May 14, 2021 • 30 mins
17 rookie running backs were drafted, but there's only a handful with clear paths to help your fantasy team. Charch and Brian break down 14 of the 17 and identify the ones who look like they've got starter potential for your team.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of I Heart Radio.
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from my Heart Radio,
your weekly source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation,
and whatever stupid stuff they decided to drop into the show.
Now here's your host, Paul, Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly.
(00:24):
I'm Paul charge In. My co host as always Brian Johnson,
almost always. Those other guys are still Matt and Fish
are still alive. It wouldn't you wouldn't know, but yes, exactly,
they've shunned us over here. We missed those guys carrying
those two round on my shoulders all offseason. I know
(00:44):
all I'm the old knees. I think we're gonna get
some Matt Harrison in about three weeks. That's my guess.
People missed. Man. I know some people are like, cant
tired to me, but a lot of crazy people out there. Honestly,
I'm pretty tired of you. Feelings mutual, But we're running
down rookie running backs. Last week's show was all about
(01:05):
rookie quarterbacks, the landing spots, dynasty value um and how
long do you think it's gonna take them to emerge
into fantasy relevancy, and we're gonna break down the first
fourteen running backs take it in the draft. So it's
gonna be a little bit breezy. You know, we can't
do like a half hour deep dive on every guy, um,
(01:28):
but we'll we'll talk about the landing spots for all
of the notable rookie running It will be a top
heavy show as we as we go down the list.
But I'm really intrigued by the first five guys, and
after that it's I think it's I think most of
these guys are gonna need to have something a little
(01:49):
special happened before they got a chance. Dart throw Central.
Maybe it's really dynasty talk, but it's it's relevant for sure.
It is. So we're gonna hit these players in the
order they were taken. Beginning with Naji Harris, some people
thought that he could go near the bottom of the
first round. Most people, I thought the earliest he could
possibly go was pick twenty four to the Steelers, and
that's where he ended up going. I thought this was
(02:11):
a bad move by the Steelers, who rolled into the office,
rolled into this draft with the league's worst offensive line,
didn't address it really at all meaningfully in the draft
and took a first round running back when there's so
much data out there that shows you don't need first
round running backs. But anyway, now Naji Harris is there,
he brings a very complete skill set to the Steelers. Brian, Yeah,
(02:33):
and like you said, in most cases, ground game success
starts in the trenches and not really with the running back.
And that, like you said, the Pittsburgh offensive line pretty bad,
are basically one of the worst in the league. Naji
Harris arguably the top running back prospect in the draft,
but as good as he is, can he succeed behind
(02:55):
that awful, awful Swiss Cheese offensive line. So we'll find
out it. Uh, as you were mentioning, Naga Harris has
it all. He's not only a unit, an absolute unit
of a man. He can move, he can catch the ball,
run around you, run through you, run by you, and uh,
he's walking into a backfield with Benny Snell Junior, Anthony McFarland,
(03:17):
and Klin Blage. I like his chances. He's gonna be
the bell cow. But it all comes down to that
offensive line, like you said, and it's gonna be one
of the bottom units in the league this year. And uh,
for that reason, Harris. I mean, if he was going
into the Steelers of old, just you know, with the
line of money and he was walking into this era
(03:38):
offensive line, would be a different story. We'd be talking
top seven running back in in redraft. But but right now,
he's uh, certainly in the redraft conversation. He's in you know,
running back fifteen range. He's going right after the Antonio
Gibson's DeAndre Swifts of the world, right with J. K. Dobbins,
Miles Sanders. So he's going to get the work. He's
(04:00):
going to touch the ball at least twenty times a game,
times a game, and it says the matter of a
well that line holds up in front of him when
it comes to dynasty. His his a dps right around
one and that one point five and one quarterback leagues,
because in super flex you're taking Trevor Lawrence or maybe
Tremor Lance, but Harris or Pitts is arguably the top
(04:22):
skill position player going off the board, or maybe Jamar
Chase or another running back we'll talk about soon, but
that's right where Harris is and that seems safe. But
better years are probably ahead, as long as they solidify
that line moving forward. Yeah, I'm nervous about Harris this year.
I believe the Steelers will be one of the big
declining teams this season. I believe. While you can't predict injury,
(04:47):
I'm very nervous about Ben Roethlisberger getting injured behind that line.
And the Roethlisberger that we saw last year was a
noticeably worse version than the previous versions we had seen
of him. And if he takes an another incremental step backwards,
I just think this whole Steeler's offense could be in
real trouble. So I've got some I've got some concern
(05:09):
for Naji Harris, but he will be the Week one starter.
He will be the goal line back. Whatever whatever there
is to be had on the ground, Naji Harris will
get right in that RB fifteen range. Feels about right about.
Ben's not aging like Tom Brady, that's for sure. I
think that's the much more precipitous. All right, let's go
(05:29):
to the second running back taken Travis e. T N
goes to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a surprise move because
they had James Robinson who was very productive last year,
and yet they obviously seemed to believe that they wanted, Uh,
they wanted some of the special talent that E t
N brings. Yeah, the Jaguars struck gold with James Robinson
appeared in Dynasty. How about they stuck? Did they straight
(05:52):
and gold? How about over they struck some doge coin?
About that? I put it that way. But Dinas, the
owner is pushing a lot of them, went all in
on James Robinson. This is the back for the next
three or four years. But no E t N comes
in and really muddies up those waters. It's definitely not
an ideal landing spot for him, James Robinson into But
(06:14):
the E t N is the total package, good size five,
two fifteen, super fast, ran four or four in the
forty n C double as all time leader total games
with a touchdown. He's he's awesome. But when it comes
to Redraft, arguably one of the worst landing spots he
could have ended up in. And the jack was a
bad offensive line, a muddy backfield, um, a rookie quarterback
(06:37):
although way think Lawrence is gonna be great, but there'll
be some learning curve there and uh but still E
t N shockingly and I'm looking at best ball a
DPS from the last two weeks post NFL draft. He's
at RB twenty three, right in the Chris Carson, Kareem Hunt,
Javonte Williams, who will talk about in a second that range.
But James Robinson is going RB twenty one, still before
(07:01):
Travis e t N, which, when it comes to redraft, yeah,
feels about right. I think who's the starter next year
for the Jaguars. Well, they better hope it's with that
draft capital, right, But but you know what, ideally they
probably wanted a good fifty fifty platoon. They want James
Robinson to keep playing at this level. Would not. But
(07:23):
when it comes to the starter e t N. But
I don't think James Robinson just goes away entirely, do you. Yes.
I am in the vast minority who believes James Robinson
is a middling NFL talent and Travis e t N isn't.
He's really good, and sooner or later you need to
(07:46):
go win games, get your best guys on the field,
and e t N will emerge out of that backfield.
