Week 11 Buy Low + Sell High Running Back Targets (Ep. 1835)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody, Welcome into the Fantasy Pros Football Podcast. I'm
Ryan Warmley, joined as I Am every Tuesday by Andrew Erickson. Erickson,
It's only the second to last episode we are doing
of this show. It it's current iteration of a trade
discussion show because the trade deadline is going to hit
in many fantasy leagues here in just a couple of weeks.
So what we're going to do just a little housekeep

(00:21):
and keep people kind of appraised of what's coming ahead.
We've got this week's show. We're going to do one
more next week. We're going to take that Tuesday off
the week of Thanksgiving, and then we are coming back
with a different version of the show. It'll Sylvia Ericson
and me. It'll still be on Tuesdays. We'll be doing
some more prediction based stuff for each and every week,
but it will look a little different. So if you
have trade questions, this is the next two weeks to
get them in. Ericson, are you excited to be kind

(00:43):
of transitioning into the like Fantasy playoffs ish section of
the season. It feels like it comes very quickly, but
it's kind of an exciting time too.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yes, I am because to be honest, I'm starting to
run o the names of by Loo so high on
ex players because sometimes I keep going back to certain
players because I just feel very strongly about I really
want this guy on my roster, or I really don't
want this guy on my roster. But for the sake
of the content, I don't want to be so repetitive,
but I also want to be right and want to
be accurate. So I know that we were getting annoyed
by Trevan Henderson every single week Bylo Bilo Trivia Henderson

(01:15):
like don't give up, and it ended up working out
Trevan Henderson smash second half league winner, hopefully for the
Patriots running back. But yeah, I'm ready to get the
playoff schedules. Talk about those today with some of these
buys and sells, and also talking about if you need
a player to get into the playoffs, so someone that
has an immediate schedule that's favorable, maybe that can also

(01:35):
help too. So two more weeks, get your questions in
and hopefully you can make some trades to help you
win your league.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Ericson, I once again was not able to watch Monday
night football. I am a YouTube TV subscriber and you know,
I'm not going to go out of my way to
pay for an ESPN app just for one game every week,
So until they figure it out, I am not watching
the Monday night games. I hope the Ravens don't have
any Monday night games the rest of the season, because
then I might actually be forced into it. But for
now I am didn't seem like I missed a whole

(02:03):
lot though. Ten to seven and that scoring all coming
in the second half. This was a nothing, nothing tie
at halftime. I was following along in the box score
as it happened. And a lot of dud performances from
some of the folks that we really rely on, you know.
Saquon Barkley not a dud, But wasn't this big explosive game.
DeVante Smith did have a good game, which I know
you had talked about. Aj Brown did not. That was

(02:23):
a dud game. Jalen Hurts not living up to his
usual self. Just one touchdown in this game. Josh Jacob's
pretty good seventy four yards and a touchdown. Jordan Love
did not have any touchdowns and do anything and really
nothing going in their receiving game for the Packers. Was
this more of like, oh man, like Tucker Craft has
gone and aj Brown having a bad game and that
was hurting them. Or was this more of like the

(02:44):
defenses really showed up. I mean again, I didn't watch
the game, so I can't really speak to it very well.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
I think it's really more about the defenses. I think
that Zeer two of the better defense than the NFL
and can perform at a top ten level. Also, playing
on the road at Lambeau, it's always gonna be a
tough draw for any opposing offense, even one that can
be as good as the Philadelphia Eagles. So both teams
also had offensive line injuries. Elton Jenkins got hurt for
the Packers. Lane Johnson got hurt for the Philadelphia Eagles,

(03:10):
and he's a big piece for them up front. You
see the splits when he doesn't play, that Eagles offense
falls off significantly. So he did return to the game
somehow after going off on the cart and looking like
he suffered a brutal ankle injury. He's just built totally different.
Lane Johnson an absolute unit, and he actually did so.
He did return to the game. So interesting to see
what that injury looks like if it is long term

(03:31):
at all, or it's just, hey, he's just gonna plat
with through this injury all year long and just be
a warrior. So that's something to kind of keep tabs on. So, yes,
the defense is definitely dominated in this matchup. Offensively from
the Eagle side of things, look, it was more of
Devonte Smith. That's why I was concerned about AJ Brown
and DeVonta Smith. Smith has just been better all year
long over AJ Brown. He's been more efficient care yards

(03:52):
per rout run this season, while AJ Brown career low
and yards per rout run and out of the bye week,
you think, okay, if I gotta get AJB going three targets.
He had one target in the second half, which was
on fourth down, which could have closed the game for
the Philadelphia Eagles the way they went for it. Obviously,
he ended up working now and they end up winning
because Josh Jacobs fumbled on the final drive for the
Green Bay Packers. So Eagles still escape with the win

(04:15):
on the road, which is obviously big for them. But offensively,
the past game didn't look too different from what it
looked like before the bye week. More of Devonte Smith
and Dallas Goddard than aj Brown and Saque Barkley. He
did seed some touches early on to guys like Will
Shipley and Tank Bigsby, but in the second half they
were featuring him. But again, not really anything that pops
off the box score, except for that one forty one

(04:36):
yard catch he had that was really his biggest play,
not as a run but as a receiver, which set
up the DeVonta Smith touchdown from Jalen Hurts.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
By the way, and just because I mentioned the YouTube
TV stuff in case anybody who is a YouTube TV
subscriber didn't know this, you get a twenty dollars credit.
Because this dispute has gone on long enough, you have
to claim it. They're not going to give it you automatically.
You have to go into your YouTube TV settings. It's
like a service update or something, and you can probably
google it and find it, and you actually have to.
It's just one button to click it, but you have

