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We’re breaking down advanced metrics, projected volume, and juicy upside plays you can’t afford to miss! Don’t sleep on these fantasy football RB sleepers!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
What's up, guys. I'm Ernie.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm back with the face SAW Sports Network, and today
we're gonna touch on some RB sleepers.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Let's jump right into it.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
So, first running back on my list Jordan Mason. I
am a big Jordan Mason fan. If you were following
me last year at Fantasy Football Anonymous, you would have
known that I was pounding the table for him as
the top handcuff in all of fantasy football, and then
that first half of the year looked like a pretty
good investment. So breaking down his numbers last year, there
(00:33):
were only five running backs and that had one hundred
and fifty carries in average over five yards per carry.
That was Saquon Barkley, Jamari Gibbs, Bucky Irving, Derrick Henry
and my boy, Jordan Mason. So that puts him an
elite company right. That just shows you, like what he
is capable of where his talent is now. Going back
(00:55):
the year prior in twenty twenty three, when he started
getting some playing time behind he ranked third in rushing
yards over expected per attempt, which was only behind Barkley
and Derrick Henry.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
So yeah, that's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
He also earned a ninety three PFF grade that year,
which was the highest of any running back. Yeah, it
was only a small sample size, but still that's a
really elite number. All his two hundred and seventy rushing
yards that year, one hundred and ninety came after contact,
so his four point two to two yack ranked second.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
In the league.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So this is a very good player, very underrated player.
I think if he didn't get hurt in the middle
of last year, he would have saw him really take off.
So what happened this year? The Vikings went ahead and
they actually traded for Jordan Mason. Yeah, the games some
late picks, and then they signed him to a two year,
(01:51):
ten million dollar contract.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Why I like that is is because yes, it's a.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Very friendly contract, but it's nothing to sneeze that, Like,
that's not backup money in my opinion. So I think
this is actually a very smart signing by Kevin O'Connell.
I think he's one of the better offensive minds in
the NFL. He's one of my favorite coaches. And I
see what he's doing. He's taking, you know, an elite
workhorse running back and moving them from one zone scheme
(02:17):
to his And now you look at the Vikings, who
made significant investments in their offensive line.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
You could even argued last year that had the better
offensive line. So now you know, you have Jordan Mason.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
He's twenty five years old, his work workhorse size, he's
paired with this loaded Vikings offense, right, so he's projected
to be the one B to Aaron Jones's one A.
So this is why I really like Jordan Mason. Like
he's already he's getting playing time. Yes, he's not like
you know, getting a bellcow workload, right, but I think
(02:48):
this is going to be more of a fifty to
fifty split than people think. I think what O'Connell is
thinking is he's gonna have Jones be more of like
his Gibbs. This is cheesy to use as an example,
and I think you know, Jordan Mason is gonna be
his Montgomery. I think you're gonna see Aaron Jones, you know,
cut up the field between the twenties, right, and then
you're gonna have Jordan Mason.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
He'll get that early down work and he'll also be
their red zone running back.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
But again, you know you gotta this is you know
all about educated guesses and gambling, and you know, Aaron
Jones is a great football player, you know, but he's
thirty one years old.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And he's consistently dealing with injuries.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
So you know, there's a pretty high probability that he
gets hurt this year.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So you know, if if.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
He was to get hurt, now you kind of, you know,
just landed to a fantasy treasure chest with Jordan Mason
because he might you know, actually touch start him. I
think he would be a rock solid RB one for
the rest of the year. Now, moving on to our
second player is Trey Benson.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So Trey Benson, he.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Was one of my favorite running backs. Actually, he was
my favorite running back last year. I did like him
a little bit better than Jonathan Brooks, which is a
sad story. Hopefully Brooks recovers. But Benson went very high.
He went at the top of round three and if
you look at his numbers last year, so he was
he was hit him by behind my boy James Connor.
