Fantasy Football Today - RB Prospects with Emory Hunt; Mailbag! (04/15 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: April 15, 2021

Emory Hunt is back to talk more about the NFL Draft. This time we're looking at RBs, which is just perfect for Emory as he played the position at the University of Louisiana. Let's start with Najee Harris (3:25)! How good is he and where is the ideal destination for Harris? We'll then talk about why Emory is so high on UNC's Michael Carter but not as high on his teammate Javonte Williams (7:35). And as we evaluate this RB class, is there an elite prospect within it (14:00)? ... Travis Etienne (17:35), Pooka Williams (18:50), how much height and weight matter for RBs (21:00), more potential NFL RB starters in this draft (25:05) and a look at the 2020 RBs as they enter their second NFL seasons (32:30). Is Cam Akers even the best RB in his own backfield? ... News and notes (40:00) as we rave about the Browns defense and wonder about the Steelers backfield ... Your Apple Podcast questions (44:40) and emails at [e-mail] 'Fantasy Football Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCviK78rIWXhZdFzJ1Woi7Fg/videos 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. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. On his way to the end zone. I'll tell you what, that was a spectacular play. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. What a play. Off to the races.

Touchdown. Oh, he's done it again. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Ben. In five of the past six seasons, we have had at least one rookie running back finish top six in PPR. We love rookie running backs. It's a great opportunity for fantasy stardom.

We're going to talk about the NFL draft running back prospects right now with Emery Hunt, who used to play running back. How about that at the University of Louisiana? You've been hearing him on FFT in five. He joined us last week to talk quarterbacks here on this show. Welcome back, Emery.

What's going on? I'm cool, man. I'm glad to be back here talking the best position in football, most important position in football, the running back position. I don't know. I heard that it's pretty much interchangeable and it doesn't really matter

who the running back is. It's all about the offensive line and the opportunity, right? You could just throw anyone back there. Stop buying from Acme, man. Look, before we get into the prospects, I have a hypothetical fantasy question for you, if you don't mind, okay? Two-part question.

Let's say you shared a team with a friend and your friend went and made roster ads, added players without telling you. Didn't drop anyone, just added players without telling you. How would you feel about that? Do I trust that friend's ability to evaluate talent? Because if so, then

yeah, make moves. I trust you're going to put us in the right position to win. But if I don't, man, what the hell are you doing? Why are you making these moves and changes? Don't no, don't ever trust the roster ever again. Well, if you don't trust the friend, then why are you sharing a team with the friend in the first place? Because we might be talking about the same friend, Adam, I'm just saying in a hypothetical, and I happen to share a team with the same friend and I give him carte blanche to make moves. I trust him completely. Right. But then the second part of the question is,

what if one of the players you added became one of the, you know, one of the best, became a superstar through a no-hitter, let's just say, something like that. Like, would you then be thankful? Because you gave this friend a lot of crap for picking him up, but then he just went through a no-hitter.

I just want to... No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Nobody gave you crap. Here we go. Here we go. Nobody gave you crap for picking him up. I don't know. I thought you did. I just want to... No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Nobody gave you crap. Here we go. Here we go. Nobody gave you crap for picking him up. I don't know.

I thought you did. I thought you kind of did. He called me out on Twitter. I don't know. No, no, no. I gave you crap for doing it without discussing it.

And then what happened this week? Well, he threw a no-hitter. No, no, no. Roster management. What happened? I don't remember. I told you to pick up

a catcher. Uh-huh. You said, eh, I don't know. Bl blah, blah, blah, wah, wah, wah. Catcher that we started went on the injured list. I picked up a guy that has the most runs in baseball. All right, good job. I was happy for you. I was very proud of you.

Well, this is a day of the life of sharing a team with Jamie Eisenberg, who is also on the show today. We welcome Jamie. You heard Dave. All right, let's get into these running backs here. That's what people want to hear about. Hold on, wait a minute, Adam. Hold on.

You were the one picking up players without telling and talking it over with Jamie? Yeah. And changed our team name. Yeah, and changed it. What are you doing? See, that's crossing a line. I don't know if I like that at all.

