Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Yes guys, it is time for my top 10 running back draft targets
for fantasy football 2025 takingyou through 10 and there might
be a bonus 11 running backs I amtrying to select for my team.
(00:27):
These guys range from the secondround to sleeper range to
undrafted so and everything in between.
So let's begin with Devon a Chan.
Now, obviously it might be kind of obvious, right?
But with that being said, I'm excluding guys like a Bijan, A
Saquon, a Gibbs who are obvious first rounders, but a Chan is
the first running back target onthis list.
(00:48):
A lot of people are worried about a two injury and a Chan
injury, even though he completely debunked that label
after last season. All right, but I think A Chan is
the best value in Round 2 of drafts.
He was the RB one overall last season when Tua was healthy, LED
all running backs in fantasy points per game with 22.6.
(01:11):
The next closest was Saquon Barkley with 22.2.
Now again, that is when Tua was healthy, but that was for 11
games. OK 22.6 fantasy points.
No other running back was close really besides Barkley.
No other running back other thanthose two was above 20 points
there and he averaged over 1 fantasy point per touch I
(01:32):
believe was like 1.07. So pushing 1.1 fantasy point per
touch. That is elite from an efficiency
standpoint guys he is a true RB one for fantasy obviously.
I do view him having a bell cow role.
Probably going to be pushing 300opportunities again in a great
offense with touchdown upside. If he was going in the first,
I'd kind of be off him, but he'sgoing in the second, sometimes
(01:54):
mid second. So that to a risk in my opinion,
is baked into the ADP. And you can start your draft
guys with a guy like Jeez, Malikneighbors, Nico Collins, Brian
Thomas, Puka Nikua in the first,come back and get a Chan.
I really am all over it. OK, the next guy on the list is
Chase Brown. So all signs are pointing to
(02:14):
Chase Brown being the clear Bengals running back.
They drafted a running back in the draft who obviously is a
good prospect, but again, if we loved every single later slash
mid round pick RB, then all of our favorite fantasy running
backs would be just become worthless the second the NFL
draft was over. Now the Bengals coaching staff
was quoted as saying that Chase Brown proved us right, meaning
(02:35):
they had a lot of hope for him last year.
They put him in those opportunities to excel and he
did, which is awesome. I think the Bengals offense will
be the best offense in all the fantasy this year.
I really, really do. For the past two years, it's
been the Lions. But with Ben Johnson leaving, I
do think the Lions are going to regress just a little bit.
Now the Bengals, everyone's healthy.
(02:56):
Everyone for the most part is paid.
I'm all in on the Bengals. And if they give Chase Brown 20
+ 22 plus opportunities per gamein that true like prime Joe
Mixon roll on the Bengals, he's going to be pushing.
And I'm going to say it for RB one overall.
Honestly across 17 games, if he sees that workload last year as
the clear RB 1, he had 24 plus total opportunities per game
(03:19):
with the Bengals 85% plus snaps played 20.6 PPR points and he
was the RB three overall. So don't look at me like I'm
crazy, like I have 5 heads when I say he could be pushing for RB
one overall because he was already RB three overall for a
good portion of last season to close the year.
Cincinnati with Mixon has produced fantasy RB ones now for
(03:40):
years. I mean 3-4 years now we're
mixing year in and year out. Sometimes it happens later,
sometimes it happens early, sometimes he's injured here and
there. But he has been a fantasy RB-1.
OK so I view Chase Brown as a value RB1IN round 3 and similar
to HN guys. Just looking at how we can
structure our teams. Give you 3 different starts here
that I really like with Chase Brown in the third round.
(04:01):
Brian Thomas, Drake, London, Chase Brown nice.
Malik Neighbors, Brock Bowers, Chase Brown, Nice.
Justin Jefferson, Jonathan Taylor, Chase Brown.
Nice. So all in on Chase Brown there.
Next guy on the list is Alvin Kamara.
Targeting him in drafts as an RB2 for my team among RBS last
year. First in expected points, first
in targets per game. OK, both those were per game on
(04:23):
a total basis. He led all running backs in
receiving yards, and he only played fourteen games.
