Fantasy Football Daily - Fantasy Points Podcast EP 3: Washington Commanders RB Chris Rodriguez, Jr.

Episode Date: July 31, 2023

Washington Commanders rookie RB Chris Rodriguez, Jr. (@CROD_JR) sits down with Trey Kamberling (@TreyKamberling) and Scott Barrett (@ScottBarrettDFB) to discuss his 2023 role, former college teammates Will Levis and Wan'Dale Robinson, and how he modeled his game (hint: it's after a recent star RB). Want to join a high-stakes dynasty league -- or any other high-stakes league? All new FFPC users get $25 off their first FFPC league of $35 or more, including dynasty orphans, using our affiliate link: https://myffpc.com/cms/public?affid=fantasypoints FANTASY POINTS PROJECTIONS ARE LIVE FOR ALL STANDARD AND PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS! Interested in playing Best Ball in 2023? There's no better place than Underdog Fantasy. Use our code FANTASYPTS to sign up for a new account at Underdog, and not only will you get a 100% deposit match up to $100... but you'll get a Fantasy Points Standard subscription for only $5! https://www.fantasypoints.com/underdog --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is going on, everybody. I am Trey Camberling here with Scott Barrett. And today we have a special guest. You're going to hear from him in a little bit. It is Chris Rodriguez running back of the Washington commanders. And Scott and I both, Scott can speak more to it, but we both kind of think that Chris is going to have a real role this year. And both of us are a little bit higher on him than maybe the consensus is.

So, Scott, thanks for hopping on, filling in for Joe Dolan, the legend. doing the franchise focus the last month. He's been putting out content like nobody's business. But Scott, what did you think of the interview? And what do you think of Chris in general? Yeah, I thought the interview went great.

We all had a really good time, learned some new interesting stuff. And this is a player I've been really high on all offseason. Like you remember from my post-draft press conference podcast, he was the guy I lead it off with because, you know, no one else is talking about it, but it's clear Washington was a lot higher on him than everyone else, round three grades,

and apparently had a clearly defined role in mind for him in year one. That's exactly what we're hearing. You know, day three of camp, just two days ago, quote unquote, Chris Rodriguez took a lot of first team reps today, Macy, a good bit of action this season.

And yeah, I think he's viable as a last round best ball pick, but for Dynasty, he's a player all over because have him in a ton of leagues because one, he's super cheap, too. I thought the prospect profile was really good. And three, he was handpicked by this new Eric Biennemi regime and that matters. And like, they have a role in mind for him. So, yeah, I thought this is a great interview. And I think this one's going to be fantasy actionable. If not this year, maybe maybe next year for sure. Yeah. And at the time,

you know, a month or so ago, when we were putting out some of that Chris Rodriguez information, he was practically free in dynasty leagues. I know I picked him up off waivers right after our rookie draft. Maybe not the case anymore, but definitely a dynasty target if you're a dynasty manager out there, look and see what the deal is. But yeah, without further ado, here is Washington commanders running back Chris Rodriguez. It's Trey Camberling here, Fantasy Points.com, joined by Scott Barrett,

and Chris Rodriguez of the Washington commanders. Chris, really excited to have you, and I know Scott's super excited to talk to you. He's got some stats for you, and he's ready to hype you up a little bit. But first things first, Chris, how are you doing? I'm doing good. I'm doing good. You know, I'm in camp right now, but, you know, making it through, taking care of my body, taking care of everything else, on and off the field, honestly.

But, yeah, I'm doing good. Yeah, I was telling you before we began that this is a friendly podcast. I'm a massive fan of yours. I've been hyping you up all offseason prior to the draft. And now I've got you on like every single one of my dynasty teams, which means like you're on my team for life. So long as I don't trade you, I'm not going to trade you. So, you know, I'm going to be rooting for your success. But like I thought you were extremely underrated as a prospect.