(05:05):
to actually go in and claim it otherwise you're not
getting that twenty dollars credits. Just as a PSA for
everybody to go do that. If you are a YouTube
TV subscriber, at least get a small something out of this.
Let's go into our running back buys and sales. This
will be part one of the episode. As always, we'll
be talking about running backs here to buy sell. We'll
do some audience questions at the end that we got
on social media. Then we'll have a part two again

(05:26):
that's gonna be on both YouTube and on wherever you
get your audio podcast. Do you have ericson? I know
we sometimes do this kind of micro level trade strategy
at the top. We sometimes don't. Do you have anything
for us there this week? Or should we dive into
the running backs?

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Let's just dive right in. First of the picks, tell
what people want, get right to it.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
First running back to buy here? Aaron Jones? Why is
he a top of your list? So?

Speaker 2 (05:48):
Aaron Jones kind of took over the backfield in Minnesota
since he returned from his injury last week, seventy two
percent of the snaps, nine carries, forty seven yards and
a touchdown. Also heavily involved as a pass your three
catches for twenty two yards on six targets. And as
underwhelming as McCarthy has kind of been as the Viking
quarterback this season, Aaron Jones has been pretty strong in

(06:11):
the starts that he has had and played in full.
He's been a top twenty fantasy running back in the
three games. He's kind of stayed healthy for the entirety
with JJ McCarthy under center this season, and I kind
of like the schedule rest of season for the Minnesota
Vikings with a couple of softer spots, especially in the
fantasy postseason. Obviously, this week you have the Chicago Bears,
which is a very positive matchup for Aaron Jones. Now

(06:35):
Akreen Bay and at Seattle is not ideal. We strolled
them thirteen. But after that you get matchups like the Ravens,
the Giants, and the Dallas Cowboys. So there are a
couple spots here with Aaron Jones where you can feel okay.
I think I can feel pretty confident with him as
a starter, and because he's involved in the passing game,
I think that does give him a semblance of a
floor even in some of these tougher matchups, especially in
some of these road games for JJ McCarthy. So the

(06:57):
Vikings offense is still kind of in disarray. They will
potentially get back center Ryan Kelly soon, so hopefully that
can bolst the interior blocking and just we haven't seen
Jordan Mason really separate himself, like he had the opportunity
to really take this run game away from Aaron Jones
and Jones miss all that time, but they were dealing
with injuries, they were dealing with quarterback things, So I
don't want to put all the blame on Mason. But again,

(07:18):
Mason was a guy I was really high in the
draft season obviously did not hit despite the fact that
he did kind of get the runway with the Aaron
Jones injury. Now, some of it was circumstantial just because
again mentioned Vikings quarterback problems, Biking's offensive line injuries, but
still Mason didn't do enough. So I'm ready to kind
of take the l on Mason and then just move
on and be like, Nope, I want Aaron Jones like
because when he is healthy, he's been very effective at

(07:39):
scoring fantasy points this year, and I like some of
these matchups down the stretch, so he would be my
by coming off a again a solid game. But still
I think people get concerned about him and his injury
track record. Seems he's kind of always banged up, which
is why he is a little bit risky. But I
think it's potentially worth the reward with some of these
plus spots.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
To give you a sense of some of the concerned
around ar Jones in the consents. This the rest of
the season rankings, and these are just amongst the guys
who have updated their rankings since these lists last week's
games have actually happened. These are up to date. He
is one spot ahead of Alvin Kamara. I don't want
anything to do with Alvin Kamara, even coming off the
game ahead. We're going to talk about him later in
this episode. And they are back to back in consensus

(08:16):
rankings to give you a sense of where that value is.
They're in the late twenties RB twenty seven and RB
twenty eight respectively.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
So yeah, Aaron Jones can be had. I don't think
that a manager is holding on to him with a
vice script. Again, this matchup this week is very good.
I would say if you are trying to fight way
into the playoffs, he's probably maybe not the most ideal target.
I think that he's better for some of these playoff
bound teams, just because the Week twelve and thirteen matchups
are really tough against the Packers in Seahawks, So I

(08:45):
don't think that he's going to say be in RB
one in those types of games. But this week obviously
is a prime spot against the Bears and then some
of those playoff matchups that I outlined.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah, what would you give up for him? I mean,
had the injury stuff.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Okay, I'm definitely doing that.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
Okay, Yeah, I think it's fair. I mean, yeah, I don't.
I don't feel it's interesting. A lot of the guys
we talked about on this show throughout the year are like, oh,
you want to take a swing on this guy because
the upside is really high going forward. This feels more
just like he is undervalued. It's hard to paint a
picture where Aaron Jones is like a top eight running back,

(09:25):
you know, over a three week stretch and really like
cameras at home for you. That ceiling feels like it's
not there. But I like, really strongly agree that he
is undervalued in the rankings and is probably like a
smart buy. It's just more of a like you're going
to be getting good value out of it, unless of
he's going to be a true league winner for you.
Does that feel fair?

