Fantasy Football Today - FFT on CBSSN: JJ McCarthy Injury, Jahmyr Gibbs Concerns, Start/Bench/Cut, & More! (08/15 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: August 15, 2024

Want to be in our next mock draft and have a shot at being on air? Check out our St. Jude Draft-a-Thon Store here: https://tiltify.com/@fftfundraising/fantasy-football-today-draftathon-2024 Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts Join Jamey Eisenberg, Heath Cummings, and former NFL running back Robert Turbin for an in-depth look at the latest football news and fantasy insights. This episode covers JJ McCarthy's season-ending (1:40) injury, Jahmyr Gibbs' (4:58) current status, and CeeDee Lamb’s holdout situation. We’ll also analyze the big running back (14:41) moves of the offseason, including Saquon Barkley joining the Eagles, Derrick Henry heading to the Ravens, and Aaron Jones moving to the Vikings. To top it off, we play a game of Start/Bench/Cut (29:10) to determine the best fantasy options for 2024 and provide a preview of what to watch for in preseason (40:35) Week 2. Tune in for expert advice and everything you need to know to stay ahead in your fantasy league! Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Whether in the game or in life, the right coverage can make all the difference. Securian Canada gives you that coverage. For more than 65 years, Securian Canada has been helping Canadians build secure tomorrows. Their insurance solutions are designed to help protect you

and your loved ones financially, giving you the peace of mind to focus on what truly matters. Find their products through banks, credit unions, and associations, or visit SecurianCanada.ca. Securian Canada, insurance designed for life. Welcome to Fantasy Football Today. I'm Jamie Eisenberg. That's Heath Cummings.

We've got our buddy Robert Turbin joining us as well remotely. And, guys, it's draft season. We've got a lot of drafts starting to really heat up. I'm in a draft right now for our draft-a-thon to benefit St. Jude. So a lot of fun doing this mock draft. And I know Robert said you had a draft last night. Heath, I know you've got a billion drafts going on. So we're here to help you with those drafts and get you set for the upcoming fantasy season. And it's going to be a fun show today. We're going to talk about some of the running backs that are on the move from this offseason. Guys like

Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Robert will give his take on how those guys should perform. Heath will counter with some of the bus calls on some of these older running backs. We're going to talk about some preseason things we're looking forward to for week two. Got a game tonight between the Patriots and the Eagles. We'll answer your tweets, so send them to us on Twitter or X, whatever we're calling it now, but get your questions in so we can answer them for you as well. But, guys, I want to start with the big news of the week. Maybe one of the biggest stories of the season so far is J.J. McCarthy

and the Vikings. McCarthy going to miss the entire season. His rookie campaign is now lost after injuring his meniscus, had surgery on Wednesday. And now we find out they're not going to miss the entire season. His rookie campaign is now lost after injuring his meniscus head surgery on Wednesday. And now we find out they're not going to have him. They are going to have Sam Darnold. Jordan Addison also was carted off the field with an ankle injury. Sounds like it's minor, but Heath, I'll start with you. Obviously, the big story is going to be what happens to Justin Jefferson with Sam Darnold as the starter there for, we thought, at least the early part of the season. Now it looks like the majority of the season.

Are you concerned at all about Justin Jefferson being one of the top three, maybe top five, maybe lower than that wide receivers this year? I'm concerned about him being one of the top three wide receivers. I think what we see here, when we had Darnold and McCarthy, that really helped the floor of Jefferson. Because if Sam Darnold was just absolutely terrible, they could go to the rookie and he'd probably be okay. It hurt the ceiling as well because there was a chance that J.J. McCarthy could just take the league by storm as a rookie. But I still think like my expectation is that Sam Darnold in this offense is probably pretty

similar to a rookie J.J. McCarthy. So I'm not dropping Justin Jefferson outside of the top nine overall picks. I'm not dropping him outside of the top six wide receivers, but I am dropping him to the very end of both of those. So he was, I think, my wide receiver four at pick seven. He's now my wide receiver six at pick nine. I actually have not moved him. I still expect him to perform at a very high level. Robert, you obviously have played in this league. You know what injuries are like. So losing McCarthy, not fun, I'm sure, for the locker room. But when you have a veteran like Sam Darnold, I want your take just on how guys, maybe when they change systems and go to new teams, new voice, new coach, can

Darnold sort of pick up and maybe have the best season of his career knowing that he has this guy to throw to, Addison, eventually TJ Hawkinson. How do you think Darnold will do in terms of getting Justin Jefferson the ball? Yeah, the thing that helps Sam Darnold the most in this situation is being able to have the weapons around him that he does have. Now, everybody's not going to be available immediately, one of those guys being TJ Hawkinson, but he will be back, and that'll be a nice added addition that'll just build more confidence as far as having weapons for Sam Darnold.

And on the Justin Jefferson front, I still think he's the top receiver as well, Jamie. I agree with you there. Let's not forget, last season, even with all the quarterback parasol that was going on in Minnesota, Justin Jefferson averaged more fantasy points last season than he did the year before with Kirk Cousins. And so, to me, he's one of those rare wide receivers. DeAndre Hopkins was like this when he was in Houston. It didn't matter which quarterback was quarterbacking the team. They were still going to produce at a high level.