Truly ridiculous. Never finished lower than RB-15
in points per game. He's played eight years, but
he's drafted right now as RB-16.I'm, I'm just not sure why now
Saints as a whole, their offense, I'm very out on it, OK,
And typically I'm out on runningbacks or past their prime age
(04:44):
window. But if you are an elite
receiving back like Alvin Kamara, where you're doing less
things up the middle, OK, getting hammered every single
play by monster linebackers, when you tend to avoid those
things, you have a tend to have a longer career.
Now he slowed down last year in terms of rushing, but it's just
not really why we're drafting him like he is an elite elites,
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probably the best other than maybe a McCaffrey receiving back
in the NFL and in that department which scores the
fantasy points for him. That's where the majority of his
points come from. He has not slowed down.
So I'm in on Kamara just where he's going in drafts at RB-16
again, never finished lower thanRB-15.
All right, Next up is Chuba Hubbard.
(05:25):
We're starting to get more into these dead zone these these
middle round guys and and there are more of them who are more
mid round than Chuba Hubbard. But last year his role on the
Panthers was a dream workload for any fantasy football running
back. 73 total high value touches.
That was top 4 amongst Arby's 30Green Zone touches guys also top
(05:47):
four among Arby's 77% of snaps played good for RB 3 and 46
total catches RB6. So I mean, that workload you can
put like your mailman or like you know, your dog Walker or
like your Airbnb host of the vacation home you're staying in,
in a couple months in that workload and they're finishing a
(06:07):
top 12 RB. It's that simple.
OK, That is the blue blueprint for elite running back
production. And I think the workload is
going to continue in 2025. I know Rico Dowdell's there, but
they signed Chuba to a long termdeal.
I think Dowdell's a nice addition.
Honestly, I think he's a pretty good pick late in drafts.
But Chuba Hubbard is the lead role.
He is the lead running back and like I said, 77% of snaps
(06:30):
played. If that drops to like 60 because
of Dowdle, he's still going to be returning on his value here
going and drafts around RB 18. So I also think the Carolina
offense is pretty good. Really showed signs of
improvement at the end of last season.
Now this one is a bit surprising.
True dead zone running back it is Tyrone Tracy.
Similar to Hubbard. He had kind of that bell cow
status last season just based onvolume alone.
(06:51):
Once the Giants really leaned into him, which was weeks 5
through 18 in his full time role, he had 18 plus
opportunities per game. Now that is a very important
number. Remember that 18 plus
opportunities per game and he was the RB 16 overall, which is
nothing crazy all right, but in that span, 69% of snaps very
nice ranked top 10 amongst all all R BS and I just think the
(07:12):
giants view him as too crucial to their team and he was too
good last year to lose the entire backfield right away to
Cam Scataboost. So remember I talked about 18
plus opportunities per game. So 83% of running backs last
year who hit that mark finished in RB1A top 12, RB 83%.
So Travis ETN, Isaiah Pacheco, DeAndre Swift, RJ Harvey, and
(07:34):
yes, Tyrone Tracy, those are some guys in the mid rounds who
have identified that could be hitting that 18 plus opportunity
per game. Again, moving on here, sticking
in the dead zone, actually kind of coming out of it now a bit
later in drafts is Caleb Johnson, the rookie on the
Steelers. So he was drafted basically to
just fill Naji's role, steps right into Pittsburgh in the
Naji role. Jalen Warren's role in my
(07:56):
opinion, is not going to change too much.
He might see an extra carry hereand there, but really it is
Caleb Johnson because last year in college he only played twelve
games, 1700 plus total yards and23 touchdowns.
He had a higher breakaway percentage last year than Ashton
Gente and his advanced stats arepretty good.
As I said, his breakaway yards very good, 861 second amongst
(08:17):
all running backs over 1000 yards after contact, top five
amongst running backs steps right into the workload in
Pittsburgh. All in a guy who's going
back-to-back with Caleb Johnson in drafts is Chavez CTN and a
lot of people are worried about two in Bashial, 2 in a lot of
people are worried about Tank Bigsby.
In my opinion, here are the facts.
