Fantasy Football Daily - Super Bowl Reactions + 2024 Running Back Lessons Learned | Fantasy Points Podcast

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

"The Guru" John Hansen and Brian Drake sit down for Super Bowl Reactions + 2024 Running Back Lessons Learned #FFPodcast Read Hansen's Hints here - https://www.fantasypoints.com/nfl/articles/2024/hansens-hints-super-bowl-lix Where to find us: httpp//twitter.com/Fantasy_Guru http://twitter.com/DrakeFantasy http://twitter.com/FantasyPts Use promo code - SCOREMORE for 10% off your subscription Subscribe to FantasyPoints for FREE - https://www.fantasypoints.com/plans#/ Listen to the podcast here - https://www.fantasypoints.com/media/podcasts FantasyPoints Website - https://www.fantasypoints.com NEW! Data Suite - https://data.fantasypoints.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/FantasyPts Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FantasyPts Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/FantasyPts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When planning for life's most important moments, sometimes the hardest part is simply knowing where to start. That's why we're here to help. When you pre-plan and prepay a celebration of life with us, every detail will be handled with simplicity and professionalism, giving you the peace of mind that you've done all you can today to remove any burden from your loved ones tomorrow. We are your local Dignity Memorial provider. Find us at DignityMemorial.ca. The Dignity Memorial brand name is used to identify a network of licensed funeral cremation and cemetery providers owned and operated by affiliates of service corporation international. Hey, what's up? It's John Hanson and Brian Drake and I are back for another edition of the Fantasy Points podcast.

A little post-super Bowl big game 59. Congratulations to Philadelphia Eagles. I gave my thoughts to Brian on the pod about the game and everything, the legacies, the future of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. We also went through all the lessons I learned at the running back position in 2020. 24. I had a pretty good year, but got burned by some players like Brise Hall because Jets going to jet tried to warn people not to draft Christian McCaffrey. But other players I was wrong on. I took an L on Kairn Williams, for example, plenty of other players that we cover as we look back at all the lessons learned at the running back position. Stay subscribed all offseason for all

the offseason banter. We're here for you. You're going to be here every week during the season. for subscribing and all that good stuff. As always, you are welcome. All across the fantasy universe, welcome to the Fantasy Points podcast. I am Brian Drake, fan of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Let me crack one here. Oh, yeah. Show the right way.

Join by the guru, John Hanson. John, we're going to start off the show talking about the birds. We've got the little Christmas tree behind me that's going to be up all year. we're very excited and how excited are you to not be in Philadelphia on Friday when people are going to be climbing poles and flipping cars and just going bananas. Are you doing, bud? I'm doing well. Congratulations to your Philly Birds. You know, I do feel as much as I rip them a little bit just because it's a little bit much when you're in that area and you're not per se a fan of the team. It gets a little over the top. But I definitely feel a sense of Delaware Valley pride. You know,

I do still have two children living 10 miles over the river there in New Jersey. So and, you know, the Eagles, hey, football has been very good to me. I haven't had a ton of ties with the Eagles, but, you know, I've had some, you know, I know Dave Spadara, who's like their main media guy, great dude. I hired Joe Dolan right from an internship at Dave Spadero's recommendation as well. Mr. C, he's Mr. Eagle now. Oh, yeah, Mr. C, of course. You know, when I moved to Southern New Jersey,

when I was like eight, nine years old, you know, the Eagles started to be really good. I ended up really the first guy ever became, let's say, friends with who was a sports celebrity, was in fact, Dick Vermeal. And then, ironically, you know, I watched them lose in that Super Bowl in 1980, right? and Ron Jaworski was very good, by the way, right around that time.

He was a pro bowl quarterback. He was good. Then I ended up doing a show with him for a number of years, getting to know him. So, yeah, I do have love for Philadelphia. And it was about time that someone took down Casey. They were a flawed team. I think the Eagles were also a flawed team at times this year, but they got their stuff together where, you know, Casey, it was a little.

bit of a smoke and mirror job. And it's ironic, and we'll get into it. But all the, all the Patty Mahomes pre-draft haters, they have kind of been right in a couple of Super Bowl instances. Granted, the offensive lines were terrible. But, you know, I think we saw just the downside of Mahomes, the free will and style of play, the Philadelphia Eagles that had every answer to that. But, man, big credits.

Philly for getting it done. This is two incredibly impressive victories for the two Super Bowl championships. One, you take down Brady Belichick with your backup quarterback, and then now you take down the Mighty KC. Chiefs. But I will say, as I was just alluding to, I'm in the business. I just want to get it right. And yeah, I'm selfish in some ways. I get pissed maybe once in a while.

Once in a while I might make an excuse or two when it doesn't go my way. but I felt like for a game that went so out of whack and just one-sided, those games ruined props. I felt like I had a lot of good calls in this game. Turned out I was about 500 on it. But for example, you know, my narrative of like they're selling out Stop Barkley, guys. We said that a ton on the show last week. Yeah.

So let's take the over on Barclays receptions. Let's go over Skinny Batman. Let's go over Brown and Goddard. Brown would have gotten there. had that 32 yarder not been called back. Goddard was pretty good. But, you know, again, if it were a normal game, I think I would have went probably about 12 and 3 in the props.

Because, you know, the brown one would have hit. Over on the other side, you know, I did hit that Hopkins one. How about the John Dodson we hit? Well, we called it on the show here. We said DeAndre Hopkins is going to catch a little pass right around the goal line, like a little touchdown at 2. point conversion he got both of course he also dropped uh potential long touchdown uh the one thing i the one thing i feel like i i kind of was on the right track was the pacheco i felt like if they

did it committed to a little bit more to the run and that's on them they they they completely abandoned it i get it uh flow of the game it seemed like the right idea but no they that that's the only thing they could have done to stop the onslaught and they didn't do it but i felt like Pacheco over 21 and a half and over five and a half calories was a good one. Certainly worthy was shocking. That was, you know, the function of garbage time and all that. But other than that, it kind of hurts did go over, thank God. Kind of all went, you know, pretty well in terms of the analysis, even though I had, I did pick AC.

And it was a complete ass kicking. I mean, it was, these are, these are my nightmare scenarios when a game is this lot. side. It's like, oh, we're done. They're not throwing the ball anymore. The other team's just going to unravel completely, which did not happen. And that's why Worthy went off, but everybody else did. Yeah, and you recall it was 40 to 6 at one point in this game. And then Patrick Mahomes with a couple of garbage time touchdowns kind of salvage his day. Maybe you played a prop, or you played him in DFS. Mahomes finishes with 257 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions, ran for 25 yards. What was that rushing prop? Didn't

you get bumped up to like 50? Oh, I don't even know, but I was in on it like 29 and a half. And that was the other one. That was shocking because all the other analysis was kind of there. Remember I said, I think they're going to play more man coverage. They're going to be all over these guys, really challenge them. And Mahomes going to take off and run. But not only did they do what I said, they also hemmed them in.