I think you can still expect the same thing from Justin Jefferson. Yep, and what you're referencing was the final four games last year. Nick Mullins stepped in after Cousins had the Achilles tear. He was over 20 PPR points per game was in terms of Jefferson. Now people will say Heath, two games against Detroit, it was one of the more miserable secondaries that he faced. He still gets to play Detroit twice this year, last time I checked. And I think the thing you've got to keep in mind is

he's most likely getting 10 targets no matter if it's you, me, or Darnold throwing him the ball. Will they be great targets? Not by comparison to Kirk Cousins. But there will still be enough volume there. He could have 200 targets this year. That's the thing I think you could see. And I think the nice thing about Darnold for a, from a wide receivers perspective is he's probably like he'll do okay 75% of the time. And then he's just going to make some ridiculously bad throws that may be turning

to pick six as well. When you do that, you just have to throw more, try to catch back up. So I think he's going to throw the ball plenty and you're right. It's 10 times a game to Jefferson, at least. Yeah. We're going to see a lot of volume for Jefferson. So, again, if you are concerned, there are other receivers you could take, Jamar Chase, C.D. Lamb, depending on where those guys fall from a holdout standpoint, Amara St. Brown, A.J. Brown. You know, we could see a lot of different receivers going in that order in the first round. A running back that we know has been going in the first round suffered a hamstring injury this week,

and that's Jameer Gibbs. And so Dan Campbell came out on Wednesday and said it's not that bad, don't really have a lot of reason for concern. But, Robert, I want to ask you this when it comes to Gibbs because this is now the second hamstring injury that he suffered this offseason, and we know that soft tissue injuries can be recurring problems for guys. So when you look at this backfield, you got David Montgomery coming off a strong season last year.

Most of it was touchdown related but still produced at a very high level. How do you sort of take us through which guy do you like better? And can Gibbs sort of manage this hamstring problem? Or is this something that's going to be an issue for him as the year progresses? If I were drafting, I would take David Montgomery before I took Jameer Gibbs. Wow. That's just me. My strategy is I want dependable players.

OK, I'm not necessarily concerned about, you know, guys who are going to get X amount of targets all the time or have the potential to be, you know, explosive and make those big plays. I want guys that I know that are going to be able to be available on my roster week in and week out. Not saying that's going to, not saying that Jameer Gibbs is going to, you know, have some absence during the season, but this is definitely a concern that you have to deal with. I think he's going to be okay. Hamstring injuries, they can linger. Usually you learn from the first time around, meaning you have a hamstring injury, you get back, it occurs again.

Okay, now you kind of have to reset the table here and take your time, all right, take maybe a little bit longer in the rehabilitation process, getting back. I think the Lions are gonna have that approach this time around, because the most important thing for Jameer is to be ready for week one. And I think like the thing that worries me

is not so much this current hamstring injury. I think Robert's right. He'll probably be fine by the time we get to week one or at least week two. Probably not going to have a huge impact, but the Lions have talked about giving him a bigger share of the workload this year, and he needed that. Adam Azers talked about it a lot. The last 10 games when both Montgomery and Gibbs were healthy, Gibbs was RB10.

He was being drafted as RB4 or 5. He has to have an increase in volume to do that, and I just wonder, with a couple of injuries before they're even playing real games, if the Lions, who think they're Super Bowl contenders, say, you know what, maybe we just give the ball to the dependable guy, let him tote it 15, 20 times a game, and use Gibbs sporadically like they did last year. And it's interesting you mention that, because last year it took a few weeks before we saw the best of Gibbs, and it really kind of coincided when Montgomery got banged up a little bit. I just think when you start to compare him to Barkley and Taylor and even Pacheco, Etienne, some of those guys, Kyron Williams, you see the risk and you certainly can say those guys are better. So like to Robert's point, you want to take guys that have a little bit more security and safety right now. And so if you want to drop Gibbs behind those guys, I have. I think Gibbs is more of a round two pick than he is a round one pick.

Speaking of round one, and this is something that a lot of fantasy managers are struggling with right now because of some of the injuries and some of the holdouts. So you have a few guys that are banged up and a few guys that are dealing with contract situations like CeeDee Lamb and Jamarte. So let's show you what the first round looks like. This is based on average draft position on CBS based on PPR. So what you're seeing here is the list of guys and who can you trust in the first round. So McCaffrey's got the calf injury. You got the situation again with Gibbs with the hamstring problem, not listed here, but a guy that's been drafted in the first round, Pukunukua dealing with a knee injury. And then you got Chase and

Lamb, not in that order, Lamb and Chase, dealing with their respective contract situations. Lamb holding out, Chase, at least for now, holding in. So I want to ask you guys just the approach to the first round and how you're sort of looking at the best thing to do. So Heath, I'll lean on you here. Do you have a strategy of avoiding certain players because of these concerns if you're drafting today, or are you just taking the best player available because you know hopefully they'll be healthy or hopefully they'll have their contract done

in time for week one? I wouldn't say avoiding certain players, but I was at the beginning of the summer more in a position where I'd take Christian McCaffrey and then it was like five wide receivers and then Brees Hall and Bijan Robinson. But one of the reasons that we were taking those wide receivers ahead of the running backs was not because they have more point per game upside. It was because those guys are supposed to be safer those guys don't feel safer right now so in a half ppr or non-ppr league i'm mcafree breesall and bijan is the first three picks off

the board in a full ppr league i still have lamb ahead of those two backs but i'm probably like four or five days away from going away from that and just saying give me breesall give me bijan robinson in the middle of round one, I'll find a wide receiver in round two. Robert, you talked about, you know, having some, you know, safety concerns or at least, you know, leaning on, on, on the less, you know, injured risk type of players. McCaffrey's got a calf injury right now.

And I know we, last time we had John, we didn't talk about this, but now I want to get your take on just McCaffrey dealing with this calf. He played through it in the playoffs last year, clearly was fine getting them to the Super Bowl. Do you have any concerns about McCaffrey missing training camp practices, obviously missing the preseason, but being ready for week one?

