July 21, 2023 • 30 mins
In a typical year, half of the top-12 running backs will have been chosen in the second half of the draft. Charch and Brian identify some deep (in some cases, veeeery deep) running backs who have a pathway to playing time. These late-round lottery-ticket running backs can propel your team to a big season.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly
source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation, and
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here's your host, Paul Chargion.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
It's Fantasy Football Weekly. I am Paul Charchi and co
host today Brian Johnson.
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Hey man, what's up charge? We're running out of preseason
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We should we should have a VIP package.
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Maybe next year.
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Speaker 3 (01:49):
And then.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
This week's show Brian Lottery ticket running backs.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah, there's a lot.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
These are the guys who can and single handedly propel
your season. Late round draft picks, Guys that in some
cases aren't even getting drafted, that have the opportunity to
step into a starter's role and go be effective. That man,
that's half the that's half the battle if you can
go get some running back that's gonna pan out from
(02:19):
the twelfth round or the fourteenth round or the sixteenth round.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
These are all lottery ticket running.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Backs, and a lot of them even if the starter
doesn't go down or gets suspended drive his Lambeau one
hundred and even that's a wide receiver conversation running. But
they still have some value even with I think so
manse guys do, because really that the bell cow is extinct,
the bell cow running back. Sadly, I'm not living in
(02:44):
the priest homes or going back further, Emmitt Smith, Barry
Sanders days, and I just.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I saw a great stat relative to that in twenty ten,
and for the decade prior to that, they're averaged seven
backs that would get three hundred carries a year. Now
there's one and a half per year on average. Now,
is it bel Coow's dead?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Is there a draft strategy that you think these running
backs are about to mention would fit.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Into you call it the opposite around here?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Definitely not zero running back around these parts.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Definitely not. Okay, So we're going to give you some
lottery ticket running backs, and the way we've set this
up because you've got to put some parameters on it.
They are. These are backs that have a lack of
competition to at least be like the immediate backup behind
the starter. None of these guys are starters, But I
(03:36):
am throwing out deep complicated backfields like the Eagles with
Rashad Penny and DeAndre Swift and Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott.
They're out because that divides the pie up way too much.
I mean, even if Whenshod Penny goes down, this thing's
still messy, right, So in in in these cases, these
are all guys that are like one step away from
(03:58):
getting some real playing time.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
The Jets is another example. Well, something has already happened
to Breeze Hall, right even with Breese Hall, who was
put on the pup list for the preseason, by the way,
but there's still I isy A, Bonnie Conda, Michael Carr,
Damn Night. So oh yeah, it's too muddled so that
they're not talking about these guys.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
They're out, And we're also going to give you all
guys and you alluded to this that for them to
get time, it's more than just like the starter needs
a blow out a ACL. So I mean, you know
these are all guys. You can make a case. I'm
getting time for different reasons from that. Anyway, you've got
some NFC lottery ticket runners. I've got AFC all the
way around. For you have AFC, I have NFC.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Gave me a little bit of a heart attack.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yeah, sorry about that. Okay, prep correctly for this.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Good.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I'm gonna let you go first, give me a an
AFC lottery ticket runner.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Oh, I think this will. I got two you're gonna love,
but I won't start with your favorite, but probably probably
your one. B in terms of favorites in the AFC
is Damien Harris. Harris of the Bills right now, yeah, baby,
going off the board is RB thirty eight, pick one
seventeen overall. James Cook is going more than twenty picks
earlier than Harris, so he is the presumed starter by
(05:07):
the fantasy community. But is he really like especially on
first and second downs, right, I think it's Harris. I mean,
even before we don't again, we don't want anything to
happen to these starting running back but this is just
in the event of but even without something happening to Cook,
I think Harris is the guy I would rather have
between the two, especially with adp baked in. So Harris
(05:29):
a guy I've been targeting heavily all off season in
my drafts. And again he's gonna be the guy at
the goal line. Yeah, not James Cook. It's gonna be
Josh Allen before James Cook. But when Harris has been healthy,
he and he can catch passes. He has three down
back potential. And there's Nahem Hines and Latavius Murray and
(05:49):
Buffalo too, but they're now facts, they're not really factors here.
So Damien Harris my number one lottery ticket running back
to TEA.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I think that's a great angle. And Damian Harris has
got ten touchdown upside in him.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeaham offense in that offense yet I don't think No, Yeah,
that offense Harris for sure, massive upside if you stay healthy.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I'm gonna start with a player not many people even
know the name of, and that's Giants rookie running back
Eric Gray as my lottery ticket guy, my first of
several in the NFC. Saquon Barkley's threatening hold out, but
that's not gonna happen. Nobody ever holds out The last
guy held out was Le'Veon Bell and he has spent
the last two years at any at anybody will listen.
(06:29):
It's like, oh, biggest mistake in my life. I never
should have held out. He said that he had a
He was just on a podcast or tweeted about this
just a couple of days ago. How he never should
These guys aren't gonna hold out.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
He regrets it, he regrets it.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Let's talk about fifth round rookie Eric Gray. And I'm
not interested in Matt Brita. I think we've seen everything
Matt Brita brings to the table and it's just not enough.
So there's an opportunity for Gray here. Uh. What I
don't like is he's slow, below average speed on power,
but he is extremely balanced, He's very agile, he's super shit.
He's got darting quickness, steady pass catching skills. He's basically
(07:05):
a poor man's Barkley, which is why the Giants drafted him. Schematically,
he fits into just what Brian Dable wants to do
with Saquon Barkley. So for when Saquon Barkley's off the
field or in the event of injury, or if he
does actually if he's dumped crazy enough to hold out,
then Eric Gray's the guy want not Matt Brita.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I agree, And you're doing our listener as a favor
because right now the narrative is, go get Brita if
you're worried about Barkley. And no, he's not the guy.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
We've seen a lot of Matt Brita. He ain't the guy,
not the gay. We know that, so I think they'll
they'll give a shot at Eric Gray. All right, who's
your next AFC at lottery ticket running back?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Well, this is really your guy, but I like him too.
I don't adore him as much as you, but he's
up there. It's Tank Bigsby of yeah, baby, he's running
back forty five right now in terms of ADP won
forty overall. Travis Etn currently RB fourteen. So we're talking
talking about a thirty running you know, thirty spots running
(08:04):
back right when it comes between Etn and Bigsby. Recently,
this is what the Jaguars running back coach had to
say on Tank and Bigsby. Who remember, Travis Etn was
drafted by the old regime, the Urban Meyer regime. So yeah,
this regime woves the Tank. Running backs coach for the
(08:25):
Jaguars recently said Tank is the type of back we
wanted to bring to the table, and he fit everything
that we were looking for. He popped off the screen
and again they love him. I wanted to leave some
time for you to gush over Tank maybe a little
bit more. But he's got three down potential. You know,
he's a three down back. He can, he can. He
might just outright take this job from Travis Etn.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I agree. I think that these too. In fact, my
probably my boldest take of the entire offseason so far.