A visual line stepper right there, man. I agree with that one. That one, I agree. I should have done that. I. A virtual line stepper right there, man. I agree with that one. That one I agree. I should have done that. I should have done that. All right, but let's talk about these running back prospects here. You have Najee Harris, number one.

You have Michael Carter, number two, and Travis Etienne, number three. It is surprising to see Michael Carter of only 5'7". People worry about his size, but we'll get to him in a second. Let's talk about Najee Harris and talk about this running back class as a

whole. You've got Harris. Number one, how good is he? How good is the running back class as a whole? You know, I think Najee Harris is really good. And, and, you know, I've gone the full gambit on prospect comps for Najee Harris. So I don't care if you want to use Matt Forte, Deuce McAllister, Steven Jackson, all of those are terrific backs that had really good careers in the NFL. And when you go back and watch Najee Harris in high school, you don't see much different from what he is currently at Alabama, what he was at Alabama.

So this guy has been ready to go from day one. He got the full opportunity to really showcase his skills as his time went on. So he's a terrific backup plug and play guy that should be a starter as a rookie. And he'll get over a thousand yards in my opinion. What do you think is his best fit? Ideally suited Miami or Pittsburgh would be the best place for him. And also I know this may not be a popular, popular, uh, place, but Washington would be a good fit too. I think what they have in Antonio Gibson is more of a complimentary guy.

They need a foundational back. Harris can be that foundational back in my opinion. Oh, I'd love to see him in Pittsburgh. I think he'd get a good workload there. I'm a little concerned about the offensive line being able to help him out, but I see what you see. And my overall opinion of the running back class is that there isn't a perfect guy in it. There isn't an Ezekiel Elliott or a Saquon Barkley, but the guy that's closest to it is Harris, who, I, I feel like Emer, you can tell me if you disagree. I feel like he's a little impatient sometimes when he runs, I think his past protection needs a little bit of work, but otherwise what you said, man, like he's, he was one of the top prospects coming out of high school, went to Alabama, waited his turn and was making plays years ago, much less

last year. No, I agree. I think when there are some times for me too, when I feel like he's making one too many moves, um, he can kind of get enamored with making a move or kind of like how Le'Veon Bell, which is another comp that you can give to a guy like Najee Harris, uh, kind of how Le'Veon Bell can be at times where he's making one too many moves and ends up getting himself tackled. But, I mean, you love the completeness of his game. Again, he just fits right in like a glove. You can even toss the Jets out there, too.

I think they need a foundational back also. Let me ask you one more question about Harris here because you've thrown out a lot of comps. And one was you just talked about Le'Veon Bell. You also mentioned Matt Forte. I'm not sure that's the image that people have in their heads when they think about Najee Harris he's 230 pounds he's six foot two but he is pretty versatile right I mean he could he can catch the ball as well uh so is he is he I don't know you you mentioned Matt Forte is that that the kind of style you see, or is he more of a bruiser? What do you think?

I think he's smooth like Forte. Forte was 220 at 6'2", had good footwork, had the ability to make guys miss. He always had that outstanding dead leg to where he was going to set up that first defender and make that guy look foolish. And I think when you look at someone like Harris, and I'm glad you brought up his receiving, because when I look at running backs and how they catch the football, I kind of ignore the standard meets expectation type plays like your swing screens, players, flats. I expect you to do that. That's the position. So when I talk about a guy's ability to be a receiver, I'm talking about down the field. And we saw that on display this year, especially against Florida. They lined them up in the slot. They lined them up up out wide let them run routes so he can run routes very well uh he's comfortable catching ball away from his body so again he is the the perfect back

for today's game he doesn't need volume to be successful he can be an outstanding threat in the passing game you don't have to take him off the field so yeah he's a plug and play guy all day Emory we're not allowed to talk about bad Florida games. You're not allowed to talk about that. It was a pretty good game, Jamie. It was a shootout. Harris had, what, five touchdowns in that game against... Shut up.