(08:38):
OK, Tootin is a fourth round rookie who in my opinion
struggles between the tackles. Now his per touch metrics on
like a gap runs or runs between the tackles are very good
because he did not get a lot of them.
This is not a guy who you're going to give 25 carries to a
game, 20 carries to a game. ETN sure, honestly, tank Bigsby,
sure, he could do that too. But with Bigsby, he's arguably
(09:01):
the worst pass catching running back in the NFL.
If you want evidence of that, I'd be happy to supply.
There are multiple tweets on my profile at Joe Rico FF of him
just like incapable of catching a ball like the type of the type
of pass you throw to like your toddler and he just can't catch
it. Like he just kind of claps his
hands like a seal and that he either fumbles it or the other
team picks it off for a touchdown.
(09:22):
There's like four or five clips of that.
I'm happy to provide them. Is Tank Bigsby better on the
goal line than ETN? I would go as far as saying
absolutely right. There are things that Tootin
might do better than ETN. He might be faster, he's
probably faster. There might be things that
Bigsby is better. He's better at scoring the ball
from 1 yard away. Bigsby get ball and score, yeah,
he's better at that. But with ETN, he's the most
(09:43):
well-rounded back in the backfield.
Liam Cohen has come out and saidwe are designing plays for ETN.
We're honestly scheming most of the offense around the type of
plays, these plays in space thatETN likes, like similar to how
they did with Bucky Irving, all right, last year, Liam Cohen
did. So ETN has been told, we've been
(10:04):
told by Liam Cohen that he is the lead running back.
We've been told by Liam Cohen that he is going to get plays
that suit him, his play style, yet he's going round 8 of
drafts, mind you, one year ago, one year ago today.
Today is June 23rd. One year ago today, Travis
Etienne was contending for RB one overall.
(10:26):
He just went head to head with McCaffrey.
Actually, not really. McCaffrey had like 100 more
points on the season, but he wasthe RB2IN PPR weeks one through
17. He is one of the greatest
college running backs ever. Travis Etienne, all right, And I
think he disappointed last year because of his terrible
offensive line, his terrible offensive scheme, Trevor
Lawrence's injuries. Like I have a lot of hope for
ETN. I'll quit the glazing, OK?
(10:47):
But I really do think that I really do think guys that ETN
going where he's going in drafts, close to 100th overall,
right next to Caleb Johnson, that's a value pick.
All right, now let's get into the next guy on our list here.
And I'm sorry for the screen bugging out a little bit, but
those YouTube watchers hang withme for a SEC.
(11:08):
All right, who's next on the list?
We have ETN and then we have, yes, my #1 sleeper because he's
going outside the top 100 picks and drafts is Taije Spears.
Spears was the lead Tennessee running back last year during
the fantasy playoffs. Some people will say Tony
Pollard was injured. He wasn't.
He was healthy. He was injured before that.
But weeks 15 through 17, he was healthy.
(11:31):
Spears only saw 61% of snaps. It's nothing groundbreaking, but
he was the RB five overall weeks15 through 17 fantasy playoffs
last year, 20.7 fantasy points per game, 16 plus opportunities
per game. JT, Bijan, Jamir Gibbs, James
Cook, those are the only runningbacks that were better.
OK, in his games last year whereSpears saw 50% of snaps, all
(11:55):
right, he was an RB-1 in every single one of them.
Now again, weeks 15 through 17. And that's only 50% of snaps,
such as slight majority of snapsover Pollard Weeks 1527 points,
week 1621 and week 1713.3. Again, good for RB5 in that
span. Going outside the top 100
running backs. Younger, better at football than
Tony Pollard. How can you not be in there
(12:18):
Outside the top 100 picks? Another guy outside the top 100
picks, Jordan Mason brought in to Minnesota for short yardage
situations between the tackles and goal to goal carries, goal
to go carries, I should say on the 1 yard line.
Mason's coming in. No longer is Aaron Jones getting
these on the 1 yard line carriesand sprinting into the center as
(12:39):
we've seen like an ETN do and anAaron Jones do.
We're just not doing that anymore.
Kevin O'Connell has come out andsaid they've literally brought
in Jordan Mason because he's a finisher, all right, Finishes
run strong. He's currently projecting Mason
for 10 plus opportunities per game in a good offense.