Speaker 2 (09:45):
I think I'd probably give him a little bit more credit.
You've seen Aaron Jones kind of do this same song
and dance before where he misses basically the entire first
half of the season and then he comes back.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, but he was thirty. Now, like's how is that
going to happen? Right? I genuine I I really don't
know what to say about JJ McCarthy, Like it was
true he makes good plays, and like I think he
has in him to be a good quarterback down the line,
he clearly needs more experience and more reps, which you know,
obviously I'm glad he's getting. But like, the inconsistency is

(10:18):
like clearly going to be there throughout this season. Like,
I don't think even Debro like could not argue against that.
He loves JJ McCarthy more than anybody, And the inconsistency
isn't necessarily the worst thing. Like like, if as long
as you make two or three great throws, justin Jefferson
can still be good with an inconsistent quarterback, right, it's
just going to be less consistent. The problem for me
is just the general offense scoring opportunities if he is
that inconsistent, and so if he continues to take steps forward,

(10:41):
which I think is totally on the table, then the
scoring opportunities can be there for Jones. If not, that
does worry me too. It again, not in terms of
him as a value, but in terms as far as
having a high ceiling.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
I would I would agree with that. Two names the
throgery before we get to the next by low running
back or just buy running back when he marks, or
Aaron Jones or ra Sean White or Aaron Jones or
Tyrone Tracy. That's another name too.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
Do we know what's going on with Bucky IRV? Before
I answered it really it's not coming back.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
I'm not sure it matters.

Speaker 1 (11:15):
So I would rather have Jones in Tyrone Tracy, okay,
which I don't know if that's considered you know, a
hot taker or not. Like I to me, that's actually
a fairly easy call. Mars versus Jones, I actually think
is not an easy call. I would probably slightly lean Jones,
but I see them as very close.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
That's one that you could see get done if you
trade marks.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
Yes, yeah, I could see that getting done. Yes, yeah,
all right, let's go to your next running back to.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Buy Jalen Warren. So he has been on this show before,
so we are repeating some names so I am cheating.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
Has been discussed on this show before, he has not
been on the program. He's not a friend of the show.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
Well, we never know, you never know which guests. Again,
we're gonna do some wild things after the trades end
with some these predictions. So maybe the ball prediction is
we'll get Jalen Warren on the Fantasy Pros program. Regardless,
I expect Warren to finish the season very strong. So
far this year, he's RB eighteen expected points per game,
and I think that he's kind of been the most
efficient guy of the Steelers running backs. Last week fourteen

(12:15):
guys for seventy yards. Did not pop off with this
monster game, just because we saw the Steelers offense really
struggle against the Chargers. But despite that, and Jalen Warren
was still giving you something despite a terrible performance from
the offense. Overall, he's jumping over dudes, he's looking explosive,
he's breaking tackles.

Speaker 1 (12:31):
He's just a good player.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
You know. He's ranked really highly in terms of some
of the efficiency metrics this year nineteenth in PFFS grades,
eleventh and rushing success rate. He only has two rushing
touchdowns all year long, so I think that he's going
to be bound for some positive touchdown regressing because he's
been so efficient as a rusher this season. They're facing
the Bengals this week. They're the number one defense in
terms of giving up fantasy points allowed to running backs.

(12:53):
I don't think that things have improved over there by week.
Maybe Joe Burrow coming back at some point inspires the
defense to make attack, but is it gonna BEI they're
gonna make the tackle every single time? Probably not so Again,
similar to Aaron Jones, I like some of these spots
here for Jalen Warren, especially over the next four weeks.
So if you're trying to make a playoff push, I
think that Jalen Warren can kind of be the key

(13:14):
to that to really give you some boosted running back production,
especially if he starts to run a little bit hotter
with some of these touchdowns. Some of these plus matchups
for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So I like buying Jalen Warren.
He's a good player, he's been efficient this season, and
he's due for some touchdowns.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
If you look at the top twenty five running backs
in just terms of rushing yards this season, this is
across the whole NFL Top twenty five one running back
has a single touchdown. That's Alvin Kamara. There is a
four way tie for second lowest, and Jalen Warren. It's
on that list. It's him, Tony Pollard, Breist Hall, and
Pijon Robinson. So you know guys that you would expect

(13:49):
to have scored more based in the number of rushing
yards that they have at this point in the year running.
Cold warrens in that list and in that conversation, is
he some like I don't feel the same way about
him as I did about Aaron Jones in terms of
saying he doesn't have a real ceiling. But what do
you think that ceiling is for Warren? Because it is

(14:10):
a little hard to see him as like again in
that like upper upper echelon, which which is not the
argument you're trying to make. But where where do you
think that ceiling is in terms of he's really hitting
on the upside and he's starting it to run a
little hotter on touchdowns that maybe like regress in that way,
Where do you think he ends up in terms of
like a high level out.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
I think that he could probably end up being a
low end fantasy RB one the rest of the way
because you look at what he's kind of done without
the touchdowns. It has basically been a fantasy RB two, right,
and that's without any type of touchdown deodorant whatsoever. He's
doing it on all rushing efficiency involved in the passing
game enough. And I do think it's noteworthy that Kenneth
gain Will had no carries in this last game against Chargers.