Right? Let's talk about the Carolina running backs against Miami. Oh my gosh. They ran for like 600 yards, those two. And actually, it's a good segue because most people have Javante Williams ahead of Michael Carter. And a lot of people have Javante Williams. I mean, I saw Javante Williams number one in one prospect ranking. I don't remember where.

I'm sorry. But you got him 10th. And you have Michael Carter second. And they're teammates. I think it was Manny Diaz's ranking. Oh, boy. That's a good one. That was pretty good.

I have a joke that I'm going to sling at Jamie. You know, I got to do it right now. Jamie, we got to get you a piece of pizza. Look at you. You got the Yankees hat on. You got a New York shirt on. You want to try to move or something? You got to come up north?

You got a big game today, buddy. Yankees-Cubs. All right. All right. You go Yankees. Cubs beat us last time. Let's go. Anyway, yes, Manny Diaz has nightmares about these UNC running backs.

But why Michael Carter second overall? And why Javante Williams 10th? When you watch Carter play, you watch how fluid his movements are. And for Carter, the biggest thing for me when I watch him and also just when you judge the position, can you score? Can you make the guy miss? And when you think about what he does really well, if the game is to not get tackled,

he wins that every time this guy has tremendous footwork. His vision is where it needs to be. He's always picking the right spots and he's able to run inside. He's able to run outside. You see him avoid contact in confined spaces, juxtaposed to his teammate who thinks everyone is the tape at the finish line trying to run through him. That's fine and dandy, but in the NFL, there are no 18- and 19-year-olds.

You can't just run through everybody. You're going to have to make guys miss because you want to be able to last for a full 16-game season. So these guys that you're going to go up against in the NFL are not afraid of you. You lower your shoulder, you better be able to bring it consistently against these backers and safeties that are just as strong as you are. So I don't like his inability to make guys miss consistently. He's a very good runner because he has good power, has good burst. But I think Carter, to me, is that as well. He has good functional power, good agility, good strength,

good ball skills, has the ability to be a downfield threat as a receiver. So I just think he has more complete game than his teammate Williams. Emery, don't you think we're going to end up seeing, because there's obviously a chance of Harris being a first round pick, maybe Travis Etienne, just based on some of the mock drafts that you're seeing, that when you get to a guy like Michael Carter, maybe, you know, Trey Sermon or some of these guys that are in that next tier, that this is where some NFL teams are going to get such a winning player, you know, especially if teams value Carter as much as you do.

Absolutely. You saw it play out with the Rams and Daryl Henderson going in the third round. You know, that's a guy had a pretty high grade on. He goes in the third round and was everything that he wanted him to be when he's out there healthy on the field. And so I think when you look at the position and where the run on certain positions will go in the first round, we're probably going to see a run on offensive linemen. We're definitely going to see a run on quarterbacks and you're probably going to see a run on corners too. So I think those are the three strongest units in this draft, which then pushes down some receivers. It definitely pushes down the running back position. And so, yeah, you're going to find guys in a second, a third round, fourth round, that's going

to be tremendous talent. And I always find it funny when people say, well, you don't take a running back in the first round. You can find these guys anywhere. But every year in redrafts, they always bring up, oh, I'll take this guy in the first, that guy in the first. You see like eight running backs going in the first round. So people just love to hear themselves speak in that regard. But yeah, the draft is only seven rounds long. So obviously they're going to be great players

all throughout the rounds. And yeah, you can't take everybody in the first round. But yeah, to your point, there will be some good backs had on late day two and early day three. But this one sounds like your favorite. Michael Carter, he was outstanding. And it's funny because when you're watching, like when I watch defensive players and prospects in preparation for the draft, you always want to go to their best game, the best possible matchup. And I always find myself choosing North Carolina because of the receivers or

because of the running backs. And this goes back to 2018 because some players didn't play this year. So you want to get a good gauge on what they can do. So you go find 2018 film, 2019 film. And every game I watch number eight made some sort of play. It just made you say, and this dude is just ridiculous. Even though you're watching a defensive player. So he was consistent his years at,

at North Carolina. He was outstanding at the senior bowl. So he has been the most consistent player. And another one of these guys that doesn't need volume to be successful. Okay. But Emery, how close to a complete running back is Michael Carter in your opinion? And can I follow up just to add on to that?