I don't have any concern at all. I think when it comes to the top ten picks of round one, you have to take the guys that are best available, regardless of contractual issues, regardless of injuries right now. These injuries have happened so early in training camp you gotta think that they're going to be ready for week one especially veteran players all pro players like chris mccaffrey so i'm not concerned with it at all but as a fantasy manager the thing that you really have to think about okay you're going to get the best players available, but it is about depth. And maybe that's why you may see guys take some running backs a little bit earlier than they typically would,

because you don't want to put yourself in a position where you have an injury. OK, and your backups aren't as productive. I think that's really important to strategize that as you're drafting, especially looking at the running back spot. So let's stay on the running backs there, Robert, because I think a lot of people have questions after McCaffrey. Brees Hall versus Bijan Robinson. I know we had you on a few weeks ago. I think you were more Robinson over Brees Hall. Just give us your take on those two guys, because there is a lot of questions. Hall, amazing last year, but now Aaron Rodgers. Robinson, removing Arthur Smith, that could be viewed as a plus.

But we're hearing a lot of Tyler Algier potentially still having a role. How do you sort of decide between these two guys? Well, similarly to what you said about Jameer Gibbs earlier, about him, about the Lions wanting to give him more opportunities within the offense, well, the Falcons have said the same thing about Bij John Robinson. So we can expect more playing time, more targets, more carries for B. John Robinson, as opposed to Brees Hall, who had 95 targets last season.

He's not going to see nearly the ball come his way that much with Aaron Rodgers and other guys at the wide receiving core being healthy. Alan Lazard is expected to play better this season. A guy who he played with in Green Bay, obviously. And so that is why I have B. John Robinson slightly above Brees. So I think Brees Hall is going to be just as productive. Either

guy that you take, I think is going to be great for your fantasy team. But I just don't see Brees Hall getting as much work as he did last year where it's going to raise higher for B. John Robinson this season. The role in the passing game could be an issue, but clearly there could be an upgrade from a rushing perspective with a better offensive line and the threat of Aaron Rodgers. So if you are in the Brees Hall camp, I know you have all over Robinson. I do as

well, but really it's pick your favorite option there because they both should be special talents going into the start of the season. If you look at this, Heath, I know we talk about the kind of the elite five wide receivers here. Does A.J. Brown not get enough respect because last year was very good for the majority of the season, but he tailed off at the back end. Should Brown be maybe ahead of a Monroe St. Brown, maybe ahead of Jefferson now? I think our colleague Dave Richard has put A.J. Brown ahead of Jefferson. So are you in that camp as well that A.J. Brown should be moving up? I do have Brown one spot ahead of Jefferson. I also have a Monroe St. Brown as my number three wide receiver,

so I wouldn't put A.J. ahead of him. But I think if you look at what A.J. Brown did last year and then just project that the touchdowns are going to regress back to what they've been for most of his career, you've got a top five wide receiver. I also think that Kellen Moore probably means more pass attempts in Philadelphia, which is a boost for both Brown and Devontae Smith. So, yeah, I think it's a big six wide receiver. I also think that Kellen Moore probably means more pass attempts in Philadelphia, which is a boost for both Brown and Devontae Smith. So yeah, I think it's a big six wide receiver. I think it's a big nine overall players and A.J. Brown's right in the thick of that. And Robert, we used to talk about another guy that was in the first round and that was Puka

Nakua dealing with a knee injury. Again, according to Sean McVay, who has a good track record, when he says a player is going to be ready for week one, he's going to be ready for week one. Puka, again, sort of this injury situation of can he bounce back, come back from this injury and be there ready for week one? Are you buying Puka Nakua early round two? I'm buying Puka Nakua early round two. I think that you can still trust him to be as productive as he was last season. Now, we have to take into consideration, you know, he really didn't start sparking, you know,

fantasy teams until Cooper Cupp got injured. Well, Cooper Cupp is not injured this time around. Okay, he'll be ready week one as a starter. And so there's only one football to go around. And so maybe when you look at Puka Nakua, you look at that, look at his injury, he may slide, but I still trust him to have a big impact for fantasy managers around the league. Yeah, we talk about the phrase buying the dip.

If Puka's there in the middle of round two, it could be fantastic for him. Same thing potentially with Jameer Gibbs as well. So some of these injury situations are causing some top-tier talent to fall into the second round. It could be very beneficial for you if you're picking in the middle of the first round. We're going to take a break right now here on fantasy football today when we come back and talk about some running backs who changed teams this offseason and maybe get a fun debate about saquon stay with us here on fantasy football today We'll be right back. you safe. Don't let avoidable damage cost you time and money. Click before you dig. Ensure your next

project is safe. Visit OntarioOneCall.ca. It's free. It's easy. It's the law. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM. So I'm Jamie Eisenberg. That's Heath Cummings. We've got Robert Turbin with us here. And Heath is one of the best fantasy analysts that you will find. I encourage you to follow his rankings, his projections. Listen to him on the Dynasty podcast. And you know a lot about running backs.

But we're going to set you up here a little bit because you're going to have to argue with the running back about the running back. So we're talking about running backs here that have changed teams this offseason. And I know we've spent a lot of time on our podcast talking about this, but you might be listening to us for the first time or watching us for the first time. So I want to show you the guys that have changed teams. You've probably seen these guys already. So Barkley goes from the Giants to the Eagles. Derrick Henry goes from the Titans to the Ravens. I don't need to read the whole thing for you there, but this is the first group of running backs we're looking at. There's another list as well. After Aaron Jones and Tony Pollard, you have Zach Moss going from the Colts to the

Bengals. DeAndre Swift again from the Eagles to the Bears. And a couple other guys that we didn't mention, but Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins going from the Ravens to the Chargers. And now we're going to talk about the fantasy value for these guys. So we'll start with the most prominent one. And if you joined us a few weeks ago and Robert made his debut on Fantasy Football Today for the 2024 campaign, he showed us his running back rankings, and at number two behind Christian McCaffrey was Saquon Barkley. If you listen to us on our Fantasy Football Today podcast this week about busts, Heath's bust at running back was Saquon Barkley. So let's have a Saquon Barkley discussion.