I think Tank Bigsby scores more Fantasy points than Travis
Etn will It's possible. Here's we know. Etn doesn't catch
as much as we want, as people want, as listeners knows.
I throw out this stat maybe a month ago. Travis'
Etn averages two catches for eighteen yards through the air.
(09:10):
That's it. So he doesn't catch. He's not a goal
line guy. They were forced into trying him at the
goal line last year. Didn't work. Tank Biggsby's going to
get the goal line carries. I think you're looking at
a lot of games at Travis Etn of like twelve
carries for forty yards, scoreless, and that's gonna really make
things tough and Bigsby's gonna I think Biggsby's going to
(09:31):
do more with his opportunities, so it might be a
better pass catcher, totally important.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
One forty overall, again, I think we see that ADP
creep up closer to the top one hundred towards the
end of the summer for Bigsby.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
My next guy, my next lottery ticket from the NFC
Minnesota Viking running back ty Chandler, Alexander Madison is just
a guy. He's a jag, as they say in the business.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
I call him Alexander me then.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, there's something to that. We've seen a lot of him,
you know here in Minnesota. I've seen every one of
his carries. He's not a bad running back. It's also
not a great running back. He also has limited pass
catching skills. Ty Chandler brings to the table explosive upside.
We saw it in college, we saw it last year
in the preseason, and he's a better receiver. I think
(10:20):
this preseason is still way more of an open battle
for playing time and even the starter's role than people realize. Furthermore,
I don't think Alexander Madison's gonna hold the number one
spot all season long. I think sooner or later, just
his his his lack of explosiveness and upside is gonna
cost him a starting job for some period of time.
(10:42):
Ty Chandler's gonna have an opportunity to step in and
take those take those spots. So ty Chandler, and by
the way, I think he's the guy you want, not
Dwayne McBride, the seventh round pick. You want ty Chandler
from last year, because really did pop in the offseason.
Actually had a chance to ask Kevin o'can about ty
Chandler in on roughly April loves him, loves him now
(11:06):
that coaches always say they love their guys, but you know,
you can kind of tell when they're really going to
bat for a guy.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
In his eye no one could see except you except me.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
That's right, that's how we're on the I was looking
deeply into Kevin O'Connell's eyes.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Oh, he's got dreamy eyes.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Very much so well, we've all seen it on Netflix.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Quarterback. That's right, it's not a but in person, I'm
sure it's a whole nother story.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Yeah, well very Yeah, it's Oh, it's even better in person.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Quarterback real quick? What'd you think?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Well, I think it's pretty good, but I you know,
but I'm a Kirk Cousins apologist, and I think it's
so healthy for Viking fans to see the pounding he
took last year. He no appreciation for that guy dragging
himself off of the field after these monster hits and
doing everything he has to do to get right for
the next Sunday. They just take for granted, Viking fans
(11:54):
to take for granted that Kirk Cousin's going to be there.
They don't know what he was going through to get
right after being the most hit quarterback last year, the
third most hit quarterback the year before that, and the
most hit quarterback the year before that.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Yeah, he's going to be sore in his forties and
the rest of his life. It could be. He's a
good singer, though I didn't realize what a good singer
Kirk was.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Nobody knew a lot of gospel hymns, right, things like that, Okay,
let's go to one more lottery ticket running back and
then we'll sneak in a quickly.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
All right, It sounds good. Well, I'll make this one quick.
Jalen Warren of the Steelers, who I like a lot
as a lotto ticket back out of the AFC, running
back forty four right now off the board in most drafts.
Najee Harris currently RB thirteen the presumed starter. He will start.
But if something were to happen to Harris, and something
sort of did happen to Harris last year had the
(12:45):
Liz Frank injury, Warren came in, wasn't starting, but he
was essentially splitting time with Harris. But then Warren hurt
his foot too, so they were both dinged up behind
a really bad offensive line. But the Steelers were top
twelve and rushing play percentage last year. They revamped that
O line this offseason. So Jalen Warren, I mean, I'm
bullish on this Steelers offense just at cost. I'm not
(13:08):
saying it's gonna be the most explosive offense in the NFL,
but they've brought I think Kenny Pickett takes a step
forward in year two, and if something were to happen
to Harris, I think Warren could step in and essentially
fill his shoes. And you're getting them at a much
cheaper price than you are for Najie Harris Warren another
guy that I've been actively targeting and might do the
(13:28):
opposite drafts when.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
We come back. More lottery ticket running back suggestions for
your drafts on Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly,
Paul Charchie, Brian Johnson with you. Guillotine leagues dot Com
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Speaker 1 (14:53):
Let's get back to the lottery ticket running backs.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
You want me to go, I feel like I got
I think you.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Have a couple more than I do. Go go for that.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
AFC is loaded with lotto running backs. My next guy
up is someone I've been kind of preaching or tweeting
about praising since once the draft ended. Because the Cleveland
Browns did not add any running backs in the draft.
They let Kareem Hunt walk. So I've been loving Jerome Ford.
I've watched his ADP go from free to now it's
(15:22):
one sixty five where he's RB fifty.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
People are starting to warm up to jar Ford.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Because he's basically the only guy behind Nick Chubb. We're
not worried about Demitric Felton Junior or John Kelly Junior
and Nick Chubb now with Saquon Barkley kind of you know,
worried about him. He's moved into up to RB four.
He's pushing late first round, you know, draft capital status,
so something would happen to him. Jerome Ford is not
(15:48):
Nick Chubb, but he really pow has not at Cincinnati.
He was a rookie last year was an awful landing
spot for him. Last year with the.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Brown no playing time and maybe not even any carries
because he was for you he had.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Like very minimum. Yeah, he was behind Chubb. Of course
Hunt and Caris Johnson who's in Jacksonville. But we're not
worried about him, and we're going back to Tank Bigsby talk.
But Jerome Ford, he will see the field too. Even
with Nick Chubb healthy, Nick Chub's not gonna get a
hundred percent of the carries. I think Ford will still
see eight carries per game, twelve ish touches he can
(16:23):
catch too. Brown's top eight and rushing play percentage last year.