Do you think an NFL team will use him enough or because of his size, is he going to be more of a third down back? Well, to both you guys point, I think when you talk about complete running back, you're talking about someone that can help you score, that can help you grind out the clock, that can help you stay on the plus side of the stick. So yeah, in that terms, that's Michael Carter. And also when you think about the backs that teams not drafting or drafting and not using guys, well, that's the risk you run, you know, with certain coaches. That's why the better ones tend to understand what guys do well, and they put guys in position to be successful. And I've always said this, I'm so glad, you know, Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, Warwick Dunn

played when they played because if they played now, they'd try to make these guys third down backs and get them out in space and have them run routes where you kind of know this guy's getting the football. Like C.J. Spiller. Had C.J. Spiller. Had C.J. Spiller played in the late 90s, early 2000s, he would have been utilized how he was utilized at Clemson as opposed to a gadget guy. And so you hate to see that because some coaches get enamored with their plays and not players. So you run the risk of depending on, okay, where does this guy go?

Okay, he's going to be utilized like a gadget guy as opposed to being utilized like he was in college. Freaking love CJ Spiller. Oh man, did I love CJ Spiller. It's going to work out. And you'll probably love Travis Etienne. Yeah, okay, so I want to get to Etienne, but I did have to ask this overall question that I just kind of neglected.

But this running back class, we may not see anybody drafted in the first round. There's a wide range of where Harris, maybe ETN could go. How would you compare it to last year? And do you think that Harris as your favorite is in the Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott? Those are two names that Dave said earlier, those kind of considered elite prospects. Do you think he's in that group? And just overall, how good is this class? I think the class is solid. So, you know, this is probably the group of guys that you can find very good RB2s on your football team.

So guys that you want to run sidecar with someone else because that's the nature of where the position has transitioned. So if I'm looking at it in a vacuum, I don't think Najee Harris is of that same caliber as Ezekiel Elliott or Saquon Barkley because both of those guys had legit home run speed. So their athletic testing and traits were different. Now, you look at where he, that's why I throw out the Matt Forte, the Steven Jackson, Deuce McAllister, all those guys were terrific, but they were also later first round picks. So I think that's a good spot. And I know Forte went in the top of the second, but that's where I see a guy like Harris, where he would go in a regular, let's say a running back heavy draft, I still think he'd be more along the lines of someone you take in the mid to late parts of the first round, as opposed to, you know, getting the Adrian Peterson, the Barkley or Ezekiel Elliott guys that have that

legit home run hitting speed that you would take earlier in the draft. That's basically what the class was last year too. I mean, you know, if you're just looking at it, how those guys were selected, you know, with Clyde Edwards-Hilaire going at the end of the first and then you know the three guys that went there four guys that went in the second round uh you know you saw that kind of play itself out so it sounds similar to at least based on what your expectations are yeah because what you want to do is I think you know and I'm always skewed you know with this thought process uh is you know when you're thinking of first round, you're thinking of impact players, guys that are at their, you know, their floor is like legitimately touching the ceiling, like they are ready to go.

Right. And so I always use 1989 as a, as a reference point, you know, you're talking about the top five picks with like Sanders and Aikman and Barry Sanders and Deion Sanders, Derek Tyler, like those guys, to me, that's first round picks. So when you think in terms of guys that you would take in the first round, you're thinking of for sure they won impact pro bowler type players as rookies. You know, you don't think in terms of development. I think we kind of transitioned away from that. And so you're seeing guys that probably are glorified third round picks at any position going in the first round because of the fifth year option and they they see the progress but these coaches don't have that luxury for the most part of waiting for a guy to be good they need

those first round picks to hit now you can wait and develop on these other picks but you better have guys that are ready to go from day one if you're taking them in the first round especially within the top 15 why are you leaving tony mandurich out come on or even right who else uh we were i just i was on the show while somebody asked about my favorite draft bus or biggest and i was like man how can we forget about uh you know danny watkins or d milner you know those guys like man he really just flamed out you know watkins that wanted to be a fireman. I was looking at the 89 class and it's Aikman, Space, Sanders, Thomas, Sanders, and the Space is Tony Mandurk.

