which could be possible, like we
could see injuries, we could see camp cuts, like if
some of these other backfields we're going to talk about
later decide to, you know, trim the tree, that could happen.
But right now as it stands and we're discussing it
right now, Yeah, I want to be above market on
Javonte Williams because we had all the skepticism about JK.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Dobbins.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
And I'm not using recency bias here, but a guy
we all loved in fantasy and he was an elite
tackle breaker. Telling me another year past the injury, he
can't get a little bit more of that zip back
and being RB two this year, considering the guys in
that backfield of competition, I think it can't happen.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Well, you make a great point.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
We've already always kind of heard from doctor Deepak Chona
when he joins us on Sunday Nights that it's really
the first year after the ACL you don't want to
be invested in a running back. And then even sometimes
that second year there's still some productivity issues. I like
Javonte Williams, I have him in a ton of best
ball leagues, but that's when I was getting closer, like
RB forty five. Now he's RB thirty four in the
(16:32):
ECR Blue RB fifty five, Sanders sixty seven. Reports are
coming out of camp path that is questioning Blues work
ethic and professionalism. So I'm kind of almost out as
a whole on the Cowboys backfield.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
What say you?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Though, I'm kind of with deebra on this, And you
mentioned the Jayden Blue work ethic issues. Yeah, that's not
a good thing to have attached to coming out of
just a mini camp. And then you know, like we
had seen red flags about that before. I know Dane Brugler,
the Excellence College slash draft analyst, he wrote in his
(17:09):
Big Draft guide The Beast that there were questions about
Jayden Blue and whether he has what it takes to
put in the work and succeed at the NFL level
and be an NFL back. So yeah, he's concerning, and
plus he's five to nine and under two hundred pounds,
so he was never going to have a real meaty
role I think in this offense anyway, it was going
(17:31):
to be part time work.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
If he could do what it took.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
From a work standpoint to get it right, now that's
in doubt. I am sort of with Debro on Javante Williams.
I'm a little above consensus. I've got him at RB thirty,
which is still just say but still yeah, Deebro. I
mean that's just above some of like the premium backup
types like Jordan Mason and Zach Sharboney. Javante has said
(17:57):
he is just starting to feel like his old self
after that knee injury in twenty twenty two, which wasn't
just a torn ACL also in LCL. So if he's
back to one hundred percent, it's possible he just takes
this lead running back job in Dallas and runs.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
With it and he catches passes.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
And Debro brought it up like he was an elite
tackle breaker in his rookie or remember how mad we
were that Melvin Gordon was sort of standing in his
way on Denver. I mean There's not really a lot
in Javante's way this year. So if he is back
to even ninety percent of that guy he was as
a rookie and he's still only twenty five, there is
(18:37):
some plausible upside here.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
The last thing I'll bring up on Javonte, I think
he'll be the clear passing down back on this team.
Last year for Denver one hundred and ten pass blocking rips,
he allowed zero sex and one QB hit on an
offense we think is going to be top ten and
passing attempts, I don't think it's going to be close.
I think he will be the passing down back on
this team.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Yeah, I do agree with you that we saw a
lot of Trey Wisner in the backfield for Texas. We
also saw CJ. Baxter when he was healthy. Like you
can go ask our friend Boggs, Like Jaden Blue for
a while has been you know, kind of pegged as
this guy who was supposed to be, you know, kind
of the air apparent to Jonathan Brooks at Texas and
never really took that role fully. I mean, man can
run a wheel route with the best of them, but
(19:20):
I don't know if that translates to fancy points, So
great discussion there on Dallas. Let's move to Cleveland, where
a few weeks ago looked like it would be rookie
running back Quinn Shawn Judkins backfield to lose. However, after
being arrested for an alleged domestic dispute, things are a
bit more complicated now, giving life to both veteran running
back Jerome Ford and rookie running back out of Tennessee
(19:42):
Dylan Sampson, who led the SEC in rushing pat How
do you project this running back room playing out?