So that's Jordan Davis, really, you know, getting that pressure inside. They completely hemmed them in. and they got pressure with the edges. It was unbelievable with just the four. So, I mean, Casey's O line, I don't think people paid enough attention to it. I mean, in retrospect, it was one of the worst performances you've seen. Of course, that happened a couple of years ago against Tampa,

but I think this one was worse. So as we spin it forward in today's show, we're going to talk about lessons learned at the running back position and Isaiah Pacheco and what the Kansas City Chiefs do will be part of that conversation. But just let's spin forward with these two teams before we get into the running backs, John, Kansas City heading into the offseason now, they look like this old team that was kind of really, I equated like a rock band.

They looked like they were coming off a three-year world tour. They were just, they're sick of each other. They're done with it. They wanted to go home and see their families. They just didn't have the juice anymore. Where does Kansas City go in the off season? Obviously, we think we have to rework the offensive line. We have to find another playmaker maybe on the outside.

we'll see how Rishi Rice bounces back and they have to do something in the back field here because is Isaiah Pacheco someone we can lean on for 2025? I don't know. Yeah, no. I mean, I was not a Pacheco guy and so far he's kind of, he's proven me wrong. But okay, congratulations. Good for you, Mr. South Jersey. But here's the thing.

Like he's still, and I said this a year after taking the L, whenever that was, his rookie year. two years ago. He is very replaceable, and he will likely be replaced. This year, it took a step back. The goal was to get better in the passing game, but the way it worked, he had so few opportunities, and he did so poorly with those opportunities, he actually took a step back. And, you know, you do need a little bit more explosiveness in the passing attack.

Hollywood Brown is a free agent, but I will say I was not in on worthy. summer as a great pick at his ADP. And that was, you were probably better off not taking him then, uh, than taking them. But it was close because he came on down the stretch. But I saw enough here,

especially this eight for a performance, catching all eight of the targets. I know it was a little garbage time, but still pretty damn impressive. That 50 yard touchdown may have been the best throw of the freaking year, uh, by Mahomes. So I think they definitely have a very,

very good. one, two punch there with worthy and rice. But it'd be nice to get a little explosiveness in the backfield. Yeah. And of course, the big question of what happens with Travis Kelsey? You know what? When he was hungry and he was young and had that buzz cut, I'm like, this guy, he's looking to play forever.

Now he's got those long flowing locks. He's dressing like a jigolo coming into the stadium. It was four for 39. This guy's done. He ain't coming back. You got the podcast. You got the beer. All the endorsements.

Oh, by the way, you're banging Taylor Swift. Why would you ever want to come back and play again, John? Well, here's one thing. I would almost venture to guess that Travis's first question to Jason is, do you now regret retiring when you did? Otherwise, you would have gotten another ring because Travis could be in that exact situation next year easily. Sure.

So, you know, it's got to be tough to, I mean, it's definitely not done. I mean, the guy caught 97 balls. You know, I mean, granted, for 8.5 yards of catch and only three tonsies, okay. But 97 balls is 97 balls. I mean, Tony G, you know, he was somewhat, I bet you Tony G. average nine yards to catch his last couple years. Almost guarantee it, you know, it happens. And he was consider more athletic than Kelsey.

Let's take a look. All right. Well, he was at 10. But, you know, that's, he was, he was damn near. under double digits. But actually he was 9.4 or 34 in 2010. So there you go. Anyways.

And then with the Eagles, John, you know, everyone as soon as the Super Bowl ends, they go, this team could be a dynasty. They're going to win it again next year. And maybe really outside of the Chiefs or the Patriots dynasties, that doesn't happen. I'm an Eagles fan, but I'm a realist. There's always that Super Bowl hangover. I would bet against the Eagles getting back here.

But listen, they got a ton of young talent. everybody's re-signed. It's just, can you avoid injuries? Can you avoid letdowns, the way the ball bounces? I mean, they're going to be good, but I don't know if I'm necessarily in on Sequin as the 101 next year. You know, a lot of these players that you get on that banquet circuit after the Super Bowl. John, you know how it is.

You saw this team two years ago. They looked like absolute trash after the Super Bowl. And, oh, by the way, they're going to have a new offensive coordinator yet again. So we'll see how that dynamic changes. Yeah. I think I feel I still feel good overall though. You know, by the way, if the rest of the league is going to let Howie Roseman make all these layup moves, basically, like, again, I am not taking away from Harry Roseman. He's getting all the credit so it doesn't matter.

Everyone now thinks officially he's the best GM in the league. And it's hard to argue. But again, let's break down some of the key moves. All right, number one, I'm just going to flood the draft with former two-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs. All right. Easy enough. Now, Quinnion, Mitchell and Cooper DeGine, they weren't shocking picks at all, but they were damn good. They give credit.

They were, you pulled the trigger. And they got to address the positions they needed. They had to get a corner and they had to get a, you know, hybrid safety slash corner in Degine. They traded up to get him in the second round. you do what I always would do as an analyst when a star or top pick has a bad first year or something. Well, you capitalize on that. I've always said teams like, or try it out at the least, teams like the Patriots, you notice they took up a lot of these reclamation projects, you know,

the former first round receivers like Philip Dorset. There's a reason because there was a reason why these guys were drafted. And as soon as they got Mackay Beckton, I'm like, oh, they're going to move the guard. And he's a freaking mountain. I mean, I thought he was going to be a stud left tackle. And as soon as they got Mackay Beckett, I'm out, I mean, he's going to crush. And then, of course, Barclay. You know, I like Barclay.

We're going to get into the lessons learned there. These are a pretty freaking obvious moves. But, hey, again, credit, they did them and got away with it. But, yeah, as long as the NFL allows Howie Roseman to make these layups. I guess they will continue to win. And Hersch's contract's not bad. Yeah. And you hit on all your draft picks.

Look at their first three draft picks, basically the last three, four years. They've all hit all those guys played in the Super Bowl. Yeah, Devonte Smith. Freckin Heardt, freaking Heistman winner. You got a Sabin coach player who's like Gumby never gets hurt. I mean, good pick. Give him credit, but like pretty obvious. Yeah.

Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith. You know, you mentioned all the Georgia guys. People were saying it when Nolan Smith fell. They're like, how do you let Nolan Smith fall to the Eagles here? I think I was an unbelievable pass rusher in college. And then you team him with Jalen Carter, who dropped because of obviously his off-the-field issues. But I mean, you could say he might have been the most talented defensive player in that draft. That it's all the little things.

Like you notice like, yeah, I liked Kenny Pickett. Okay. Well, it didn't work out. It'd probably at this point work out. My comp was Matt Hasselbeck, okay? who rode the bench for like five years before he got a chance. But where is he? He's on the Philadelphia Eagles roster.

I mean, is he starting? No. But that's a quality backup. That's a quality backup. Of course, he grew up an Eagles fan in Ocean County, New Jersey. He's right there on the line. He made it.

Of course, when I talked with him and I asked him if he was from North or South Jersey, he said Central. I'm like, dude, that doesn't exist. But that's neither here nor there. But yeah, I mean, again, Titans had a problem with AJ Brown. They worried about his knee.

Eagles like, oh, what's that? You want to trade? Yeah, we'll trade for AJ Brown. Okay. I mean, again, I mean, like, you know, it's like, boom. You'd make those six, seven moves in a row. You just won a trophy. Yeah. And hey, we want to look

back at maybe some players that helped you win a trophy at the running back position. It's going to be running back lessons learned after this timeout. It's a fantasy points podcast. All right, John, let's get into it. I always love talking lessons learned with you. If you missed a quarterback episode, go back on your podcast feed and find it. We'll do wide receivers and tight ends as we go forward here. But let's start off at the running back position with Breece Hall. He's somebody that

Jets just fumbled the bag on. And I'm reading through your notes here. Jets going to bleepin' jet. And they said that they ruined Breece Hall in his peak age. And this really, John, should have been the year where Brees Hall, you know, people were debating, oh, do we take, you know, Bruce Hall maybe is the first overall back and should we take him over, over Sequin? Should we take him over CNC? The guy ends up being RB-16 in total points, John. The Jets just totally botched this guy and it was a disaster season. They're going to ruin this kid's prime.

Yeah, just, just repugnant stuff. If you recall in the summer, I had my flawless four because I was in on the running backs, much more so this year. I did see that coming with the running backs getting a lot more love and having a lot more value and all that. Now, and to be fair, if you would have said,

you know, you play 16 games, you average 15.2 points a game. That is not dreadful, but considering, and he had eight tutties, but again, considering 57 grabs,

that was actually fourth most in the league, if you can believe that, which surprised me. But again, considering the immense talent, and the O-line did crept the bed. So it wasn't just, I mean,

it really wasn't Hall's fault, I would say. It was definitely outside influences more so than Brise Hall himself. But Bruce Hall needs, we got to call him out a little bit, but just the bad environment. They got to work in these other.

backs when you have Breece Hall being, you know, a volume back. You know, what are the lines do? Yeah, they, they work in another back. But yet Jamir Gibbs is the stud, he still gets 300 touches. So you got to find a way. Otherwise, just play your stud

frees freaking haul. But no, you know, it's what's his face? Nate Hackett, just, just a dummy. I know he got some power strip from him and all that, but it was very frustrating because, you know, I, I, I, I had Breece Hall way up there, man. I was extremely high on him. It was him and Bijon were like the same guy, really, as far as I was concerned.

You look at Bruce Hall here. One game over 100 yards rushing. That's incredible that that happened. That was week six. And then, you know, if you throw out week 18, if you just look at the fantasy season. He only had really one big game after week seven. So you started the season like, hey, all right, Breece Hall. He's cruising along. He has a big 31 point game in week 11. And then he kind of craps the bed for you, six points, 13, 14. You play him in the Super Bowl. He gets you a 6.3 on 10 for 45. I mean, we just want more consistency. Obviously, Alan Rogers is going to be gone, John. So where, where do you look at Breece Hall for next year? Or is there still too many things to be decided in New York.

By the way, I can tell you this right now. I may be talking about my, you know what, but I can give you one element that would have, if it didn't go the way it did down the stretch, I guarantee you would have bumped them up a full point per game. And it would have taken them from RB 17 and points per game to, you know, like 13 or 14. which is better than 17. And that is the fact that down the stretch, when they were often in hurry up mode,

freaking Aaron Rogers refused to check it down. He's like, I'd rather take a sack than check it down. Because I'm trying to get my, I'm not stat padding to my boy, Devante. I watched it closely because I freaking lost a prop, a receiving prop. I'm like,

he's open for 15 yards, right now, but no, I'd rather take a sack. Oh, my God. But, but again, Jets gonna jet. That's all a function of the dysfunction. Well, let's keep it rolling here. And there was a running back that you talked about in the preseason when we were doing our draft prep and you said, listen, I'm not taking Christian McCaffrey, number one overall.

28 years old, big time injury history. And now we did not know at the time that the 49ers were being dissoned. ingenuous with us with his injury history they hit a lot we didn't know when it was draft season that he wasn't going to play until week 10 okay but john you did hit the nail on the head you're like i'm not taking this guy when you were talking about all those elite running backs he was not in the conversation so uh lesson learned listen to the guru well you know that that to me uh the the little addendum to it which i i felt really made this egregious was Okay, be one thing if it was a bad year at running back.

And there's just no great alternatives. I mean, we've seen some lean years. But that was not the case this year. So at the very least, you love the Niners, you love CMC. And if a player like this comes around again, you love the player, fine. But do not take this player with this profile, let's say even 25 or older. with an injury history, a lengthy one, and some lingering concerns, which there were,

I mean, we did get tipped off that there was something going on, yet people were still taking them at one. When you have young bucks like Bejohn Robinson and Jemir Gibbs and Brise Hall and even Jonathan Taylor, like, why, why would you do that? That was my point. Like, why would you do that? You're looking to get that.

one and a half player. I get it. But when usually when you're trying to get greedy like that, it somehow it doesn't work. Maybe it did the year before, fine. But he was also a year older. But the other thing was again, as I told the story a million times, I'll tell it one more time. The year before, I was in this FFPC high stakes two week championship for like 30 grand. it's like 29 grand and I was right in it you know and I'm watching Christian McCaffrey in that last game that he played in that year so it would have been it would have been the championship week so that was 17 and he looked I thought he looked like dog dirt I'm like what the hell's going on I mean he just looked terrible to me and then boom he got hurt and then he didn't play again

for about three weeks and it was a calf Didn't play again for like three weeks. Caff, who knows what may. It could be this. It could be a non-calf, but they still use the word calf as a code word. It was still the same injury. So he didn't play for like three weeks. Then the playoffs came.