Now, this is not groundbreaking stuff.
This is not top 12 considerationhere, but last year he was a top
(13:01):
10 running back in a lead role as CMC's backup for the Niners.
Now, very different scheme, verydifferent everything.
OK. But in limited opportunities,
he's looked very good and O'Connell really, really likes
him. Multiple interviews of
O'Connell, talking a lot about Jordan Mason and what he brings
to the team here. OK, next guy, sleeper alert.
Dylan Sampson is my #1RB sleeperfor fantasy football this year.
(13:24):
That's because he's 20 years old.
And that's not just why he's also very good, but historically
running backs drafted at age 20.Now, a viewer brought this up in
the comments a couple videos agothat, well, that's just because,
you know, there's less running backs drafted at age 20.
What I was going to say is they break out more often.
They're given more opportunitiesand they do great things with
them. Historically, those are all
facts, OK? And yes, there are less running
(13:46):
backs that are drafted at age 20.
So the percentage of them that break out or do good with
opportunities or get opportunities is naturally going
to be higher. OK.
But if there are fewer than them, right, If there's like 4R
BS every year that gets drafted at age 20 as opposed to like, I
don't know, 30 that gets draftedat age 21 and RB and 22, OK,
(14:08):
well, the guys at age 20 are, are probably a little more
talented, a little bit maybe a little less proven, but a little
more talented. So it's, it's a the fact that
they're in the draft competing against these guys who are older
than them. They're most likely, you know,
like I said, a little less proven and sometimes that hurts
them in their career, but potentially a little more
talented. Now does this mean that Dylan
Sampson is more talented than Ashton Empty and Marion Hampton,
(14:31):
those guys who are 21 and 22? No, no, it doesn't.
OK, But the later Arby's right down the rookie rankings who are
21/22/23 RJ Harvey 24, right? They they raise a little bit of
red flags. OK, as I said, factually, when
you're 20 years old as a runningback, you break out more often
(14:51):
in the NFL, you're given more opportunities, do great things
with those opportunities. I have a whole thread available
there. We've talked about it in many of
our videos with graphs, evidence, all these things.
But yes, Samson is 21 of the best running backs in Tennessee
Voles history, University of Tennessee.
And I think him alongside Quinn,Shawn Judkins, OK, they are the
future of this backfield in Cleveland.
Like, if they can get a QB, their wide receivers are good,
(15:13):
their running backs are good, their defense is OK.
It's pretty good. Like, that's a pretty good team.
Honestly. They just need the QB.
And I think that Judkins and Samson are going to, you know,
ideally, best case scenario is they are a duo the likes of
Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb or David Montgomery and Jameer
Gibbs. Really think we've seen these
duos succeed in the NFL and their play styles complement
(15:35):
each other well. And I think they can do it now.
The 11th running back, a bit of a bonus here before we conclude
the video is Trevion Henderson. Because naming all of these
running backs and not mentioningTrevion Henderson, who as a 19
year old freshman in college hadover 1200 rushing yards and 19
touchdowns, who on 667 total touches in college has never
(15:57):
lost a single fumble, literally has more national championships
than fumbles lost. Who?
Trevion Henderson, who the only rookie running back last year?
Janty Hampton, All the nobody, the only guy.
Henderson who had 1000 rushing yards and 200 receiving yards
and seven yards per carry. I would be damned if I did not
(16:17):
mention Trevion Henderson as a running back target that I'm
trying to get in every single draft.
He is the ideal guy this year tostart the season not doing much
and then midway through the season, end of the season
completely take over the job in New England.
Guys, if you were wondering, allof these articles are available
at joeorricoff.com and or no expert fantasyfootball.com take
(16:41):
you to the same place here guys.All of my content that I post
every single day is available here.
Click the article guys can read through every single thing
update it daily scroll over to win your league here on the
website join the discord. Okay, you get draft guides, top
300 rankings, lineup optimizer, anything you want.
You ask me in the discord link is in the bio literally 24/7.
(17:02):
I will manage your team with youguys is going to do it for
today. Adios.