Speaker 3 (19:49):
This is probably the hardest one to project, Seth because
of the Judkins status, and you know, I mean, we're
gonna have to monitor the situation with him and the
battle betwe queen Jerome Ford and Dylan Sampson to establish
the pecking order in this Cleveland backfield. This is a
training camp battle to watch. But we know some people
(20:10):
draft in late July early August and are going to
have to make calls on this sooner rather than later.
So right now I'm kind of just I mean, I've
got Judkins ranked in like the mid thirties or late
thirties at running back, but that's just sort of a
placeholder ranking. Really, I'm just not touching him at this point,
just because we don't even know if he's going to play,
and the Browns seem like they are in no rush
(20:31):
to sign him and bring him into camp until his
legal issues are resolved. And that leaves Ford and Samson.
And that's a hard one to handicap too, because Ford
has been a very competent running back whenever he's been
thrown into the fray and has shown he can be
fantasy relevant when he gets meaningful touches. But Dylan Sampson
(20:53):
pre draft, I mean, was one of my favorite guys
really class Yeah, I think I had him after the
Big five, the two Ohios eight guys obviously Ashton Genty,
Omarian Hampton, and who Am'm forgetting Caleb Johnson.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Yeah, So Samson was six for me, and he was
still a fourth round pick, even though they took Quinn
Shun in the second, which obviously squelched a lot of
our enthusiasm. Great lateral agility, faster than any timed at
the combine, surprisingly good contact balance for a smaller back,
pretty good in the passing game, Like I thought Dylan
(21:29):
Sampson coming out of Tennessee much more impressive than Jalen
Wright was to me. And there are still people who
are in on Jalen Wright. So I wonder, I mean,
I think people are going to give for the sort
of incumbent edge here in this battle. But I wonder
if there's not some really interesting upside with Sampson here,
(21:51):
as this potentially explosive rookie who now could get a
lot of playing time with quin Shawn Judkins' status very
much in jeopardy.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Man, Dee bro.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
This is such a frustrating situation because you and I,
I think, in the pre draft process a lot lower
than consensus on Judkins as a prospect, and I finally
took him in scott Fishbowl because it's the volume based league. Yeah,
so burn myself there. Luckily I was able to grab
Sampson in the later rounds, and now we have this
situation here where Judkins has moved down to RB thirty
(22:23):
three in ECR Ford and Sampson continue to rise RB
fifty for Ford, RB fifty eight for Samson. So how
do you crack open this backfield? Is it kind of
a situation like Pat where you're just staying away for now?
Maybe grabbing a dart throw in Ford or Sampson.
Speaker 5 (22:40):
I'm avoiding all these guys to be honest, I I
don't want to fight over what could be a two
to three way committee and what we're all projecting to
be a terrible offense.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Like to me, that like where's where's the meat on
the bone.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Here's some respect on Joe Flacco's name, please, bro.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
I look, if he's starting, I mean that it could
be Canny Pickett season, like cool and this is all.
It could just be burned down and we're just going
to suck and get like a top three pick and
pick a quarterback. Like I'm not saying, like you know,
Cleveland's just gonna fully throw in the towel. But I
don't think this is gonna be a very good team.
And I was much lower than consensus on Judkins and Samson.
(23:20):
Sorry Patty, but like Mike Renner when we were doing
the NFL Draft show had to hear that he was
all in on Samson too, and we fought on that
show and it was just like for all the narratives
about Samson, it's like, oh, he's really fast and he's
got big play potential. But over the last two years,
he's one hundred and eighteenth and eighty third in breakaway percentage,
but he's shifty, but he was fifty first and seventy
(23:40):
seventh in yards at the contact per attempt. Like, I
just didn't feel like the narratives and the testing kind
of matched the on field productivity for Samson and the efficiency.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Metrics, So like I get pushing him up the board.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I did.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
I did that as well just because of how if
Judkins misses four to six weeks and we're all kind
of projecting suspension length, we don't know. It could be
two games, it could be four, could be nothing in
this sea exactly, nobody knows. What we do know is
he's still unsigned. So missing camp time is detrimental. Now
the question is not okay, at this point is he
(24:16):
missing camp time? It's how much of the camp time
does he miss and how much does that set him back?