Did not even know that name. Learning a lot today. Alright, Travis Etienne. Dave compared him to CJ Spiller. We hear a lot about his home run potential. He's a big play guy. What kind of player do you think Travis Etienne is? He is your number three running back prospect.

Well, Dave hit the nail on the head. He's a big play guy. And as a running back, you want guys that can ring that cash register up pretty quickly. That's Etienne all day long. And when you think about why he went back to school, outside of the fact that he probably just loves college, and we all have that moment where we really love college, but he wanted to work on his receiving skill. And they were utilizing him more so in the passing game, the downfield passing game. So he was able to round out his game. But the one element you have when you're drafting him and why you're drafting him is because he has a home run hitting speed that can really go from anywhere on a football field when you have a back that's capable of doing that that's just as good as a deep pass

you know from a quarterback to receiver you just turn around and hand the ball to a guy he can run 80 yards and you know get the scores and score quickly so that's what you want in etienne i think that's what you're getting and that's that's why for him another guy i would take in the first round because of that element. You don't see guys with that level of burst and explosiveness in rounds three and four. Those are the type of guys you tend to take early in a draft. And then right after that is a really interesting guy, Puka Williams. He's 5'10".

He's 170 pounds, whereas Michael Carter's 5'7", but 205 pounds. And yeah, you're really high on him. Now, CBS has him 18th at running back as Puka Williams. I saw him, just looked at a few other places today. Athlon Sports had him 7th. A writer for NBC Sports, Thor Nystrom, I hope I'm saying that right, had him 16th. These were all in early March. These were done.

And Sports Illustrated had Puka Williams 21st. You've got him fourth. You love him, huh? So tell us why you're excited about Puka Williams out of Kansas. He has a lot of the same traits as Michael Carter. He has great vision, and he was the lead dog at Kansas. And, you know, when they knew you were getting the football because Kansas didn't really have too many threats,

that's why you love Puka Williams. And, you know, when they knew you were getting the football because Kansas didn't really have too many threats. That's why you love Puka Williams and also kept Khalil Herbert, you know, running sidecar to him. You know, Herbert had to transfer, you know, to go to Virginia Tech to get some carries. Why? Because Puka Williams was there and you have to feed the ball to Puka Williams. People look at his weight and wonder if he can handle the load. But this is the guy that ran inside a lot at Kansas. He also has the ability to make you miss. He has home run hitting speed.

He's a downfield threat in the passing game. Some people see the size and want to say, oh, make him a slot receiver. No, you keep him in the backfield because you don't want to lose that matchup capability as a running back because if you make him a slot receiver, now he's going to have to beat cornerbacks as opposed to beating linebackers. So you keep him at tailback, you keep him in the backfield, and you keep that matchup advantage on a defense.

And when you watch all of his highlights and you watch all the big plays he's making in a running game, in a passing game, as a returner, it makes it even better or even more dynamic when you realize he's not playing with toes on one of his feet. And so when you factor that in, the only reason why the coach found out about that in high school because he saw him stuffing socks in one of his cleats and asked him why is he doing that, and he told him, and it just makes everything he does

even more spectacular because of that element of this game. That's interesting. And I think we're starting to catch on that emory likes slippery running backs not that naja harris is necessarily super slippery but carter is etn is and puka williams when you watch him you just see him just get out of jams all the time he's got really good feet to do that but the size is the issue with him size is one thing that I always feel as though you can gain weight. We just watch Warwick Dunn rush forward 10,000 yards at 173 pounds, you know, in an era where everybody was big. So I just think that we put too much emphasis on size

because people equate size with getting injured. But if that was the case, then Brandon Jacobs would have been the most indestructible running back in football history. He was like 270, but he was always nicked up. But you can't hurt what you can't catch. You can't hit what you can't touch. And that's Puka Williams. That's Michael Carter.