Yes guys, it is time for my top 10 running back draft targets
for fantasy football 2025 takingyou through 10 and there might
be a bonus 11 running backs I amtrying to select for my team.
(00:27):
These guys range from the secondround to sleeper range to
undrafted so and everything in between.
So let's begin with Devon a Chan.
Now, obviously it might be kind of obvious, right?
But with that being said, I'm excluding guys like a Bijan, A
Saquon, a Gibbs who are obvious first rounders, but a Chan is
the first running back target onthis list.
(00:48):
A lot of people are worried about a two injury and a Chan
injury, even though he completely debunked that label
after last season. All right, but I think A Chan is
the best value in Round 2 of drafts.
He was the RB one overall last season when Tua was healthy, LED
all running backs in fantasy points per game with 22.6.
(01:11):
The next closest was Saquon Barkley with 22.2.
Now again, that is when Tua was healthy, but that was for 11
games. OK 22.6 fantasy points.
No other running back was close really besides Barkley.
No other running back other thanthose two was above 20 points
there and he averaged over 1 fantasy point per touch I
(01:32):
believe was like 1.07. So pushing 1.1 fantasy point per
touch. That is elite from an efficiency
standpoint guys he is a true RB one for fantasy obviously.
I do view him having a bell cow role.
Probably going to be pushing 300opportunities again in a great
offense with touchdown upside. If he was going in the first,
I'd kind of be off him, but he'sgoing in the second, sometimes
(01:54):
mid second. So that to a risk in my opinion,
is baked into the ADP. And you can start your draft
guys with a guy like Jeez, Malikneighbors, Nico Collins, Brian
Thomas, Puka Nikua in the first,come back and get a Chan.
I really am all over it. OK, the next guy on the list is
Chase Brown. So all signs are pointing to
(02:14):
Chase Brown being the clear Bengals running back.
They drafted a running back in the draft who obviously is a
good prospect, but again, if we loved every single later slash
mid round pick RB, then all of our favorite fantasy running
backs would be just become worthless the second the NFL
draft was over. Now the Bengals coaching staff
was quoted as saying that Chase Brown proved us right, meaning
(02:35):
they had a lot of hope for him last year.
They put him in those opportunities to excel and he
did, which is awesome. I think the Bengals offense will
be the best offense in all the fantasy this year.
I really, really do. For the past two years, it's
been the Lions. But with Ben Johnson leaving, I
do think the Lions are going to regress just a little bit.
Now the Bengals, everyone's healthy.
(02:56):
Everyone for the most part is paid.
I'm all in on the Bengals. And if they give Chase Brown 20
+ 22 plus opportunities per gamein that true like prime Joe
Mixon roll on the Bengals, he's going to be pushing.
And I'm going to say it for RB one overall.
Honestly across 17 games, if he sees that workload last year as
the clear RB 1, he had 24 plus total opportunities per game
(03:19):
with the Bengals 85% plus snaps played 20.6 PPR points and he
was the RB three overall. So don't look at me like I'm
crazy, like I have 5 heads when I say he could be pushing for RB
one overall because he was already RB three overall for a
good portion of last season to close the year.
Cincinnati with Mixon has produced fantasy RB ones now for
(03:40):
years. I mean 3-4 years now we're
mixing year in and year out. Sometimes it happens later,
sometimes it happens early, sometimes he's injured here and
there. But he has been a fantasy RB-1.
OK so I view Chase Brown as a value RB1IN round 3 and similar
to HN guys. Just looking at how we can
structure our teams. Give you 3 different starts here
that I really like with Chase Brown in the third round.
(04:01):
Brian Thomas, Drake, London, Chase Brown nice.
Malik Neighbors, Brock Bowers, Chase Brown, Nice.
Justin Jefferson, Jonathan Taylor, Chase Brown.
Nice. So all in on Chase Brown there.
Next guy on the list is Alvin Kamara.
Targeting him in drafts as an RB2 for my team among RBS last
year. First in expected points, first
in targets per game. OK, both those were per game on
(04:23):
a total basis. He led all running backs in
receiving yards, and he only played fourteen games.