And then you have a suspension on top of all
of that. So in a backfield with an offense that
I have major questions on how much are they going
to score? How much are they going to be in
the red zone? Are they going to be trailing a
lot in games? So how much positive game script, Do
(24:37):
you have to feed Judkins because we know he's not
a passing down back, Like, he's not going to catch passes.
The guy had zero point seven to six yards per
out running college. That's not part of his game. He's
the early down grinder. Part of this we also know
from Cleveland and they've told us with their moves by
drafting two running backs, they don't want Jerome Forward to
be a workhorse. They had the chance to do that
(24:57):
last year and then put them on top of it,
and he could have walked into this season as the guy,
or at least as the workhorse.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Dante Forman has taking like a ton of carries.
Speaker 5 (25:07):
Clayton said, no, we're gonna draft two running backs. That's
how much we think about Jerome Ford. We're drafting two
running backs. That's how much faith we have in Jerome Ford.
So like this could be if Judkins doesn't get suspended,
I mean like and he misses the camp time, would
any of us be shocked if they walk into Week
one and say Judkins is active, but he's missed a
lot of the preseason, a lot of training camp.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
That this is a three.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
Way committee and everybody's getting eight to ten touches or
what have you, and.
Speaker 4 (25:34):
Nobody is viable.
Speaker 5 (25:36):
I think it definitively can happens, Like if this is
even if this is on a good offense, maybe I'm
talking I'm throwing darts at some of these guys, and
I understand in best ball formats, but I'm just avoiding
this man, like I'm avoiding this backfield. If I'm gonna
pick anybody, it's probably Jerome Ford just because he is
the price of freemium and I can get.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
Him with like the last pick of a draft. But
outside of that, missed me with Cleveland Browns running backs, Okay,
I get it to me.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
It kind of reminds me if you go back in
the way back machine of that twenty seventeen Packers backfield
where Aaron Jones was picked higher than Jamal Williams. He
faced him off the field and injury issues to begin
his career. Jamal Williams by the end of that season
was kind of the guy you wanted for fantasy. So
I don't mind taking a shot on Dylan Sampson last
round of drafts. But other than that, it sounds like,
(26:25):
for the most part, you know, pick your poison with
these guys, but pretty much an avoid here, definitely one
I think though overall, Pat like keep your head on
a swivel when we get into training camp and I
know we'll be out there and can at the fantas
Football Expo. There's always training camp games on. That's one
that I'll be watching out for is Cleveland and how
this backfield situation shakes out in the preseason.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah for sure.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
And the thing is these guys are going for like
running back five prices, right, Yeah, so there it is
a pretty low level of investment for the possibility of
a decent workload on an NFL team. So there is
some appeal here, low level appeal, I get it. And
you know at this price point, like the risk is
very minimal.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Still torn on who to trust in these murky situations, Well,
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(27:29):
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com slash kit and start drafting smarter today. All Right,
we've got big question marks in the Big Apple, maybe
all around, but in particular in this backfield. Tyrone Tracy
returns after finishing RB thirty three and fantasy points per
(27:52):
game as a rookie. Devin Singletary is coming off a
season of career lows but still making over six million
dollars guaranteed this and rookie running back Cam Skataboo is
ready to make his mark after finishing fifth in the
Heisman voting and taking Arizona State on a Cinderella run
to the CFP last year. De Bro, what do you
think the workload split is like and how are you
(28:14):
approaching it in fantasy drafts? When it comes to the
New York.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Giants, I feel like I'm gonna channel my best Scott
Bogman here. I'm gonna draft all the Cam Skataboo possible
this year. That's how I'm approaching this backfield. I think
that the Giants told us last year they want one
running back to carry the mail. And this isn't even
just looking back at Dave Ball's history like last year,
Saquon before him, Devin Singletary before him, and Devin Singletary
(28:40):
getting shoved to the side by Tyrone Tracy. I think
he is a nothing burger in this backfield, so I'm
not worried about him. But looking at the Giants last
year and Devin Singletary is in this sample, you had
seven games worth running back played seventy percent of more
of than snaps for the Giants. You had twelve games
where running back played at least sixty five of the
snaps for the Giants. So everybody is talking about this
(29:00):
backfield is like, oh, it could be thunder and lightning.