Obviously, I love your film. You're one of the most fun players to watch on film. But I'm really a numbers guy and analytics guy. And I have this prospect model. And my model was telling me you were a really high level talent. So here's some of the numbers I'm going to read. off to you. Last year, 75% of your yards came after contact. It's an incredible figure. It kind of implies you weren't getting too much help from your offensive line. A really predictive metric

is mistackles forced, you know, forcing mistackles. Here are the top five seasons by mistackles forced per game. One, Bijan in 2022. Two, Bijan in 2021. Three, Chris Rodriguez in 2022. David Montgomery, 2018, 5, David Montgomery, 2017. That is what we in the industry call a predictive stat. Another cool stat I found is that you're one of these running backs like Derek Henry, who seems to get better as the game goes on. Throughout your career, you averaged 8.5 yards per carry in the fourth quarter. The rest of the time, you average 5.3.

Still a really good number, but 8.5 in the fourth quarter is crazy. Yeah, I didn't know about that. I'm honestly shocked about that stuff. You're taking a pounding. You're getting tackled out there, but it seems like you're wearing on defenses far more than they're wearing on you. I mean, when I was in high school,

my coach told me that he honestly kind of reiterates that all the time. He's like, you know, you get better as the game goes on. And I felt like, I mean, I felt the same way. You know, once you get in the game, you kind of get a feel forward. once you start getting on safeties and dbs they just you know they don't want to hit you anymore they start taking bad angles or they just rely on the dudes up front to get it done and uh for me it's just like i go into the same energy of the game that i leave with you know uh it's just ground and pound

all day you call my number i'm gonna get the job done whenever you whenever so good conditioning too you have to imagine good stamina oh yeah oh yeah coach uh my high school coach or not high school. My college running back coach, Coach Settle, and he would, I mean, dude, it was different. You know, when he got there with Liam Cohen, they started, that was the first time where when we had like inside run period, he was like, hey, guys, I don't care if we're on the opposite 20. You're finishing to the other end zone on your last run. And when I did it for the first time, I was just like, coach, like, man, I can't keep doing this. And he, he's. And he, he, he's, he, he, He was like, dude, if you want to be great, that's how they're going to do it at the next level.

And honestly, it prepared me for the games even more. You know, you expect to have those long runs when they pop up. Like you're tired, but at the same time, you still have that same energy and that same burst that you start with. If Eric or Ron are listening right now, listen, this is a guy who gets better, the more touches you give him. So give him those touches. He doesn't need any breathers. He's got that conditioning. I'm telling him, give me the ball, man.

One of the thing I wanted to touch on, so Nikki Javala, one of the beatwriters out there in Washington, said the commanders had a round three grade on you. So that's like kind of insane value for someone who went round six, kind of wish you went, you know, round three, but all things happened for a reason. Yeah, me too. Ron Rivera said in his post-draft press conference, he said, you know, the grades we had on him, He was sticking out like a sore thumb. Maybe some people only view him as a two-downback, but we didn't.

He also said, this was one of the things Eric the enemy wants to do. Add another big physical guy. This was a guy Eric was very high on. A player Eric thinks will most certainly have a role for us on the offensive side this year. I was just hoping, could you speak on any of those points. One, you know, maybe you could have done more as a receiver in college than you did. or just what you think Eric has planned for you in year one. Yeah.

In college, I do feel like I could have done more receiver, you know, or slob, wherever they needed me to be. But, you know, I never questioned the coaches what they decided to do. I mean, we had Jaton, Cavazier. So they were a little bit quicker than I was. But, I mean, you know, we could all do pretty much the same thing. They were just, like I said, they're just pretty much quicker. And as far as E.B. is, you know, you never know with him.

He might put you out somewhere, and he believes in everybody. And if he thinks you can get it done, he's going to coach you to get it done. I think they believe in me and believe in my hands. He actually came up to me after one of the, I think it was the rookie mini-camp. He said, well, I mean, the cuss. excuse my language, he's like, well, shit, you catch better than I thought you did. I was like, I mean, I don't know why people didn't think I could catch. I mean, it is what it is, though.

I'm just going to keep saying true to myself and keep working, and hopefully one day people realize it. That's important for fantasy. We talked about that before the show. You know, catching passes is a fantasy cheat code. And, yeah, what I saw on tape, like, definitely believe you have the capacity to do, you know, just about anything and everything. I feel like I can too, but at the same time, it's like, you know, it's always room for improvement. And like I said, stay true to myself and I tell people to believe in me.

