April 13, 2023 • 23 mins
Marcas Grant and Michael F. Florio are back for another edition of the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast! Today our hosts are joined by Emory Hunt to discuss this years draft prospects! Emory sheds some light on the big moves some teams may make this draft and where some notable names may end up.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, what's up everybody? Welcome to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast,
where we don't have to do our own Pro days,
and if we did, we'd have the guy here to
scout us and probably give us all the bad results.
(00:20):
So I'm Michael le Florio, joined by Marcus Grant, who
this is like your Jordan Fluke day. Yeah, I'm playing
a little bit hurt. I woke up this morning the
throat was not but we're gonna battle. We're gonna get
through this one. And joining us today the guy who
would be scouting on pro days because he scouts little.
If you've ever carried a football, the chances are Emory
Hunt has watched you play. So joining us right now
(00:42):
is Emory Hunt. You can find him on Twitter at
fball game Plan, and of course you have to go
out and buy the most in depth draft guy that
I've ever laid eyes on. You can go and get
it through to Emory's Twitter page or website Football gameplan
dot com. Emory, thank you so much for joining us.
I appreciate you guys have me on. I appreciate Marcus
(01:04):
gutting get out that that adds another notch in his
scouting report. That he's fighting through an injury. I love it.
I love it. Do you give guys a boost when
they play through injury or illness or something like that
show's toughness. No, but I will take some points off
if you look dumb and equipment, like if you're just
doesn't look right, nah, he doesn't look right in equipment,
or you wear a bad number at a skill position.
(01:26):
Points off. I mean, look, Deon Sanders said, you look good,
you play good, right, So it makes sense. It all
works together, it checks out. And of course if you
listen to the show for a while now you know
that Emory joins us each and every year around this
time because no one has watched more of these college
prospects then Emory, So we bring him in every year
(01:46):
to talk some of these guys that we like, some
of these guys that we don't know. And just the
thing I love most about Emory two is he doesn't,
you know, fall in line with the consensus thinking or
anything like. He grades players by how he sees them,
which takes us to our first question, Emory, what made
you put Anthony Richardson as your number one quarterback when
(02:06):
most people have either Bryce Young or c. J. Stroud.
For me, it's a combination of skill set and also
upside potential. So you're looking at a projection here. So
when you go back to watch Anthony Richarson, everyone I
always said, well, what game did you watch? Because I
said this take in July before he even took a
snap as a full time starter. And people call me
crazy then, and he probably still call me crazy now.
(02:29):
But I look back at the LSU game, and that,
to me told you everything that you need to know
about Anthony Richardson. He didn't start that game. They were
still doing that thing with Emory Jones. He came in
the game through a horrible interception I think in his
third past or maybe it was his first pass. It
was a pick six. They get down. He stays in
the game, fights through that adversity, leads him to a
(02:50):
big lead, and did a lot of different things and
great things, not only inside the red zone, throwing the football,
throwing guys open, made some great tight window throws. LSU
storm back took the lead. So now it's the end
of the game and they need to drive down for
a touchdown. Anthony Richinson starts on the twenty, brings him
up to the fifty yard line, some great passes, some
great time management skills, and he's throwing what look to
(03:13):
be the game winning touchdown down the rail route to
his receiver who's won on one with a linebacker. He
gets hit as he throws and the ball hangs up
and the guy catches the interception ins the game. That
game shows you, man, this dude definitely can overcome adversity.
He doesn't let bad massakes linger and he on that throw.
Even on a score sheet it'll say interception, but it
(03:35):
was the right throw and it was the right read.
And that was a guy that didn't start the game,
so he came off cold and he never knew when
he was gonna come into a game and had to really,
you know, hone in and lock in and play. So
for me, you watch that little snippet and then you
extrapolate that, Okay, if he can do this and one
of his major weaknesses or Knox is experienced, but we
can give you that, we can get you to play
(03:56):
a lot. And I think that's why when you look
at Anthony rich and I was so high on him
and still am in this process, so I look, in
all fairness, you've got Richardson one. But you've got him
the same grade as Bryce Young and c. J. Stroud,
So you got them one, two, three. When I picked
up the guide, I'm looking through it and I'm like,
all right, so he's got those guys top three. All right,
(04:17):
So where's Will Levis? And I'm scrolling and I'm scrolling
and I'm scrolling. I'm like, WHOA, You've got Will Levis
at eighteen. Now you still think he has the ability
to be a starter in this league and be a
good player, But eighteen is this? Is this the male
in the coffee? Is it? The eating eating a whole
rotten banana? Like? What what did you see or not
(04:37):
see out of Will Levins that puts you at eighteen?
For him, well, that weighed significantly heavily in his grade,
Like I don't even like in the brown parts of
the banana, parts of banana, and here you are eating
the whole feeling like definitely gonna fall down my board.
But now when you look at Will Levis, and this
is something that you guys understand because you guys have
(04:58):
you know, followed me for a while in terms of
migrating when you grate so many guys and not if
people just constantly throw at you, Okay, here's the five
names you need to know, and you just grade those
five guys. Having Will Levi's fourth would be like, okay, yeah,
that's cool, that's you know, that's okay. But when you
grate so many guys and you just got to be
honest in what you see, you kind of fall in line.