He was pretty good in the playoffs. He wasn't spectacular, but he was nobody at all. He doesn't look good. He passed the eyeball test well enough. But then when the summer came and he had that calf, I'm like, that's it. Forget it. So that's it. You know, but as a general statement, if you just cross these guys off your list, you're going to come out on top.

We did a way too early draft on the Sirius XM Morning Show. And I got Christian McCaffrey in the third round of that draft. That's crazy. And I wonder when we get into the season, because you know how home leagues are, all you guys out there listening. And you're going to have that drunk buddy who's sitting there at 11 or 12 and CMC is going to be on the board. he's going to get Christian McCaffrey here at the end of the first round. I wonder where that ADP shakes out this summer. Yeah, I could say it being like it was going into his true breakout year,

which I believe was 2019, like around 15. That's going to be a linchpin moment in those drafts where someone, like, do you pull it right there and say, all right, I'm taking CMC? It's one of those make or break moves. Well, let's just look real quick at who should definitely. definitely go above them. Okay. Bejohn, Gibbs,

Barclay. Granted, now we're already in Henry. Henry? What about Josh Jacobs or Devon A-chan? H-N is definitely there. That's five. I would have to put Breece Hall there.

J.T. Yeah, six. That's seven. So now we're in between 15 and 20. best. And then you got to throw all the wide receivers in there. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah. So yeah. It'll probably, you know what, now that I'm going to go 20. Well, there was a running back last year or whatever it was two years ago. You guys know what I'm talking about. 2023, who finished in the top five. This year, not so much. How about R.B. 35. I'm talking about Travis E.T.N. of the Jacksonville. Jags And your statement to me here, John, was there's no room for mediocrity in the first two

rounds of a fantasy draft. So if you're pulling the trigger on ETN just based off a year prior's counting stats, that's how he came back to bite you. Yeah, I regret not being down on ETN. I was not pushing it. I don't know, was anyone pushing him in the world? But the answer is actually yes, because his freaking ADP, was 18.4.

So, you had a mid-second round pick. I took them in a draft myself in the mid-second round. I'm trying to think if I, maybe I did once, but maybe I'm confusing it with the year before, but it was, like you said,

the RB3, it was the least impressive, most unmemorable RB3 finish in fantasy history. You know what I mean? A lot of it due to volume and all that. but you know when you're not really good at any one thing you certainly are capable like you know Brian Robinson is kind of similar like this but drive you nuts you know what I mean like very

week to week very unpredictable you don't dictate it all to the defense kind of maybe some weeks should look good but other weeks you don't you're all in the passing game is spotty your short yardage work is spotty uh you know okay like there's room for guys like that but not in the first two damn rounds so at the very least i did an exercise uh i actually did my my early uh top 24 and let me tell you this list is bursting with young studs basically uh and so there's no room right now in the first two rounds for a JAG basically literally and figuratively. And that's your name's Brian Thomas Jr. Yes.

Yes. So, hey, Travis ETM, by the way, going into the final year of his rookie contracts, he'll be 26 years old this season. So they're going to have to pay him a little over $6 million here. I got a feeling the Jaguars in this draft are going to be investing in the running back position, especially now with Ben Johnson's new regime. team coming over, or not Ben Johnson, excuse me, Liam Cohen, coming over there to run the ship. I mean, Travis E.T.N. It just looks like, buddy, you got you serp by Tank Bigsby. So your days are numbered.

Well, it's an unbelievably good running back class. So he's, he's in big trouble. He's in big trouble. He is in big trouble. Well, you're not in big trouble because you're riding with me and the guru. Let's take a time out right here. When we come back, hey, if you hit on these two guys, congratulations. I'm sure you made it into your deep into your playoffs. We're talking Saquan Barkley and Derek Henry next and the Fantasy Points podcast. Welcome back in, everybody. John, I got to admit, I put in an order on fanatics after the Super Bowl. My son and I were getting Saquan Barkley Super Bowl patch jerseys. I don't buy stuff if they don't win. All right? I'm not getting the consolation prize jersey here. If you win, I'm buying the

jersey. I'll get the patch on it. Otherwise, I don't want. I don't know who you are. But for fantasy, these two players, Derek Henry and Sequin Barkley, they switched teams and it felt right. Everyone could see it when you look at the fit with these two, Barkley with the line and Derek Henry and the scheme in Baltimore.

You just knew it had to work. You did. You really did. Well, I think, I mean, I did. I'm sure we talked about it in the summer podcast.

People can go back and listen if they don't believe us. but I did overall, by the way, I had a pretty good year at running back. Thanks to these two, by the way, because the top four. I had, you know, I had my flawless four that I was pounding the table for in round number one. But I distinctly remember doing multiple videos.

One of them was about, now it didn't work out, by the way, how I was okay with taking Tyreek, you know, four, five, maybe even three, overall and it was specifically because i was very high on henry and i knew i could get henry in the second round so um but yeah i also think there's something to when you have um you know like these are two you know legendary type of players high character guys who are change of scenery guys and you know granted derrick we we worried a little bit about how much he had left in a

or how much he had lost. But Barclay had looked pretty explosive the year before. But when guys like that, at least that first year, magic, there's a little extra juice there, a little extra pep in the step. And then the other thing with Barclay is, you know, I was never a big Barclay guy. And I didn't like him because of the reliance on the big runs. So that is why, in retrospect,

and I probably said it at the time, it was so dumb for the Giants to take them because there's a guy you must, you got to block it up. You want Barclay, you know, you better have a good O line. Otherwise, it's like, what are you doing? It's like having a Ferrari

when the tires are bald. You know what I mean? So I felt that way. I'm like, you know what? I don't like the dependence on the big run, but guess what? They're going to block it to F, up in Philly.

So we're going to see a lot of damn big runs. And that's what happened. And looking at Derek Henry next season, he's going to be 31 years old. No guaranteed money on that contract, by the way. So who knows if it's funny stuff. He's old school, though. You know, like Curtis Martin was still balling when he was 31. He was like one of the last of the dying brave.

But Derek Henry, again, I always say, I don't know why I say this year, but you could pop them into 1988 football. and no one would notice. And Derek Henry, 16 rushing touchdowns this year, caught two of them, so 18 touchdowns. Listen, Derek Henry, just rock solid, average 19.8 fantasy points for it. And is there any chance that he doesn't do it again next year? I mean, what's going to change with this Baltimore offense? I mean, they need another weapon maybe on the outside, but this is the offense, you know, the show goes on.