Like you know, I love James Connor. He's such a
(04:11):
physical running back, just a great player. Also, you know,
helped me win a couple of fantasy leagues, So thank
you for that, James. But when you look at Trey
Benson's work from Week three on last season he had
he was fifteen yards per attempt, sixteen yards after contact
per attempt.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
And seventh in elusiveness.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Those are pretty pretty good numbers, so he outproduced guys
like CMC, Jonathan Taylor, and Brian Robinson and fantasy points
per touch.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Here's the kicker.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
He's sharing a backfield with one of the most injury
prone players in.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
The NFL, my boy, James Connor.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
James Connor is an also player, but he's thirty one
years old with a like a history of injuries. So
even in a time share, I think Benson still is
going to have weekly value here. I think this year
he's gonna get more playing time. I think he will
be more of like a closer to a fifty to
fifty split, with James still getting the heavier side of
(05:10):
the workload. But if James Connor was to ever go down,
you know, again it's similar to Jordan Mason. Now you
have a league winning running back. I think Benson could
be a high end RB two for the rest of
the season. And again, you know there's that upside where
he might just you know, demand more playing time just
on the talent alone. This kid is a big running back.
He runs a four to three. There's a lot to
(05:30):
like in Trey Benson's profile. He's a running back. I
would definitely invest in Best Ball League zero RB strategies.
Both of these guys, Mason and Benson are going to
be gold for you. And my last player I got
for us today is Jalen Wright.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So this one's more.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Interesting because obviously we know the star that Devin Ah is.
He is an absolute fantasy stud. But there is really
interesting upside here, so I I think both could be
producing for fantasy purposes this year, similar to Moster and
e Chanine two years ago. I think Wright was drafted
(06:10):
with the vision to take.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Over Raheem's role.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And the one flaw with this backfield is it's linked
to to his health right and we all know the
unfortunate story about Tua, but he's playing right now. There's
a lot of positive reports, so all hours are pointing
up right. But this was evident, you know, when you
use twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four as a sample.
(06:37):
What I mean by that was in twenty twenty three,
the Dolphins running back for both.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Elite were producing elite like production.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So you know, most and a chain you could you
could have started both of them and you had just
still been fine. So elite production from the running backs
when Tua plays a whole healthy season. But in twenty
twenty four, well, Tuba got hurt a Chane average seven
playing three Fantasy points per game. But if you average
(07:03):
out the rest of the games, if you take those
four four games out and you average out the rest
of the year, he averages basically twenty one Fantasy points
per game.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So this is what I'm saying. Their upside really does
depend on Tuam.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
So in twenty and twenty three, Raheem Moster scored two
hundred and sixty eight PPR Fantasy points. So I'm not
saying Jalen Wright is going to replicate that completely, but
he is going to take that role and his opportunities
are going to go up this year. I think what
(07:37):
we could see here is they could potentially form a
very solid one two punch similar to what we saw
with eighteen and Moster in twenty twenty three. And let's
not forget when you go back to last year, the
Dolphins traded back up into the fourth round to get
Jalen Right and they gave up like pretty good draft
capital that a lot of people felt they couldn't afford
(08:00):
to do, especially when it was for a running back.
And you could make an argument that their running back
room is pretty set. So it had some people, you know,
scratching their heads. But I think McDaniels is a very
good offensive mind, right, and I think he saw something
in Jalen right, So why were they so eager to
get But once you put on the tape, you know,
(08:23):
and you see the four to three speed and the explosiveness,
it just jumps off the screen. I think McDaniels saw
Moster's future replacement. I think that's why they made that investment.
I think the running back room is that important to
them and their success. And while a Chain you know,
is incredibly talented, he's not the biggest back, and he's
(08:46):
already kind of dealt with some injuries. I'm not saying
he's an injury prone player, but you know, he's not
a NFL size So you know this guy, and you
could say this with any person. I just think the
probability of a guy like Devin A. Chang getting hurt
is higher than you know, a guy that's you know,
two hundred and twenty pounds in the same height as him,
so the risk of injury is always going to be there. Right,
(09:09):
gives them basically another home run hitter, and that could
easily step into that starting role if a Chain was
to ever go down, you know. So I think there's
already standalone weekly value here if he becomes that that
monster role where he's kind of like the thunder to
a chain's lightning, similar to what we saw in twenty
(09:29):
twenty three. And there's also that you know, handcuff aspect
of this where if a Chain gets hurt, you know,
especially in PPR, right, it's going to be a league winner.
So these are three running backs I would heavily advise
to invest in this year.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I think they're all great values.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
You know, all these guys are going pretty much after
like round nine or ten, and yeah, these are just
you know, sleeper picks.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
With upside, and that's what.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
You want to fill your bench with, right, you want
to fill your bench with guys that you know are talented.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
They're gonna be playing you.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Know already, right, but then there's the upside for them
to actually step into a bigger role if the guy
they're splitting with was to ever get hurt. So these
are my recommend recommendations to you guys. I hope you
enjoyed the video and we'll catch you next time.