So most people are telling dynasty owners, you can draft
e t N for two he'll be maybe a flex
guy this year, or a you know, somebody you could
start if you had an injury. Whatever. I think ten
at some polling over the course of this season takes
(08:07):
over the lead back role and moose Robinson into a
change of pace role. He's a guy I certainly like.
If you have nowhere near the top three four picking
your rookie draft, someone you just keep your eye on
early in the season. If the ETNA owner gets impatient
to a slow start, the guy target by low. But
(08:28):
his future should be very brave. The future of the
long term future retient should be very good. And the
Jaguars do have some really special skill position opportunities. Receivers
are are basically three deep at receiver and they always
give up a ton of points for the passing game.
Certainly all right. The third running back taken Javonte Williams
(08:48):
of lands in Denver, of the This might be the
best landing spot for any of the big name running
backs out of this draft. Um, because part of it
is a little bit how do you feel about Melvin Gordon? Right,
Melvin Gordon doesn't do much for me, and I think Michael,
I think, I think Javonte Williams a pretty special back.
(09:10):
He is a violent runner that who welcomes contact and
just leaves defenders battered and bruised. Brian remarkable balance after contact.
So he takes these big hits, you know, defender goes
flying on these hits, and he's he only breaks a stride,
like breaks half a stride, and he's just often running again.
(09:31):
He's got burst, acceleration and way more than a body,
a big bodied runner like him should have. And Javonte
Williams lead all of college football and broken tackles last year.
Just he's just a bull, well built, strong, and I
I I really like his prospects of becoming the leader
(09:52):
of that backfield sooner than later. Maybe that Week one,
you know, we you know it'll probably be more Melvin Gordon,
but in all probability him is gonna play a role
in Week one. I mean, I don't. I don't think
if he's sitting on the bench, I think he's going
to be. It's gonna start the season at five to
seven touches a game and he's gonna end the season
at twenty touches a game. I hope he gets more
(10:13):
touches than that to start of the season because he's
he's the best running back on that team. He is.
There is a outside chance from what I've read, and
it makes sense as Mike Boone, who we know here
in Minnesota, very able running back. Who if you're saying
that I'm like Boone shares before the draft, you're feeling
pretty good. That's the backup. Yeah, I wasn't a deeper league.
But after there's a chance that they cut Melvin Gordon
(10:35):
and his what they just rolled Javonte Williams, Mike, that
would be meanerfect if that happens. Javonte Williams and re
draft moves to the top of this list of running backs. Yeah.
He I think he's my favorite running back in this class.
It's tough to draft him over. But just when it
comes to draft capital where you get him a little
(10:56):
later on in the first round rather than pick four
with Harris and what happens if Aaron Rodgers is thrown
in Denver. Yeah, just saying left kick, that whole offense
will take a huge step up. Cortland Sutton gets drafted
in the first round. At that point, he's a new
Davante Adams. Basically, wouldn't that be fun? Let's go to
(11:21):
the fourth running back off the board, and that was
Trey Sermon. And I hated this pick. As much as
I think the forty Niners have made awesome moves the
past several years, and I love to move up they
made in the first round, Trey Sermon just doesn't move
the needle for me, and I find this to be
a confusing selection. Um. I like a handful of things
(11:43):
about his game. He does have good balance at the
point of contact. I like some of the footwork and
his start stoppability. It pretty much ends there. You know,
he's not fast. Uh, He's a bit tall for the position,
which gives defenders a big target to hit. He ran
behind a fantastic offensive line in big offensive line at
Oklahoma and then Ohio State, and mostly I just think
(12:06):
he's an average athlete and it wasn't used much in
the passing game. I just everything about Trace Sermon feels
like an NFL backup, and the forty Niners put a
third round pick into him. And at the time, I
had Tray Sermon pig for like the sixth round. Yeah,
I in fact, it's zackdam Pig. I HadAM Pig just
the sixth round and to have him go that early
(12:28):
to me with shocking, And he joins a horribly muddy
backfield that rotates players in and out and it's a
it's a terrible landing spot. And I couldn't be less
interested in Tray Sermon. Yeah, he's just another dude in
that backfield with three game Mostert and Jeff Wilson, who
are probably gonna be better than Sermon at least this
year and arguably next year. And then in the forty
(12:48):
niners they signed Wayne Gallman before the draft. Why would
you even bother? Why would bother that if you had
any intent of picking a running back this early? The
they took center. Oh yeah, like you said, a perplexing move.
So it was, uh, the fifth running back taken. And
I believe for me, you can feel free to disagree, Brian.
(13:09):
I believe there are five really stand out running backs
in this draft class. The last one was Michael Carter.
He's the other North Carolina running back besides Javonte Williams. Now. Normally,
when the same college program has got two running backs,
who gets drafted it's a thunder and lightning fire Nie
(13:30):
kind of deal where one guy is the big guy
and the other guy is the little guy. But that's
really not the case this this particular time, because Michael Carter,
he's he's a He's still got a relatively powerful body
on him. He's two hundred pounds. He's shorter at five
ft eight, but he's very well built. He runs unafraid.
(13:53):
Um not not as big and heavy as Javonte Williams,
who again is the power back, but still I don't
want him to come across. I don't want Michael Carter
come across as a scatback because he's not. Now. He
does have fantastic footwork and shifting nous. His hip swivel
on just unlocks all of this elusiveness for him. He
was a very hard target for defenders to get a
(14:14):
clean shot at because he's so elusive. He's got a
great jump cut, he's great in traffic, excellent vision. There
were so many things I liked about him. And his
top end speed was fast. He would if when he
got into the open he was out running cornerbacks like jeez,
Michael Carter is a good player. He slid to the
fourth round and I was shocked, and he ends up
(14:35):
with the Jets. This is a sneaky, good landing spot
for him. He's the best running back on roster and
he will end up he will end up as the
Day one starter. And so we talked about, you know,
for each of these guys, how long until they become
meaningful fantasy producers. I think Michael Carter can be a
meaningful fantasy producer early in his rookie season. Yeah, he's
(14:59):
a guy in We're in an Empire League together. And
I shouldn't disclose this information, but I think you can't
hurt me. Uh, I can't. I need running backs bad
and Carter as a guy with a twelfth pick, the
last pick is I don't think he'll be there. I hope,
so I don't think so. No, it's gonna be It'll
be borderline. And when it comes to running back from
the same school, like you said, John Tay Williams, but
(15:19):
gold Carter from you and see, I've always reminded of
the two thousand and five draft epitomized by dual running
backs on the Maroney No no, no no. Ronnie Brown
went second overall. I remember, from Auburn to Miami and
then Cadillac Williams fifth overall the Bucks and as they
turned out to both be not quite busts, but neither
(15:41):
lived up to anywhere near the potential. Cadillac was like
the the epitome of a pump and dump because his
rookie year he went off and then he was going
first second round the next year and it was a
total of all fell off. Ronnie Brown he kind of
hung around, but he never he never really popped off.