(14:50):
It was Caleb Johnson that was actually the next running
back in and he's still a rookie. So if they're
kind of getting lukewarm on okay, we're trying to limit
touches for gain Well, then I think that it does
open up the opportunity for Jalen Warren potentially sees a
larger snap share for this backfield. See those red zone
and goal line opportunities. And I think right now is

(15:10):
the last time you get a chance because he's going
to have a big game against Cincinnati Bengals. Even if
he doesn't score once, I still think the rushing yards
is going to be there, and just giving the matchup,
he should score in this game. So Jalen Warren for me,
by low.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
Thinking about the matchups too, like, I've made this quite
a couple of times, so just for maybe those who
haven't heard it yet, late in the season, I am
less concerned about bad teams with good defenses. And I'll
bring that up because Week seventeen Fantasy Championship Jalen Warren
is at Cleveland, that you would be highlighted as, oh,
really difficult matchup. That's a great run defense. Defense, especially

(15:47):
run defense, is really about effort at the end of
the day. And if we're in Week seventeen and the
Browns are three and thirteen or three and twelve, whatever,
would be going into that, like, I think there's a
chance that the defense isn't you know, it's a rivalry game,
so maybe maybe I'm wrong about that, but you know,
I just feel like I'm not. I'm less scared in

(16:07):
those situations than I am early in the year because
a people can get hurt and the defense looks a
lot different and be like, I don't know that the
effort will be there if it's already a lost season
and you're just playing out the string anyway, So I
would be less scared off by those sorts of situations,
then maybe the defensive ranking would suggest, Yeah, no, I

(16:28):
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Speaker 1 (17:47):
All right, ericson, let's get to the running backs to sell.
And by the way, we've mentioned both of these names
already so far in this episode. Let's start off with
Rashad White.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, I'm always giving away the goods before we actually
get to the running back.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (18:01):
Well, because when you ask, well, who would you give
away for this player? I always see these guys are
always top of mind for me because I'm talking about
them writing them down as cells. So the first guy
for me is a Shad White, I think is a cell.
So aside from the Bucky Irvin conversation, which we can
follow up on here where because we still don't really
know exactly when that's going to play out, but just
what we've seen from this backfield the last couple of

(18:21):
weeks between Rashad White and Sean Tucker, so we've seen
closer to a fifty to fifty workload in terms of
the carry amount. So last week, Sean Tucker was the
first running back to face the New England Patriots, the
best run defense in the NFL, to go over fifty
rushing yards against the Patriots. He was the only guy
that's done it so far this season. And it's after
another week before there by week when Shaun Tucker saw

(18:43):
more carries. So right now we're starting to see Rashad
White and Shawn Tucker split carries for the Buccaneers while
Bucky Irving remains sidelined. The split has been twenty three
carries for White, twenty one in favor of Sean Tucker.
But Tucker has just as many red zone attempts as
White as many goal one attempts as Rashada White does,
and he actually has more yards. So although White does

(19:05):
offer that pass catching every single week, especially when the
Buccaneers are throwing more, there is that floor that he offers.
I'm not so sure that I feel so great about oh,
Rashod White locked into this ninety percent snap role like
we've seen at times this year with Bucky Irving out.
So given the fact that he's starting to seed or
lose out and touches to Shan Tucker, especially in the

(19:25):
red zone, and that Bucky Irving will eventually come back
at some point, maybe it's not in the next couple
of weeks, but thinking about like the Fantasy playoffs, is
Bucky Irving back by then, I think so. So that
is going to potentially evaporate all the value that White
has left, which is the reason why I'm trying to
ship him off while he still put up a decent
box score again, caught five passes last week. Wasn't a

(19:47):
bus fear lineup. I just don't want it to go
unnoticed that Shawn Tucker's becoming a bigger part of his
Bucks offense.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
I think it's a good note for people who might
have missed that White. That's a and then I really
like all that much anyway, Like I don't think as
that UD have a player. I worry about how long
the usage is gonna last, Like you have already highlighted here,
it's already starting to not last. Like I'm just not
really that interested in him anyway, So I'd be willing
to sell like pretty low on him honestly that Like

(20:17):
I wouldn't need a whole lot. I wouldn't give him
away for literally nothing, but I wouldn't need a ton
in return to be willing to move off of White.
So like, I'm very much on board with this one. Here,
is there a name that comes to mind for you that, like,
just right off the bat, like this is the type
of guy that I would give him up for, Like not,
I don't want you to throw at a name that like, hey,
you should aim high for this, Like who are the

(20:38):
names that you were like willing to settle for to
move off of White.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
I think that going it that way is the wrong approach.
I think it's more about you. If you ever shot White,
you find the Buckyrving manager, because that's the person that's
going to give you the most for White, regardless of
whatever position it is. So I think sometimes in trades,
when become so fixated on this player for this player,
when it's let's target the manager, like that's what we're

(21:02):
trying to do here. And I think the person that's
going to give you the most for Rashad White based
on the value that he's offering right now is the
person that's sitting on Bucky Irving. He keeps getting updates
from Todd Bowles that says, yeah, I don't know when
he's coming back. I'm not really sure because that's panic
for that manager to think, Man, I just got to
get for shod White. So that's a player that I
think that that's the move that you try to make.

(21:23):
So unfortunately I can't see anyone's roster right now, but
that's what I would presume that that's probably the best
move to make to get the maximum return for Vershad White. So,
whether it's a running back, a tight end, a wide receiver, quarterback,
find the Bucky Irving manager who's probably panic and freaking
out because there's still no timetable on when Irving is
supposed to come back.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
This is not a trick question. He has done it
this year. When was the last week that you think
Rashod White averaged at least four yards per carry?

Speaker 2 (21:56):
It was probably it was the Texans game, I think, right,
which was like week three.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
Week two? It was the Textans game.

Speaker 2 (22:03):
Okay, and it was the text I can't remember they
played the Text.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
He has not averaged even four yards per carries. In fact,
most weeks he's been under three yards per carry, although
the last.