They love to run the ball, usually have a great
old line. So Jerome Ford, even even though I was
getting him for free a few months ago, I'm still
paying the forty rounds that he's gone up or for
I'm sorry, forty picks that he's improved upon. I still
think he's worth taking a shot on there for if
(16:45):
something were unfortunately to happen to Nick Chubb.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Here's a player who's ADP is often so low it's
not even listed on ADP reports, Yet he is sitting
in a primo spot to get playing time. I'm talking
about Buccaneers rookie running back Sean Tucker now is going
into the draft. He was widely graded as roughly a
(17:08):
round five kind of guy, which is fine. He went undrafted,
and had he played in the SEC or the big
Tennis out of the ACC, I'm guessing that he probably
would have been like a round three or four projection.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
And he went undrafted because he didn't test at the
combine or have a pro day. He had some he
had injury.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
He had, he had an injury.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
He should be good to go. And he was the
first undrafted free agent running back signed. Like it was
right off the like that. Yeah, yep, Now he has got.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
You're not watching a lot of breaking down a lot
of Syracuse tape, I know, but dang does he pop
off the tape. Wow, he's got remarkable vision burst, He's
got explosiveness, one cut runner, he's really shifty, he can
move laterally. And Sean Tucker is a good receiver. At
thirty six catches last year, there's a real opportunity for
(17:57):
Sean Tucker with the Buccaneers. He's just he's got a
handful of special traits that you're looking for that goes okay.
Maybe he's you know, Shawn Tucker's not like you know,
he's not the second coming of Adrian Peterson. He's got
a couple of things that he does really well that
should work at the NFL level. Chase Edmonds is in
that backfield. He's not a factor.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
I hate Chase Edmonds.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Rashad White is the starter. He topped out as he's
top the most carries he's ever had in a season,
including college at Arizona State, one hundred and forty eight carries.
That's it.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Yeah, he's not the guy people are presuming he's just
gonna be a bell cow because he's the only one
anyone's ever really heard of in the Bucks back.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I think White's going to be in a rotation. I do,
and I think Sean Tucker is the best candidate to
be the other part of that rotation, Sean Tucker effectively
free ADP. So low, it's off the it's at the
you know, it's off the it's off the list. So yeah,
let's go try a little Sean Tucker.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Buccaneers right and took him in either the twenty first
or twenty second round of the scott Fish Bowl and
most drafts don't go twenty one to twenty two rounds. Right,
he was still there, Yes, in a point per carry
league too, So yeah, he's free, but he shouldn't be.
So if you don't know Sean Tucker, you do.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Now let's go to the next AFC lottery ticket running back.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Well, this is we'll still call him a lottery ticket.
It's Samir White of the Raiders. Now, Josh Jacobs could
he could seriously hold out? We said Barkley probably won't.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
But then the Giants, anybody's gonna hold up.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
The Giants actually offered Barkley a contract extension. Supposedly the
Raiders didn't even we're the Raiders, like, you don't want
to lose with us, will lose a value. We're in
the AFC West, we're in the if we're not going
on the playoffs, or not winning the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
We can lose with or without you.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
And we got Samir White, who everyone if if you recall,
he Josh Jacobs didn't start the Hall of Fame game
the first preseason game last year, and everyone's like, oh,
Josh Jacobs is dust, like they're not even playing him
in the and we all know how that turned out.
Josh Jacobs was a top five running back. But Samir
White looked good in that game. He didn't play a
ton last year because they just you know, they Jacob's
(20:00):
into the ground, assuming they let him walk, but they
tagged him again. But he's holding out or could hold out.
But anyway, right now, Zamir White, he was free just
like Sean Tucker. He's at RB sixty two. But people
are starting to realize that he could be the guy
if Jacobs holds out, or he will be the guy
if Jacobs holds out. The other backs on roster right
now are a mere Abdullah and Brandon Bolden are not
(20:22):
worried about factors. But even if, hopefully they figure something
out with Josh Jacobs, but if something were to happen
to Josh Jacobs, I don't think they're gonna be signing
him a long term I'm not gonna speculate there, but
they're gonna give Zamir White more touches this season and
again if he gets the starting gig, whether it's through
holdout or injury, it's it's jackpot. T'm right now, but uh,
(20:43):
that ADP's gonna go up day by day.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
The next rookie. Well, it's not all rookies all. There's
a lot of rookies a lottery pick running backs. For me,
it's Rams rookie Zach Evans. ADP right now is two
hundred and twenty. So also effectively free lots of questions
around cam Akers right now. Cherry looked good in December,
(21:07):
but he was awful in September, October, November when he
was doing nothing with the Rams. He got excommunicated from
his own team for a couple of weeks last year,
Remember that where they were like, no, we don't need
you in camp, we don't need you, we don't need
you at practice. You just stay home. No running back
in the history of the NFL has put together a
(21:28):
particularly good career after the Achilles injury. The all time
high water mark for running backs coming back from Achilles
is Donta Foreman, and that ain't saying much. So let's
go back to Zach Evans. He was expected to be
drafted in the third round, but he slid to Los
Angeles in the sixth round, and man, did they get
(21:49):
a gem. He averaged almost seven yards per carry and
eleven yards per catch over his three year career at
TCU and then last year at Ole Miss. Zach Kevin
is a good breakaway back. He's explosive, He's got fantastic
foot work. He can give defenders the slip. He's got acceleration,
(22:11):
he can win at the corner. He's got great he's
got great angles, he can weave through defense. Zach em
is a good player and he could flat out just
beat out cam Akers. It's not impossible. He's the weak
one starter now again, cam Akers will good in December,
and I'm not taking that away from him, but I
think this thing's way way shakier, and cam Akers is
(22:34):
way way shakier than people realize. Zach Evans potential lottery ticket.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Love it. Let's go to your next guy, another rookie,
ty J Spears of the Titan.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
I know you're gonna go here.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
I feel like We've talked about a lot on this show,
but deservedly so. Right now, going off the board is
running back fifty three, Derrick Henry the obvious starter, running
back eight, so another massive delta there. Titans were top
six and rushing plapersage last year, and Derrick Henry he's
getting up there in age and usage. Twenty nine, twenty
nine years old. And Spears has had some knee issues
(23:10):
in the past, but as of right now, we're only
talking about twenty twenty three. That's what it is, right
We're not talking dynasty long term outlook. His knees are intact,
so he's healthy. So I'm excited to see what he
can do this year. He's gonna he's gonna spell Henry
at times for sure, especially on third down. But if
something were to happen to Henry or Henry falls off
the cliff, Spears is an enticing option. Last year at
(23:31):
tu Lane, where he went to college, of course, he
finished fifth in rushing yards and yards per carry in
the country among all FBS schools. Per Dane Brugler of
the Athletic, a well renowned Scout College Scout, Yeah, Spears.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
His work in the Beast is unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Yeah, it's staggers. It's like a bible. It's basically like
the thickness of a bible. All about just every last
He says, Spears a slippery runner with dynamic start stops,
cutting skills, patient vision, and darting acceleration, which are highlighted
on encounter and outside z own plays. There's more very
nice things he says about him. I'll stop now, but
(24:10):
at Ty J. Spears another guy I'm targeting heavily.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Yeah, there were a lot of people that got very
wow by Spears at Senior Bowl. I think it was
Senior Bowl, you know, throughout the offseason, at the Combine,
at the Pro Day, Spears looked remarkable.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Yeah. I think he only slid in the draft because
of the knee issues. But there's no there's no problem
right now. That was just all long, long term outlook
was the reason for his slide.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
All right, My final lottery pick running back Brian. And
by the way, before I get to my final guy,
if you are in a guillotine league, be sure to
be listening to the Chop podcast. It's the world's only
guillotine league podcast. Be sure to check that out. Maybe
even subscribe to Chop the Guillotine League podcast idea.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
And this is my.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Least favorite out of all of my of all of
my lottery ticket guys, because I don't think he's that good.