You know, isn't that funny? Um? All right, let's take
(16:01):
a break. When we come back, I want to talk
about the the next seven running backs that were taking
in this trap. Maybe eight. Won't talk as much about them. No,
In fact, someone we're gonna gloss straight over, including the
next guy who I think will not have a a
meaningful career at the position. Sounds good. So that's what's
coming up now. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly, Paul Charchie
(16:24):
and Brian Johnson with you gaeting leagues opening up shortly
dot com for season and we've got some new stuff.
We'll have a big new episode of Chopp the Chop
Podcast coming next week. If you're not a subscriber to
The Chop Podcast, please be sure to jump in and
we'll talk about all the new stuff for one. Some
might say it will be a super episode, super season. Yes,
(16:50):
can't wait. There's your tantalizing uh teaser taste teaser for
next week. Also in the fourth round, next up the Vikings,
and it up making a selection that I did not
care for. I've never even heard of the guy uh
Kuna new one. Go to Kuna for the Vikings, and
we're gonna only spend a minute on it. He was
(17:12):
a reserve running back to the Cyclones who's basically a
return specialist. UM elite athleticism and testing numbers. But he's
just not a running back. You look at him and
you can tell he's uncomfortable to position. He's not an
instinctive runner. He doesn't anticipate, he does a ton of dancing,
He's easily tackled when hit. He just needs open space.
And he'll be a returner for the Vikings. So that's it.
(17:34):
On can a new one the next Dante Hall, the
next returns Nowlyst. That's also in the fourth round of player.
I'm much more excited about UM. I don't love the
draft spot and well, we'll talk about it more. But
the Patriots selected Ramandre Stevenson and he is a freaking moose.
(17:56):
He's huge. He's a unit and a guy we should
have touched on when we showcase running backs a few
weeks back, we did not. Out of Oklahoma six ft
two pounds the heaviest Patriots running back every drafted under
Bill Belichick, probably the heaviest Patriots running back Bill Belichick
has ever spoken to at this point. Uh rare rare
blend of size and speed. In ten, he was on
(18:19):
his way to being one of the top backs in
all of college football. Had a marijuana suspension clearly derailed
his prospects of that year, but uh still a very
good last year for Stevenson. Force and average of point
three six miss tackles per carry and according to PF
fifth best in college football. Had a hundred nineteen total
(18:41):
touches last year, lost yardage on just four of them. Wow, Yeah,
I love it. He's a unit. He he can move
the line, force at the goal line. Scored on four
of his six rushing attempts inside the six yard line
last year. He can also catch the ball. Let me
stop you right here on the goal line. Use as
uh as p people that have attended our fantasy football
(19:03):
training camp in the Twin Cities in August. No. I
do a lot of research on what happens inside the
five yard line. Nobody runs the ball runs the ball
inside the five more than Bill Belichick does. He loves
running at the goal line, and Romandre Stevenson is built
perfectly for it. Now Damien Harris has really built well
(19:24):
for it too. He's another big back. Michelle off the team,
Sony Walkman, by the way, let's get that straight. And
then James White not gonna take goal line. So it's
really Damien Harris. That's like the roadblock. That is the roadblock,
and I'm not too concerned with that. Harris pretty good
last year. He did at times, he certainly did, but
(19:45):
he's not six ft two pounds that can move like Stevenson.
So so Stevenson, it's unclear from a Dynasty Empire standpoint
what the timetable is for him to become a startable
fantasy prospect. But best Ball, when I don't have to
try to guess when he's gonna you know which games
are gonna be. You know the Belichick mind game stuff.
(20:06):
You don't have to play that in Best Ball, you
just figure Stevenson's gonna end up with six seven eight
goal line touchdowns over the course of the year, and
I have to try to guess when it's coming. Yeah,
people are drafted him. He's ORB sixty. I mean that's
a late six in best Ball. He's in the in
the Marlon mack Ray, you know, in the handcuff Tevin
(20:26):
Coleman for the Jets. Like maybe he's the starter. He's
in that. He's got way more upside than Marlon mack Well,
Marlin macbeth, major upside. He's the storter. But you know
what I'm saying here, Stevenson could pay off as a
first round Dynasty pick in a couple of years, or
he could have been not worthy of a pick in
any rounds. He's got that kind of just delta. There's
(20:50):
nobody left that we're going to talk about that has
more fantasy upside than Ramandre Stevenson in Dynasty RB right now,
early to mid third, and I think that that's worth
worth worth the shot on him right there for sure.
The next running back that was taken was the misnamed
Cuba Hubbard. He could have been Chubba Hubbard, and I'm
(21:12):
really bitter about it. He goes to the Panthers I'm
lukewarm on him, you know, I think there's an opportunity
and he'll he'll step in behind Christian McCaffrey and be
the new Mike Davis and all probability. Yet, Chuba was
an athlete. Ran a four three six forty yard dash
on his pro day. Uh. Former track star literally comes
to pure speed. He's the vastest among all running backs
in this draft class. Uh. He was third in yards
(21:36):
after contact over the last two seasons. Um, And I
like that for usually the fast guys are not yard
after contact guys. And I do like that part of
Cuba Hubbard's game. But uh, like you just said, he
he's behind Christian McCaffrey, So that's right, he's uh, basically
in a hand he's a handcuff territory or he's draft
(21:56):
to believe, if you don't own McCaffrey in redraft best ball,
he's going. He's going before um Romandre Stevendre Severs And sorry,
he's RB sixty. Hubbard's more like RB fifty right now. Um,
But that's really because people thinking a ton of capital
and CMC in the first round, right and then just
taking the back. He's the handcuff. Yeah, you definitely want.
(22:18):
I'm a little bummed because I was hoping Rodney Smith
of Golden Gopher fame would have held onto that backup role.
But no, it's true, but it doesn't look like it's
gonna happen. The next running back taken was Kenneth gaine
Well and he goes to the Eagles. And here's what
you need to know about Kenneth Gainewell. He's um. He's
basically a He's this versions of this year's version of
(22:41):
Lynn Bowden, who is a kind of a man without
a position. He might be more of a slot receiver
than he is a running back for Kenneth Gainewell. Now,
he's thinner than ideal. He's five ft eleven. He looks
and runs like a track star um, although he doesn't
have track star to high end speed, but that's how
he runs very upright. He's got does have solid burst
(23:02):
um and unlike a lot of track star runners, they're
very good vertically. Kenneth Gainwell has got some footwork and
some lateral movement to him, not just a north south runner.