Heath, I'll give you the first word. He's changing teams again, going from the Giants to the Eagles. Your concern is? Listen, the last thing I want to do is argue with this guy about running backs. One of the things I remember from last preseason was he was the guy who told us be worried about Josh Jacobs early in the year because of the holdout, and Josh Jacobs averaged like two yards per carry. So I'm probably going to look dumb here, but I will say, historically speaking,

if you look at veteran running backs that are changing teams, you can expect about a 10 to 15 percent dip in fantasy production from when they were on their prior team. Barkley, Henry, a lot of these guys are actually being drafted higher than what they produced last year. And I know with Barkley, the reasoning is, well, the Eagles offensive line is a lot better than the Giants, and the Eagles are going to score a lot more touchdowns than the Giants. I don't think Jalen Hurts is actually good for Saquon Barkley. Jalen Hurts takes a lot of those rushing touchdowns himself, and Jalen Hurts doesn't throw to running backs, and I don't think the Eagles offensive line is going to be quite as good as it's been

because they don't have Jason Kelsey anymore. All right, Robert, tell them why he's wrong. I think those are all good points. They're legitimate. I don't agree with the veteran teams changing teams, always being a dip. The best legitimate. I don't agree with the veteran teams changing teams, always being a dip, the best running back in fantasy. One of the best players in fantasy is still Christian McCaffrey, who, by the way, used to play for the Carolina Panthers. And there's other examples. Zach Moss is an example of a guy who changed teams and has done well in fantasy as well. So I don't necessarily agree with that 100%. I think with Saquon Barkley going to the Eagles, I'll tell you why it helps him. Because he doesn't have to be the guy that does it all

for the team. And that's going to open things up for him running the football and catching it out of the backfield. When you have other weapons that are surrounded by you, Devontae Smith, A.J. Brown, Dallas Goddard, of course, Jalen Hurts. Now there's multiple things that the defense has to key on. In New York, it was all about Saquon Barkley. If we can eliminate Saquon Barkley and force Daniel Jones and everybody else to beat us, we have a better chance to win this game. And, of course, it hurt the production of Saquon Barkley in fantasy and obviously hindered him from being able to stay healthy. I don't see that for him this season going into the Eagles for that reason.

There's other guys that you have to be concerned about. I think having Jalen Hurts and his running ability actually does help Saquon Barkley in the run game as far as those lanes and things of that nature. Because now, let me tell you, as a defender, as a defender, okay, we're running read zone. I get to keep it as a quarterback or give it to Saquon, but I have to be concerned about Jalen Hurts. But guess what? I just gave the ball to Saquon instead. That opens lanes up for a guy like Saquon Barkley, and that's why I think it helps him, and that's why I have him so high as far as my rankings and fantasy drafts.

All right. So I'm going to agree with everything Robert said, but I'm going to call that argument a tie because Robert Heath is now the coach of my son's basketball team. So I don't want him to get benched if I disagree with Heath. Let's talk about Derrick Henry. Heath, you brought this up. Robert, I'll start with you.

Another aging running back. He's 30 years old. We know what he's been. He's an alien. I mean, they don't make players like this at any position, let alone the running back spot. So when you see him going to Baltimore, his outlook for this season is what? Yeah, you know, I think it helps him going to Baltimore as well.

I think he takes a little bit of a dip than what he was in Tennessee. He may not see the same amount of carries. He's in a different system. But I do think it helps playing with Lamar Jackson, right? It just takes a little bit of the weight off of his shoulders. I think he's still a dependable back and he'll be extremely productive. But I won't expect him to average, you know, as many points as he did during his time in Tennessee all those years. And I think he said something with both Barkley and Henry that I want to hit on. Like, he's talking about real football, and he's right. Saquon Barkley's job's going to be easier this year in that Philadelphia Eagles offense. Derrick Henry's job's going to be easier than it was last

year. But as for the bust case, it's like, we know what the history of running backs at 30 or older are, even for guys who have been super duper stars in their twenties. And I think he hit on it. He's going to see fewer opportunities in the running game because Lamar Jackson's going to run at 30% of the time. And he was RB 17 on a per game basis last year being drafted as RB nine in the second round. You just don't draft him that high. The one thing that I keep going back to is how he was in wins last year and just game script for him. And so, yes, it's going to be different. I don't think he gets to this level of production.

But over 21 PPR points per game in the six wins for the Titans, and it was just miserable in the 11 losses. And so that sort of balanced out why he ends up RB17. John Harbaugh averages 10 wins a season. And so if they're winning games, the production should still be somewhat close to that 21 point per game level. Plus, we saw Gus Edwards, who's nowhere near the level of Derrick Henry, score 13 rushing touchdowns last year. I know it's going to be touchdown related, but you could probably count on him maybe 15 plus touchdowns if things go right.

I want to combine the next two guys we're going to talk about together because they kind of go in a similar tier. And that's Josh Jacobs going to the Packers and Joe Mixon going to the Texans. You can make cases that they're offensive upgrades for these guys. Heath, I'll start with you. With these two guys who have a similar ADP range, Jacobs goes sort of the beginning part of round three, Mixon toward the end of round three, beginning of round four, depending on the ADP you're looking at.

Which one do you like better? And who has a higher ceiling if things go right, just in terms of workload, production, everything across the board for both these guys? I'll go with Jacobs as an answer to both of those. He's my RB12, and I think if you wanted to take him at the end of round two because you were going running back heavy, I'd be okay with that. I like him more as a round three pick. Both of them in good offenses. Jacobs a little bit younger. Jacobs not battling a quad

injury for most of training camp so far. So I do think he has a higher floor and he has a higher ceiling. Robert, what about you when you look at these two guys and maybe give us a little take on Mixon? It seems as if Jacobs has a little bit more competition based on what we're hearing. You know, if Marshawn Lloyd is healthy, but right now he's got a hamstring problem. A.J. Dillon, who's been a factor for the Packers for the last couple of years. Mixon doesn't really have that level of potential production, potential, you know, vulturing of touches behind him because while Damian Pierce has been a guy for the Texans that they leaned on,

not necessarily this regime. I got to agree with Heath here. You know, I'm going to go, I'm going to take Josh Jacobs here to have a little bit of an advantage. You know, for Joe Mixon, he's playing in an offense that is, you know, centered around C.J. Stroud. Not that the Green Bay Packers offense isn't centered around Jordan Love. Of course it's centered around their quarterback.