(05:18):
And so I like a bunch of guys better in
terms of where they are currently based off their film,
more so than Will Levis. And people bring up, well,
he didn't have, you know, help, he didn't have weapons,
he didn't have this The grass wasn't this blue in
Kentucky this year, the bourbon wasn't where it needed to be,
all that stuff, right, And so now you look at
last year's tape, it was still the same thing as
(05:38):
this year's tape. He wasn't as good last year. And
people talk about the weapons he lost, like he lost
wine Delle Robinson who caught a lot of tap passes
that he turned into sixty five yard touchdown passes down
the field. So what are we really talking about? And
for me, you look at his age, you look at
his inability to really place the ball, concern assistantly, which
(06:00):
leads to a lot of interceptions, some bad ones, some
cruicial ones. And he's supposed to be this great athlete,
yet I always see him taking a lot of sacks,
not getting out the weight. So he's supposed to supersede
a bad offensive line, right, and so there's a lot
of factors in that. And you look at his overall taping,
just don't see it. So I'm not gonna force it
because everyone is saying richardson Strout, you know, brights young,
(06:22):
Will Levis, Nah, there's like, as you mentioned, fifteen other
guys I have ahead of Levis outside of the top three.
And with this running back class, it's Bijean, Bijean, Bijan.
It feels like if you ask like a hundred different people,
ninety nine of them would say Bijan is there RB one.
Luckily we have the one here who doesn't feel that
(06:43):
way because you have Jamar Gibbs ranked ahead of Bjean Robinson.
It's funny because Jamir Gibbs had us watching a lot
of Georgia Tech football when Georgia chech stunk, and so
I was like, man, who's this running back? Man? This
dude is legit and you start to say, man, if
he played at al Bama, Alabama will be unbeatable. Then
he goes a hidden transfers to Alabama and gets an opportunity.
(07:05):
I don't think he was using enough at Bama. And
all of the things that I like about Bijean Robinson
I like about Jamir Gibbs, just he does it more
explosive and faster and more elusive. So to me, that
makes him the better option. And I still like Bijean.
I said this before, this is someone if you look
at my grades from twenty twenty to twenty twenty three,
(07:27):
Bijan will ranked third behind Jamir Gibbs and DeAndre Swift.
And you know, I just feel like, you know, Bijan
is someone that's excellent, a complete back, a three down guy,
so is Jamir Gibbs. And because he does it at
a more explosive and more elusive and the more dynamic
in my opinion level. So every once in a while
(07:48):
I like to kind of pat myself on the back
for stuff. And the more I look at Taija Spears,
the more I like him. And you've got him as
you're running back for tell me what it is about
Taija Spears that jumped out at you. It was it's amazing.
When you watch someone play and you just are you
find yourself wowing a lot every time. And for Taija Spears,
(08:12):
you're watching him, you're like, man, this dude, how did
he get to that cutback? How did he find that
second or third gear to hit that home run? And
it's like Jesus, like this, dude, this it's amazing. And
not only is he amazing athletically, he's doing it in
top tier uniform combinations as well, so it looks even
better while he's doing it right, because his uniform is
(08:34):
just flawless with that two lane Sea Green in Awkwa right,
So when you look at him, it's to speed, explosiveness, acceleration.
And I was shocked when it came out that he
was five nine two o four because his comparison for
me was Breeze Hall because they have such a smooth,
decisive running style, able to dig deep and find you know,
(08:54):
the backside. Crease has the acceleration to really hit the
home run. And the fact that he's doing it not
at six one two twenty like Breece Hall, but in
a smaller package. It made it even more impressive. So
I just think Tulane found themselves a gym because they
had a little bit of running back factory going on.
Some guys that were productive. For Spears was the one
(09:16):
that did it in a dynamic fashion more so than
they everyone else. And while we're on the running back
class with Bjohn Robinson, you always hear the popular comparison
right now with Saquon Barkley, and it feels like an
echo chamber sometimes because that's what everyone comparison to. But
not only do you say he is not Saquon Barkley,
(09:37):
you compare him. Your player count for him is Cedric Benson. Yeah.
And see a lot of people think football just came
out in two thousand, you know, fifteen. They don't understand
this game has been around for a hundred years. So
when you're talking to someone that is of my age,
we have an expansive football you know library or encyclopedia,
(10:00):
So we've seen a lot, so nothing that's ever new.
And you go back and watch Cedric Benson and how
smooth he ran and how consistently choppy his steps were.
But they were productively choppy as he was constantly making
moves going downhill and was just so solid as a
running back prospect coming out of Texas. It looks a
lot like Bijon Robinson because when you watch se Quon,
(10:21):
you're seeing you know, Barry Sanders plus two hundred and
thirty pounds, right, And so that's the difference. That's why
he's not s Quon. S Quan is more, you know, laterally,
quick and agile and faster. S Quan ran four to three.
I think Bijan ran like low four or five. That's
a significant difference, right, And also when you can buy
(10:42):
in the fact that he has the ability to make
that first guy missed, which is where I think Bijon
isn't as consistent at in doing. That's a difference. But
when you look at someone that's gonna be tough to tackle,
that finds those little creases in the back within tight spaces,
and here's a football you know reference for you guys, right.