And he's got a decent one cut move um and
he catches very well. He he lined up at wide
receiver from time to time at Memphis, and he does.
He's a guy that you could you could put out
in the slot. Um, he's not because of his size.
(23:23):
He's because he's smaller. Um, he's not a great past
protection guy. And I think there's some limitations to his game.
And I don't know that he's got a he's a
natural running back opted out of the seasons. We haven't
seen him in a little while either. But the Eagles
are always thin, and Eagles like to throw to their
running backs. But they've got Boston Scott they can catch.
They've got Miles Sanders who can catch, so they don't
(23:45):
need to throw to gain Well. I thought it was
a little bit of a puzzling pick for them. The
ghost of Darren Sprawls is still there, right, So I
don't think Gainewell is really going to be much of
a fantasy factor. I'm not. Yeah, I'm I'm not either.
So let's go to the next player taken. We are
now into the sixth round of the NFL draft, and
that was Elijah Mitchell out of Louisiana, another running LSU Niners.
(24:12):
I know, um, and this one is he he sort
of checks all the boxes of an NFL runner, but
he's just not special at anything. He's got an ideal
running back build these five eleven two or eighteen pounds.
He's got decent speed, decent burst, good footwork. But there's
a lot of negatives with Elijah Mitchell. And we're in
(24:33):
the six rounds. These guys are gonna have warts weak competition.
That he ran against Louisiana, it was not l s U,
it was Louisiana. He runs high, he's a verse to contact,
and he ran behind a very good offensive line that
opened some big holes for him, so he didn't have
to learn to create off the dribble, so to speak,
as a running back. So Mitchell joins this, Uh, this
is a crowded backfield, and you know they're always hurt,
(24:54):
so maybe there's an opportunity there, but I I don't
see drafting Elijah Mitchell except in the the biggest of
dynasty leagues. Sounds good to me. Next, Gary Brightwell goes
to the Giants you mentioned earlier. Wayne Gallman was let
go and so there's some opportunity in the depth chart
among the Giants. Tell listeners about Gary Brightwell, I'm not
(25:15):
gonna tell him much. Okay about Gary Brightwell out of Arizona,
stereotypical size for running back five eleven to eighteen, but
really just a guy on paper. I mean, he's got skills,
but he's backing up se Kwon Barkley and as of
right now, backing up DeVante Booker too. So he needs
Barkley to go down to have any gin irelevance, and
(25:37):
hopefully that doesn't happen, the world needs see Kwan Barkley
to play a full season, and if he's better than
Davante Booker, we'll find out. But basically not draftable and
redraft and if you're in Dynasty, he's RB fifteen sixteen
is he's a late fourth, early fifth dark throw. The
next running back taken was Larry round Tree the third,
(25:58):
not round tree, round us round all right. I've always
want to say round tree. Still I'm like, no, it's
it's round Yeah. I bet that at one point in
his lineage it was round tree. And then something happened
because trees are usually fundamentally round. Because in the song
it's you spin me right round, round round, there's no
(26:22):
tree right right round round. He goes to the Chargers.
This is a bad landing spot in a backfield that's
already replete with talent. Austin Ekeler, who we love, who
by the way, in best ball like RB ten right
now bargain, I'm buying I've got him higher than that,
(26:42):
way higher. I do too. But then Justin Jackson still around.
Joshua Kelly showed he can he can play last year,
especially at the goal line. Still yeah, Larry round Tree
falls forth in the pecking order, uh with the Chargers
again just another guy. In an interesting stat out of Missouri,
round Tree did finish his career as Missoo's all time
(27:05):
leading rusher among running backs uh in yards and tied
for most rushing touchdowns by running back for touchdowns. But
I'm saying, among running backs, the rushing yardage and rushing
touchdown records are held by quarterback Brad Smith, remember him
receiver for the Jets, right, so he told a rushing
(27:28):
touchtown all the rushing records and I don't know that
kind of dumbs my excitement for round Tree couldn't even
break break direct their records set by their their quarterback back.
Like why is Brian setting up this stats so straight
to read it three times? Like wait, this doesn't make
a ah. I see alright, eureka, we only have a
(27:49):
couple of running backs are going to touch on. Also,
six round, Chris Evans goes to the Bengals. I don't
like him much. He's a three down back with decent hands.
He's got a little wiggle to him um generally takes
good angles from defenders, but no remarkable NFL special traits,
lackluster speed, ran behind a very good Michigan offensive line
that opened up big holes. He got suspended due to
(28:11):
academic reasons for the season and recorded only sixteen carries
over the past two years. So Chris Evans does nothing
for me. Honestly, I think he looks like a career
back up and he will probably slot into the spot
left over by Geo Bernard's departure from the Bengals, But
I don't think he's going to get as much work
(28:32):
as g O was. The last running back we're gonna
talk about is Khalil Herbert air bear air bear, uh
ground bear. Yeah, ends up going to the Chicago Bears
in the sixth round. Oh, he's a ground bear after all.
Uh yeah, Herbert. When we did our running back show
a few weeks ago. He was kind of projected to
go higher. Running back out of Virginia Tech led the
(28:56):
a c C in combo yards last year, was fourth
in yards after contact on rushes among all college football players.
But he slid in the draft. It might have been
because Virginia Tech had arguably the most dominant also made
part of it that they picked up the slack for Herbert.
But uh, you know, the Bears not an awful landing spot. No.
(29:17):
Jury is still out on David Montgomery. Yeah, he's not
himself after the after the a c L. They do
have Damien Williams now, but yeah, Damian Williams, Damian but
but but Herbert um No, Damian Williams opted out. That
was his deal. Yeah, he has an opt out lest Yeah,
now he's now he's pretty much that I would call
him a backup over Treko him. But but Herbert no
(29:37):
redraft value really, but you know he could work his
way into significant touches through injury or just pure bad
football at a David Montgomery. So I throw a dart
on Herbert in the you know, late fourth fifth in dynasty.
But that's about it, all right, Great job, thanks for
helping his breakdown the running backs. Um, it's a top,
top heavy group. We're we're pretty interest sit in Nagy Harris,
(30:01):
Travis Etienne, Javonte Williams, Michael Carter. I am not that
interested in most the rest of the guys outside of
Romandre Stevenson. Please let Michael Carter be there. Wouldn't that
be nice? He falls to that spot and I don't
think it's it's not I don't think it's gonna happen.
This isn't helping my cause. Probably this yeah, this is
this episode does not help your cause. We'll be back
(30:21):
next week. We're gonna break down wide receivers. The rookie
wide receivers a much stronger receiver class than a running
back class. Lots of guys that have some short term
and long term potential to help your fantasy team. We'll
talk about receivers next week. Thanks for listening, everybody. Fantasy
Football Weekly is a production of I Heart Radio. For
more podcast from my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart
(30:43):
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of I Heart Radio.