Speaker 2 (22:12):
That's kind of been. You know, White's not claim to fame,
like the opposite of claim to fame, because he's basically
known more as a pass catcher. I would say too
as well. I didn't talk about this when I was
first outlining Rashad White. The Buccaneers also lost that offensive lineman.
They lost one of their interior left guards, Ben Bretison.
He got hurt against the Patriots. So again another offensive
line piece down that hurts the interior protection. So just

(22:35):
another reason why I don't expect Rashad White's efficiency to
dramatically change. And I think you can even probably use
the Buffalo matchup this week as another reason to push
someone towards trading for White, because on paper, the match
up against the Bills is excellent for running backs.

Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah, has claimed the lame. That feels to me, there's something.
We'll figure it out. Uh yeah, I'm not a shod
white guy. Let's go to the next one, who the
aforementioned Alvin Kamara. We're sticking in the NFC South for
this running backs to Celles section. Frankly, last week I
did multiple shows with people who had Kamara as a

(23:14):
player to drop, like reached that level. If you didn't
drop him, this is your your nectar from the fantasy gods,
your opportunity, just the open window here to say. And
then of course there's a bye week, so it's like
how much can you even really sell them for even
if you could convince somebody that this is a bounce
back game and this is the time. But I mean,

(23:35):
similar to Rashad White ericson maybe you have a different
strategy here too. My thought with Kamara is like trade
him for absolutely and if there's if you can get
a player that you don't want to immediately drop, make
that trade.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
Yeah, that's exactly what I would do here. Thing with
Kamara is, yes, bounce back in a big way. Last week,
twenty five touches for over one hundred yards from scrimmage
twenty two carries repasses for thirty two yards. Worm he
wasn't a fantasy RB one last week he had twenty
five touches and still couldn't finish as a fantasy RB one,

(24:10):
which I don't think he's finished at all this season.
I don't think he has won RB one finish on
the year inside the top twelve, so I don't know.

Speaker 1 (24:17):
He does not have one finish and I'm looking this
is in half VPR scoring. He does not have a
single finish inside the top fifteen. You even give him
a buffer of a few spots to get up to
RB one, he does not. His best finish this year
is RB sixteen. And by the way, it was not
a good game. It was in Week six. He had
ten point one fantasy points. It must have just been

(24:37):
a week week, like a very poor week for running
backs for that to be RB sixteen. Well, like, yeah,
he's only been inside the top twenty three times.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
It's been tough, and I don't think it's all necessarily
on Alvin Kamara. He is an older running back. The
usage hasn't been nearly as stellar as it's been in
years past. I think his receiving has kind of been
really inconsistent just this past week. Yes, even though he
got twenty five touches, he was still splitting routes with
Devin Neil. Devin Neil had just as many targets as
Alvin Kamara did and he's a rookie running back. So

(25:08):
that's a concern for Kamara whether this sticks. How many
times are the Saints going to win games for the
rest of the season. Right because you had positive game
script here, they were able to load up Avin Kamara
with twenty five touches. This might be his touch ceiling
all year long. And if this is his ceiling in
any game RB sixteen on the week or whatever he
ended up finishing as, that's just not enough. That's not

(25:29):
enough for you to go out and feel confident about
Alvin Kamara when we've seen the shaky floor where if
Tyler Shuck has a bad game, Kamara just kills your
lineup and you can't have that in the fantasy playoffs.
So even though Kamara it seems like, yes, Okay, it's back,
he's got the volume, this can evaporate in bad game scripts.
If Devin Neiil's more involved Taysom Hill. He's stilled seven carries.

(25:50):
It's still a three headed backfield where Kellen Moore likes
to feature three different guys between Devin Neil, Alvin Kamara,
and Taysom Mill. And that's very worrisome when they get
in the red zone. Who are they going into deploy
as that red zone rusher? Is it gonna be tasto
of Hill vulturing the touchdowns in the fantasy postseason and
you're pulling your hair out. So that's why for me,
you got to ship off Alvin Kamara after he had
a solid game here, like this is your last chance

(26:11):
to get anything worth of value for him. Like you said,
he's still going on the bye week, and I think
what you might want to do. I don't know if
trade persuade kind of help with this as well, but
the schedule rest of the season looks pretty good for Kamara. Yeah,
I think that's more of a point of selling than oh,
I need to hold on because it's going to pan
out for Kamara. Older running backs don't tend to like
have monster second half finishes. If anything, it's just a

(26:34):
reason to just hold on to Devin Neil, Right, just
keep him on your roster, your rookie running back. If
Kamara gets banged up or something like that happens, maybe
you cause see Devin Neil kind of explode if he
takes on a larger share of the offense, maybe a
little bit more juice as a younger, explosive rookie running back. So, yes,
the schedule does seem like maybe there is a glimmer
of hope with Alvin Kamara. But I've just seen so

(26:54):
much from this offense this year. Maybe it's I mean,
are we going to be wrong about Tyler Shuck? Is
Tyler Shuk gonna change? I know again, he's had one
good game, one bad game. Again, he's a rookie quarterback.
Usually they don't tend to elevate offenses. But he looked
decent or much better against Carolina Panthers. So I guess
for me, it's like I'm not trying to overthink it
and think, oh, yeah, like I should have Alvin Kamara