But think about how much they involve the running back in the passing game in Green Bay in comparison to Houston and how they utilize their backs. They're going to be run heavy more, but they've got extraordinary weaponry on the outside as far as wide receivers are concerned for the Houston Texans and a really good tight end. The wide receivers in Green Bay are great, but they're still young and developing. I think they're going to lean on Josh Jacobs a little bit more for some production as opposed to the Texans really leaning on Joe Mixon.

Josh Jacobs is going to have a huge role within this offense, and without his production, I don't know how successful the Green Bay Packers can be. mix-in. Josh Jacobs is going to have a huge role within this offense, and without his production, I don't know how successful the Green Bay Packers can be. I'm going with Josh Jacobs here to answer your two questions. I think we're all in agreement that Jacobs is the one you want to target.

I think you look at last year, you mentioned the offense for the Packers. While Jordan Love took off in the second half of the season, five straight games to end the season for Aaron Jones with 100-plus yards. So the run game was clicking, and Jacobs better, younger, healthier than Aaron Jones was last year. At least that's the hope. The one thing we've got to keep an eye on, though,

if Marshawn Lloyd, who got a lot of off-season pub, unfortunately dealing with a hamstring injury, if he does get healthy by the time we get to week one, how much of a role will he have? But I think we're all in agreement. Take Josh Jacobs ahead of Joe Mixon. Speaking of Aaron Jones, we have another running back here who's a little bit older robert and so last year jones missed some time with hamstring problems earlier in the year for the packers really struggled to stay healthy until the end

of the season and we're hearing things out of minnesota about potential 50 50 split with ty chandler when you look at this backfield jones 29 chandler was good for the vikings at the end of the season how'd you see that backfield shaken out yeah I think Aaron Jones is still going to be the did you want me to go first go ahead yes yeah I think Aaron Jones is still going to be the starter and and he'll have a you know obviously a a huge role within this offense but you know his his fantasy projection is certainly going to dip this season in my eyes, especially with a franchise who wants to develop the young player in Ty Chandler. I think you'll see a dip in opportunities for Aaron Jones

this season carries and targets outside of the backfield. We know that he can do both of those things at a high level. I mean, he carried really the Green Bay Packers last season. I was shocked when they decided to let him go. But because of the young ascending player in Ty Chandler and obviously Aaron Jones being a little bit older, he won't be the vocal point within that offense in Minnesota. So I think he's going to take a huge dip this season.

Yeah, I don't understand the ADP at all. Like we talked about the older running backs changing teams and Jones has had injury problems in the past. I don't understand the ADP at all. Like, we talked about the older running backs changing teams, and Jones has had injury problems in the past, and now he's on an offense that, like, at least with Barkley and Henry, we expect better offense, better – they're going to score a bunch more touchdowns. Like, this Vikings offense could be one of the worst in the NFL this year, and generally playing from behind. So I am completely out on Aaron Jones, not just as a top 20 back,

but also as a top 25 guy. Yeah, he's going as RB19 right in the round five range, but we spend a lot of time on our podcast talking about the receivers that go in that round, the quarterbacks, the tight ends. It just doesn't make sense to take Aaron Jones that soon. If you like Jones, maybe a round later. Round six is probably an okay spot to buy in on him, but yeah, I'm with you.

I'm probably out on Jones and just waiting for Ty Chandler. DeAndre Swift's a little puzzling to me because we got this running back here. It was coming off a good season last year, but clearly now third team in his last three seasons. But we like the Bears' offense and what they're expected to do. So Heath, is Swift not getting enough love because he's still young enough that he's not this age that you've got to worry about him switching teams? He did prove that he could be a workhorse, didn't score a lot of touchdowns,

but that could just be the Eagles' offense. Are we sort of not giving DeAndre Swift enough credit that he could be a workhorse. Didn't score a lot of touchdowns, but that could just be the Eagles offense. Are we sort of not giving DeAndre Swift enough credit that he could be a good number two running back this year? It kind of seems like fantasy managers are kind of coming around to where his coaches seem to have been throughout his career. He's always a guy that we thought should touch the ball more. Stop giving it to Jamal Williams so much. Give it to DeAndre Swift.

Didn't get the ball at the goal line last year. Has not been a good short yardage rusher. That's something Caleb Williams did very well in college. And I think, like you said, he's young enough. You don't have to worry about him changing teams. He might change teams three more times in the next three years, the way that teams have dealt with him. So I like him a lot if you can get him as a low, low-end RB2

or as a flex where he's going because there is potential upside on a week-to-week basis. But Robert was talking about guys that you can trust and rely on to do the same thing week after week after week. And Swift's just never been that guy in his four years in the league, except kind of last year. So, Robert, can he be a guy that you trust this season? I think he can.