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from my Heart Radio,
your weekly source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation,
and whatever stupid stuff they decided to drop into the show.
Now here's your host, Paul, Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly.
(00:24):
I'm Paul charge In. My co host as always Brian Johnson,
almost always. Those other guys are still Matt and Fish
are still alive. It wouldn't you wouldn't know, but yes, exactly,
they've shunned us over here. We missed those guys carrying
those two round on my shoulders all offseason. I know
(00:44):
all I'm the old knees. I think we're gonna get
some Matt Harrison in about three weeks. That's my guess.
People missed. Man. I know some people are like, cant
tired to me, but a lot of crazy people out there. Honestly,
I'm pretty tired of you. Feelings mutual, But we're running
down rookie running backs. Last week's show was all about
(01:05):
rookie quarterbacks, the landing spots, dynasty value um and how
long do you think it's gonna take them to emerge
into fantasy relevancy, and we're gonna break down the first
fourteen running backs take it in the draft. So it's
gonna be a little bit breezy. You know, we can't
do like a half hour deep dive on every guy, um,
(01:28):
but we'll we'll talk about the landing spots for all
of the notable rookie running It will be a top
heavy show as we as we go down the list.
But I'm really intrigued by the first five guys, and
after that it's I think it's I think most of
these guys are gonna need to have something a little
(01:49):
special happened before they got a chance. Dart throw Central.
Maybe it's really dynasty talk, but it's it's relevant for sure.
It is. So we're gonna hit these players in the
order they were taken. Beginning with Naji Harris, some people
thought that he could go near the bottom of the
first round. Most people, I thought the earliest he could
possibly go was pick twenty four to the Steelers, and
that's where he ended up going. I thought this was
(02:11):
a bad move by the Steelers, who rolled into the office,
rolled into this draft with the league's worst offensive line,
didn't address it really at all meaningfully in the draft
and took a first round running back when there's so
much data out there that shows you don't need first
round running backs. But anyway, now Naji Harris is there,
he brings a very complete skill set to the Steelers. Brian, Yeah,
(02:33):
and like you said, in most cases, ground game success
starts in the trenches and not really with the running back.
And that, like you said, the Pittsburgh offensive line pretty bad,
are basically one of the worst in the league. Naji
Harris arguably the top running back prospect in the draft,
but as good as he is, can he succeed behind
(02:55):
that awful, awful Swiss Cheese offensive line. So we'll find
out it. Uh, as you were mentioning, Naga Harris has
it all. He's not only a unit, an absolute unit
of a man. He can move, he can catch the ball,
run around you, run through you, run by you, and uh,
he's walking into a backfield with Benny Snell Junior, Anthony McFarland,
(03:17):
and Klin Blage. I like his chances. He's gonna be
the bell cow. But it all comes down to that
offensive line, like you said, and it's gonna be one
of the bottom units in the league this year. And uh,
for that reason, Harris. I mean, if he was going
into the Steelers of old, just you know, with the
line of money and he was walking into this era
(03:38):
offensive line, would be a different story. We'd be talking
top seven running back in in redraft. But but right now,
he's uh, certainly in the redraft conversation. He's in you know,
running back fifteen range. He's going right after the Antonio
Gibson's DeAndre Swifts of the world, right with J. K. Dobbins,
Miles Sanders. So he's going to get the work. He's
(04:00):
going to touch the ball at least twenty times a game,
times a game, and it says the matter of a
well that line holds up in front of him when
it comes to dynasty. His his a dps right around
one and that one point five and one quarterback leagues,
because in super flex you're taking Trevor Lawrence or maybe
Tremor Lance, but Harris or Pitts is arguably the top
(04:22):
skill position player going off the board, or maybe Jamar
Chase or another running back we'll talk about soon, but
that's right where Harris is and that seems safe. But
better years are probably ahead, as long as they solidify
that line moving forward. Yeah, I'm nervous about Harris this year.
I believe the Steelers will be one of the big
declining teams this season. I believe. While you can't predict injury,
(04:47):
I'm very nervous about Ben Roethlisberger getting injured behind that line.
And the Roethlisberger that we saw last year was a
noticeably worse version than the previous versions we had seen
of him. And if he takes an another incremental step backwards,
I just think this whole Steeler's offense could be in
real trouble. So I've got some I've got some concern
(05:09):
for Naji Harris, but he will be the Week one starter.
He will be the goal line back. Whatever whatever there
is to be had on the ground, Naji Harris will
get right in that RB fifteen range. Feels about right about.
Ben's not aging like Tom Brady, that's for sure. I
think that's the much more precipitous. All right, let's go
(05:29):
to the second running back taken Travis e. T N
goes to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a surprise move because
they had James Robinson who was very productive last year,
and yet they obviously seemed to believe that they wanted, Uh,
they wanted some of the special talent that E t
N brings. Yeah, the Jaguars struck gold with James Robinson
appeared in Dynasty. How about they stuck? Did they straight
(05:52):
and gold? How about over they struck some doge coin?
About that? I put it that way. But Dinas, the
owner is pushing a lot of them, went all in
on James Robinson. This is the back for the next
three or four years. But no E t N comes
in and really muddies up those waters. It's definitely not
an ideal landing spot for him, James Robinson into But
(06:14):
the E t N is the total package, good size five,
two fifteen, super fast, ran four or four in the
forty n C double as all time leader total games
with a touchdown. He's he's awesome. But when it comes
to Redraft, arguably one of the worst landing spots he
could have ended up in. And the jack was a
bad offensive line, a muddy backfield, um, a rookie quarterback
(06:37):
although way think Lawrence is gonna be great, but there'll
be some learning curve there and uh but still E
t N shockingly and I'm looking at best ball a
DPS from the last two weeks post NFL draft. He's
at RB twenty three, right in the Chris Carson, Kareem Hunt,
Javonte Williams, who will talk about in a second that range.
But James Robinson is going RB twenty one, still before
(07:01):
Travis e t N, which, when it comes to redraft, yeah,
feels about right. I think who's the starter next year
for the Jaguars. Well, they better hope it's with that
draft capital, right, But but you know what, ideally they
probably wanted a good fifty fifty platoon. They want James
Robinson to keep playing at this level. Would not. But
(07:23):
when it comes to the starter e t N. But
I don't think James Robinson just goes away entirely, do you. Yes.
I am in the vast minority who believes James Robinson
is a middling NFL talent and Travis e t N isn't.
He's really good, and sooner or later you need to
(07:46):
go win games, get your best guys on the field,
and e t N will emerge out of that backfield.