(27:15):
on my team. Now, That's kind of how I'm trying
to like not do that and just focus on, Hey,
are sample size this year with Kamara in the Saints'
office just not been good. So if someone else wants
to believe then I would ship him off.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
Yeah, I mean the schedule, like getting Tennessee in week seventeen.
He talked about, like how many games are the Saints
gonna win? Like that's probably one of them. Tennessee is
so bad they do get Carolina again. Miami has been
a bad run defense at times this year, although they've
been better lately. Like that. But that to your point,
that is a case to make in trying to convince

(27:48):
somebody to take Kamara. That's not a case to keep
him in like that. That's a way you get a
trade done. That's not a that's not a justification for saying, well,
maybe you know he gets the volume keep so up
and he's a high floor play. Don't fall for that.
He just trade him Ogain. We're talking about this, guys
as a drop a week ago, like get whatever you can,

(28:11):
a bucket of football's and be happy and be on
your way. It feels like this has been a largely
negative episode so far, just players that I really don't like.
Let's get into the audience questions here ericson and see
if we can be maybe a little more positive and
help help folks out. First question here, t Higgins and

(28:33):
Kyle Manungai for aj Brown and Jacory Krossky merit.

Speaker 2 (28:39):
I want the t Higgins side.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
That's I want to ask. Actually, Joe Burrow, you know,
is now practicing, and we didn't really have a natural
point to talk about that in our Wide Receivers episode.
We are not talking about any of the Bengals. So
I think this may be a good opportunity to just
get your thoughts on that, Like, does that change anything
for you? Like it he said Thanksgiving? Ish if he
really is back, Like, let's say he doesn't hit Thanksgiving,

(29:04):
but it's the week after which I hope as a
Ravens fan, week fourteen, you are at like basically the
end of the last week of the regular season in
a lot of leagues and then the fantasy playoffs. Are
you a wanting to pick up Burrow if he's been dropped?
Are you wanting to consider starting him if you've been
holding on to him right off the bat and be

(29:26):
like Higgins and Chase have been awesome with Flacco? Is
it gonna be a downgrade? Maybe that first week back
it's like, well, we don't know what Burrow is gonna look.
I know he's Burrow, but like first week back, we
don't know what he looks like, a lot of rust
all this stuff. We know how he tends to start
seasons with a lot of russ from the summer. Like,
is it almost going to be a downgrade for Chase
and Higgins at that point? How do you feel about
the whole thing?

Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah, I think that the overarching thought is, Oh, it's
wheels up, he's back. It's gonna be an upgrade. But dude,
it's really hard to upgrade what Joe Flacco has been
doing with his Tichaels team. It's I mean there firing
on all cylinders. Chase is seen fifteen plus targets a game.
So just again, I hate to admit that, but it

(30:08):
feels like they are kind of already maxed out. And
I don't know if like adding Burrow like changes that dramatically.
And it's not because he's not one of the best
quarterbacks in the NFL. It's just because Joe Flako has
been playing just numbers wise, like one of the best
quarterbacks in the NFL as a passer in just terms
of fueling his fantasy wide receivers for production. So I
do think that the concern is the rust where we've

(30:31):
seen Joe Burrow. You know, he's traditionally one of the
worst quarterbacks to open the year weeks one and two
if he's missing time. So I almost kind of feel
like Burrow wouldn't put himself out there if he didn't
feel like he was going to actually help the offense.
So maybe it is something that we don't see him
until he really feels like he is. No, I feel
like I'm ready to go. I don't feel rusty. I'm
ready to start, So maybe it's delayed a little bit.

(30:52):
More that being said, I think that you hope that
it would be week fourteen he would come back if
you're going to come back at all, so you can
get at least one sample size of a MI in
real game action, and then for the playoffs, you feel okay,
one game under his belt now the Bengals can fire
and all cylinders throughout the Fantasy playoffs. But I think
that definitely is worth an ad if somebody dropped him
just because it is Joe Burrow and the Bengals schedule

(31:14):
is just absolutely fantastic, and honestly, almost doesn't really matter
what the schedule is because their Gavin's is so bad
a Lemons or shootouts, so it helps that the schedule
is also good. But just the game scripts that the
Bengals playing just to create so much potential for fantasy scoring.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
I agree with you. I want the T Higgins in
the nun guy side rather than the AJ Brown and
Bill Krosskey Merritt's side. Next question here. By the way,
these questions came in from Twitter slash x, So I
try to drop a post here every week soliciting questions.
So be keeping out next week. Like I said, went
to our last time doing the trades and get your
questions in if you have anything specific you want to ask.

(31:53):
This question is get Stefan Diggs giveaway Chase Brown. This
person has Amen Raw and CD plus Alec Pierce, Parker
Washington and Ted McMillan. They on the running back side
have Josh Jacobs, Jordan Mason, JK. Dobbins, R. J. Harvey.
They would be giving away Chase Brown to get Stefan Diggs.
I very strongly would not do this. I would much

(32:14):
rather have Chase Brown than Digs, like probably in a vacuum.
Maybe that's like I think it's probably about even value wise,
but given the makeup of this roster, I'd rather have Brown.

Speaker 2 (32:26):
Yeah, especially because you just lost Dobbins, right, we don't
know how long his injury is going to.

Speaker 1 (32:30):
Hees Harvey, so that's like a boost to Harvey. But yeah,
like Mason is not startable at this point, Like.