Yeah, no, there's, there's no reason. I mean, the real question is, do you have me? your top 12? That's a good question. I would not be afraid of taking the stability of Derek Henry at the end of the first round, maybe even over a wide receiver. Well, let me ask you this. PPR draft.

You're drafting, I don't know, we'll call it the 11 spot. Would you rather have Derek Henry or Brian Thomas Jr.? You know, that goes, I'd have to say Brian Thomas Jr. Just because I'm such an ageist, but that would also depend on, you know, what were my options in round two. Like is it, is it, um, Derek Henry and A.J. Brown probably. You know, yeah, Drake London or Brian Robinson and A. Chan.

Oh, that's sexy though. I got to go with the ladder there, man. Going to those young guys. I like it. Oh, yeah. Well, you know me, man. I'm I am in ages. That's why I'm bragging about this because it's so rare. I got to brag about being in on old guys, older guys, and getting it right. But again, that's the lesson. When the vibes feel good, go with it. And the vibes around the L.A. Rams are very odd right now.

We've heard that Cooper Cup wants to be out of town or they're going to push him out of town. We heard maybe Matthew Stafford could follow him. But the one thing that never changes there is, is our guy McVeigh will ride the crap out of his bell cow running back. And he did so again with Kyron Williams. And you were not a Kyron guy. I remember, you know, you're admitted. You're like, I'm not huge on this guy.

He's not special in any way, shape, or form. But he did finish as the PPR running back seven, average 17.2 points per game. Yeah, no, I was absolutely incorrect on that. I'm looking here. I had them not horrible. but I had him 11 spots lower

than his ADP, which is my way of saying I'm not taking them, basically. So, I mean, it wasn't horrific. I've ranked players

worse than that, but no, I need to take that L only for that year, but hey, that's what I was almost entirely talking about was his draft stock.

I just thought that there were a lot of things that could go wrong. McVeigh does run guys into the ground. He has had some injury problems. Their margin for error O line-wise is not great. An injury or two could slow things down. You have an older quarterback. Of course, they drafted Blake Corum,

who I think is more talented or as talented. But that's another lesson that A, McVeigh will ride his freaking horse and B, he doesn't necessarily he's not necessarily inclined you know to go away from his belcow even if um you know he has a very uh i wrote here uh he he doesn't often give the keys to the understudy is what i wrote basically uh i remember uh we had a little tandem there was like acres and darrell henderson it was annoying uh and i don't even think McVeigh liked it.

So, yeah, I got Kyron wrong for sure. McVeigh continues to ride his bell cow. Every year's a different animal, but I take an L on that one, that's for sure. Do you know they could cut Kairn Williams. I'm looking here, and they could save. They do like a pre-June 1. Let me see if they do a post-June 1 cut. I mean, they could literally almost save his entire $5 million contract.

It wouldn't shock me at all if they got rid of him. I just flip this whole team around. Because, you know, do you really want to be paying Kyron William $5 million a year when he hasn't made a million dollars any season in his career yet? So interesting cut candidate. I guess that's the last year of his rookie deal, I guess, right? Mm-hmm.

Yeah. I don't get into the contracts all that much. I mean, when it really matters, there is a contract-related lesson that we'll get into, but yeah, okay. How about this next running back? And I'll be honest, I fell victim to the hype. But did I?

Because Devon A. Chan is so good, so electric in the ball, with the ball in his hands. The problem is, John, he's so tied to Tuatunga by Loa. If you look at his numbers with, Tua and without, it's just incredible. He's the best running in football, especially in fantasy, when Tua plays. When Tua is not out there, forget about it. You can't even play the guy. I mean, the whole team dies. but where do we land on two uh or excuse me on devon a chan 200 plus carries big time cheap code

this guy is the receiver he's a young elvin kamara basically yeah yeah i mean impressive i wasn't in on him per se i wasn't down on him i was just kind of agnostic and i'm like yeah he he deserves to go here but i regret that by the way um you know as we saw the the the the cannot count on like all these touches sometimes like when I saw like wow he finished with 200 carries I'm like hey that is more than enough if we're talking 200 carries or 195 190 whatever in that ballpark along with this insane PPR cheat code like we're good uh with HN I mean that's you know that's a second round pick that that's an elite fantasy asset and you know 17 games played i mean that was that was a lot too that was one of the reasons why i was not pounding the

table even though we anybody with the gift of sight knew he was a freaking running back version of tyreek uh but pretty damn impressive i hear you about to uh what they need to do and and i would assume they will is hello guys can you get a better backup plan. Like this is a big year for McDaniel. Like he's got a, who, I mean, defense has kind of figured everything out. It was a bad, not a good look for McDaniel.

H&N in 11 games with Tuatunga Vila, averaged over 100 total yards and 22.6 PPR fantasy points. That's more than Saquan Barkley, by the way. In the games without Tua, he averaged 6.7 fantasy points. So there you go. That's all you need to know. Damn. Damn.

So, yeah, I'm very, very interested in Devon H.N. Next year because my hope is that people will forget about that around draft day. You know, and they'll just say, oh, we'll let him fall the second round or so. And oh, I'll snatch him on the turn. That's a guy. Oh, what a one-two turn if you can get HN. Yeah. And you like it.

You like it, by the way, real quick. You know, we got two years into work, in the body, the body of work, the resume, the resume. and now we're going into like this is like the year. I love the third year for the running back. Usually they're 23 years old. Let's say he'll be 23 years old. He will turn 24 in midseason, but that's exactly, that's a sweet spot right there.

Proven, you know, he's got 28 NFL games under his belt, 20 starts. All right. And he's 23 years old. Let's go. Let's go for sure. Well, I'm sure the Kansas City Chiefs are going to be saying, let's go in the draft with this great class because, let's be honest. Isaiah Pacheco, this is an undrafted free agent they're rolling out there.

He's 25 years old coming off the leg injury, never really regained his form. They don't pay him anything. So Isaiah Pacheco, very replaceable, John, for the Kansas City Chiefs. And they've got to get explosive. They need a Devon A Chan is really what they need. And Isaiah Pacheco is a guy who could be talented. But, I mean, is he, is he that talented? Is he a jag?

Is it just a function of the offense? What are we looking at with Pacheco? By the way, he was a seventh round pick. So was he? I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, it's all right. Out of Rutgers. I didn't like them.