(11:04):
Watching Bijen run and watching things he do within confined
spaces reminds me a lot of what Marcus Allen did
in the run against Washington. Not the one way he
reversed Phield and when sending something out it was a
second short yards touchdown where he cut it back, you know,
in the middle of the line of scrimmage and right
before he's stumbling, he had enough you know where thought
(11:27):
to make that extra guy miss that bought him a
half a second to where he could fall into the
end zone. That's the type of stuff that's just rare
that you see from Beijon Robinson. People have talked about
about this wide receiver class and not necessarily being as
deep as we've seen it in the past, not a
lot of outside guys, maybe some more guys who were
(11:47):
in the slot. But when you looked at this group,
what are your overall thoughts on this year's wide receiver class.
It's a lot of what you mentioned Because normally when
you go in or when I have gone in the
last five years, you know, because of what we see
in college football, I expected to see a little bit
more spread out. I didn't expect to see this many
(12:08):
slot guys. This many guys that are five nine, five ten,
five eleven that can play inside. They got good quickness,
So it's kind of like the tight end class to me,
where yeah, it's a it's a good class. I still
think this receiver class is really good it's just spread
out across a different forms in different positions. Because you know,
you got your split in your your Z receivers, your slots,
(12:30):
and your bigger inside guys that like to call La
Marcus coasting position, and so you see the talent spread
out equally. But there is a bunch of slot guys.
So you better hope that if you're getting a slot guy,
he better well double up as your punt returner or
your kickoff returner or can be used in the wide
receiver run game, because that's now prevalent in the NFL.
(12:52):
These guys got to be able to do what Wandelle
Robinson was doing that Kentucky and what he started to
do a little bit with the Giants before he got injured.
We don't know landing spots yet, but without knowing them,
which wide receiver do you feel most confident could have
an impact immediately? And then there's always like a wide
(13:14):
receiver that we don't project to go like day one
or even Day two that gets pulled up and makes
a pretty good impact. Is there anyone like that that's
called your eye? Well, to answer your first question, I
look at Jackson Smith and Jig but and I tweeted
this out and I'm kind of, you know, putting it
out there in the atmosphere and hope hopefully it happens
because it would make so much sense. Him and Atlanta
(13:37):
would make a great pairing. You know, I know they
went wide receiver in Round one last year with Drake London.
I know they went tight end in Round one the
year prior with Kyle Pitts. Double down again, man, try
to build for your young quarterback. What Cincinnati did for
Joe Burrow and him paired up with Drake London would
be just tremendous. So he's someone I feel I can
(13:58):
go anywhere and be successful. I'm a big fan of
what he does because he can he can play. He
can play the deep game, he could play the short game,
he could play then intermediate game. He's a catching run guy.
So he's someone that's that scheme, diverse, in versatile. Ask
your answer your second question. Everyone loves the the you know,
the IVY League kid, andre Uh you'll seevas Um. I
(14:19):
think he's someone that is definitely, you know, athletic. He's
a hetathlete. He's six three two fifteen. He doesn't play
six three two fifteen but he runs like someone that
is five eleven one eighty five, so you get a
mismatch on the inside or as a as a Z receiver.
Um because he's physical, because he's a big he's a
(14:42):
big guy, and you know he hass some some physicality
that he does tend to play with at times. He
got to be a little bit more consistent in that area.
But try to catch him on a on a low
crosser on a deep overroad, it's not happening. So he's
someone I think can step in uh and coming from
the later rounds and have an immediate impact. I want
to go back to Bijean and the running backs because
(15:03):
you tweeted about teams not wanting to pay running backs
and position will fall off and that sort of thing.
We're seeing it in the draft to where running backs
guys who are really good will fall I mean, if
you had the decision to make, would you spend a
top ten pick on Bijan Robinson or Jimir Gibbs basically
just based on their talent and not on their position exactly.
(15:26):
That's to me. Listen, we Marcus, I can you know
say that you are older young man? Right? Yeah? Right?
So will you remember a time when first round picks. Okay,
I see why this dude, when the first round he's
legit dope. I always bring up the eighty nine class
with what four to five picks with Hall of famers.
(15:47):
That's first round picked to me and one of them
with Barris Sanders. So yes, take the guy that can
help you win consistently in the first round. People thought
I was dumb in twenty eighteen when I said, if
I was the Browns with the first in fourth pick,
I'm taking say KWin number one because I know everyone
is gonna go crazy, and I know I can get
the best quarterback at number four, and that's Lamar Jackson,
(16:08):
and I'm gonna lead the league in rushing for the
next decade. So if a guy is worthy of a
first round pick, take him in the first round. There's
a significant difference between Reggie Bush and Lindale White, you know.
So yes, you take the Reggie Bush in the first round.
You take him in the top five. He probably should
have gone number one, you know, And you can find
(16:30):
the Lindale Whites. It's more of the Lindale Whites than
they are of the Reggie Bushes. So I am going
to take the Jamir Gibbs or the Jean Robinson's early
in the first round or in the first round one,
because if I need someone that's a game breaker, I'm
taking them. And secondly, people have to say you don't
give running back second contracts, Well, wouldn't that make more
(16:52):
sense to take them in round one? We can get
them for the five years at their youngest, at their
most dynamic, at their most explode, and then after five
years you decide then to either pay them or go
back in the first round to get another guy and
restart the clock. It makes more sense to take the
great running back in round one. Yes, you can find
productive players um in in you know, other rounds. You
(17:15):
can find a great quarterback in round six. So why
I take one in the first round? Why I take
Will Levis in round one where you could take Tom
Brady in round six. That's how dumb they sound. And
to your point, like Jamir Gibbs feels like a first
round talent when I watch him, and the narrative is
he's too small, he's sub two hundred, he's one ninety nine.