Dallas is back up, Malik Davis. His ADP right now
is two hundred and ten. Your new offensive coordinator in
Dallas is Brian Schottenheimern And we don't know how for
sure he's gonna shake things up compared to what Kellen
Moore was doing well he was offensive coordinator.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Hopefully he doesn't score too fast or too much.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, wasn't that part of the reason that, yeah, we
gotta let him go with you? Too many points? All
points are out here in Dallas. Shawnheimer's gonna change things up.
But if we do go back to when he was
offensive coordinator last he was three years he was offense
coordinated for Seattle. In two those three years, Chris Carson
posted two hundred and fifty touch seasons, which would still
leave like one hundred and fifty touches on the table
(25:36):
for somebody else. Lak Davis's next man up. I didn't
think you look special last year at all, really, But
fantasy football is about opportunity. Tony Pollock's never proven himself
to be a work horse. We don't know that they're
gonna make him a work horse. He might just be
sitting at like two hundred touches. Maybe that's it, so
there could be some extra work to go along. Again,
(25:57):
I don't think Malik Davis is a special guy, and
do's fawn to be by the way, not even a
factor here.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
He's five five, he's darren Sproles.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yeah, he's not going to factor in.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
He'll catch passes, but that's about it. Correct.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
He could we could only hope to be darren Sproles.
Darren Sproles is a borderline Hall of Fame guy.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Yeah. I didn't want to make you the Apples to
apples comparison in terms of talent, but size, size and roll.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah, there you go. There you go. Uh to Malik Davis,
somebody you could throw a dart at at the end
of your draft. Again, I think I'd go with all
the other po all the other players both Brian and
I have mentioned before Malik Davis. But the opportunity could
be there.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
I got a couple more I'll run through them real quick.
Another one of your guys Gus Edwards the Ravens absolutely
running back fifty eight right now, going a little too late,
h JK. Dobbins will be the starter this year, but
if something would happen to Dobbins, Edwards would be thrust
into the starting role and expected electric offense. Now Baltimore
has been historically run heavy. Last year they had the
(26:54):
second highest rushing play percentage. That is likely to change
with Todd don't call me art Monkin as a new
offensive coordinator. But Edwards, like Dobbins, two years removed now
from major knee injury, so he will see the field
as well. Dobbins is going to get all the work,
so they're a standalone value as of right now. But
if something were to happen to Dobbins, Edwards presumably would
(27:17):
see the lion's share of touches out of the Baltimore backfield.
And lastly, this is I guess low hanging fruit, but
not low hanging fruit that I really want to eat.
It's Devin Singletary of the Texans now former bill RB
forty nine. That delta is just not big enough between
he and Damian Peers. And by the way, some people
think Singletary is going to push Damian Pierce to be
(27:39):
the start. We are not those people. No, we are
not those people.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
No, there's a word for those people. Wrong.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Yeah, So I'm not thrilled about Singletary just because he's
really one of the more expensive guys we're talking about,
and he's not. He's arguably the least exciting talent that
we've talked about on this episode. So again, if something
were to happen to Piers, Singletary would be the guy.
But the Texans offense really not that enticing right now.
(28:09):
We'll see, but I'm not expected to put up a
ton of points both Piers.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
But I love Pierce.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Singletary not not so much even if something wereld happen
to Pierce.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
I've seen some tweets by the fantasy community other experts
that have said, you know, why am I buying Damian
Pierce finish his RB twenty four last year? How is
he gonna get any better? The way Damian Pierce is
going to get better this year, planted in my flag
right now is as a pass catcher. He was a
good pass receiver in college. The last coaching staff was
(28:41):
totally inept. This coaching staff is going to unlock his
receiving abilities. Another year in the pros, he's going to
be better pass protection. He'll be on the field more
third downs. Damian Pierce is going to ppr his way
into a top ten, top twelve season. And right now
he's going off the board like our be seventeen eighteen
(29:01):
something like that. I think he's got I think he's
got top ten upside in him. I love Damian Pierce,
as you know. Thanks for listening, everybody.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Uh, hopefully we don't have to redo this show because
still Dalvin Cook Korea.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Yeah, I meant to say that. I had that as
a note for the very beginning, but put it at
the end. Who knows, you know, we're recording Cook, Elliott, Hunt, Fournette,
all free agents. They could suck up the works.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Of course, hopefully they won't. I feel like they're gonna.
I think they're gonna go to the more muddled teams
though that we sort of talked about earlier on The
Jets are a candidate, the Patriots are one. I kind
of I was gonna mention Pierre Strong, but there's steam
that good. Yeah, who knows.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
And by the way, Vermandri Stevenson, Oh, I love him.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Yeah, again and we don't want. Yeah, we don't want
to put any bad juju.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Don't put, do not put. Dalvin Leo Fournett can go
there all he wants for Neett's cooked cook. I don't
want to see Dalvin.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Cook go there. Yeah, Miami, you can go to Miami
and go to Miami. Absolutely another muddled muddled that we
didn't discuss.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Yeah, sounds good. Thanks for listening, everybody. We'll be back
with more Fantasy Football Weekly next week. Fantasy Football Weekly
is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly
source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation, and
whatever stupid stuff they decide to drop into the show. Now,
here's your host, Paul Chargion.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
It's Fantasy Football Weekly. I am Paul Charchi and co
host today Brian Johnson.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Hey man, what's up charge? We're running out of preseason
shows right or our or off season I should say.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Yeah, we'll be going back to the full two hour
format in early to mid August. I think there's a
I think it's August eleventh. I think or twelfth is
our first full two hour show, and I should mention
for our local listeners and we don't. We tried very
hard not to make this show Minnesota focused. But for
local listeners, you can see Fantasy Football Weekly live at
(00:56):
our training camp event August twelfth, Saturday, August twelfth at
Treasure Island Casino in the Greater Twin Cities area.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Or you could fly in.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
If you're not fly in, yeah, absolutely, we'd be happy
to see you do it.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Do we have f FWA travel packages for this?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
We should we should have a VIP package.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Maybe next year.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Yeah. So maybe you've wanted to come to Minnesota anyway.