I think he's a guy that you can take a risk on this season. And the reason why is I compare it to the situation with, say, Kwon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, where, you know, he just doesn't have to be the vocal point of the offense. He's a supplemental piece that has an extreme amount of talent. But without all of that pressure, it really does open things up for a guy like DeAndre Swift. Now, he's had some, you know, health issues and things of that nature throughout the course of his career. But again, when you have teams keying on Keenan Allen and DJ Moore, Caleb Williams, who can do some things with his feet, you know, I think that gives

DeAndre Swift the opportunity to get through a full season healthy and have some high production for your fantasy team. So I think he's ranked where he's ranked right now is just about right. If you want to put him a few spots lower, I wouldn't be mad at that. But earlier I did talk about depth. So I like him in that flex spot. I like him potentially coming off the bench for you, but he's certainly a guy I think this season is worth the risk if you want to draft him. And we'll see how they use or continue to use in the preseason if we get

a glimpse of it with Khalil Herbert, with Roshan Johnson, at least in the first preseason game, everybody got excited. I think you should have with the 40-yard plus dump off from Caleb Williams to DeAndre Swift shows you the potential that he could have in this offense, like Robert was saying. A lot of exciting pieces for the Bears

this year. We're going to take a break right now. We come back and play a new game that we got here called Start Bench Cut. I'm going to put the guys to the test about who they'd rather have on their fantasy team, have on their bench, or maybe send back to the waiver wire. We'll talk about that next here on Fantasy Football Today, presented by BetMGM. I'm Jamie. That's Heath. That's Robert. Coming up, we've got your tweets, so please send them to us on Twitter or X using the hashtag AskFFT, and that way we know the questions are for us,

and we will help you out with your fantasy dilemmas that are coming up with your drafts. We're going to play a game right now called Start, Bench, Cut. I'm going to give the guys three names, and they're going to decide who they want on their fantasy team, who they maybe want on their bench as opposed to a starter, or who they want to maybe not draft at all. And it's not going to be, obviously, I can get all three of these guys because we're going to talk about the three prominent quarterbacks,

but just to get a little taste of where the guys are leaning in terms of the players that they like. So we're going to start with the three prominent quarterbacks, but just to get a little taste of where the guys are leaning in terms of the players that they like. So we're going to start with the three top quarterbacks based on average draft position. Who do you want? Who do you want to avoid? And who do you just don't want? Who do you want on your bench?

I guess that's probably not accurate with these three in particular, but maybe not the best trio to start with in any event. Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes. I think you could ask probably 10 fantasy analysts, 100 fantasy players, and it could be a different combination for everybody. So, Heath, who's starting? Who are you benching? Who are you not drafting at all?

So it wasn't bad enough to make me debate the running back about running backs. Now I've got to cut one of these three guys. That's awesome. I will start, like, first with the caveat CBS leagues are six points per pass touchdown league. I will start Patrick Mahomes. He's my number one quarterback. I will bench Jalen Hurts. He's my number two quarterback. And I'm actually a little bit concerned about Josh

Allen. We saw it with Mahomes last year when the wide receiver core was a real problem. His fantasy production struggled, finished all the way down at QB 10. I don't have Josh Allen as a top three quarterback this year, so I will cut Josh Allen. Wow. I'm actually starting Josh Allen for the simple fact that he's going to have to be Superman again this season, which could lead to a lot of production, both in the air and on the ground. Let's not forget, he's still got two really good tight ends, all right, and a rookie wide receiver with a lot of potential, okay? I'm putting Jalen Hurts on the bench.

I love the weaponry centered around him. I love Kellen Moore as a new of potential. Okay. I'm putting Jalen Hurts on the bench. I love the weaponry centered around him. I love killing more as a new officer coordinator. And I got to send Patrick Mahomes to the waiver wire, man, because I can't trust his teammates. Okay. So that, that,

that, that, that, that's my order right there with the three quarterbacks. And again, I think you ask different people. They're going to say hurts one. I know our colleague,

Dave Richard has hurts as a number one quarterback. I actually have the same order as you, Robert. I'm going to start Josh Allen. I'm going to bench Jalen Hurts. I'm going to cut Patrick Mahomes the same order as you, Robert. I'm going to start Josh Allen. I'm going to bench Jalen Hurts. I'm going to cut Patrick Mahomes as much as that Hurts to say. I'd love to have, obviously, all three of these guys. I just think that Allen, he may have his most diverse receiving core

and best weapons across the board that he's ever had. Doesn't have a high-end guy like Stephon Diggs, but the group as a whole might end up being better. So I do think that with his rushing and obviously what I think he'll do as a passer, I would take him first. But again, no problem if it's Hurts, no problem if it's Mahomes. Those are my top three quarterbacks. And just to clarify, you have Lamar Jackson ahead of Josh Allen.

He's three for you. Jackson's three. Allen is four. All right, Robert, I'll start with you first on this one. You got start, bench, cut. Next trio of quarterbacks that sort of come off the board. You got C.J. Stroud, Joe Burrow, Anthony Richardson. That's based on our average draft position right now.

So Stroud, Burrow, Richardson, start, bench, cut. I'm starting Joe Burrow. All right, give me the blonde hair. Okay, give me Ken from Barbie, whatever you want to call it. I got C.J. Stroud on the bench. You know, proved a lot last season. MVP candidate potentially this season. Can't trust Anthony Richardson yet, so I'm going to send him to the waiver wire.

I'll start Anthony Richardson. Let's just go in the opposite order, especially if I get to have Joe Burrow or C.J. Stroud on the bench because if Richardson hits with his rushing ability in fantasy football, he has a chance to be the number one quarterback in all of fantasy. I will bench Joe Burrow. Love to have him as a security blanket. Love the haircut. Think this is kind of maybe the year where the Bengals want to make up for last year with all those

injuries. And then I'm going to cut C.J. Stroud. I'm not sure that he actually has the top three upside. He certainly has the upside to be one of the top three real-life quarterbacks, but he doesn't really run. So in fantasy, I'm not sure he can hit those heights. I'm going to start Richardson also just because, again, the potential upside, the ceiling for him could just be amazing because I think he surprised some people as a passer last year, and the way that he will run, he could lead all quarterbacks in rushing touchdowns, running quarterbacks, break fantasy. So I like that upside in such a deep position.