So most people are telling dynasty owners, you can draft
e t N for two he'll be maybe a flex
guy this year, or a you know, somebody you could
start if you had an injury. Whatever. I think ten
at some polling over the course of this season takes
(08:07):
over the lead back role and moose Robinson into a
change of pace role. He's a guy I certainly like.
If you have nowhere near the top three four picking
your rookie draft, someone you just keep your eye on
early in the season. If the ETNA owner gets impatient
to a slow start, the guy target by low. But
(08:28):
his future should be very brave. The future of the
long term future retient should be very good. And the
Jaguars do have some really special skill position opportunities. Receivers
are are basically three deep at receiver and they always
give up a ton of points for the passing game.
Certainly all right. The third running back taken Javonte Williams
(08:48):
of lands in Denver, of the This might be the
best landing spot for any of the big name running
backs out of this draft. Um, because part of it
is a little bit how do you feel about Melvin Gordon? Right,
Melvin Gordon doesn't do much for me, and I think Michael,
I think, I think Javonte Williams a pretty special back.
(09:10):
He is a violent runner that who welcomes contact and
just leaves defenders battered and bruised. Brian remarkable balance after contact.
So he takes these big hits, you know, defender goes
flying on these hits, and he's he only breaks a stride,
like breaks half a stride, and he's just often running again.
(09:31):
He's got burst, acceleration and way more than a body,
a big bodied runner like him should have. And Javonte
Williams lead all of college football and broken tackles last year.
Just he's just a bull, well built, strong, and I
I I really like his prospects of becoming the leader
(09:52):
of that backfield sooner than later. Maybe that Week one,
you know, we you know it'll probably be more Melvin Gordon,
but in all probability him is gonna play a role
in Week one. I mean, I don't. I don't think
if he's sitting on the bench, I think he's going
to be. It's gonna start the season at five to
seven touches a game and he's gonna end the season
at twenty touches a game. I hope he gets more
(10:13):
touches than that to start of the season because he's
he's the best running back on that team. He is.
There is a outside chance from what I've read, and
it makes sense as Mike Boone, who we know here
in Minnesota, very able running back. Who if you're saying
that I'm like Boone shares before the draft, you're feeling
pretty good. That's the backup. Yeah, I wasn't a deeper league.
But after there's a chance that they cut Melvin Gordon
(10:35):
and his what they just rolled Javonte Williams, Mike, that
would be meanerfect if that happens. Javonte Williams and re
draft moves to the top of this list of running backs. Yeah.
He I think he's my favorite running back in this class.
It's tough to draft him over. But just when it
comes to draft capital where you get him a little
(10:56):
later on in the first round rather than pick four
with Harris and what happens if Aaron Rodgers is thrown
in Denver. Yeah, just saying left kick, that whole offense
will take a huge step up. Cortland Sutton gets drafted
in the first round. At that point, he's a new
Davante Adams. Basically, wouldn't that be fun? Let's go to
(11:21):
the fourth running back off the board, and that was
Trey Sermon. And I hated this pick. As much as
I think the forty Niners have made awesome moves the
past several years, and I love to move up they
made in the first round, Trey Sermon just doesn't move
the needle for me, and I find this to be
a confusing selection. Um. I like a handful of things
(11:43):
about his game. He does have good balance at the
point of contact. I like some of the footwork and
his start stoppability. It pretty much ends there. You know,
he's not fast. Uh, He's a bit tall for the position,
which gives defenders a big target to hit. He ran
behind a fantastic offensive line in big offensive line at
Oklahoma and then Ohio State, and mostly I just think
(12:06):
he's an average athlete and it wasn't used much in
the passing game. I just everything about Trace Sermon feels
like an NFL backup, and the forty Niners put a
third round pick into him. And at the time, I
had Tray Sermon pig for like the sixth round. Yeah,
I in fact, it's zackdam Pig. I HadAM Pig just
the sixth round and to have him go that early
(12:28):
to me with shocking, And he joins a horribly muddy
backfield that rotates players in and out and it's a
it's a terrible landing spot. And I couldn't be less
interested in Tray Sermon. Yeah, he's just another dude in
that backfield with three game Mostert and Jeff Wilson, who
are probably gonna be better than Sermon at least this
year and arguably next year. And then in the forty
(12:48):
niners they signed Wayne Gallman before the draft. Why would
you even bother? Why would bother that if you had
any intent of picking a running back this early? The
they took center. Oh yeah, like you said, a perplexing move.
So it was, uh, the fifth running back taken. And
I believe for me, you can feel free to disagree, Brian.
(13:09):
I believe there are five really stand out running backs
in this draft class. The last one was Michael Carter.
He's the other North Carolina running back besides Javonte Williams. Now. Normally,
when the same college program has got two running backs,
who gets drafted it's a thunder and lightning fire Nie
(13:30):
kind of deal where one guy is the big guy
and the other guy is the little guy. But that's
really not the case this this particular time, because Michael Carter,
he's he's a He's still got a relatively powerful body
on him. He's two hundred pounds. He's shorter at five
ft eight, but he's very well built. He runs unafraid.
(13:53):
Um not not as big and heavy as Javonte Williams,
who again is the power back, but still I don't
want him to come across. I don't want Michael Carter
come across as a scatback because he's not. Now. He
does have fantastic footwork and shifting nous. His hip swivel
on just unlocks all of this elusiveness for him. He
was a very hard target for defenders to get a
(14:14):
clean shot at because he's so elusive. He's got a
great jump cut, he's great in traffic, excellent vision. There
were so many things I liked about him. And his
top end speed was fast. He would if when he
got into the open he was out running cornerbacks like jeez,
Michael Carter is a good player. He slid to the
fourth round and I was shocked, and he ends up
(14:35):
with the Jets. This is a sneaky, good landing spot
for him. He's the best running back on roster and
he will end up he will end up as the
Day one starter. And so we talked about, you know,
for each of these guys, how long until they become
meaningful fantasy producers. I think Michael Carter can be a
meaningful fantasy producer early in his rookie season. Yeah, he's
(14:59):
a guy in We're in an Empire League together. And
I shouldn't disclose this information, but I think you can't
hurt me. Uh, I can't. I need running backs bad
and Carter as a guy with a twelfth pick, the
last pick is I don't think he'll be there. I hope,
so I don't think so. No, it's gonna be It'll
be borderline. And when it comes to running back from
the same school, like you said, John Tay Williams, but
(15:19):
gold Carter from you and see, I've always reminded of
the two thousand and five draft epitomized by dual running
backs on the Maroney No no, no no. Ronnie Brown
went second overall. I remember, from Auburn to Miami and
then Cadillac Williams fifth overall the Bucks and as they
turned out to both be not quite busts, but neither
(15:41):
lived up to anywhere near the potential. Cadillac was like
the the epitome of a pump and dump because his
rookie year he went off and then he was going
first second round the next year and it was a
total of all fell off. Ronnie Brown he kind of
hung around, but he never he never really popped off.