Speaker 2 (32:37):
Yeah, Mason, you can't start. Mason's a handcuff.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
Like you have Jacobs one of the Broncos running backs,
and that's it. If you get rid of Chase Brown
and you have Amran Lamb, You're never sitting. Then you
can get together one of Alec Pearce, Parker Washington, Tedroo
McMillan could take off on the side. Like to me,
this is very easy. Just keep Chase Brown.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
Oh yeah, especially because Chase we just wax poetic about
the Bengal Yeah, I mean Chase Brown is part of that.
Even though he's running back and not one of the receivers,
he benefits from the schedule too, So yeah, keep Chase Brown.

Speaker 1 (33:08):
We got multiple questions ericson about Bjeon Robinson. One of
them was just should I trade Bejon and if so,
who would you look to acquire? A second question along
with the same lines, just kind of asking about Bejon's
general trade value. This is somebody that I talked a
little bit about with Tara on our five Moves to
Make Before We goleven short form yesterday, which is on
YouTube and I think also on audio. So Bijon is

(33:29):
on the mind of folks with three straight you know,
poor performances relative to what he was earlier in the
year and also relative to your expectations when drafting him.
Are nobody is panicking on John Robinson, but are you
open to trading him and kind of gauging his trade
value and maybe moving on for the right deal.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
I would not be trading him away. I would be
looking to trade for him. That's the way I see it.
He was drafted as a number one overall player in
a lot of leagues for I still think a lot
of the right reasons. Now, I just think that this
is probably more of a prime time to try to
buy low on him, and it's bylow's probably not the
right word. I think it just means he's able to
be acquired now because there is a sense of doubt

(34:11):
in the back of people's minds that all I can
think about is Algier scoring all of these red zone
rushing touchdowns in a prime time So okay, wait on
an island spot playing in that international game. So I
still think that Bijon is one of the best players
in the NFL. You know, it was only a couple
of weeks ago that he was leading all players in
terms of yards per game from scrimmage. He's still highly

(34:32):
involved as a receiver out of the backfield. The Falcons
have kind of been just been up and down quarterback injury.
Michael pennixm is the game. I want to buy b
Shon Robinson because I know that he can go on
a stretch for four games and score more points than
anybody else in fantasy football. And if I have that
on in my lineup, that's something I would cherish going
into the fantasy postseason. So I would be looking to

(34:54):
buy bjon.

Speaker 1 (34:56):
Other than Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, and Jamior Gibbs. I
would give up any running back in football for b
Jeon Robinson without hesitation. I would add to any I
would add to Josh Jacobs, James Cook. Fine, ay chan
even like that's how strongly I feel about b Jeon Robinson.
So like I'm very much with you. There are very

(35:16):
few pieces on a fantasy team that I would say, no,
I'm not moving them for Bijon. It's basically those three
running backs. And then like JSN like honestly, even like
like Puka gets bagged up a lot, like you know,
Jamar Chase is technical playing with the backup quarterback, Like,
there's really not many names I wouldn't move for Bjon.

(35:37):
I do so, I think because like the question is
about Bjon's trade value. I don't know. Maybe that person
was actually asking from the reverse of trying to trade
for him, so maybe it is worth hitting on that.
But like I think the trade value is like you said,
he's probably not untouchable right now, but it's still going
to cost a lot. So if you really are inclined

(35:58):
to trade him away, I think that's a mistake. But
I would ask for a lot. I would treat him
like a like if we were drafting today, he'd be
a top three pick. That would be the type of
value I would be trying to get back for him.
Otherwise just hold him like I wouldn't look to move him,
just like, oh well I can still get something. That's
not the case for Bijeon.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
And so you think so you think McCaffrey finishes ahead
a Bjon rest of season.

Speaker 1 (36:22):
I don't know, but I think he's good enough that, like,
I would just rather hold on. I think the top
four are really clear in my opinion, JT one, and
I think the other three, Like right now, the order
on the consensus rankings is Jon, McCaffrey, Gibbs. Like, I
think you could quibble with that order of any of
those three, and I'd like, if I just had one,

(36:42):
I would I wouldn't be trading within there. I would
just be happy with the one I have. And then
it's after that that I feel like there's a bit
of a step down. Do you disagree? Do you think
there's a step down.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
I don't think it's stepped down necessarily. I just I
just always in the back of my mind with McCaffrey, right,
which is sure all the volume that he's saying and
the fact that they have been using Brian Robinson a
little bit more the last couple of weeks. So I
know that everyone's getting annoyed to tell that was year,
but Brian Robinson's kind of been a red zone. He
scores two rushing touchdowns the last two weeks. Now the
receiving with McCaffrey's has been like super ridiculous. But his rushing,

(37:13):
his efficiency is not that great this year. It just
really hasn't been And that's not all his fault forty
nine ers offense hasn't been really as good at opening
up holes. But I mean, no one will be shocked
if it's like, oh, well, Bjeon just run circles around
CMC rest of the season, especially if CMC gets bad.

Speaker 1 (37:26):
Well, you know here, here's the other case. CMC has
a bye still and that that's a good plate in
the season. Could be the difference maker if you see
guys as really equal. So maybe I take a pick Bmbe.
I would trade McCaffrey for be Sean. But I mean
McCaffrey's been so good when he's on the field in general.
So again, those four I just think are in their
own tier. Well, Jonathan Taylor's in his own tier, and

(37:48):
then the other three are in their own tiers. Yea.