I'm like, based off of what what has Brian Dave
all showed over the last few years that makes any
of us believe this is going to be a committee
situation outside of seeing Tyrone Tracy perform as a workhorse
last year until he wasn't and then he was again,
and then what they draft cam'skataboo, and everybody's like, oh,
(29:21):
it must be a committee. No one of these guys
is going to take over, And I think people need
to be making their decisions on who they believe that
player is. And for me, it's Cam'skataboo because they put
more draft capital behind Scataboo's name than they did with
Tyrone Tracy Tyrone Tracy tried his best to fumble away
the job last year, and I think that's notable. And
(29:42):
for I mean, it's not like he's a great pass protector.
They didn't utilize him as a receiver, which could have
been his calling card, and none of those things happened.
So while Tracy was awesome last year and carried a
lot of people, especially in the back half of the season,
I mean, look weeks five through eighteen, RB twenty two
and fan points per game. That's awesome. But he also
had the twenty third most touches and he tied for
(30:05):
the third most fumbles. That's also notable.
Speaker 4 (30:08):
So you take a.
Speaker 5 (30:09):
Guy like Cam Scataboo, and let's just talk about the archetype.
This is a guy that can handle volume. He can
play all three downs. You don't take a guy like
that to one make him a committee back and two
not use him, and three to put more draft capital
on his name and behind him than you even did
with last year's starter. So I think this is clearly
Cam Scataboo's backfield to be taken over. I think he's
(30:29):
going to do it in short order through training camp
and the preseason. I don't know if he comes out
and he's like the sixty five seventy percent guy in
week one, but by week four, I think that's probably
what we're looking at. And for a guy that's getting
drafted in RB three price tags, there's an easy avenue
and pathway that Cam Scatabo. By week four, we are
ranking as a top twenty running back every single week
(30:53):
for fantasy. So I want to be above market and
aggressive on drafting a guy like that.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Skataboo RB F nine in Fantasy Pro's EC currently money
Tracy RB thirty two, so going above him, Patt, I
do think this is a bit more of a committee
that than Debro, I think, But I still think by
the end of the day, this is going to be
a sixty to forty split in favor of Skataboo by
the end of the season. But what does that mean
for fantasy And what's your take on this split here?
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Yeah, I think I kind of see it the way
you do, Seth, and I, you know, to some extent,
see the way Debro does, but maybe not with the
same degree of confidence that Debro has.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
And the outcome here.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Like ADP and ec Are, both have Tyrone Tracy ranked
ahead of Cam Scatabo, and like Debro, I have Scataboo
ranked higher than Tracy.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
I think it's right now.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
I've Skataboo RB thirty three, which might be a tad low,
and Tracy RB thirty six, which might be a tad high.
I mean, there is some possibility that we see sort
of a split, and we're looking for those high value touches,
which is like carries close to the goal line and
passing down work, the targets and receptions, and there's a
(32:03):
chance that we see those high value touches split up
with Skataboo as more the goal line guy and Tyrone Tracy,
the converted former college wide receiver as the primary passing
down back.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
You know, he did have thirty eight catches.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
I know that wasn't a ton for a guy who
played seventeen games last year, but he was involved in
the passing game. So but to Deebro's point, there is
also a world where Skataboo just shoves Tyrone Tracy aside
and takes over this role. And yeah, like Devin Singletary
is kind of a thorn here was Lord knows, he
(32:35):
was a thorn for Zack Moss for four years in Buffalo.
Zach Moss a lot of people wanted that to happen,
and it just never did because he could never beat
out Devin Singletary for touches. But last year we did
see like the fewest touches per game of Devin Singletary's career.
That was with nine about nine touches a game, and
that was with really only Tyrone Tracy. Now we've got Scataboo,
(32:58):
so it is kind of hard to see Devin Singletary
being a major factor here. Could be a little annoying
for us, but probably is not going to steal significant
touches from both uh Scatabo and Tracy. Maybe from one
of them, but I do think one of those two
is going to step forward and claim a pretty substantial role.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
And my money is also on Skataboo.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
And I think sometimes people think of Cam as just
again throughout the word plotter, but he's really not. I mean,
this is a guy who's really not great receiving back.