You want to see some great fishing, ten thousand lakes,
small of America, whatever it is that you'd love to
do in Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
If you're gonna go to Minnesota, you want to come.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
In the time, that's right, This is the time.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Right.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
If you hang out for another week or so, you
can get to the State Fair, that's worth it.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
We'll be there too.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
We will be there as well. But the Fantasy Fotball
Training Camp is a huge deal for us. We haven't
done it since pre pandemic, but before the pandemic we
were drawing thoy twelve hundred people. It's free. We encourage
you to come out August twelfth. So that's uh. I
want to get that little bit of news out there.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
And then.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
This week's show Brian Lottery ticket running backs.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah, there's a lot.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
These are the guys who can and single handedly propel
your season. Late round draft picks, Guys that in some
cases aren't even getting drafted, that have the opportunity to
step into a starter's role and go be effective. That man,
that's half the that's half the battle if you can
go get some running back that's gonna pan out from
(02:19):
the twelfth round or the fourteenth round or the sixteenth round.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
These are all lottery ticket running.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Backs, and a lot of them even if the starter
doesn't go down or gets suspended drive his Lambeau one
hundred and even that's a wide receiver conversation running. But
they still have some value even with I think so
manse guys do, because really that the bell cow is extinct,
the bell cow running back. Sadly, I'm not living in
(02:44):
the priest homes or going back further, Emmitt Smith, Barry
Sanders days, and I just.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I saw a great stat relative to that in twenty ten,
and for the decade prior to that, they're averaged seven
backs that would get three hundred carries a year. Now
there's one and a half per year on average. Now,
is it bel Coow's dead?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Is there a draft strategy that you think these running
backs are about to mention would fit.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Into you call it the opposite around here?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Definitely not zero running back around these parts.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Definitely not. Okay, So we're going to give you some
lottery ticket running backs, and the way we've set this
up because you've got to put some parameters on it.
They are. These are backs that have a lack of
competition to at least be like the immediate backup behind
the starter. None of these guys are starters, But I
(03:36):
am throwing out deep complicated backfields like the Eagles with
Rashad Penny and DeAndre Swift and Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott.
They're out because that divides the pie up way too much.
I mean, even if Whenshod Penny goes down, this thing's
still messy, right, So in in in these cases, these
are all guys that are like one step away from
(03:58):
getting some real playing time.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
The Jets is another example. Well, something has already happened
to Breeze Hall, right even with Breese Hall, who was
put on the pup list for the preseason, by the way,
but there's still I isy A, Bonnie Conda, Michael Carr,
Damn Night. So oh yeah, it's too muddled so that
they're not talking about these guys.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
They're out, And we're also going to give you all
guys and you alluded to this that for them to
get time, it's more than just like the starter needs
a blow out a ACL. So I mean, you know
these are all guys. You can make a case. I'm
getting time for different reasons from that. Anyway, you've got
some NFC lottery ticket runners. I've got AFC all the
way around. For you have AFC, I have NFC.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Gave me a little bit of a heart attack.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yeah, sorry about that. Okay, prep correctly for this.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Good.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I'm gonna let you go first, give me a an
AFC lottery ticket runner.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Oh, I think this will. I got two you're gonna love,
but I won't start with your favorite, but probably probably
your one. B in terms of favorites in the AFC
is Damien Harris. Harris of the Bills right now, yeah, baby,
going off the board is RB thirty eight, pick one
seventeen overall. James Cook is going more than twenty picks
earlier than Harris, so he is the presumed starter by
(05:07):
the fantasy community. But is he really like especially on
first and second downs, right, I think it's Harris. I mean,
even before we don't again, we don't want anything to
happen to these starting running back but this is just
in the event of but even without something happening to Cook,
I think Harris is the guy I would rather have
between the two, especially with adp baked in. So Harris
(05:29):
a guy I've been targeting heavily all off season in
my drafts. And again he's gonna be the guy at
the goal line. Yeah, not James Cook. It's gonna be
Josh Allen before James Cook. But when Harris has been healthy,
he and he can catch passes. He has three down
back potential. And there's Nahem Hines and Latavius Murray and
(05:49):
Buffalo too, but they're now facts, they're not really factors here.
So Damien Harris my number one lottery ticket running back
to TEA.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I think that's a great angle. And Damian Harris has
got ten touchdown upside in him.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeaham offense in that offense yet I don't think No, Yeah,
that offense Harris for sure, massive upside if you stay healthy.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I'm gonna start with a player not many people even
know the name of, and that's Giants rookie running back
Eric Gray as my lottery ticket guy, my first of
several in the NFC. Saquon Barkley's threatening hold out, but
that's not gonna happen. Nobody ever holds out The last
guy held out was Le'Veon Bell and he has spent
the last two years at any at anybody will listen.
(06:29):
It's like, oh, biggest mistake in my life. I never
should have held out. He said that he had a
He was just on a podcast or tweeted about this
just a couple of days ago. How he never should
These guys aren't gonna hold out.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
He regrets it, he regrets it.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Let's talk about fifth round rookie Eric Gray. And I'm
not interested in Matt Brita. I think we've seen everything
Matt Brita brings to the table and it's just not enough.
So there's an opportunity for Gray here. Uh. What I
don't like is he's slow, below average speed on power,
but he is extremely balanced, He's very agile, he's super shit.
He's got darting quickness, steady pass catching skills. He's basically
(07:05):
a poor man's Barkley, which is why the Giants drafted him. Schematically,
he fits into just what Brian Dable wants to do
with Saquon Barkley. So for when Saquon Barkley's off the
field or in the event of injury, or if he
does actually if he's dumped crazy enough to hold out,
then Eric Gray's the guy want not Matt Brita.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I agree, And you're doing our listener as a favor
because right now the narrative is, go get Brita if
you're worried about Barkley. And no, he's not the guy.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
We've seen a lot of Matt Brita. He ain't the guy,
not the gay. We know that, so I think they'll
they'll give a shot at Eric Gray. All right, who's
your next AFC at lottery ticket running back?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Well, this is really your guy, but I like him too.