But I went back this week and looked at sub
(17:38):
two hundred running backs Chris Johnson, Jamal Charles C. J. Spiller,
And I'm like, I think Gibbs could kind of be
a similar talent because he's so explosive. Do you think
it's silly that that Gibbs might fall out of the
first round purely because he's a pound under two hundred pounds? Bro,
you come back from lunch at two three? Right? You
know what I'm saying? Like one night, are we tripping off?
(17:59):
One Warrek Dump was one seventy six and he ran
for over ten thousand yards in the NFL. Size is
not a skill, you guys know that. And and the
thing is weight, as we now know, as we all
get older, it's easy to put on. So I'm not
worried about weight, adding weight to someone that's one ninety nine.
Come on, man, like that? That just especially when you,
(18:22):
let's say you look at um. I don't know what
his weight it is now, but I'm pretty sure it's
a lot heavier than when he came into the league.
But look how dynamic the running back for Kansas City
was in the Super Bowl, Number one, Jack McKinnon exactly.
He was a quarterback option quarterback at Georgia Southern, probably
about one eighty five one seventy five. He's probably about
(18:42):
one eighty five one ninety now, and so it doesn't matter. Man,
you gotta catch someone first in order to hurt you.
I gotta catch you first. And if I can't catch you,
I'm not going to be able to hurt you. So
that's the difference. That's why, you know, um, and so
are we really splitting hairs? And the thing is people
forget for the combine. A lot of these guys either
(19:03):
lose or gain weight specifically for the combine, um, just
for their their height and weight to be recorded in history, right,
so they'll never have to, you know, test again, they'll
never have to weigh again. And so after that, that's
why we didn't see Bryce Young run at the combine
because he was two or four. That's why we didn't
see him run or do things down and uh, you
(19:25):
know at the pro day because he was probably one
eight fain. So of course I'm not gonna wear again.
Kyle Kyla Murray checked in his height at the combine
at five ten. At this pro day, I'm not doing
the hight thing again. I don't have my lifts ready,
you know what I'm saying, so I'm not doing that again.
You already recorded it in history. So that's what happens
with the weight and the height and stuff. Man, people
(19:46):
gotta stop tripping. Is this tight end class as deep
as everyone says it is? It is and and and
the reason why it is deep is because when you
extrapolated across h backs, inline tight end prospects, those that
could block and also catch. Flex guys are the bigger
wide receivers that now are you know the tight ends? Um,
(20:09):
those those guys you're finding a lot. I remember Kyle
Pitts this year. Um, it was just cal Pitts and
it was like, man, it's it's it's it's weak. But
now you're finding the flex tight ends. Having a bunch
the h backs are really blossoming now as teams. More
teams are using you know, dual tight end sets, and
the inline guys is even more impressive because we know
(20:33):
the run game you know now is not you don't
really need that physical tight end. But I found this
class to have a bunch of those guys that can
do both block and also catch the ball. As someone
who follows your work so closely, I think I know
the answer to this, But who's an unheralded fantasy a
guy that fantasy players should keep attention, pay attention to. Well,
(20:55):
because you did such a fantastic job with that segue,
you probably know I'm going with do phone right yea
in five, six, one seventy five. That just like it's
cosmetic because when you watch me, like man, I didn't know,
I'm watching the darren Spros game, Like why right, that's
exactly who he is, um, and watch him against Alabama.
(21:17):
You watch him do a great job against a defense
that has five NFL players on it, maybe three Furish
rounders on that defense. So for me, it's it's him
because he can If you're a team that has your
foundational back, you know, and you you get someone like
that to compliment, it's it's gonna be tremendous. I even
(21:38):
said this before. Don't let Sean Payton get deuced vhone,
because we saw what that looked like when he had
darren Spros, when he had Alvin Kamara paired up with
you know, another running back, or he had the c J.
Spiller for a brief time, you know, when he had
Reggie Bush paired up at first with Deuce mccalluster and
then with Pierre Thomas. So you had mark Ingram aired
(22:00):
up with Alvin Kamara. When he has a guy that
starts the game and has that move pieces, he's gonna
do great things. So yes, the fact that he can catch,
the fact that he can run, and the fact that
he's also a very good kickoff returner. DU's vone is
a guy that I would keep an eye on and
probably stash him late in your fantasy drafts. He is
Emory Hunt, the owner and creator of Football game Plan.
(22:23):
If you want his analysis like this on over a
thousand players, over one hundred running backs alone, you could
go order his draft guide Football Gameplan dot Com, Slash
twenty twenty three draft guide, and if you want on
previous draft classes twenty twenty two, Draft Guy twenty twenty one.
It's all there. You could get him all right now.
(22:44):
You could also catch his work CBS Sports HQ, CBS
Sports Line, and follow him on Twitter at Football at
fb F Ball game Plan. I'll get it right, Emory.
Did I cover the bases or did I miss anything
else you want to plug? I'm also just so well rounded,
great guy, and if you want fashion, he is above
(23:05):
he is, he takes the time for us. But but
that'll do it for us. Today on the NFL Fantasy
Football Podcast, Stay safe, happy and healthy, do good and
live well. We'll talk to you next week. Wow wow
wo wo
Wow, what's up everybody? Welcome to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast,
where we don't have to do our own Pro days,
and if we did, we'd have the guy here to
scout us and probably give us all the bad results.