Truly ridiculous. Never finished lower than RB-15
in points per game. He's played eight years, but
he's drafted right now as RB-16.I'm, I'm just not sure why now
Saints as a whole, their offense, I'm very out on it, OK,
And typically I'm out on runningbacks or past their prime age
(04:44):
window. But if you are an elite
receiving back like Alvin Kamara, where you're doing less
things up the middle, OK, getting hammered every single
play by monster linebackers, when you tend to avoid those
things, you have a tend to have a longer career.
Now he slowed down last year in terms of rushing, but it's just
not really why we're drafting him like he is an elite elites,
(05:05):
probably the best other than maybe a McCaffrey receiving back
in the NFL and in that department which scores the
fantasy points for him. That's where the majority of his
points come from. He has not slowed down.
So I'm in on Kamara just where he's going in drafts at RB-16
again, never finished lower thanRB-15.
All right, Next up is Chuba Hubbard.
(05:25):
We're starting to get more into these dead zone these these
middle round guys and and there are more of them who are more
mid round than Chuba Hubbard. But last year his role on the
Panthers was a dream workload for any fantasy football running
back. 73 total high value touches.
That was top 4 amongst Arby's 30Green Zone touches guys also top
(05:47):
four among Arby's 77% of snaps played good for RB 3 and 46
total catches RB6. So I mean, that workload you can
put like your mailman or like you know, your dog Walker or
like your Airbnb host of the vacation home you're staying in,
in a couple months in that workload and they're finishing a
(06:07):
top 12 RB. It's that simple.
OK, That is the blue blueprint for elite running back
production. And I think the workload is
going to continue in 2025. I know Rico Dowdell's there, but
they signed Chuba to a long termdeal.
I think Dowdell's a nice addition.
Honestly, I think he's a pretty good pick late in drafts.
But Chuba Hubbard is the lead role.
He is the lead running back and like I said, 77% of snaps
(06:30):
played. If that drops to like 60 because
of Dowdle, he's still going to be returning on his value here
going and drafts around RB 18. So I also think the Carolina
offense is pretty good. Really showed signs of
improvement at the end of last season.
Now this one is a bit surprising.
True dead zone running back it is Tyrone Tracy.
Similar to Hubbard. He had kind of that bell cow
status last season just based onvolume alone.
(06:51):
Once the Giants really leaned into him, which was weeks 5
through 18 in his full time role, he had 18 plus
opportunities per game. Now that is a very important
number. Remember that 18 plus
opportunities per game and he was the RB 16 overall, which is
nothing crazy all right, but in that span, 69% of snaps very
nice ranked top 10 amongst all all R BS and I just think the
(07:12):
giants view him as too crucial to their team and he was too
good last year to lose the entire backfield right away to
Cam Scataboost. So remember I talked about 18
plus opportunities per game. So 83% of running backs last
year who hit that mark finished in RB1A top 12, RB 83%.
So Travis ETN, Isaiah Pacheco, DeAndre Swift, RJ Harvey, and
(07:34):
yes, Tyrone Tracy, those are some guys in the mid rounds who
have identified that could be hitting that 18 plus opportunity
per game. Again, moving on here, sticking
in the dead zone, actually kind of coming out of it now a bit
later in drafts is Caleb Johnson, the rookie on the
Steelers. So he was drafted basically to
just fill Naji's role, steps right into Pittsburgh in the
Naji role. Jalen Warren's role in my
(07:56):
opinion, is not going to change too much.
He might see an extra carry hereand there, but really it is
Caleb Johnson because last year in college he only played twelve
games, 1700 plus total yards and23 touchdowns.
He had a higher breakaway percentage last year than Ashton
Gente and his advanced stats arepretty good.
As I said, his breakaway yards very good, 861 second amongst
(08:17):
all running backs over 1000 yards after contact, top five
amongst running backs steps right into the workload in
Pittsburgh. All in a guy who's going
back-to-back with Caleb Johnson in drafts is Chavez CTN and a
lot of people are worried about two in Bashial, 2 in a lot of
people are worried about Tank Bigsby.
In my opinion, here are the facts.