I don't adore him as much as you, but he's
up there. It's Tank Bigsby of yeah, baby, he's running
back forty five right now in terms of ADP won
forty overall. Travis Etn currently RB fourteen. So we're talking
talking about a thirty running you know, thirty spots running
(08:04):
back right when it comes between Etn and Bigsby. Recently,
this is what the Jaguars running back coach had to
say on Tank and Bigsby. Who remember, Travis Etn was
drafted by the old regime, the Urban Meyer regime. So yeah,
this regime woves the Tank. Running backs coach for the
(08:25):
Jaguars recently said Tank is the type of back we
wanted to bring to the table, and he fit everything
that we were looking for. He popped off the screen
and again they love him. I wanted to leave some
time for you to gush over Tank maybe a little
bit more. But he's got three down potential. You know,
he's a three down back. He can, he can. He
might just outright take this job from Travis Etn.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I agree. I think that these too. In fact, my
probably my boldest take of the entire offseason so far.
I think Tank Bigsby scores more Fantasy points than Travis
Etn will It's possible. Here's we know. Etn doesn't catch
as much as we want, as people want, as listeners knows.
I throw out this stat maybe a month ago. Travis'
Etn averages two catches for eighteen yards through the air.
(09:10):
That's it. So he doesn't catch. He's not a goal
line guy. They were forced into trying him at the
goal line last year. Didn't work. Tank Biggsby's going to
get the goal line carries. I think you're looking at
a lot of games at Travis Etn of like twelve
carries for forty yards, scoreless, and that's gonna really make
things tough and Bigsby's gonna I think Biggsby's going to
(09:31):
do more with his opportunities, so it might be a
better pass catcher, totally important.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
One forty overall, again, I think we see that ADP
creep up closer to the top one hundred towards the
end of the summer for Bigsby.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
My next guy, my next lottery ticket from the NFC
Minnesota Viking running back ty Chandler, Alexander Madison is just
a guy. He's a jag, as they say in the business.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
I call him Alexander me then.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, there's something to that. We've seen a lot of him,
you know here in Minnesota. I've seen every one of
his carries. He's not a bad running back. It's also
not a great running back. He also has limited pass
catching skills. Ty Chandler brings to the table explosive upside.
We saw it in college, we saw it last year
in the preseason, and he's a better receiver. I think
(10:20):
this preseason is still way more of an open battle
for playing time and even the starter's role than people realize. Furthermore,
I don't think Alexander Madison's gonna hold the number one
spot all season long. I think sooner or later, just
his his his lack of explosiveness and upside is gonna
cost him a starting job for some period of time.
(10:42):
Ty Chandler's gonna have an opportunity to step in and
take those take those spots. So ty Chandler, and by
the way, I think he's the guy you want, not
Dwayne McBride, the seventh round pick. You want ty Chandler
from last year, because really did pop in the offseason.
Actually had a chance to ask Kevin o'can about ty
Chandler in on roughly April loves him, loves him now
(11:06):
that coaches always say they love their guys, but you know,
you can kind of tell when they're really going to
bat for a guy.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
In his eye no one could see except you except me.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
That's right, that's how we're on the I was looking
deeply into Kevin O'Connell's eyes.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Oh, he's got dreamy eyes.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Very much so well, we've all seen it on Netflix.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Quarterback. That's right, it's not a but in person, I'm
sure it's a whole nother story.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Yeah, well very Yeah, it's Oh, it's even better in person.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Quarterback real quick? What'd you think?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Well, I think it's pretty good, but I you know,
but I'm a Kirk Cousins apologist, and I think it's
so healthy for Viking fans to see the pounding he
took last year. He no appreciation for that guy dragging
himself off of the field after these monster hits and
doing everything he has to do to get right for
the next Sunday. They just take for granted, Viking fans
(11:54):
to take for granted that Kirk Cousin's going to be there.
They don't know what he was going through to get
right after being the most hit quarterback last year, the
third most hit quarterback the year before that, and the
most hit quarterback the year before that.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Yeah, he's going to be sore in his forties and
the rest of his life. It could be. He's a
good singer, though I didn't realize what a good singer
Kirk was.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Nobody knew a lot of gospel hymns, right, things like that, Okay,
let's go to one more lottery ticket running back and
then we'll sneak in a quickly.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
All right, It sounds good. Well, I'll make this one quick.
Jalen Warren of the Steelers, who I like a lot
as a lotto ticket back out of the AFC, running
back forty four right now off the board in most drafts.
Najee Harris currently RB thirteen the presumed starter. He will start.
But if something were to happen to Harris, and something
sort of did happen to Harris last year had the
(12:45):
Liz Frank injury, Warren came in, wasn't starting, but he
was essentially splitting time with Harris. But then Warren hurt
his foot too, so they were both dinged up behind
a really bad offensive line. But the Steelers were top
twelve and rushing play percentage last year. They revamped that
O line this offseason. So Jalen Warren, I mean, I'm
bullish on this Steelers offense just at cost. I'm not
(13:08):
saying it's gonna be the most explosive offense in the NFL,
but they've brought I think Kenny Pickett takes a step
forward in year two, and if something were to happen
to Harris, I think Warren could step in and essentially
fill his shoes. And you're getting them at a much
cheaper price than you are for Najie Harris Warren another
guy that I've been actively targeting and might do the
(13:28):
opposite drafts when.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
We come back. More lottery ticket running back suggestions for
your drafts on Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly,
Paul Charchie, Brian Johnson with you. Guillotine leagues dot Com
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No, it's nine I guess nine hundred and ninety nine pennies.
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And not just for guillotine leagues, all leagues, but yeah,
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Speaker 1 (14:53):
Let's get back to the lottery ticket running backs.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
You want me to go, I feel like I got
I think you.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Have a couple more than I do. Go go for that.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
AFC is loaded with lotto running backs. My next guy
up is someone I've been kind of preaching or tweeting
about praising since once the draft ended. Because the Cleveland
Browns did not add any running backs in the draft.
They let Kareem Hunt walk. So I've been loving Jerome Ford.
I've watched his ADP go from free to now it's
(15:22):
one sixty five where he's RB fifty.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
People are starting to warm up to jar Ford.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Because he's basically the only guy behind Nick Chubb. We're
not worried about Demitric Felton Junior or John Kelly Junior
and Nick Chubb now with Saquon Barkley kind of you know,
worried about him. He's moved into up to RB four.
He's pushing late first round, you know, draft capital status,
so something would happen to him. Jerome Ford is not
(15:48):
Nick Chubb, but he really pow has not at Cincinnati.
He was a rookie last year was an awful landing
spot for him. Last year with the.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Brown no playing time and maybe not even any carries
because he was for you he had.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Like very minimum. Yeah, he was behind Chubb. Of course
Hunt and Caris Johnson who's in Jacksonville. But we're not
worried about him, and we're going back to Tank Bigsby talk.