(00:20):
So I'm Michael le Florio, joined by Marcus Grant, who
this is like your Jordan Fluke day. Yeah, I'm playing
a little bit hurt. I woke up this morning the
throat was not but we're gonna battle. We're gonna get
through this one. And joining us today the guy who
would be scouting on pro days because he scouts little.
If you've ever carried a football, the chances are Emory
Hunt has watched you play. So joining us right now
(00:42):
is Emory Hunt. You can find him on Twitter at
fball game Plan, and of course you have to go
out and buy the most in depth draft guy that
I've ever laid eyes on. You can go and get
it through to Emory's Twitter page or website Football gameplan
dot com. Emory, thank you so much for joining us.
I appreciate you guys have me on. I appreciate Marcus
(01:04):
gutting get out that that adds another notch in his
scouting report. That he's fighting through an injury. I love it.
I love it. Do you give guys a boost when
they play through injury or illness or something like that
show's toughness. No, but I will take some points off
if you look dumb and equipment, like if you're just
doesn't look right, nah, he doesn't look right in equipment,
or you wear a bad number at a skill position.
(01:26):
Points off. I mean, look, Deon Sanders said, you look good,
you play good, right, So it makes sense. It all
works together, it checks out. And of course if you
listen to the show for a while now you know
that Emory joins us each and every year around this
time because no one has watched more of these college
prospects then Emory, So we bring him in every year
(01:46):
to talk some of these guys that we like, some
of these guys that we don't know. And just the
thing I love most about Emory two is he doesn't,
you know, fall in line with the consensus thinking or
anything like. He grades players by how he sees them,
which takes us to our first question, Emory, what made
you put Anthony Richardson as your number one quarterback when
(02:06):
most people have either Bryce Young or c. J. Stroud.
For me, it's a combination of skill set and also
upside potential. So you're looking at a projection here. So
when you go back to watch Anthony Richarson, everyone I
always said, well, what game did you watch? Because I
said this take in July before he even took a
snap as a full time starter. And people call me
crazy then, and he probably still call me crazy now.
(02:29):
But I look back at the LSU game, and that,
to me told you everything that you need to know
about Anthony Richardson. He didn't start that game. They were
still doing that thing with Emory Jones. He came in
the game through a horrible interception I think in his
third past or maybe it was his first pass. It
was a pick six. They get down. He stays in
the game, fights through that adversity, leads him to a
(02:50):
big lead, and did a lot of different things and
great things, not only inside the red zone, throwing the football,
throwing guys open, made some great tight window throws. LSU
storm back took the lead. So now it's the end
of the game and they need to drive down for
a touchdown. Anthony Richinson starts on the twenty, brings him
up to the fifty yard line, some great passes, some
great time management skills, and he's throwing what look to
(03:13):
be the game winning touchdown down the rail route to
his receiver who's won on one with a linebacker. He
gets hit as he throws and the ball hangs up
and the guy catches the interception ins the game. That
game shows you, man, this dude definitely can overcome adversity.
He doesn't let bad massakes linger and he on that throw.
Even on a score sheet it'll say interception, but it
(03:35):
was the right throw and it was the right read.
And that was a guy that didn't start the game,
so he came off cold and he never knew when
he was gonna come into a game and had to really,
you know, hone in and lock in and play. So
for me, you watch that little snippet and then you
extrapolate that, Okay, if he can do this and one
of his major weaknesses or Knox is experienced, but we
can give you that, we can get you to play
(03:56):
a lot. And I think that's why when you look
at Anthony rich and I was so high on him
and still am in this process, so I look, in
all fairness, you've got Richardson one. But you've got him
the same grade as Bryce Young and c. J. Stroud,
So you got them one, two, three. When I picked
up the guide, I'm looking through it and I'm like,
all right, so he's got those guys top three. All right,
(04:17):
So where's Will Levis? And I'm scrolling and I'm scrolling
and I'm scrolling. I'm like, WHOA, You've got Will Levis
at eighteen. Now you still think he has the ability
to be a starter in this league and be a
good player, But eighteen is this? Is this the male
in the coffee? Is it? The eating eating a whole
rotten banana? Like? What what did you see or not
(04:37):
see out of Will Levins that puts you at eighteen?
For him, well, that weighed significantly heavily in his grade,
Like I don't even like in the brown parts of
the banana, parts of banana, and here you are eating
the whole feeling like definitely gonna fall down my board.
But now when you look at Will Levis, and this
is something that you guys understand because you guys have
(04:58):
you know, followed me for a while in terms of
migrating when you grate so many guys and not if
people just constantly throw at you, Okay, here's the five
names you need to know, and you just grade those
five guys. Having Will Levi's fourth would be like, okay, yeah,
that's cool, that's you know, that's okay. But when you
grate so many guys and you just got to be
honest in what you see, you kind of fall in line.