You know, isn't that funny? Um? All right, let's take
(16:01):
a break. When we come back, I want to talk
about the the next seven running backs that were taking
in this trap. Maybe eight. Won't talk as much about them. No,
In fact, someone we're gonna gloss straight over, including the
next guy who I think will not have a a
meaningful career at the position. Sounds good. So that's what's
coming up now. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly, Paul Charchie
(16:24):
and Brian Johnson with you gaeting leagues opening up shortly
dot com for season and we've got some new stuff.
We'll have a big new episode of Chopp the Chop
Podcast coming next week. If you're not a subscriber to
The Chop Podcast, please be sure to jump in and
we'll talk about all the new stuff for one. Some
might say it will be a super episode, super season. Yes,
(16:50):
can't wait. There's your tantalizing uh teaser taste teaser for
next week. Also in the fourth round, next up the Vikings,
and it up making a selection that I did not
care for. I've never even heard of the guy uh
Kuna new one. Go to Kuna for the Vikings, and
we're gonna only spend a minute on it. He was
(17:12):
a reserve running back to the Cyclones who's basically a
return specialist. UM elite athleticism and testing numbers. But he's
just not a running back. You look at him and
you can tell he's uncomfortable to position. He's not an
instinctive runner. He doesn't anticipate, he does a ton of dancing,
He's easily tackled when hit. He just needs open space.
And he'll be a returner for the Vikings. So that's it.
(17:34):
On can a new one the next Dante Hall, the
next returns Nowlyst. That's also in the fourth round of player.
I'm much more excited about UM. I don't love the
draft spot and well, we'll talk about it more. But
the Patriots selected Ramandre Stevenson and he is a freaking moose.
(17:56):
He's huge. He's a unit and a guy we should
have touched on when we showcase running backs a few
weeks back, we did not. Out of Oklahoma six ft
two pounds the heaviest Patriots running back every drafted under
Bill Belichick, probably the heaviest Patriots running back Bill Belichick
has ever spoken to at this point. Uh rare rare
blend of size and speed. In ten, he was on
(18:19):
his way to being one of the top backs in
all of college football. Had a marijuana suspension clearly derailed
his prospects of that year, but uh still a very
good last year for Stevenson. Force and average of point
three six miss tackles per carry and according to PF
fifth best in college football. Had a hundred nineteen total
(18:41):
touches last year, lost yardage on just four of them. Wow, Yeah,
I love it. He's a unit. He he can move
the line, force at the goal line. Scored on four
of his six rushing attempts inside the six yard line
last year. He can also catch the ball. Let me
stop you right here on the goal line. Use as
uh as p people that have attended our fantasy football
(19:03):
training camp in the Twin Cities in August. No. I
do a lot of research on what happens inside the
five yard line. Nobody runs the ball runs the ball
inside the five more than Bill Belichick does. He loves
running at the goal line, and Romandre Stevenson is built
perfectly for it. Now Damien Harris has really built well
(19:24):
for it too. He's another big back. Michelle off the team,
Sony Walkman, by the way, let's get that straight. And
then James White not gonna take goal line. So it's
really Damien Harris. That's like the roadblock. That is the roadblock,
and I'm not too concerned with that. Harris pretty good
last year. He did at times, he certainly did, but
(19:45):
he's not six ft two pounds that can move like Stevenson.
So so Stevenson, it's unclear from a Dynasty Empire standpoint
what the timetable is for him to become a startable
fantasy prospect. But best Ball, when I don't have to
try to guess when he's gonna you know which games
are gonna be. You know the Belichick mind game stuff.
(20:06):
You don't have to play that in Best Ball, you
just figure Stevenson's gonna end up with six seven eight
goal line touchdowns over the course of the year, and
I have to try to guess when it's coming. Yeah,
people are drafted him. He's ORB sixty. I mean that's
a late six in best Ball. He's in the in
the Marlon mack Ray, you know, in the handcuff Tevin
(20:26):
Coleman for the Jets. Like maybe he's the starter. He's
in that. He's got way more upside than Marlon mack Well,
Marlin macbeth, major upside. He's the storter. But you know
what I'm saying here, Stevenson could pay off as a
first round Dynasty pick in a couple of years, or
he could have been not worthy of a pick in
any rounds. He's got that kind of just delta. There's
(20:50):
nobody left that we're going to talk about that has
more fantasy upside than Ramandre Stevenson in Dynasty RB right now,
early to mid third, and I think that that's worth
worth worth the shot on him right there for sure.
The next running back that was taken was the misnamed
Cuba Hubbard. He could have been Chubba Hubbard, and I'm
(21:12):
really bitter about it. He goes to the Panthers I'm
lukewarm on him, you know, I think there's an opportunity
and he'll he'll step in behind Christian McCaffrey and be
the new Mike Davis and all probability. Yet, Chuba was
an athlete. Ran a four three six forty yard dash
on his pro day. Uh. Former track star literally comes
to pure speed. He's the vastest among all running backs
in this draft class. Uh. He was third in yards
(21:36):
after contact over the last two seasons. Um, And I
like that for usually the fast guys are not yard
after contact guys. And I do like that part of
Cuba Hubbard's game. But uh, like you just said, he
he's behind Christian McCaffrey, So that's right, he's uh, basically
in a hand he's a handcuff territory or he's draft
(21:56):
to believe, if you don't own McCaffrey in redraft best ball,
he's going. He's going before um Romandre Stevendre Severs And sorry,
he's RB sixty. Hubbard's more like RB fifty right now. Um,
But that's really because people thinking a ton of capital
and CMC in the first round, right and then just
taking the back. He's the handcuff. Yeah, you definitely want.
(22:18):
I'm a little bummed because I was hoping Rodney Smith
of Golden Gopher fame would have held onto that backup role.
But no, it's true, but it doesn't look like it's
gonna happen. The next running back taken was Kenneth gaine
Well and he goes to the Eagles. And here's what
you need to know about Kenneth Gainewell. He's um. He's
basically a He's this versions of this year's version of
(22:41):
Lynn Bowden, who is a kind of a man without
a position. He might be more of a slot receiver
than he is a running back for Kenneth Gainewell. Now,
he's thinner than ideal. He's five ft eleven. He looks
and runs like a track star um, although he doesn't
have track star to high end speed, but that's how
he runs very upright. He's got does have solid burst
(23:02):
um and unlike a lot of track star runners, they're
very good vertically. Kenneth Gainwell has got some footwork and
some lateral movement to him, not just a north south runner.
And he's got a decent one cut move um and
he catches very well. He he lined up at wide
receiver from time to time at Memphis, and he does.