You could fall back with a Jared Goff, with a Tua, with a Matthew Stafford, depending on how deep you want to go. I think it's worth taking a chance on Richardson. I'm actually going to bench C.J. Stroud and cut Joe Burrow. And the only reason I say that is because I'm still a little bit concerned about two things. One, the wrist injury, because we had one of our injury experts on with us in the offseason. He said that this could be something that potentially lingers. So just something in the back of my mind that scares me a little bit. And then we have the Jamar Chase hold in, hold out, whatever's going on right now. So that's something that potentially lingers. So just something in the back of my mind that scares me a little bit. And then we have the Jamar Chase, hold in, hold out, whatever's going on right now.

So that's something that may change between Burrow and Stroud, but right now Burrow, unfortunately, is the odd man out. All right, Heath is looking at a trio of running backs here that you might have to decide on in round two. We got Travis Etienne, Isaiah Pacheco, Devon Achan, start, bench, cut. I'll go right in the order they're listed here.

I'm going to start Travis Etn I know they're talking about taking work off of his play but I actually think that he's going to have a more efficient year I think people might be sleeping on how much Gabe Davis is going to help Travis Etn when it comes to big plays get Davis one of the best blocking wide receivers in the NFL I will bench Isaiah Pacheco do buy a little bit of an increase in a passing game role for him this year but I also think Patrick Mahomes is another one of those guys that, yeah, he won the Super Bowl last year, but he's tired of hearing about how the offense wasn't quite as good. He's going to throw the ball when he gets inside the 10, so the touchdowns might come down for Pacheco. I've got

to cut Devon A. Chen. He's going to have to prove to me that he can handle 15 carries a game and that he can stay healthy. I'm taking Travis Etienne first. He'll be my starter. Super dependable running back. Had an excellent season in fantasy last year. A little dip off in the second half of the year, but certainly the most trustworthy out of the three. So he'll be my starter.

I'm going to have Devon A. Chan coming off the bench. Raheem Mostert, with his health issues and things of that nature, you know Devon Achan is going to get his opportunities and even more so if Raheem Mostert continues to go down. Isaiah Pacheco, I love him, but I'll have to cut him in this situation. Just doesn't get as many opportunities on a consistent basis for me within that Chiefs offense. So I'm gonna let him go to the waiver wire. Hate to argue with the running back about the running backs, but I'm going to start Isaiah Pacheco.

I'm going to bench Travis Etienne, and I'm going to cut Devon Achan. It's not that I don't love Achan, but it just feels like there's too many miles to feed if everybody stays healthy by comparison to these two other guys. The thing that I like about Pacheco, Robert, is we could see, based on what Andy Reid said, his role in the passing game, playing on third downs, increased. And if that happens because there's no more Jarek McKinnon, then we could see his numbers pop a little bit. Right now there's an injury in the passing game, playing on third downs, increased. And if that happens because there's no more Jarek McKinnon, then we could see his numbers pop a little bit.

Right now there's an injury in the receiving core, so who knows how things go there from Marquise Brown's health. And if they still have the ability to throw the ball down the field like they want to, if they have to go back to what got them to the playoffs, got them to the Super Bowl, was leaning on their run game a little bit more, we could see Pacheco have even more of a role and I think take that step forward. So I would like Pacheco first. Etienne just very safe at second.

And Etienne a little too volatile for me. I will put him third. But I would like to have all three of these running backs. One more running back trio that we'll look at here to start bench cut. Robert, I'll start with you. Trey Benson, rookie for the Cardinals. Blake Corum, rookie for the Rams. And Rico Daudle, who could be the starter for the Cowboys.

Which is the order you're going in with these three? Yeah, I'll go Rico Daudle because you mentioned it, man. He could be the starter for the Cowboys, which is the order you're going in with this three? Yeah, I'll go Rico Dottal because you mentioned him. He could be the starter for the Cowboys, so that'll equal some production for me. So I'll start Rico Dottal. Coming off the bench, give me Trey Benson. All right, James Conner obviously has had some health issues and concerns over the course of his career.

He'll still be highly productive, but you're going to see Trey Benson getting an immense amount of opportunities with with Jim Connor, not only having health concerns, but obviously being an older back in this league. Kyron Williams is a young and ascending back. We understand Blake Corman is going to get his opportunities, but I'll have to release him in this instance because Kyron Williams is still going to be the vocal point of that run game for the L.A. Rams. I will start Trey Benson. I'm going to ignore preseason week one. It was a bad offensive line he was running behind. I'm going to give Trey Benson the benefit of the doubt based on his draft capital and what he showed us in college. I'm going to bench Blake

Corum. I think he needs a Kyron Williams injury, but Kyron Williams has been injured a few times himself, and I'm cutting Rico Dowdle. I know that we hear that he might be the starter, or Royce Freeman might be the number two. Jerry Jones is still there, right? He didn't sell the team. Ezekiel Elliott's going to be the starting running back, because Jerry Jones loves him. That might be

the case, but he's also 100 years old, so I'm going to actually start Rico Dowdle, because I think he'll be the best running back there for the Cowboys. I'm actually going to bench Blake Corum, because I do think that if there's an injury to Kyron Williams, his ceiling could be amazing. And I am a little concerned about the first preseason game, but those two guys have gone back to back for me in terms of Corum and Benson, but I'm going to cut Benson right now. Yes, if there's an injury to James Conner, Benson's numbers could pop, but it could be Michael Carter. It could be Amari DiMercato. We don't know which direction

the Cardinals might go. Blake Corum seems firmly entrenched by getting the non-preseason performance from Sean McVay. You sit in the preseason, that's good in McVay's eyes. And I think Corum's role is pretty locked up right now. All right, last one we'll do for start bench cut. We got trio of wide receivers here that are old. Cooper Cup, 31. Devontae Adams, 31. Mike Evans, 31.