That's right. 251st overall. He proved me wrong. He was a 4-440 guy. But, you know, just the violent, choppy running style. But, you know, I give him. credit he's uh you know watching me like he wants it more than a dude's trying to tackle them more of than not but not a lot of juice um no explosiveness whatsoever and and the game is really all

about explosives i mean they can't get explosive in the damn passing game this year uh they can't get them in the running game either uh you know we got some late with uh worthy but i'm sure they're going to want to uh try to get some explosiveness i mean we do have some some, and I'm still looking at this running back class. I don't yet know who the speed demon is. I mean, we're not going to get Ashton Genty. I know that. Maybe that's Trayvian Henderson.

I'm not sure. I know just a little bit about these guys right now, but he might be someone who is interesting, like giving some athleticism at the position. Let's take a time out right here on the other side. Let's get into the top 10 season that was for James. of the Buffalo Bills. It's the Fantasy Points podcast.

Guru everywhere I go in upstate New York, I'm inundated with Bill's fans. All right. The Bills Mafia runs deep here in central New York where I live. And they're all about one James Cook. And what a phenomenal season finishes the PPR running back eight. You know, he's young. He's talented. And really this kind of regression to the mean, as you like to say,

because everyone knew James Cook's talented. It's like, but we thought, oh, he'll never score a rushing touchdown because of Josh Allen there. And this year we found out, James Cook can be good just by himself no matter what Josh Allen's doing. Well, yeah, always like to have your running backs be young, adorable and versatile. James Cook, as we sit here recording this today, is 25 years old.

He turned 25. That's an old 25, third year player, by the way. but he also by the way always shared the ball at georgia you love that he only had 230 carries there in four years so yeah i absolutely love that but yeah young durable versatile is good um regression is real uh you also we also had plenty of good indicators when joe brady took over everything down the stretch that he was very cook friendly uh even though cook still didn't get the tutties But we actually had more carries the year before. A lot of that under Joe Brady.

Now, oddly enough, the production of the passing attack kind of went away as they kind of evolved into utilizing a Ty Johnson. And Ray Davis is a great receiver too. But hey, good players, lead guys in really good offenses. There you go. I was in the cook this year. He was definitely on my list. Let's see. ADP, you know, wasn't a ringing endorsement, but he was a target.

And ADP was 41. I had him at 39 with an asterisk there to target him. So that counts as a win. And I've always been in on him. There's a guy. I'll be in on him every year until he proves me wrong at this point. Because this is three for three, I believe. Yeah, he had a great postseason as well,

82 total yards in the win over Baltimore, score two touchdowns in the loss of Kansas City. So when it meant the most, Buffalo was very comfortable, put it in the ball in his belly. Yeah, we'd like to see some more carries here. He only had one game with 20 carries. So will they include Ray Davis a little more? We'll see what they do with the third downback situation there in Buffalo.

But a good year overall, if you got your hands on one James Cook. All right, here's a couple of guys, and Alvin Kamara and Joe Mixin, that were phenomenal assets across the board in fantasy football guru. I couldn't pull the trigger on them this year in, I don't think I held them in any league, but if the price is right and you can get these guys for a while at least, they can be very valuable.

Yeah, like for me being, it's just so not sexy, you know, like I, again, I always joke. I'd rather maybe quit playing fantasy football than make a boring, selection like this. However, at the very least for someone like me, in retrospect, if I could do it all over again, because I wasn't taking these guys. Again, I, for the most part, I'd rather quit playing than draft boring players that everyone like dogs, dogs know they're good. Babies being born, no they're good. I always like to, you know,

find the next big thing and all that. But at the very least, for someone like me, I could have, in theory, gone back, opened up a draft and thrown caution to the wind with Malik neighbors, for example, just, just go all griffic, upside non-runnerbacks, you know, Trey McBride or go Brock Bauer, you know what I mean? And then like, oh, okay, well, I finally need a running back. All right, well, round five, round six,

all right, give me, give me Camara. And it's like, you kill people with that. You know what I mean? So, I mean, it's not really my cup of tea, but, you know, when you have these guys with these borderline Hall of Fame bodies of work and they're still leading the backfield. That really, before I forget,

I mean, that's ultimately what we're looking for here is who is the backfield leader in the clubhouse? And what's his freaking ADP? Because there's so many of these ancillary guys that, and I've been burned by this, I finally wised up somewhat recently. some of these ancillary guys. Oh, they get touches.

They finish high, relatively high in the standings. But on a week-to-week basis, you have no idea whether or not they'll do anything. You can't trust them. They get nine touches a game, if that. You know, so you really want to find, you got to find that backfield's top guy. And there's a couple more we'll get to.

With your point being, Elvin Kamara averaged 18.9 points per game. Now, he only played 14 games, but again, some of this, too, is with garbage at quarterback. Guy had 87 targets guru. And unless they bring in someone in the draft or free agency, that's not going to change next year as well with Kellan Moore calling the

plays. So it could be a nice year for one Alvin Kamara. And I think if recency bias serves Joe Mixin, who finished as the RB 13, people saw how poor that Houston offensive line was. And you could get the, I think there could be a big discount on Joe Mixin next year in drafts because he still look good in the playoffs he had a couple of really nice playoff games but down

the stretch in the fantasy season he was terrible uh you know he had in the fantasy playoffs 10 points eight points and five points so right i bet joe mixon's going to be a guy you can get in that five six round range next year got to be a throwback type of guy like james connor too and by the way like not great for me being an a gist like it's that's another lesson that i wrote like you know it's a bag. You know, for every Rahim Moster, it seems like there's

maybe one or two, like, a Connor and, you know, and one of these two guys we were just talking about, Camara or mixing. You know what I mean? Like, so, yeah. I mean, old guys get it done to here and there. But, you know, you got to be judicious.

They need to have like a pretty damn good body work, which, hey, Camara and Nixon certainly did at the very least. Connor, he'd been a little spottier, but, but of course, he's been really good now. It's like three, three years in a row. It's kind of crazy. And they gave him a contract because that's what to do with, you know, soon to be 30-year-old running backs or ever old he is. Well, when teams do give running backs a contract, we should take note.

And this past off season, DeAndre Swift was the first player signed in free agency in March. and Tony Pollard got a nice deal as well in Tennessee. So, John, one of your lessons learned on this running back group is follow the money and bet on guys post injury who have shown you that they have game. Yeah, I definitely underranked Swift. I was a little bit of a hater because it just seemed a little annoying how, you know, oh, it goes back to Philly behind that great old line. And by the way, he did fade down the stretch in Philly. Am I right?

Oh, they started playing Kenny Gainwell over him at the end of the year. Exactly. So there's a reason. They could have got him for nothing to come back. And they're like, nah, you're good. See you'll later. Exactly. Exactly.