Also has a little bit of a cannon, as we
saw in the CFP as well, So I think they
can do some fun things with him, and I think
he'll be involved potentially on all three downs. So it
sounds like Cam Skataboo is the one we are targeting
out of the New York Giants backfield. Let's go ahead
(33:42):
and round it out with what could be an ambiguous
backfield or could also be a one man show. In
Kansas City, Isaiah Pacheco missed ten games with a broken fibula,
but still somehow made it back by the end of
the regular season. Did not look like himself though. That
led the way to Kareem Hunt posting the most rushing
yards he's had since twenty twenty. They're both back as
(34:03):
his former forty nine ers running back Elijah Mitchell and
rookie running back Brichard Smith out of SMU PAT. I
think it was one of your Dynasty shows I was
listening to last week, and I think Worm made a
pick of Pacheco late in that startup draft you were doing,
and you were intrigued that Pacheco could resume some type
of starter worthy role for fantasy. Do you feel the
(34:24):
same when it comes to redraft formats? Right here in
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
I do, Seth.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
I mean he fractured his fibula early last season and
was back in about two and a half months, and
like upon his return, he was just not anything close
to the same guy he had been. Couldn't get the
lead job back from Kareem Hunt. There's no way Isaiah
Pichecko was anything close to one hundred percent. And you
mentioned doctor d pak Chona earlier in the show. I
(34:49):
think Deepak felt the same way about that. So, yeah,
this is a guy we were talking about going in
the mid to late second round of drafts last year,
and now you can get Isaiah Pachecko in like the
seventh or the eighth in a backfield that includes you know, Hunt,
who's wasn't really good last year. I mean he kept
(35:11):
falling into the end zone. But as far as being
an effective running back, I don't see him as a
threat to Pachecko's dominance in the early down role. They
have Elijah Mitchell and Burchard Smith, and maybe those guys
con factor it in some meaningful way. Maybe Burchard Smith
is a pass catcher, but I do think Pachecko is
the best running back the Chiefs have on the roster.
(35:31):
Without question, and being able to get him as a
high end RB three not too bad. And we know
the Chiefs offense is going to be anywhere from good
to great, so there's a lot of touchdown potential there.
And maybe the injury issue always comes up with Pachecko
because he does and you have said this before, a
guy who looks like he's trying to run through a closed,
(35:53):
locked door.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
But this guy has given us value in the past,
and I think he's going to give us value this year.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Pacheco RB twenty seven in ECR hunt RB sixty one,
Richard Smith down at RB seventy nine. De Bro, Your
love for Brichard Smith is no secret to anyone who's
tuned into Fantasy pros before. But how do you think
this backfield as a whole shakes out in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 5 (36:15):
Man, Man, I think this backfield is going to be
a committee situation. I think that we've seen enough out
of Pacheco, and I know, like last year, like in
the abbreviated version that we got of him, like you know,
before he got hurt, he had an eighty percent snapshare
when he opened the season seventeen touches. I think that
he's proven because of to Pat's point, like the play
(36:36):
style that he has. If Casey wants to keep him healthy,
they're gonna need to sit here and limit some of
his volume. And the other thing about it is he's
not been an amazing pass catcher. It's not like this
guy has proven himself to be a top tier pass catcher.
Like a career zero point eighty six yards per route run.
That's not fantastic, Like it's it's okay, but it's not great.
(36:58):
So I look at Pacheco. I think the KC backfield
is going to be a committee situation. I think they
brought Kareem Hunt back because they know what they're going
to get out of him. It's not flashy, it's not great,
but it's dependable. If Pachecko does go down, they know
that Kareem Hunt can at least get what's blocked for him.
If he gets anything more than that, hooray. But they
know what they can get out of him, and that's
a stable veteran. Elijah Mitchell. I don't even know if
(37:21):
he makes his team. Man, he's on basically a proven deal.