He's a guy that you could you could put out
in the slot. Um, he's not because of his size.
(23:23):
He's because he's smaller. Um, he's not a great past
protection guy. And I think there's some limitations to his game.
And I don't know that he's got a he's a
natural running back opted out of the seasons. We haven't
seen him in a little while either. But the Eagles
are always thin, and Eagles like to throw to their
running backs. But they've got Boston Scott they can catch.
They've got Miles Sanders who can catch, so they don't
(23:45):
need to throw to gain Well. I thought it was
a little bit of a puzzling pick for them. The
ghost of Darren Sprawls is still there, right, So I
don't think Gainewell is really going to be much of
a fantasy factor. I'm not. Yeah, I'm I'm not either.
So let's go to the next player taken. We are
now into the sixth round of the NFL draft, and
that was Elijah Mitchell out of Louisiana, another running LSU Niners.
(24:12):
I know, um, and this one is he he sort
of checks all the boxes of an NFL runner, but
he's just not special at anything. He's got an ideal
running back build these five eleven two or eighteen pounds.
He's got decent speed, decent burst, good footwork. But there's
a lot of negatives with Elijah Mitchell. And we're in
(24:33):
the six rounds. These guys are gonna have warts weak competition.
That he ran against Louisiana, it was not l s U,
it was Louisiana. He runs high, he's a verse to contact,
and he ran behind a very good offensive line that
opened some big holes for him, so he didn't have
to learn to create off the dribble, so to speak,
as a running back. So Mitchell joins this, Uh, this
is a crowded backfield, and you know they're always hurt,
(24:54):
so maybe there's an opportunity there, but I I don't
see drafting Elijah Mitchell except in the the biggest of
dynasty leagues. Sounds good to me. Next, Gary Brightwell goes
to the Giants you mentioned earlier. Wayne Gallman was let
go and so there's some opportunity in the depth chart
among the Giants. Tell listeners about Gary Brightwell, I'm not
(25:15):
gonna tell him much. Okay about Gary Brightwell out of Arizona,
stereotypical size for running back five eleven to eighteen, but
really just a guy on paper. I mean, he's got skills,
but he's backing up se Kwon Barkley and as of
right now, backing up DeVante Booker too. So he needs
Barkley to go down to have any gin irelevance, and
(25:37):
hopefully that doesn't happen, the world needs see Kwan Barkley
to play a full season, and if he's better than
Davante Booker, we'll find out. But basically not draftable and
redraft and if you're in Dynasty, he's RB fifteen sixteen
is he's a late fourth, early fifth dark throw. The
next running back taken was Larry round Tree the third,
(25:58):
not round tree, round us round all right. I've always
want to say round tree. Still I'm like, no, it's
it's round Yeah. I bet that at one point in
his lineage it was round tree. And then something happened
because trees are usually fundamentally round. Because in the song
it's you spin me right round, round round, there's no
(26:22):
tree right right round round. He goes to the Chargers.
This is a bad landing spot in a backfield that's
already replete with talent. Austin Ekeler, who we love, who
by the way, in best ball like RB ten right
now bargain, I'm buying I've got him higher than that,
(26:42):
way higher. I do too. But then Justin Jackson still around.
Joshua Kelly showed he can he can play last year,
especially at the goal line. Still yeah, Larry round Tree
falls forth in the pecking order, uh with the Chargers
again just another guy. In an interesting stat out of Missouri,
round Tree did finish his career as Missoo's all time
(27:05):
leading rusher among running backs uh in yards and tied
for most rushing touchdowns by running back for touchdowns. But
I'm saying, among running backs, the rushing yardage and rushing
touchdown records are held by quarterback Brad Smith, remember him
receiver for the Jets, right, so he told a rushing
(27:28):
touchtown all the rushing records and I don't know that
kind of dumbs my excitement for round Tree couldn't even
break break direct their records set by their their quarterback back.
Like why is Brian setting up this stats so straight
to read it three times? Like wait, this doesn't make
a ah. I see alright, eureka, we only have a
(27:49):
couple of running backs are going to touch on. Also,
six round, Chris Evans goes to the Bengals. I don't
like him much. He's a three down back with decent hands.
He's got a little wiggle to him um generally takes
good angles from defenders, but no remarkable NFL special traits,
lackluster speed, ran behind a very good Michigan offensive line
that opened up big holes. He got suspended due to
(28:11):
academic reasons for the season and recorded only sixteen carries
over the past two years. So Chris Evans does nothing
for me. Honestly, I think he looks like a career
back up and he will probably slot into the spot
left over by Geo Bernard's departure from the Bengals, But
I don't think he's going to get as much work
(28:32):
as g O was. The last running back we're gonna
talk about is Khalil Herbert air bear air bear, uh
ground bear. Yeah, ends up going to the Chicago Bears
in the sixth round. Oh, he's a ground bear after all.
Uh yeah, Herbert. When we did our running back show
a few weeks ago. He was kind of projected to
go higher. Running back out of Virginia Tech led the
(28:56):
a c C in combo yards last year, was fourth
in yards after contact on rushes among all college football players.
But he slid in the draft. It might have been
because Virginia Tech had arguably the most dominant also made
part of it that they picked up the slack for Herbert.
But uh, you know, the Bears not an awful landing spot. No.
(29:17):
Jury is still out on David Montgomery. Yeah, he's not
himself after the after the a c L. They do
have Damien Williams now, but yeah, Damian Williams, Damian but
but but Herbert um No, Damian Williams opted out. That
was his deal. Yeah, he has an opt out lest Yeah,
now he's now he's pretty much that I would call
him a backup over Treko him. But but Herbert no
(29:37):
redraft value really, but you know he could work his
way into significant touches through injury or just pure bad
football at a David Montgomery. So I throw a dart
on Herbert in the you know, late fourth fifth in dynasty.
But that's about it, all right, Great job, thanks for
helping his breakdown the running backs. Um, it's a top,
top heavy group. We're we're pretty interest sit in Nagy Harris,
(30:01):
Travis Etienne, Javonte Williams, Michael Carter. I am not that
interested in most the rest of the guys outside of
Romandre Stevenson. Please let Michael Carter be there. Wouldn't that
be nice? He falls to that spot and I don't
think it's it's not I don't think it's gonna happen.
This isn't helping my cause. Probably this yeah, this is
this episode does not help your cause. We'll be back
(30:21):
next week. We're gonna break down wide receivers. The rookie
wide receivers a much stronger receiver class than a running
back class. Lots of guys that have some short term
and long term potential to help your fantasy team. We'll
talk about receivers next week. Thanks for listening, everybody. Fantasy
Football Weekly is a production of I Heart Radio. For
more podcast from my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart
(30:43):
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
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