Multiple teams years in a row have gotten rid of DeAndre Swift. And I thought the bear's overpaid, but the bears are the bears. Bears are the bears. Bear's going to bear. But at the end of the day, and, you know, I did worry that it would be a three-headed monster. Of course, Khalil Herbert ended up getting traded. But at the end of the day, I failed to,

at least recognize. I'm sure I said it and wrote it, but I didn't pay enough attention to it in my ranking. At the end of the day, it's Swiss the guy. So I should have given him a little bit more love. Pollard, I was actually, I definitely, I just, I have a non-sexual crush on Tage Spears. Yes, you do. I can't help it. But it's not like I owe underranked or poorly ranked Pollard. I actually had Pollard ranked over his ADP, seven spots. believe it or not. And that and that was also, yeah, follow the money. And by the way, he did have that leg injury that he was coming off of last year in

2023. And he did say, you know, he told us that, hey, I wasn't myself. The year before that, he was really good under Kell and Moore. So let's add, let's add it all up. Pollard, what was he? I'm going to guess last year he was, couldn't be older than 26, right? I'm going to guess he was 26 going to the air. He's 27.

Yeah, so he's 27, okay? 27, not a massive workload, proven to be good at football, going to be the guy because he's getting paid to be the guy. So we probably, you know, probably shouldn't have gotten a lot of love. But ironically, again, as much as I love Spears, I kept finding myself drafting Pollard.

because it get to be like sixth round. I'm like, all right, I do need an RB too. Well, there's Pollard. I mean, I love Spears a couple rounds later, but shit, I'm taking Pollard here. I ended up doing that in the FPI and a couple of other leagues. And he was pretty good. Yeah. Remember Kaplan came on the Empty the Notebook show at the end of camp and he told us,

Tony Pollard's going to be the guy. He's who they want to get the ball to. And these next two years, they're paying him $6 million and $6.7 million, his age 28. 29 seasons. So good luck to you Tennessee Titans out there. Yep. Yeah. One couple more guys here on the list. How about my guy? Uncle Rico. If you listen to the serious show, I beat you over the head with Uncle Rico. Most of it was a bit. But the reason I loved Rico and we're also going to lump him in with Chuba Hubbard, who had a phenomenal

season, is the price at which you could get these guys. Now, Chuba Hubbard, far outshined Uncle Rico. But, John, these guys, we got to pay attention to this. We all thought, oh, Dallas will get somebody. They'll get somebody. And, you know, Jonathan Brooks, he'll be back and Chuba's going to go to the back of the line. But they don't. And we got to pay more attention to that next year. And also, guys coming off these ACLs, you know, you can't get too jumpy the first year because they're not ready to go. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think some people, myself included, I'm sure, we've gotten a little spoiled here to where we're, oh, young guy coming off an ACL, he's had ample time, a granny might go on PUP, okay, he'll be fine. Well, he wasn't.

We have setbacks and things like that. So that's number one. But I think it also, these other two players, we just mentioned, it kind of, it kind of points back to what I said earlier about, like, let's just find the guy. Like, I will admit, I thought Zeke Elliott was going to be more of a factor. But yet I still ranked Rico Dottle 20 spots over his ADP. You know what I mean? Chuba Hubbard, I ranked 13 spots over his ADP. So in theory, you know, if you use my cheat sheet, you may have had a decent chance to get them, you know,

because I was a little over the markets there. I don't know about the rookie. But the bottom line is maybe, and I'll have time to think about this, but maybe when we look at these back, unless it's an obvious situation, of course, where our error will be Jean Robinson. There's no question there. Jonathan Brooks.

Yeah, see, I overranked him a little bit. Just because I like rookie running backs often give you a good buying opportunity. So his 80P was 97 ahead of 82. But at the end of the day, like when we have an unsettled backfield situation, I think it's best. I'm going to try to just home in on, okay, all or nothing, who's the guy?

That's it. If we get it, if we get it right, we get it right. And we celebrate. If not, oh, well, I mean, you know, a lot of things you get wrong in this business. And you look at a guy like Chuba Hubbard and they gave him a contract. So this next year, you're not going to see Jonathan Brooks. I'm sure they're going to bring somebody in. But isn't Chuba Hubbard's a guy.

John, where do you think Chuba Hubbard's going to come off the board? He was RB 15. He averaged 16 points a game in PPR. You know, double-digit touchdowns ran for almost 1,200 yards. Are people going to be afraid of Chuba Hubbard again? And he's going to fall to like the fourth, fifth round of fantasy drafts? I mean, I tell you what, I mean, I guess when we will see, let's presume that Brooks is healthy. when you have that type of situation,

you would think, okay, they're going to have to find a way to use both guys. Okay. Chuba isn't certainly not, shouldn't be, I don't think, a 300 carry guy, although he's pretty good with the volume. You know, let's go with the cheaper guy. That's it. Is that Chuba? If that, will that be Chuba, though?

Well, I mean, we had another ACL for Brooks, so I don't even know if he's going to play. Oh, right, right, right, right. Oh, God, yeah, that's right. You know, I'm just compartmentalizing the preseason there. Oh, Christmas, man, yeah. Well, then the answer is Chuba Hubbard should be going off the board, probably around 75 picks in. Yeah, and that team showed a lot under Dave Canales.

Trying to come up with an exam. Here's a guy who was another running back going around. Well, that's around where Pollard was going last year. maybe a little earlier. Najee Harris, Ramandre. Yeah. That's at a point in drafts, too,

75 picks in or so. That's when some guys start picking off the tight ends. That's when a quarterback will go off the board here or there. You know, and you could, if you even wait a little longer at those positions, you can get really good value in some starters at the running back position.

We mentioned Dave Canales, and that leads me into, Josh Jacobs. Not that the two are very intertwined, but we need to remember the identity of the play caller and the coach. So if you've got a coach that's going to use this bell cow back and they have a proven system like Canales, you know, he was very good when he was an OC and then he took that over to Carolina. We got to remember that with LaFloor in Green Bay. Josh Jacobs, I think, went kind of the love wasn't there in fantasy. And this is a guy who was not going to be, there was nobody's going to take touches from him, John.

I know we got scared off, and I remember I was repeating a tweet that our buddy Graham put out about how LaFleur loved using multiple backs, but we never saw it. And Josh Jacobs finished as the RB6, average 17.4 points on the season. 15 rushing touchdowns, John. And, I mean, I was totally wrong on this guy. Now, I will not say that I was down on him. I was definitely not down on him. did I bang the table for him?