Speaker 2 (37:50):
He scores three touchdowns every single Yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:53):
Last question here, this is more of a general one.
How do you get a league to make trades? This
is something that I feel like has been taught about
more and more on Twitter I know Brian Drake, who
contributes for US on Fantasy Pros, had a video and
also an article about this recently. I know there was
a really interesting article about this from Scott White CBS
for Fantasy Baseball, and it was either this past summer

(38:16):
or the summer before that. I remember reading like, it's
not just a football thing, it's fantasy sports in general.
Trading has become a real nightmare. It's really hard because
so many people and you and I have talked about this.
I think on this show this year, ericson, so many
people are trying to win the trade. They want. The

(38:37):
goal of trading for a lot of people in fantasy
is I want to share this trade on social and
have people say, wow, Fleece, you did such a great job.
I want the group chat to blow up and go
I can't believe you got all that value for this guy.
It's about winning the trade rather than making your team better.
And I just think that there's so many situations I've

(38:58):
come across over the years where a trade would clearly
improve a team. Somebody has eight amazing wide receivers and
one good running back and they're like, well, I can't
trade my wide receiver seven for your RB two because
my wide receiver is ranked higher. I'm like, well, that's
because you overloaded that position on your team. You can't

(39:20):
start a guy like there's so so many of you
are worried about winning the trade rather than just making
your team better. It drives me nuts. What is your solution?
Ericson how do you get a league to make trades?

Speaker 2 (39:32):
Well, I do think that Trade Central on Fantasy pros
helps a lot because it suggests trades that are win
wins that benefit both sides, and those are some of
the most highly recommended trades that it comes up with,
So that's a good starting point. I always think that
looking for how to improve someone else's roster first, so

(39:53):
thinking for others before yourself type of mindset is also
helpful in getting trades done, especially at the onesie position,
where you know some people will argue and debate about well, no,
my running backs aren't that bad, or my wide receivers
aren't that bad. But when you look at someone's roster
and you see that they have justin fields like QB one,
like everyone knows they need help a quarterback like they're

(40:14):
not They're not getting that by or especially if they're
starting like Zaccher, it's a tight end, right, so it's
like very very clear what their need is. And that's
also something in trade Central. It identifies what teams need
the most, and whether some managers disagree with that or not,
especially at the onesie positions, it's really really easy to
tell when somebody needs something. So those are some of
the things I've thought about. Something that I've kind of

(40:37):
mulled over my mind that would force more trades out
of necessity would be to limit your waiver wire transactions
so you don't actually have access to the waiver wiring
relis much. This wouldn't be a restriction on necessarily like
maybe the amount of a waiver wire chain or maybe

(40:58):
that would be the case here. But if you limit
the wave of wire, because people can always pick up players,
Oh I need to pick a receiver, I need to
pick up a running back, I need to fill my
roster spot. Well, if you limit that to well you
can only make three transactions a week, then trading becomes
even more integral because oh, well I have to make
a trade to fill out my roster or else I can't.

(41:18):
Now on the other side of the coin, I don't
like limiting anyone in fantasy. I always like having as
many options possible. So again I don't think this is
the perfect solution, but it could be a way to
encourage trading because I can't use the waver wire as
much or as another factor making your benches deeper. Where
the waver wire has nothing on it, so the wave

(41:40):
wire is barren. How do you improve the roster you
have to make trades? So those are a couple of
things that I've at least kind of thought about when
it comes to trades. I wish there was like a
way to reward managers after they make trades, so kind
of like further incentivizing them. Maybe you get like waiver
wire budget or wave wire bucks if you make a
successful trade, and it can't be one of these where
you make the trade in the next week you trade

(42:00):
the players back, so you can't do that. So maybe
those are a couple of things that could encourage trading.
Maybe even like you get points, I don't know, like
something like that, like where you're really like encouraged to, hey,
you get two extra points if you make a trade
this week, Like people would be like because what does
that do? Like that helps their team that helps their
starting lineup because oh, I get two extra points, even

(42:21):
though if they just made the trade in the first place,
they'd probably get two extra points.

Speaker 1 (42:24):
Anyway, I haven't found a great solution for re draft leagues.
I will say, like, I get so many more trades
on in Dynasty because people you could always make the
case of like you're looking for the future and then
you're never you know, the season is never aw wash,
you're getting a higher draft pick, you're doing something like
it's still matters throughout the year, and so I always
find trades happen more in my Dynasty leagues. Now, the

(42:46):
problem with that is that I run into just self
evaluation of your team, like, like so many people in
leagues that I'm with, like are really bad at looking
in the mirror and saying, like, I'm not a contender
this year, and it would make sense for me to
trade Derek Henry because he's older and are running back,
but they're just unwilling to because they can't admit to
themselves that they're not a contender. I run into that

(43:07):
a lot in Dynasty, But at least people are willing
to talk trades in Dynasty more more than a reje.
So really, what I do is just yell about it.
I'm like, God, like, stop trying to win the trade.
Just make your team better, and you know that's the
best you can hope for. Here we'll wrap up this
part one on that Part two coming up on YouTube
and audio. Don't forget about our weekly trade live stream

(43:28):
on our YouTube channel. You can come and ask your
specific fantasy trade questions. We'll be with you every Wednesday
at three pm Eastern. For those listening on the podcast,
just go to YouTube dot com slash Fantasy Pros, subscribe
and click the bell to be notified of all of
our weekly live streams. For ericson, I'm Ryan Warmley. Thanks
for tuning in. We'll see you next time. Thanks for
listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football podcast. If you

(43:49):
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
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to our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash Fantasy
Pros

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Pat Fitzmaurice

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