(08:38):
OK, Tootin is a fourth round rookie who in my opinion
struggles between the tackles. Now his per touch metrics on
like a gap runs or runs between the tackles are very good
because he did not get a lot of them.
This is not a guy who you're going to give 25 carries to a
game, 20 carries to a game. ETN sure, honestly, tank Bigsby,
sure, he could do that too. But with Bigsby, he's arguably
(09:01):
the worst pass catching running back in the NFL.
If you want evidence of that, I'd be happy to supply.
There are multiple tweets on my profile at Joe Rico FF of him
just like incapable of catching a ball like the type of the type
of pass you throw to like your toddler and he just can't catch
it. Like he just kind of claps his
hands like a seal and that he either fumbles it or the other
team picks it off for a touchdown.
(09:22):
There's like four or five clips of that.
I'm happy to provide them. Is Tank Bigsby better on the
goal line than ETN? I would go as far as saying
absolutely right. There are things that Tootin
might do better than ETN. He might be faster, he's
probably faster. There might be things that
Bigsby is better. He's better at scoring the ball
from 1 yard away. Bigsby get ball and score, yeah,
he's better at that. But with ETN, he's the most
(09:43):
well-rounded back in the backfield.
Liam Cohen has come out and saidwe are designing plays for ETN.
We're honestly scheming most of the offense around the type of
plays, these plays in space thatETN likes, like similar to how
they did with Bucky Irving, all right, last year, Liam Cohen
did. So ETN has been told, we've been
(10:04):
told by Liam Cohen that he is the lead running back.
We've been told by Liam Cohen that he is going to get plays
that suit him, his play style, yet he's going round 8 of
drafts, mind you, one year ago, one year ago today.
Today is June 23rd. One year ago today, Travis
Etienne was contending for RB one overall.
(10:26):
He just went head to head with McCaffrey.
Actually, not really. McCaffrey had like 100 more
points on the season, but he wasthe RB2IN PPR weeks one through
17. He is one of the greatest
college running backs ever. Travis Etienne, all right, And I
think he disappointed last year because of his terrible
offensive line, his terrible offensive scheme, Trevor
Lawrence's injuries. Like I have a lot of hope for
ETN. I'll quit the glazing, OK?
(10:47):
But I really do think that I really do think guys that ETN
going where he's going in drafts, close to 100th overall,
right next to Caleb Johnson, that's a value pick.
All right, now let's get into the next guy on our list here.
And I'm sorry for the screen bugging out a little bit, but
those YouTube watchers hang withme for a SEC.
(11:08):
All right, who's next on the list?
We have ETN and then we have, yes, my #1 sleeper because he's
going outside the top 100 picks and drafts is Taije Spears.
Spears was the lead Tennessee running back last year during
the fantasy playoffs. Some people will say Tony
Pollard was injured. He wasn't.
He was healthy. He was injured before that.
But weeks 15 through 17, he was healthy.
(11:31):
Spears only saw 61% of snaps. It's nothing groundbreaking, but
he was the RB five overall weeks15 through 17 fantasy playoffs
last year, 20.7 fantasy points per game, 16 plus opportunities
per game. JT, Bijan, Jamir Gibbs, James
Cook, those are the only runningbacks that were better.
OK, in his games last year whereSpears saw 50% of snaps, all
(11:55):
right, he was an RB-1 in every single one of them.
Now again, weeks 15 through 17. And that's only 50% of snaps,
such as slight majority of snapsover Pollard Weeks 1527 points,
week 1621 and week 1713.3. Again, good for RB5 in that
span. Going outside the top 100
running backs. Younger, better at football than
Tony Pollard. How can you not be in there
(12:18):
Outside the top 100 picks? Another guy outside the top 100
picks, Jordan Mason brought in to Minnesota for short yardage
situations between the tackles and goal to goal carries, goal
to go carries, I should say on the 1 yard line.
Mason's coming in. No longer is Aaron Jones getting
these on the 1 yard line carriesand sprinting into the center as
(12:39):
we've seen like an ETN do and anAaron Jones do.
We're just not doing that anymore.
Kevin O'Connell has come out andsaid they've literally brought
in Jordan Mason because he's a finisher, all right, Finishes
run strong. He's currently projecting Mason
for 10 plus opportunities per game in a good offense.