They're starting to all go in a similar range in terms of these older wide receivers. So Cup, Adams, Evans, Heath, what's your order here? Start bench cut. I'm going to start Mike Evans. He's the only one of these older wide receivers that last year didn't show us any signs at all of that age. In fact, by some measures had one of the best years of his recent career. I'm going to bench Cooper Cup because he did have the hamstring injury last year, but when he was healthy, he was still getting a lot of targets, and Pukunuku is currently hurt. I'm actually going to cut Devontae Adams. He stayed healthy last year but saw his production absolutely plummet.

I'm not sure it's his fault, but look at his quarterbacks this year. Look what his head coach, we know, wants to do. And they added Brock Bowers. I'm very concerned about Devontae Adams. I'm actually going to start. I'm going to flip-flop Mike Evans and Cooper Cupp. So I'll start Cooper Cupp because of the targets, because of the chemistry between him and Matthew Stafford.

And he's healthy. He's gone through training camp. So I'm going to start Cooper Cupp. I'll put Mike Evans on the bench. I agree with you slightly as far as him not really showing any sign of slowing down. But he dropped a lot of passes last season. Very uncharacteristically. Maybe that is a sign of a little bit of aging from Mike Evans.

So I'm a little bit concerned. And I got to cut Devontae Adams because he doesn't have a quarterback. Simple as that. It's interesting because I think most people when they draft as you saw they're taking mike evans excuse me they're taking davante adams first i'm gonna agree with robert i'm gonna go cooper cup as the starter i'm actually gonna put davante adams on the bench because i still think he's got a little bit more to show than what mike evans even though he was great last year i always like to get out before the train goes off the tracks and i think this could be the year for mike evans

where we start to see a little bit of a decline, especially with Chris Godwin back in the slot, the emergence of Jalen McMillan, who they seem to love as their third receiver gonna play on the outside. I think we can see the targets a little bit down for Mike Evans. So Adams will be on the bench

and Cooper Cupp will be in the starting lineup. All right, we're gonna take a break right now. When we come back and take a look at some preseason storylines that we're looking forward to for week number two. Remember, it starts tonight with the Eagles and the Patriots, but a big slate of games that could impact your fantasy drafts. We'll talk about that next here

on FFT. Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today, presented by BetMGM. So preseason week number two kicks off tonight with the Eagles and the Patriots. A few storylines that we're looking forward to seeing if they get some more answers on can we trust certain players or finding out about some depth charts. So Heath, I'll start with you. You got Jaden Daniels coming off a strong game last week. You got Caleb Williams coming off a debut that everybody was raving about against the Bills. What do you need to see from these two guys to solidify them as must-start number one fantasy quarterbacks this year?

Stay healthy, please. Please don't get hit. I want to see that Jaden Daniels can slide maybe if he's going to run the ball and not run into the end zone. No, in all seriousness, if Caleb Williams shows us anything close to what he did throwing on the run last week and his decision making, he's going to be there. Jaden Daniels, it'd be nice to see just a few more pass attempts. There was a nice throw on the downfield throw to De'Ame Brown, but you just want to see him do it over and over.

I don't think I'm going to get to a point where I view these guys as must starts week one, but they can solidify themselves as top 10 because of upside this week. And we both have Daniels and Williams ranked as number one quarterbacks this year. You can buy into hopefully them looking like they did in the preseason, but clearly for more action and over the course of a full year. Robert, we got some ambiguous backfields as we like to talk about them in Tennessee, in Cincinnati, in Washington. For the Titans last week, it was Pollard looking better than Spears.

Spears scored the touchdown. For the Bengals, it was Chase Brown doing everything because Zach Moss was out with the injury. And then for Washington, it was sort of a split, but Bryan Robinson looking better than Spears. Spears scored the touchdown. For the Bengals, it was Chase Brown doing everything because Zach Moss was out with the injury. And then for Washington, it was sort of a split, but Bryan Robinson looking better than Austin Eckler. Is there anything you're going to see in Week 2 that may change your mind over who the favorite is in those respective backfields for you?

If you could list those guys, that'd be great because I think fantasy managers want to know what you think about who could be the best running backs on those teams. Yeah, you know, I think it's going to be more of the same. Heading into Week 2, I think you're going to see Washington, Brian Robinson Jr. to continue to play at a high level and solidify himself, you know, as a number one RB in Washington. It's not a knock on Austin Eckler. I think he'll still be productive. But Brian Robinson Jr. I think will end up being the starter. More of the same in Tennessee. Tony Pollard is a guy who's polished in this league,

and I think he'll solidify himself as the marquee running back, all right, in Tennessee. Now, in Cincinnati, I think that's where you may see a slight change. I think once Cincinnati decides to play Zach Moss, all right, you'll see him sort of be the number one guy in that offense. Chase Brown will get his opportunities, but I don't think it's going to be this 1A, 1B type backfield that most people are predicting. Maybe it will be. I could be wrong. But I think Zach Moss is going to get the lion's share of opportunities in the backfield this season for the Bengals.

All right, so we'll see if we get Zach Moss on the field and how the Bengals use these two guys, first and second down, third down option from maybe one of the two guys, and maybe if they get near the goal line, we could see who's getting those touchdown opportunities. All right, we're gonna take a break here real quick. When we come back, we're gonna get to your tweets.

So again, send them to us on Twitter using the hashtag AskFFT. We'll answer a couple of them before we wrap up the show here on Fantasy Football Today. Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM. Got time for a couple questions here. I know DSTs and kickers suck, blah, blah, blah. What are some of your outstanding picks for this year?

Heath, give me your favorite kicker, your favorite DST that's not obvious. At value, Kaimi Fairbair. He had a big injury last year, but he was actually on a per-game basis a top-five kicker, so he's a great value. And on defense, oh, man. The Seahawks start off as really good streamers at the start of the year. Last question we got here is from... Nope. We'll wrap it up.

Thanks to Robert Turbin, Zex Teeth Cummings. Check out our Fantasy Football Today podcast. You can find it wherever podcasts are available. And check us out on YouTube as well. We'll help you dominate your fantasy leagues.