(05:18):
And so I like a bunch of guys better in
terms of where they are currently based off their film,
more so than Will Levis. And people bring up, well,
he didn't have, you know, help, he didn't have weapons,
he didn't have this The grass wasn't this blue in
Kentucky this year, the bourbon wasn't where it needed to be,
all that stuff, right, And so now you look at
last year's tape, it was still the same thing as
(05:38):
this year's tape. He wasn't as good last year. And
people talk about the weapons he lost, like he lost
wine Delle Robinson who caught a lot of tap passes
that he turned into sixty five yard touchdown passes down
the field. So what are we really talking about? And
for me, you look at his age, you look at
his inability to really place the ball, concern assistantly, which
(06:00):
leads to a lot of interceptions, some bad ones, some
cruicial ones. And he's supposed to be this great athlete,
yet I always see him taking a lot of sacks,
not getting out the weight. So he's supposed to supersede
a bad offensive line, right, and so there's a lot
of factors in that. And you look at his overall taping,
just don't see it. So I'm not gonna force it
because everyone is saying richardson Strout, you know, brights young,
(06:22):
Will Levis, Nah, there's like, as you mentioned, fifteen other
guys I have ahead of Levis outside of the top three.
And with this running back class, it's Bijean, Bijean, Bijan.
It feels like if you ask like a hundred different people,
ninety nine of them would say Bijan is there RB one.
Luckily we have the one here who doesn't feel that
(06:43):
way because you have Jamar Gibbs ranked ahead of Bjean Robinson.
It's funny because Jamir Gibbs had us watching a lot
of Georgia Tech football when Georgia chech stunk, and so
I was like, man, who's this running back? Man? This
dude is legit and you start to say, man, if
he played at al Bama, Alabama will be unbeatable. Then
he goes a hidden transfers to Alabama and gets an opportunity.
(07:05):
I don't think he was using enough at Bama. And
all of the things that I like about Bijean Robinson
I like about Jamir Gibbs, just he does it more
explosive and faster and more elusive. So to me, that
makes him the better option. And I still like Bijean.
I said this before, this is someone if you look
at my grades from twenty twenty to twenty twenty three,
(07:27):
Bijan will ranked third behind Jamir Gibbs and DeAndre Swift.
And you know, I just feel like, you know, Bijan
is someone that's excellent, a complete back, a three down guy,
so is Jamir Gibbs. And because he does it at
a more explosive and more elusive and the more dynamic
in my opinion level. So every once in a while
(07:48):
I like to kind of pat myself on the back
for stuff. And the more I look at Taija Spears,
the more I like him. And you've got him as
you're running back for tell me what it is about
Taija Spears that jumped out at you. It was it's amazing.
When you watch someone play and you just are you
find yourself wowing a lot every time. And for Taija Spears,
(08:12):
you're watching him, you're like, man, this dude, how did
he get to that cutback? How did he find that
second or third gear to hit that home run? And
it's like Jesus, like this, dude, this it's amazing. And
not only is he amazing athletically, he's doing it in
top tier uniform combinations as well, so it looks even
better while he's doing it right, because his uniform is
(08:34):
just flawless with that two lane Sea Green in Awkwa right,
So when you look at him, it's to speed, explosiveness, acceleration.
And I was shocked when it came out that he
was five nine two o four because his comparison for
me was Breeze Hall because they have such a smooth,
decisive running style, able to dig deep and find you know,
(08:54):
the backside. Crease has the acceleration to really hit the
home run. And the fact that he's doing it not
at six one two twenty like Breece Hall, but in
a smaller package. It made it even more impressive. So
I just think Tulane found themselves a gym because they
had a little bit of running back factory going on.
Some guys that were productive. For Spears was the one
(09:16):
that did it in a dynamic fashion more so than
they everyone else. And while we're on the running back
class with Bjohn Robinson, you always hear the popular comparison
right now with Saquon Barkley, and it feels like an
echo chamber sometimes because that's what everyone comparison to. But
not only do you say he is not Saquon Barkley,
(09:37):
you compare him. Your player count for him is Cedric Benson. Yeah.
And see a lot of people think football just came
out in two thousand, you know, fifteen. They don't understand
this game has been around for a hundred years. So
when you're talking to someone that is of my age,
we have an expansive football you know library or encyclopedia,
(10:00):
So we've seen a lot, so nothing that's ever new.
And you go back and watch Cedric Benson and how
smooth he ran and how consistently choppy his steps were.
But they were productively choppy as he was constantly making
moves going downhill and was just so solid as a
running back prospect coming out of Texas. It looks a
lot like Bijon Robinson because when you watch se Quon,
(10:21):
you're seeing you know, Barry Sanders plus two hundred and
thirty pounds, right, And so that's the difference. That's why
he's not s Quon. S Quan is more, you know, laterally,
quick and agile and faster. S Quan ran four to three.
I think Bijan ran like low four or five. That's
a significant difference, right, And also when you can buy
(10:42):
in the fact that he has the ability to make
that first guy missed, which is where I think Bijon
isn't as consistent at in doing. That's a difference. But
when you look at someone that's gonna be tough to tackle,
that finds those little creases in the back within tight spaces,
and here's a football you know reference for you guys, right.
(11:04):
Watching Bijen run and watching things he do within confined
spaces reminds me a lot of what Marcus Allen did
in the run against Washington. Not the one way he
reversed Phield and when sending something out it was a
second short yards touchdown where he cut it back, you know,
in the middle of the line of scrimmage and right
before he's stumbling, he had enough you know where thought
(11:27):
to make that extra guy miss that bought him a
half a second to where he could fall into the
end zone. That's the type of stuff that's just rare
that you see from Beijon Robinson. People have talked about
about this wide receiver class and not necessarily being as
deep as we've seen it in the past, not a
lot of outside guys, maybe some more guys who were
(11:47):
in the slot. But when you looked at this group,
what are your overall thoughts on this year's wide receiver class.