But Jerome Ford, he will see the field too. Even
with Nick Chubb healthy, Nick Chub's not gonna get a
hundred percent of the carries. I think Ford will still
see eight carries per game, twelve ish touches he can
(16:23):
catch too. Brown's top eight and rushing play percentage last year.
They love to run the ball, usually have a great
old line. So Jerome Ford, even even though I was
getting him for free a few months ago, I'm still
paying the forty rounds that he's gone up or for
I'm sorry, forty picks that he's improved upon. I still
think he's worth taking a shot on there for if
(16:45):
something were unfortunately to happen to Nick Chubb.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Here's a player who's ADP is often so low it's
not even listed on ADP reports, Yet he is sitting
in a primo spot to get playing time. I'm talking
about Buccaneers rookie running back Sean Tucker now is going
into the draft. He was widely graded as roughly a
(17:08):
round five kind of guy, which is fine. He went undrafted,
and had he played in the SEC or the big
Tennis out of the ACC, I'm guessing that he probably
would have been like a round three or four projection.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
And he went undrafted because he didn't test at the
combine or have a pro day. He had some he
had injury.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
He had, he had an injury.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
He should be good to go. And he was the
first undrafted free agent running back signed. Like it was
right off the like that. Yeah, yep, Now he has got.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
You're not watching a lot of breaking down a lot
of Syracuse tape, I know, but dang does he pop
off the tape. Wow, he's got remarkable vision burst, He's
got explosiveness, one cut runner, he's really shifty, he can
move laterally. And Sean Tucker is a good receiver. At
thirty six catches last year, there's a real opportunity for
(17:57):
Sean Tucker with the Buccaneers. He's just he's got a
handful of special traits that you're looking for that goes okay.
Maybe he's you know, Shawn Tucker's not like you know,
he's not the second coming of Adrian Peterson. He's got
a couple of things that he does really well that
should work at the NFL level. Chase Edmonds is in
that backfield. He's not a factor.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
I hate Chase Edmonds.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Rashad White is the starter. He topped out as he's
top the most carries he's ever had in a season,
including college at Arizona State, one hundred and forty eight carries.
That's it.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Yeah, he's not the guy people are presuming he's just
gonna be a bell cow because he's the only one
anyone's ever really heard of in the Bucks back.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I think White's going to be in a rotation. I do,
and I think Sean Tucker is the best candidate to
be the other part of that rotation, Sean Tucker effectively
free ADP. So low, it's off the it's at the
you know, it's off the it's off the list. So yeah,
let's go try a little Sean Tucker.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Buccaneers right and took him in either the twenty first
or twenty second round of the scott Fish Bowl and
most drafts don't go twenty one to twenty two rounds. Right,
he was still there, Yes, in a point per carry
league too, So yeah, he's free, but he shouldn't be.
So if you don't know Sean Tucker, you do.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Now let's go to the next AFC lottery ticket running back.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Well, this is we'll still call him a lottery ticket.
It's Samir White of the Raiders. Now, Josh Jacobs could
he could seriously hold out? We said Barkley probably won't.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
But then the Giants, anybody's gonna hold up.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
The Giants actually offered Barkley a contract extension. Supposedly the
Raiders didn't even we're the Raiders, like, you don't want
to lose with us, will lose a value. We're in
the AFC West, we're in the if we're not going
on the playoffs, or not winning the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
We can lose with or without you.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
And we got Samir White, who everyone if if you recall,
he Josh Jacobs didn't start the Hall of Fame game
the first preseason game last year, and everyone's like, oh,
Josh Jacobs is dust, like they're not even playing him
in the and we all know how that turned out.
Josh Jacobs was a top five running back. But Samir
White looked good in that game. He didn't play a
ton last year because they just you know, they Jacob's
(20:00):
into the ground, assuming they let him walk, but they
tagged him again. But he's holding out or could hold out.
But anyway, right now, Zamir White, he was free just
like Sean Tucker. He's at RB sixty two. But people
are starting to realize that he could be the guy
if Jacobs holds out, or he will be the guy
if Jacobs holds out. The other backs on roster right
now are a mere Abdullah and Brandon Bolden are not
(20:22):
worried about factors. But even if, hopefully they figure something
out with Josh Jacobs, but if something were to happen
to Josh Jacobs, I don't think they're gonna be signing
him a long term I'm not gonna speculate there, but
they're gonna give Zamir White more touches this season and
again if he gets the starting gig, whether it's through
holdout or injury, it's it's jackpot. T'm right now, but uh,
(20:43):
that ADP's gonna go up day by day.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
The next rookie. Well, it's not all rookies all. There's
a lot of rookies a lottery pick running backs. For me,
it's Rams rookie Zach Evans. ADP right now is two
hundred and twenty. So also effectively free lots of questions
around cam Akers right now. Cherry looked good in December,
(21:07):
but he was awful in September, October, November when he
was doing nothing with the Rams. He got excommunicated from
his own team for a couple of weeks last year,
Remember that where they were like, no, we don't need
you in camp, we don't need you, we don't need
you at practice. You just stay home. No running back
in the history of the NFL has put together a
(21:28):
particularly good career after the Achilles injury. The all time
high water mark for running backs coming back from Achilles
is Donta Foreman, and that ain't saying much. So let's
go back to Zach Evans. He was expected to be
drafted in the third round, but he slid to Los
Angeles in the sixth round, and man, did they get
(21:49):
a gem. He averaged almost seven yards per carry and
eleven yards per catch over his three year career at
TCU and then last year at Ole Miss. Zach Kevin
is a good breakaway back. He's explosive, He's got fantastic
foot work. He can give defenders the slip. He's got acceleration,
(22:11):
he can win at the corner. He's got great he's
got great angles, he can weave through defense. Zach em
is a good player and he could flat out just
beat out cam Akers. It's not impossible. He's the weak
one starter now again, cam Akers will good in December,
and I'm not taking that away from him, but I
think this thing's way way shakier, and cam Akers is
(22:34):
way way shakier than people realize. Zach Evans potential lottery ticket.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Love it. Let's go to your next guy, another rookie,
ty J Spears of the Titan.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
I know you're gonna go here.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
I feel like We've talked about a lot on this show,
but deservedly so. Right now, going off the board is
running back fifty three, Derrick Henry the obvious starter, running
back eight, so another massive delta there. Titans were top
six and rushing plapersage last year, and Derrick Henry he's
getting up there in age and usage. Twenty nine, twenty
nine years old. And Spears has had some knee issues
(23:10):
in the past, but as of right now, we're only
talking about twenty twenty three. That's what it is, right
We're not talking dynasty long term outlook. His knees are intact,
so he's healthy. So I'm excited to see what he
can do this year. He's gonna he's gonna spell Henry
at times for sure, especially on third down. But if
something were to happen to Henry or Henry falls off
the cliff, Spears is an enticing option. Last year at
(23:31):
tu Lane, where he went to college, of course, he
finished fifth in rushing yards and yards per carry in
the country among all FBS schools. Per Dane Brugler of
the Athletic, a well renowned Scout College Scout, Yeah, Spears.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
His work in the Beast is unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Yeah, it's staggers. It's like a bible. It's basically like
the thickness of a bible. All about just every last
He says, Spears a slippery runner with dynamic start stops,
cutting skills, patient vision, and darting acceleration, which are highlighted
on encounter and outside z own plays. There's more very
nice things he says about him. I'll stop now, but
(24:10):
at Ty J. Spears another guy I'm targeting heavily.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Yeah, there were a lot of people that got very
wow by Spears at Senior Bowl. I think it was
Senior Bowl, you know, throughout the offseason, at the Combine,
at the Pro Day, Spears looked remarkable.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Yeah. I think he only slid in the draft because
of the knee issues. But there's no there's no problem
right now. That was just all long, long term outlook
was the reason for his slide.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
All right, My final lottery pick running back Brian. And
by the way, before I get to my final guy,
if you are in a guillotine league, be sure to
be listening to the Chop podcast. It's the world's only
guillotine league podcast. Be sure to check that out. Maybe
even subscribe to Chop the Guillotine League podcast idea.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
And this is my.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Least favorite out of all of my of all of
my lottery ticket guys, because I don't think he's that good.