We can get back into these questions. So let's start from the beginning. I heard you were an offensive lineman, a center in middle school. What's the story there? Well, so it was in Georgia, you can't play middle school football two years in seventh grade. So prior to that, I was a center. I actually started off playing football, like way little. I was a guard.

And then when I moved to McDonough, Georgia with my God family, they had me at Center. And then right before the game, I end up breaking my arm. And my older brother, who's a little bit smaller than me, end up playing. And he had a pretty good, you know, season. So when I came back to that next season, they were like, hey, we're going to put you at fullback. This is going into like fifth, sixth grade. They're like, we're going to put your head fullback and, you know, just go block. I mean, you know how to block.

You've been doing it before. And I wasn't really getting a lot of touches. But then I think it was one game. In Georgia, you know, in Mercy Rule, you got to change a lot of stuff around so you can't have the same running backs. So they end up putting me at the tailback. So then I got the ball and I just took off running. Next thing, you know, when I get to middle school, the coach is like, hey, like, what position you play? I was like, I'll play running back.

It's like, I'm not playing Olai anymore. I'm about to play running back. So then I end up moving to running back and had a pretty good season in middle school, pretty good few seasons in middle school. Play a little bit of fullback as well. And in high school, I just strictly running back and a little bit of defense. But I didn't like it. So coach just kept me on offense. Clearly you were on to something there.

I would say. At Kentucky, obviously, you played with a couple guys that are in the league now. We'll start with Will Levis. Big guy, strong arm. What have you seen from Will Levis as you guys have spent time together? And how do you think his skills translate to the NFL? When he first got to Kentucky, I knew one, he looked like a tight end. They're like, hey, that's a new quarterback, just came in.

And I'm like, which one is a few of them? Like, that dude looks like a tight end. I mean, if you've ever seen, or if you know anything about Kentucky football, we got a tight end named Brendan Bates. Will and Brendan have the same body type there. Brendan plays tight end. So I'm thinking Will is a new tight end coming in. But then you get on the field and, you know, when he first got there,

he's telling people like, hey, let's go out and let's throw. You know, let's go, you know, practice and just to get a few balls up. So go out there and you see him throw. and you're like, dude, Jesus, dude. One, he, everything is a beam. Like, I'm doing checkdowns and he's beaming the ball, and I'm just like, dude, oh, my God. So whenever it was the time to, like, you know,

for the draft and everything, obviously I've seen him at the combine. We spoke, you know, a lot through the process. You know, I thought one, he was one of the top quarterbacks coming off the board. I mean, you know, you would hate to see him drop the way he did. But I mean, I feel like he'll have a pretty good season, you know, once his time has come. When his numbers call, he's going to show up and it's going to surprise a lot of people that doubted him. And then you talked about in the pre-interview process about Juan Dale. You guys are, you guys are close, a little smaller big play type receiver. A lot of big plays at Kentucky with the

Giants now. Could you speak on his game? and how you think he's going to fare in year two? Yeah, so Wondell, he's one of those guys. He works hard. He'll do whatever it takes to win. You know, I've been around him for two years now, and like I said, we're pretty much close. Like, we talk every day, and if not, like, you know,

we'll hop on the game, and he's like, yo, get on. So we'll play the game pretty much throughout the night if we don't have football in the morning. But, yeah, I mean, people kind of, I feel like people kind of sleep on him too, but he's just, he'll surprise you. Like, he's, he's so quick in and out of his cuts. It's just, it was, it was something to see. Like, on that Florida game, when we played Florida at home, I was like, there's no way

he gets out of this. And the next thing, you know, he just, he pops out and scores touchdown off the screen. And it's like, all right, yeah, he's actually like that. But, yeah, I feel like once he gets back healthy, you know, he's a, I think he, he got injured last year. I forgot what the game it was, but yeah, he got injured last year, but he's going to surprise a lot of people this year as well. One thing I know about you, Chris, is that you wore Marshawn Lynch's jersey number in college, and Marshawn was another player. He was like the mistackle forced God when he played for the Seahawks. And like I said, you posted

some elite mistackles numbers. Was he a major influence for you? Any other players who were big influences maybe from tape or just from growing up. In high school, Marjohn was the guy for me. Like, there was just nobody else that I saw that compared to his run game. And when I seen him play for the first time, I think it was just, it was before my high school game, I was watching his highlights. And I was just like, God bless. This dude right here is just different.