It's a lot of what you mentioned Because normally when
you go in or when I have gone in the
last five years, you know, because of what we see
in college football, I expected to see a little bit
more spread out. I didn't expect to see this many
(12:08):
slot guys. This many guys that are five nine, five ten,
five eleven that can play inside. They got good quickness,
So it's kind of like the tight end class to me,
where yeah, it's a it's a good class. I still
think this receiver class is really good it's just spread
out across a different forms in different positions. Because you know,
you got your split in your your Z receivers, your slots,
(12:30):
and your bigger inside guys that like to call La
Marcus coasting position, and so you see the talent spread
out equally. But there is a bunch of slot guys.
So you better hope that if you're getting a slot guy,
he better well double up as your punt returner or
your kickoff returner or can be used in the wide
receiver run game, because that's now prevalent in the NFL.
(12:52):
These guys got to be able to do what Wandelle
Robinson was doing that Kentucky and what he started to
do a little bit with the Giants before he got injured.
We don't know landing spots yet, but without knowing them,
which wide receiver do you feel most confident could have
an impact immediately? And then there's always like a wide
(13:14):
receiver that we don't project to go like day one
or even Day two that gets pulled up and makes
a pretty good impact. Is there anyone like that that's
called your eye? Well, to answer your first question, I
look at Jackson Smith and Jig but and I tweeted
this out and I'm kind of, you know, putting it
out there in the atmosphere and hope hopefully it happens
because it would make so much sense. Him and Atlanta
(13:37):
would make a great pairing. You know, I know they
went wide receiver in Round one last year with Drake London.
I know they went tight end in Round one the
year prior with Kyle Pitts. Double down again, man, try
to build for your young quarterback. What Cincinnati did for
Joe Burrow and him paired up with Drake London would
be just tremendous. So he's someone I feel I can
(13:58):
go anywhere and be successful. I'm a big fan of
what he does because he can he can play. He
can play the deep game, he could play the short game,
he could play then intermediate game. He's a catching run guy.
So he's someone that's that scheme, diverse, in versatile. Ask
your answer your second question. Everyone loves the the you know,
the IVY League kid, andre Uh you'll seevas Um. I
(14:19):
think he's someone that is definitely, you know, athletic. He's
a hetathlete. He's six three two fifteen. He doesn't play
six three two fifteen but he runs like someone that
is five eleven one eighty five, so you get a
mismatch on the inside or as a as a Z receiver.
Um because he's physical, because he's a big he's a
(14:42):
big guy, and you know he hass some some physicality
that he does tend to play with at times. He
got to be a little bit more consistent in that area.
But try to catch him on a on a low
crosser on a deep overroad, it's not happening. So he's
someone I think can step in uh and coming from
the later rounds and have an immediate impact. I want
to go back to Bijean and the running backs because
(15:03):
you tweeted about teams not wanting to pay running backs
and position will fall off and that sort of thing.
We're seeing it in the draft to where running backs
guys who are really good will fall I mean, if
you had the decision to make, would you spend a
top ten pick on Bijan Robinson or Jimir Gibbs basically
just based on their talent and not on their position exactly.
(15:26):
That's to me. Listen, we Marcus, I can you know
say that you are older young man? Right? Yeah? Right?
So will you remember a time when first round picks. Okay,
I see why this dude, when the first round he's
legit dope. I always bring up the eighty nine class
with what four to five picks with Hall of famers.
(15:47):
That's first round picked to me and one of them
with Barris Sanders. So yes, take the guy that can
help you win consistently in the first round. People thought
I was dumb in twenty eighteen when I said, if
I was the Browns with the first in fourth pick,
I'm taking say KWin number one because I know everyone
is gonna go crazy, and I know I can get
the best quarterback at number four, and that's Lamar Jackson,
(16:08):
and I'm gonna lead the league in rushing for the
next decade. So if a guy is worthy of a
first round pick, take him in the first round. There's
a significant difference between Reggie Bush and Lindale White, you know.
So yes, you take the Reggie Bush in the first round.
You take him in the top five. He probably should
have gone number one, you know, And you can find
(16:30):
the Lindale Whites. It's more of the Lindale Whites than
they are of the Reggie Bushes. So I am going
to take the Jamir Gibbs or the Jean Robinson's early
in the first round or in the first round one,
because if I need someone that's a game breaker, I'm
taking them. And secondly, people have to say you don't
give running back second contracts, Well, wouldn't that make more
(16:52):
sense to take them in round one? We can get
them for the five years at their youngest, at their
most dynamic, at their most explode, and then after five
years you decide then to either pay them or go
back in the first round to get another guy and
restart the clock. It makes more sense to take the
great running back in round one. Yes, you can find
productive players um in in you know, other rounds. You
(17:15):
can find a great quarterback in round six. So why
I take one in the first round? Why I take
Will Levis in round one where you could take Tom
Brady in round six. That's how dumb they sound. And
to your point, like Jamir Gibbs feels like a first
round talent when I watch him, and the narrative is
he's too small, he's sub two hundred, he's one ninety nine.