What's up, guys. I'm Ernie.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm back with the face SAW Sports Network, and today
we're gonna touch on some RB sleepers.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Let's jump right into it.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
So, first running back on my list Jordan Mason. I
am a big Jordan Mason fan. If you were following
me last year at Fantasy Football Anonymous, you would have
known that I was pounding the table for him as
the top handcuff in all of fantasy football, and then
that first half of the year looked like a pretty
good investment. So breaking down his numbers last year, there
(00:33):
were only five running backs and that had one hundred
and fifty carries in average over five yards per carry.
That was Saquon Barkley, Jamari Gibbs, Bucky Irving, Derrick Henry
and my boy, Jordan Mason. So that puts him an
elite company right. That just shows you, like what he
is capable of where his talent is now. Going back
(00:55):
the year prior in twenty twenty three, when he started
getting some playing time behind he ranked third in rushing
yards over expected per attempt, which was only behind Barkley
and Derrick Henry.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
So yeah, that's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
He also earned a ninety three PFF grade that year,
which was the highest of any running back. Yeah, it
was only a small sample size, but still that's a
really elite number. All his two hundred and seventy rushing
yards that year, one hundred and ninety came after contact,
so his four point two to two yack ranked second.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
In the league.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So this is a very good player, very underrated player.
I think if he didn't get hurt in the middle
of last year, he would have saw him really take off.
So what happened this year? The Vikings went ahead and
they actually traded for Jordan Mason. Yeah, the games some
late picks, and then they signed him to a two year,
(01:51):
ten million dollar contract.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Why I like that is is because yes, it's a.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Very friendly contract, but it's nothing to sneeze that, Like,
that's not backup money in my opinion. So I think
this is actually a very smart signing by Kevin O'Connell.
I think he's one of the better offensive minds in
the NFL. He's one of my favorite coaches. And I
see what he's doing. He's taking, you know, an elite
workhorse running back and moving them from one zone scheme
(02:17):
to his And now you look at the Vikings, who
made significant investments in their offensive line.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
You could even argued last year that had the better
offensive line. So now you know, you have Jordan Mason.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
He's twenty five years old, his work workhorse size, he's
paired with this loaded Vikings offense, right, so he's projected
to be the one B to Aaron Jones's one A.
So this is why I really like Jordan Mason. Like
he's already he's getting playing time. Yes, he's not like
you know, getting a bellcow workload, right, but I think
(02:48):
this is going to be more of a fifty to
fifty split than people think. I think what O'Connell is
thinking is he's gonna have Jones be more of like
his Gibbs. This is cheesy to use as an example,
and I think you know, Jordan Mason is gonna be
his Montgomery. I think you're gonna see Aaron Jones, you know,
cut up the field between the twenties, right, and then
you're gonna have Jordan Mason.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
He'll get that early down work and he'll also be
their red zone running back.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
But again, you know you gotta this is you know
all about educated guesses and gambling, and you know, Aaron
Jones is a great football player, you know, but he's
thirty one years old.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And he's consistently dealing with injuries.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
So you know, there's a pretty high probability that he
gets hurt this year.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So you know, if if.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
He was to get hurt, now you kind of, you know,
just landed to a fantasy treasure chest with Jordan Mason
because he might you know, actually touch start him. I
think he would be a rock solid RB one for
the rest of the year. Now, moving on to our
second player is Trey Benson.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So Trey Benson, he.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Was one of my favorite running backs. Actually, he was
my favorite running back last year. I did like him
a little bit better than Jonathan Brooks, which is a
sad story. Hopefully Brooks recovers. But Benson went very high.
He went at the top of round three and if
you look at his numbers last year, so he was
he was hit him by behind my boy James Connor.
Like you know, I love James Connor. He's such a
(04:11):
physical running back, just a great player. Also, you know,
helped me win a couple of fantasy leagues, So thank
you for that, James. But when you look at Trey
Benson's work from Week three on last season he had
he was fifteen yards per attempt, sixteen yards after contact
per attempt.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
And seventh in elusiveness.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Those are pretty pretty good numbers, so he outproduced guys
like CMC, Jonathan Taylor, and Brian Robinson and fantasy points
per touch.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Here's the kicker.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
He's sharing a backfield with one of the most injury
prone players in.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
The NFL, my boy, James Connor.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
James Connor is an also player, but he's thirty one
years old with a like a history of injuries. So
even in a time share, I think Benson still is
going to have weekly value here. I think this year
he's gonna get more playing time. I think he will
be more of like a closer to a fifty to
fifty split, with James still getting the heavier side of
(05:10):
the workload. But if James Connor was to ever go down,
you know, again it's similar to Jordan Mason. Now you
have a league winning running back. I think Benson could
be a high end RB two for the rest of
the season. And again, you know there's that upside where
he might just you know, demand more playing time just
on the talent alone. This kid is a big running back.