He's got one point one million in dead cap. If
they were to move on from him. So if Pachecko
looks healthy, Kareem Hunt still looks he has some gas
left in the tank, which he I mean, he was
good enough in what Casey asked him to do last year.
So I don't even know if Mitchell makes this team.
(37:42):
But so I have no problem with people taking shots
on Pachecko as being the goal line early down option
for the KC backfield. But I don't see him being
this bell cow like. I don't think he's going to
get seventy to eighty percent of the snaps every single week.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
I just don't.
Speaker 5 (37:58):
I don't think that's what's going to happen in this backfield.
And again I'm going to bring up Burshard Smith. I
think that they've needed and wanted this type of passing
down specialist back in this offense. I mean, dude, I'm
old to remember how good Jared McKinnon was for us
in fantasy and I think that can definitively happen again
this year. I think burchhard Smith is a guy that
I want to be taking shots on with the last
(38:19):
pick of every single draft that I've got, because I
think that he has the talent and for everybody says, well,
he's a seventh round pick. Hello, Isaiah Pachecko. You remember
what brown he was drafted in and we don't think
that a seventh round pick can ascend in this backfield. Well,
Pacheco says, high, So I want to take the shots
on Burchard Smith.
Speaker 4 (38:39):
Again.
Speaker 5 (38:39):
I think he's incredibly talented. I think his ability and
utility both on early downs and in the passing game
is going to show up in a big way in
this offense. And if Pojeco goes down, I mean, dude,
if Pachecko would have miss any time, you're probably looking at,
again a committee with Kareem Hunt and Breshard Smith. But
I think Burchhard Smith can have standalone value in that
(39:00):
McKinnon role from week one. So that's the guy I
want to garner in this backfield. That again, we're talking
about injury histories. We're talking about three yards and a
cloud of dust. Richard Smith is lightning in a bottle man.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
So you don't want Pachaco at all at the RB
twenty seven ECR ranking.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
No, I mean I'm not against people. Am I thinking
shots on him in drafts?
Speaker 2 (39:20):
No?
Speaker 5 (39:21):
I'm going other directions on most drafts am I against
people drafting him where he's going, No, not at all.
RB three price tag is perfectly fine for him. If
he does like catching his steam and he gets into
like the top twenty four, then I'll probably just full
of void because I just don't see the meat on
the bone there because of how I'm projecting this backfield,
and again all of these ambiguous situations, you've got to
(39:43):
come down with what do you think is going to
play out in this backfield? And that's how you're gonna
follow your draft plan. Now are you gonna bury? If
you're playing in ten to twelve leagues, Sure, you get
exposure to a lot of different players. But this all
comes back to and it's all tied to how are
you diagnosing this situation and how is that leading you
to a attack drafts? And I look at this as
going to be a committee situation, not Pachecko being a
(40:05):
bell cow or a workhorse.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Pat was he in RB one in twenty twenty three
or pretty close to it, I believe on a points
per game basis, I know he was right up there
somewhere on the leader board because he was definitely someone
I thought, whoever, you know, if you drafted him late
that year. You're probably sitting pretty good in the Fantasy Football.
Speaker 5 (40:22):
Player RB fourteen and Fantasy Points per Game in twenty
twenty three.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
For the checko okay RB two.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
All right, well that's going to do it for us
today on this episode of the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast,
make sure you check out Part two as we dive
into messy wide receiver rooms next. Thank you so much
for watching. As always, the best freeway support us. Give
this video a thumbs up if you enjoy this type
of content. Make sure you're subscribing if you're new. Also,
let us go down in the comments below what you
(40:48):
think about these backfields, how you think it shakes out
For Pat fits Morris and Derek Brown, I'm Seth Wilcock.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
Take care of y'all.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
If you love the show, the best free way to
support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple
podcasts at Fantasypros dot com, slash review, or on Spotify.
Follow us on x Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros,
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Hosts And Creators
Andrew Erickson
Joe Pisapia
Derek Brown
Thor Nystrom
Ryan Wormeli
Pat Fitzmaurice
Matthew Freedman
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