No. His ADP was 28. I had him at 32. So, but that's close. I do remember, I do remember doing, uh,

the couple of final versions of the draft plan article when I drafted some fake teams. You know, that, that's, that would be a good, uh, thing to do live on a podcast.

Actually, you know what? I'll do it right now. Um, where I, I did draft Jacob. So I did kind of, you know,

when the ADP numbers shifted and, things got a little bit clearer with Marshawn Lloyd, for example. I did start taking Josh Jacob. So let's reel off a team or two. Well, I can tell you, they all have freaking Jordan Love at quarterback. So that's not going to look freaking very good. But let's take a look at some of these damn teams and see how they came out. All right.

Well, there you go. Here's a starting lineup, Jordan Love, Josh, Jacobs, Kenneth Walker, C.D. Lamb, Devante Smith, Alave, Ingram. Ingram was a tight end. My flex was Watson or Spears or Kalil Shakir. So that one hit. Let's see one more real quick. It's always nice to drafting from the number. All right. draft oh not bad some misses here drafting from the number seven spot uh let's see here hold on a second little bejean robinson drake london debo rachad white eh george pickins borough burrow that was good

another freaking ingram another watson and another spears and another secure uh there's a there's a conklin anyways uh sometimes it's uh it's uh sometimes it's uh a little painful. It's, it's always like, oh, here's one. Always disappointments,

though. Like, can I get like some of these like exactly right? That would be nice. Uh, here's one. Uh, Jonathan Taylor and Sequin Barclay.

Ooh, it's a nice team. DJ Moore Michael Pittman. No, it goes downhill. Christian Kirk Ferguson. Ah, here we go.

Jameson Williams. Yeah, pretty good. But, always way for more. That's what. trades for right but i i feel like i'm going to do something next year where i'm going to do like my my all-grarific cheat sheet but i just i want to like isolate the players like brand them you know

like this guy is a baller you know like like like i have a rating system kind of because there are there are tears now sometimes the non-ballers get it done and have big years but at the end of the day don't we just want it's it's really the definition of what i've always actually i'm kind of serious but uh also joking griffic you know what i mean that's the point is you want these young ascending talents listening to you john for 20 years it's been beaten into my head i want young ascending talents guys with upside you know can james connor come through and get it done for you and have an RB11 year? Sure, that's great.

But let me get Chase Brown. Let me get my hands on, you know, even Tyrone Tracy a lot later. Let me get my hands on, Bucky Irving, those kind of guys. That's who's going to win your league. I'm glad you brought up Chase Brown, because that was, he was, he may have been my best running back call,

other than Barclay and Henry, and ranking them, you know, right at, right at their ADP and market them as, as targets. But his ADP was 118, and I had him in 93. So that was one of the better running back calls of the year. For a little there, a little while there.

It was looking a little shaky. But, I mean, the cream rose at the top there. Great kid. Yeah. I also did kind of like Giovante. And sorry again. Poor old Giovante.

You'll never not, I'll never be convinced that Nate Hackett did not ruin Javante's career. Bringing it back too early. no no no the the freaking day the the game he got injured in it was they were pulling them in and out of the damn game and i just think he got he just couldn't get into flow he tensed up he uh tightened up whatever you want to say you know when you when you're when you're when you're dealing with two other running backs you can't get into flow oh it's oh we'll call my number i better better fucking do something like you know what

mean like so oh i just dropped an f bomb there um i guess we can all handle this But yeah, it's a theory. It's a conspiracy theory. But I think there might be truth to it because I often see these running backs, a little tense, trying a little bit too much, not being just calm and slow, patient to the whole, explosive through the hole, all that. Like, no, no, no. Like you're on, you just drank a gallon of Starbucks coffee because you got to maximize every touch because these idiots are going to pull you off the field. One last thing, John, this isn't anything we talked about, but I want to just get your thoughts. With the running back position, you know, we love the young guys.

We want versatile guys who can play on all three downs, but there is something to be said, too, about being on a good team and a team with an explosive offense that can keep matricul in the ball down the field. Look at these guys. So the top 10 running backs this year in PPR, Gibbs, good team, Barkley, good team, Bejan, Atlanta. They were fair. They were all right. Derek Henry, good playoff team. A chance, I'll give, the dolphins were good. Well, to have played.

Jacobs made the playoffs. Kairn Williams made the playoffs. James Cook made the playoffs. And then Kamara, he's just an aberration because he catches a hundred balls a year. And then Chase Brown, team would have made the playoffs. They kind of ran out of time. So there is something to be said of when you're picking these running backs. You've got to also find the guys who are going to be on good teams.

To your point, the, I guess, inverse of that is, Brees Hall should be one of the seven best running back. but he was 17th because he was on a shit team oh and by the way um you know not that i'm an NFL insider but i i've walked in more NFL circles than most and i know more people and among media people they too believe that the jets are an absolute shit show like everyone thinks this so not just me you know i see bucky irving you know that was a lesson but I mean, I don't know what the lesson is because, you know, Tampa Bay Buccaneers themselves, they didn't know he was going to be this good.

They actually adjusted their blocking a little bit for him. But if there is one, otherwise, that is attainable. I did say all summer, and one of the reasons I was still okay with Rashad White, who, by the way, wasn't that bad. He was actually right behind Bucky, I believe. Well, he was RB 22 in points per game, and Bucky was 19. they upgraded the O line. And I did say that, like,

Rashad's a guy you got to block it up for. Bucky did well because he's a guy you don't have to block it up for as much, but they blocked it up much, much better. They were way better up front. I did know that was coming with Cody Mockett a little older than they drafted the center in the first round. So that was also a part of how Bucky Irving did so well.

All right, guru. Anything else from our running back lesson learned? I mean, if somebody's listening an hour plus into a running back podcast here in February, you can take an F bomb. Right, right. No, that's about it. I mean, there's always like a little, like really want to drill deep. There's always little micro lessons.

But that was the crux of the matter, sir. There it is. All right. So, folks, keep listening here. Go over to FantasyPoint.com. Check out our early bird specials. See you if you want to get in. Maybe win some money betting on.

the, what is that, the UFF, the XFL, what the hell they call on Spring League, whatever it is. Jake Tribby's got it covered and opens up in a couple of weeks, and we've got your covered there. And also, hey, get ready for the NFL draft. Brett Whitefield's prospect guy to be coming out, and you're definitely going to want to get your hands on that. So for the guru, John Hanson, I'm Brian Drake. We'll see you next time for the Fantasy Points podcast.