He runs a four to three. There's a lot to
(05:30):
like in Trey Benson's profile. He's a running back. I
would definitely invest in Best Ball League zero RB strategies.
Both of these guys, Mason and Benson are going to
be gold for you. And my last player I got
for us today is Jalen Wright.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So this one's more.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Interesting because obviously we know the star that Devin Ah is.
He is an absolute fantasy stud. But there is really
interesting upside here, so I I think both could be
producing for fantasy purposes this year, similar to Moster and
e Chanine two years ago. I think Wright was drafted
(06:10):
with the vision to take.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Over Raheem's role.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And the one flaw with this backfield is it's linked
to to his health right and we all know the
unfortunate story about Tua, but he's playing right now. There's
a lot of positive reports, so all hours are pointing
up right. But this was evident, you know, when you
use twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four as a sample.
(06:37):
What I mean by that was in twenty twenty three,
the Dolphins running back for both.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Elite were producing elite like production.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So you know, most and a chain you could you
could have started both of them and you had just
still been fine. So elite production from the running backs
when Tua plays a whole healthy season. But in twenty
twenty four, well, Tuba got hurt a Chane average seven
playing three Fantasy points per game. But if you average
(07:03):
out the rest of the games, if you take those
four four games out and you average out the rest
of the year, he averages basically twenty one Fantasy points
per game.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So this is what I'm saying. Their upside really does
depend on Tuam.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
So in twenty and twenty three, Raheem Moster scored two
hundred and sixty eight PPR Fantasy points. So I'm not
saying Jalen Wright is going to replicate that completely, but
he is going to take that role and his opportunities
are going to go up this year. I think what
(07:37):
we could see here is they could potentially form a
very solid one two punch similar to what we saw
with eighteen and Moster in twenty twenty three. And let's
not forget when you go back to last year, the
Dolphins traded back up into the fourth round to get
Jalen Right and they gave up like pretty good draft
capital that a lot of people felt they couldn't afford
(08:00):
to do, especially when it was for a running back.
And you could make an argument that their running back
room is pretty set. So it had some people, you know,
scratching their heads. But I think McDaniels is a very
good offensive mind, right, and I think he saw something
in Jalen right, So why were they so eager to
get But once you put on the tape, you know,
(08:23):
and you see the four to three speed and the explosiveness,
it just jumps off the screen. I think McDaniels saw
Moster's future replacement. I think that's why they made that investment.
I think the running back room is that important to
them and their success. And while a Chain you know,
is incredibly talented, he's not the biggest back, and he's
(08:46):
already kind of dealt with some injuries. I'm not saying
he's an injury prone player, but you know, he's not
a NFL size So you know this guy, and you
could say this with any person. I just think the
probability of a guy like Devin A. Chang getting hurt
is higher than you know, a guy that's you know,
two hundred and twenty pounds in the same height as him,
so the risk of injury is always going to be there. Right,
(09:09):
gives them basically another home run hitter, and that could
easily step into that starting role if a Chain was
to ever go down, you know. So I think there's
already standalone weekly value here if he becomes that that
monster role where he's kind of like the thunder to
a chain's lightning, similar to what we saw in twenty
(09:29):
twenty three. And there's also that you know, handcuff aspect
of this where if a Chain gets hurt, you know,
especially in PPR, right, it's going to be a league winner.
So these are three running backs I would heavily advise
to invest in this year.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I think they're all great values.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
You know, all these guys are going pretty much after
like round nine or ten, and yeah, these are just
you know, sleeper picks.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
With upside, and that's what.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
You want to fill your bench with, right, you want
to fill your bench with guys that you know are talented.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
They're gonna be playing you.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Know already, right, but then there's the upside for them
to actually step into a bigger role if the guy
they're splitting with was to ever get hurt. So these
are my recommend recommendations to you guys. I hope you
enjoyed the video and we'll catch you next time.
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