So I kind of tried to model myself after him. And, you know, he said beast mode. My high school coach, when I would come to the sideline, he was like, yo, time to level up, time to beast mode. So, and then, you know, go out there and try to run somebody over. It wasn't like I was even looking at the end zone. I was just trying to run somebody over. So, yeah, I did start to model my game alive. He is the reason I wear number 24.

I actually almost had a chance to work with him while I was in college. He had these pads. It was called Zoom Bang, and he had the Beast mode. because my coach knew the guy that worked for him. But yeah, it ended up falling through. So hopefully one day I get a chance to talk to him or even just train with him one day if he does it still. I don't know if he doubt he trains anymore.

He doesn't really need to. He's doing his own thing now. But yeah, he is a guy that I kind of, that I would say I model my game after or at least try to. That's a great player to channel when you're on the field if you can. If you could just, you know, flip a switch and go beast mode. One of the most exciting players to watch of all time. And I do see some Marshaun Lynch

to your game with the physicality, the bruising nature, the mistackles forced, underrated speed. But right now, you're operating in a pretty crowded backfield. You got second year running back, Brian Robinson, veteran Antonio Gibson. I know I said before, Eric B. Enemy apparently has a role for you in year one, one that's clearly defined. Can you speak to that at all? Do you have any idea how these roles are going to carve out in 2023? honestly right now it's hard to tell like we pretty much all do everything it's not like he has

one specific player do anything it's we all pretty much do it all you know it's and it's more than just us three you know we got j will jp and alex who's at fullback right now we we pretty much do it all so as far as like roles are it's it's hard to tell i mean you know i feel like a g's kind of the scat-back switch up b-robs kind of the downing Hill power guy, but again, like, they'll surprise you. B-Rob, he's quicker than most people would think, and AG is powerful than people would think. For me, I feel like I can fit in any role that coach puts me in. If he calls my number, I'll do it.

You guys actually have a fourth punishing runner on that team. If you've watched any of Sam Howells, North Carolina tape, it almost looks like a fullback out there. I'm not sure if he'll be able to do that to NFL guys. but what have you seen from Sam Howell early on in your short time together? Yeah, so Sam, I mean, obviously he's with the ones most of the time, and I'm still working my way up the ladder. But while I am watching, he takes control of the offense, you know, and if he does make a mistake, he's learning from it right after practice.

Like I'll get in and I'll be about to take a shower, and he's sitting there watching film and, you know, just trying to learn from his mistakes, him and Jacoby. So, yeah, I feel like Sam, he'll have a good year. He works hard. He can get the job done. And also, we all trust him. What are your thoughts on this Eric Bionomi offense as a whole?

What can we come to expect? How does that offense maybe differ from the one you were in in Kentucky? So it's really not that much different, honestly, if I'm being honest, I felt like it was a good transition for me from Kentucky. Kentucky to Washington. When I had Liam, there's my OC, and then when I got here, it was pretty much the same wording. You know, it's all that West Coast offense.

Pretty much, I don't want to speak too much on it because, you know, I don't want to give any tips out, but, you know, you can expect a lot out of us, especially, you know, having the back anywhere on the field at all, all times, have two backs in sometimes. it's a lot. But it wasn't, it wasn't hard for me to transition over because of Liam and Coach Skangarillo, who had, you know, some of the same terms, honestly. It's not, it's not as bad. It wasn't hard to take it in.

Trey, did you have any other questions I'm missing? No, I think that's it. Chris, really, really appreciate the time. You've got two guys here at Fantasy Points who are really rooting for you. My model as well, I had you higher than most. Apparently the commanders did too, and I hope we get to see you on the field quite a bit this year. So thank you so much for joining us and best of luck this season. Yes, sir.

I appreciate you all. Thanks again to Chris Rodriguez for joining the show. This has been episode three of the Fantasy Points podcast. Episode four, we've got some names in mind working towards it. Nothing to announce officially yet. But yeah, probably the most fantasy relevant player we've had on the show, although with the Jonathan Taylor news, maybe Zach Moss will be back in the mix there in Indianapolis. But I'm Trey Camberling for Scott Barrett. Thank you guys for listening. And we'll see you again next time.