But I went back this week and looked at sub
(17:38):
two hundred running backs Chris Johnson, Jamal Charles C. J. Spiller,
And I'm like, I think Gibbs could kind of be
a similar talent because he's so explosive. Do you think
it's silly that that Gibbs might fall out of the
first round purely because he's a pound under two hundred pounds? Bro,
you come back from lunch at two three? Right? You
know what I'm saying? Like one night, are we tripping off?
(17:59):
One Warrek Dump was one seventy six and he ran
for over ten thousand yards in the NFL. Size is
not a skill, you guys know that. And and the
thing is weight, as we now know, as we all
get older, it's easy to put on. So I'm not
worried about weight, adding weight to someone that's one ninety nine.
Come on, man, like that? That just especially when you,
(18:22):
let's say you look at um. I don't know what
his weight it is now, but I'm pretty sure it's
a lot heavier than when he came into the league.
But look how dynamic the running back for Kansas City
was in the Super Bowl, Number one, Jack McKinnon exactly.
He was a quarterback option quarterback at Georgia Southern, probably
about one eighty five one seventy five. He's probably about
(18:42):
one eighty five one ninety now, and so it doesn't matter. Man,
you gotta catch someone first in order to hurt you.
I gotta catch you first. And if I can't catch you,
I'm not going to be able to hurt you. So
that's the difference. That's why, you know, um, and so
are we really splitting hairs? And the thing is people
forget for the combine. A lot of these guys either
(19:03):
lose or gain weight specifically for the combine, um, just
for their their height and weight to be recorded in history, right,
so they'll never have to, you know, test again, they'll
never have to weigh again. And so after that, that's
why we didn't see Bryce Young run at the combine
because he was two or four. That's why we didn't
see him run or do things down and uh, you
(19:25):
know at the pro day because he was probably one
eight fain. So of course I'm not gonna wear again.
Kyle Kyla Murray checked in his height at the combine
at five ten. At this pro day, I'm not doing
the hight thing again. I don't have my lifts ready,
you know what I'm saying, so I'm not doing that again.
You already recorded it in history. So that's what happens
with the weight and the height and stuff. Man, people
(19:46):
gotta stop tripping. Is this tight end class as deep
as everyone says it is? It is and and and
the reason why it is deep is because when you
extrapolated across h backs, inline tight end prospects, those that
could block and also catch. Flex guys are the bigger
wide receivers that now are you know the tight ends? Um,
(20:09):
those those guys you're finding a lot. I remember Kyle
Pitts this year. Um, it was just cal Pitts and
it was like, man, it's it's it's it's weak. But
now you're finding the flex tight ends. Having a bunch
the h backs are really blossoming now as teams. More
teams are using you know, dual tight end sets, and
the inline guys is even more impressive because we know
(20:33):
the run game you know now is not you don't
really need that physical tight end. But I found this
class to have a bunch of those guys that can
do both block and also catch the ball. As someone
who follows your work so closely, I think I know
the answer to this, But who's an unheralded fantasy a
guy that fantasy players should keep attention, pay attention to. Well,
(20:55):
because you did such a fantastic job with that segue,
you probably know I'm going with do phone right yea
in five, six, one seventy five. That just like it's
cosmetic because when you watch me, like man, I didn't know,
I'm watching the darren Spros game, Like why right, that's
exactly who he is, um, and watch him against Alabama.
(21:17):
You watch him do a great job against a defense
that has five NFL players on it, maybe three Furish
rounders on that defense. So for me, it's it's him
because he can If you're a team that has your
foundational back, you know, and you you get someone like
that to compliment, it's it's gonna be tremendous. I even
(21:38):
said this before. Don't let Sean Payton get deuced vhone,
because we saw what that looked like when he had
darren Spros, when he had Alvin Kamara paired up with
you know, another running back, or he had the c J.
Spiller for a brief time, you know, when he had
Reggie Bush paired up at first with Deuce mccalluster and
then with Pierre Thomas. So you had mark Ingram aired
(22:00):
up with Alvin Kamara. When he has a guy that
starts the game and has that move pieces, he's gonna
do great things. So yes, the fact that he can catch,
the fact that he can run, and the fact that
he's also a very good kickoff returner. DU's vone is
a guy that I would keep an eye on and
probably stash him late in your fantasy drafts. He is
Emory Hunt, the owner and creator of Football game Plan.
(22:23):
If you want his analysis like this on over a
thousand players, over one hundred running backs alone, you could
go order his draft guide Football Gameplan dot Com, Slash
twenty twenty three draft guide, and if you want on
previous draft classes twenty twenty two, Draft Guy twenty twenty one.
It's all there. You could get him all right now.
(22:44):
You could also catch his work CBS Sports HQ, CBS
Sports Line, and follow him on Twitter at Football at
fb F Ball game Plan. I'll get it right, Emory.
Did I cover the bases or did I miss anything
else you want to plug? I'm also just so well rounded,
great guy, and if you want fashion, he is above
(23:05):
he is, he takes the time for us. But but
that'll do it for us. Today on the NFL Fantasy
Football Podcast, Stay safe, happy and healthy, do good and
live well. We'll talk to you next week. Wow wow
wo wo
Hosts And Creators
Marcas Grant
Adam Rank
Michael F. Florio
Kimmi Chex
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