Dallas is back up, Malik Davis. His ADP right now
is two hundred and ten. Your new offensive coordinator in
Dallas is Brian Schottenheimern And we don't know how for
sure he's gonna shake things up compared to what Kellen
Moore was doing well he was offensive coordinator.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Hopefully he doesn't score too fast or too much.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, wasn't that part of the reason that, yeah, we
gotta let him go with you? Too many points? All
points are out here in Dallas. Shawnheimer's gonna change things up.
But if we do go back to when he was
offensive coordinator last he was three years he was offense
coordinated for Seattle. In two those three years, Chris Carson
posted two hundred and fifty touch seasons, which would still
leave like one hundred and fifty touches on the table
(25:36):
for somebody else. Lak Davis's next man up. I didn't
think you look special last year at all, really, But
fantasy football is about opportunity. Tony Pollock's never proven himself
to be a work horse. We don't know that they're
gonna make him a work horse. He might just be
sitting at like two hundred touches. Maybe that's it, so
there could be some extra work to go along. Again,
(25:57):
I don't think Malik Davis is a special guy, and
do's fawn to be by the way, not even a
factor here.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
He's five five, he's darren Sproles.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yeah, he's not going to factor in.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
He'll catch passes, but that's about it. Correct.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
He could we could only hope to be darren Sproles.
Darren Sproles is a borderline Hall of Fame guy.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Yeah. I didn't want to make you the Apples to
apples comparison in terms of talent, but size, size and roll.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah, there you go. There you go. Uh to Malik Davis,
somebody you could throw a dart at at the end
of your draft. Again, I think I'd go with all
the other po all the other players both Brian and
I have mentioned before Malik Davis. But the opportunity could
be there.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
I got a couple more I'll run through them real quick.
Another one of your guys Gus Edwards the Ravens absolutely
running back fifty eight right now, going a little too late,
h JK. Dobbins will be the starter this year, but
if something would happen to Dobbins, Edwards would be thrust
into the starting role and expected electric offense. Now Baltimore
has been historically run heavy. Last year they had the
(26:54):
second highest rushing play percentage. That is likely to change
with Todd don't call me art Monkin as a new
offensive coordinator. But Edwards, like Dobbins, two years removed now
from major knee injury, so he will see the field
as well. Dobbins is going to get all the work,
so they're a standalone value as of right now. But
if something were to happen to Dobbins, Edwards presumably would
(27:17):
see the lion's share of touches out of the Baltimore backfield.
And lastly, this is I guess low hanging fruit, but
not low hanging fruit that I really want to eat.
It's Devin Singletary of the Texans now former bill RB
forty nine. That delta is just not big enough between
he and Damian Peers. And by the way, some people
think Singletary is going to push Damian Pierce to be
(27:39):
the start. We are not those people. No, we are
not those people.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
No, there's a word for those people. Wrong.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Yeah, So I'm not thrilled about Singletary just because he's
really one of the more expensive guys we're talking about,
and he's not. He's arguably the least exciting talent that
we've talked about on this episode. So again, if something
were to happen to Piers, Singletary would be the guy.
But the Texans offense really not that enticing right now.
(28:09):
We'll see, but I'm not expected to put up a
ton of points both Piers.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
But I love Pierce.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Singletary not not so much even if something wereld happen
to Pierce.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
I've seen some tweets by the fantasy community other experts
that have said, you know, why am I buying Damian
Pierce finish his RB twenty four last year? How is
he gonna get any better? The way Damian Pierce is
going to get better this year, planted in my flag
right now is as a pass catcher. He was a
good pass receiver in college. The last coaching staff was
(28:41):
totally inept. This coaching staff is going to unlock his
receiving abilities. Another year in the pros, he's going to
be better pass protection. He'll be on the field more
third downs. Damian Pierce is going to ppr his way
into a top ten, top twelve season. And right now
he's going off the board like our be seventeen eighteen
(29:01):
something like that. I think he's got I think he's
got top ten upside in him. I love Damian Pierce,
as you know. Thanks for listening, everybody.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Uh, hopefully we don't have to redo this show because
still Dalvin Cook Korea.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Yeah, I meant to say that. I had that as
a note for the very beginning, but put it at
the end. Who knows, you know, we're recording Cook, Elliott, Hunt, Fournette,
all free agents. They could suck up the works.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Of course, hopefully they won't. I feel like they're gonna.
I think they're gonna go to the more muddled teams
though that we sort of talked about earlier on The
Jets are a candidate, the Patriots are one. I kind
of I was gonna mention Pierre Strong, but there's steam
that good. Yeah, who knows.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
And by the way, Vermandri Stevenson, Oh, I love him.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Yeah, again and we don't want. Yeah, we don't want
to put any bad juju.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Don't put, do not put. Dalvin Leo Fournett can go
there all he wants for Neett's cooked cook. I don't
want to see Dalvin.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Cook go there. Yeah, Miami, you can go to Miami
and go to Miami. Absolutely another muddled muddled that we
didn't discuss.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Yeah, sounds good. Thanks for listening, everybody. We'll be back
with more Fantasy Football Weekly next week. Fantasy Football Weekly
is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
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