Now, this is not groundbreaking stuff.
This is not top 12 considerationhere, but last year he was a top
(13:01):
10 running back in a lead role as CMC's backup for the Niners.
Now, very different scheme, verydifferent everything.
OK. But in limited opportunities,
he's looked very good and O'Connell really, really likes
him. Multiple interviews of
O'Connell, talking a lot about Jordan Mason and what he brings
to the team here. OK, next guy, sleeper alert.
Dylan Sampson is my #1RB sleeperfor fantasy football this year.
(13:24):
That's because he's 20 years old.
And that's not just why he's also very good, but historically
running backs drafted at age 20.Now, a viewer brought this up in
the comments a couple videos agothat, well, that's just because,
you know, there's less running backs drafted at age 20.
What I was going to say is they break out more often.
They're given more opportunitiesand they do great things with
them. Historically, those are all
facts, OK? And yes, there are less running
(13:46):
backs that are drafted at age 20.
So the percentage of them that break out or do good with
opportunities or get opportunities is naturally going
to be higher. OK.
But if there are fewer than them, right, If there's like 4R
BS every year that gets drafted at age 20 as opposed to like, I
don't know, 30 that gets draftedat age 21 and RB and 22, OK,
(14:08):
well, the guys at age 20 are, are probably a little more
talented, a little bit maybe a little less proven, but a little
more talented. So it's, it's a the fact that
they're in the draft competing against these guys who are older
than them. They're most likely, you know,
like I said, a little less proven and sometimes that hurts
them in their career, but potentially a little more
talented. Now does this mean that Dylan
Sampson is more talented than Ashton Empty and Marion Hampton,
(14:31):
those guys who are 21 and 22? No, no, it doesn't.
OK, But the later Arby's right down the rookie rankings who are
21/22/23 RJ Harvey 24, right? They they raise a little bit of
red flags. OK, as I said, factually, when
you're 20 years old as a runningback, you break out more often
(14:51):
in the NFL, you're given more opportunities, do great things
with those opportunities. I have a whole thread available
there. We've talked about it in many of
our videos with graphs, evidence, all these things.
But yes, Samson is 21 of the best running backs in Tennessee
Voles history, University of Tennessee.
And I think him alongside Quinn,Shawn Judkins, OK, they are the
future of this backfield in Cleveland.
Like, if they can get a QB, their wide receivers are good,
(15:13):
their running backs are good, their defense is OK.
It's pretty good. Like, that's a pretty good team.
Honestly. They just need the QB.
And I think that Judkins and Samson are going to, you know,
ideally, best case scenario is they are a duo the likes of
Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb or David Montgomery and Jameer
Gibbs. Really think we've seen these
duos succeed in the NFL and their play styles complement
(15:35):
each other well. And I think they can do it now.
The 11th running back, a bit of a bonus here before we conclude
the video is Trevion Henderson. Because naming all of these
running backs and not mentioningTrevion Henderson, who as a 19
year old freshman in college hadover 1200 rushing yards and 19
touchdowns, who on 667 total touches in college has never
(15:57):
lost a single fumble, literally has more national championships
than fumbles lost. Who?
Trevion Henderson, who the only rookie running back last year?
Janty Hampton, All the nobody, the only guy.
Henderson who had 1000 rushing yards and 200 receiving yards
and seven yards per carry. I would be damned if I did not
(16:17):
mention Trevion Henderson as a running back target that I'm
trying to get in every single draft.
He is the ideal guy this year tostart the season not doing much
and then midway through the season, end of the season
completely take over the job in New England.
Guys, if you were wondering, allof these articles are available
at joeorricoff.com and or no expert fantasyfootball.com take
(16:41):
you to the same place here guys.All of my content that I post
every single day is available here.
Click the article guys can read through every single thing
update it daily scroll over to win your league here on the
website join the discord. Okay, you get draft guides, top
300 rankings, lineup optimizer, anything you want.
You ask me in the discord link is in the bio literally 24/7.
(17:02):
I will manage your team with youguys is going to do it for
today. Adios.
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