Those are those guys. If you're slippery, we love Barry Sanders. He was 5'7", 203, but you couldn't touch him. So his size didn't matter because you couldn't get a good shot on him. Just suppose someone like Eddie George, who was 6'3", 230, and he took every shot. And so I think you have to really look at how the guy plays at his weight. And if elusiveness is a part of your game, that's why we like Matt Forte. That's why we like Najee Harris.

You can be a big back and have some sweet feet. Chuck Foreman to throw an old school guy out there from Minnesota, wore that big number 44. It was very elusive. So if you have the ability to make guys miss and not take clean shots, and this is something that Jerome Bettis talked about when he went from the Rams to the Steelers. He realized that he just can't keep running over everybody like he did at Notre Dame and like he did his rookie season with the Rams. So he had to add a little bit of wiggle. Now you don't have to go and try to be Barry Sanders, but you can't take direct shots. That's why someone like a Tariq Cohen, I like more so than a Jordan Howard. Howard constantly wanted to take on contact. Cohen does a good job of making guys miss and that's where you see why those guys I value more

because it's all about you know uh availability and your ability to you know not take those direct shots because they add up trust me um those are things you don't want to have as a running back especially at that level where everyone is the strongest guy you ever run across and that's why you've got Javante Williams at 10 because that's somebody who tends to run to contact a little bit more than, uh, than try and be an escape artist, like somebody like Michael Carter in the same backfield. And if you're going to take on contact, you have to be a little bit more judicious than when you're doing so same with quarterbacks. Uh, so that's why Vince young didn't get hurt. That's why someone like a smaller guy, like, uh, uh, Russell Wilson, who's shorter, didn't get hurt you know but

you look at a zach wilson who ran reckless you look at carson wentz who ran reckless you look at vic who ran reckless um you have to be able to make guys miss now if it's a short yardage situation or a goal-to-goal situation the pylon is right there or a need to get the first situation that's when you want to lower your shoulder and try to get that first down. But you can't take hits consistently. Yeah, and it's interesting you said, what did you say? You can't catch? You can't hit what you can't catch or something like that? Yeah, you can't hit what you can't catch.

You can't hurt what you can't touch. Yeah, that's how I feel when I see Jamie at some point and he's mad at me about fantasy baseball. I'm just going to have to outrun him. I think, you know, that's probably my best bet. How many? How many? So who has...

Oh, and by the way, I want to say, it's important to note, these are not fantasy rankings, right? I mean, you're talking about how good of a player these guys are, how versatile they are, how much they can help these teams win.

We have to see where they land. We don't know how many carries. Like, you know, Jordan Howard versus Tariq Cohen. We might sit here and say Tariq Cohen is a better player, but Jordan Howard could get all the touchdowns. This is obviously in a world where he's on the Bears. He could get all the touchdowns, and even if he's not as good as Tariq Cohen,

he might be a better fantasy option. So these are not fantasy rankings. I want everybody to realize that. These are prospect rankings for Emory here, and just keep that in mind, and we'll see where these guys end up and what kind of roles are going to have. So we've talked about Harris, Carter, ETN, Puka Williams. We talked about number 10, Javante Williams.

There are a lot of players in between. Anyone else you really want to highlight? How many of them have potential? I shouldn't say star potential, but starter potential. OK, somebody that we can rely on. You know, Jamar Jefferson out of Oregon State, another guy that I was surprised, you know, coming out of high school, chose Oregon State because they don't normally get that caliber of prospect. And he was terrific in high school and was outstanding as a freshman

for Oregon State. And he reminds me a lot of Kareem Hunt, you know, a guy that has tremendous athleticism in conjunction with his vision. Because, you know, a guy that has tremendous athleticism in conjunction with his vision, because, you know, from our perspective, we're watching the guy run and we're, you know, at an all 22 bird's eye view level. And we see the, we see the cutback lane and what's interesting about him, he sees it and you're thinking like, there's no way he can get to that backside cut, but just like Kareem Hunt does, I don't know how they do it. They're able to find a way to get to that backside cut when it looks like there's no way to get there. So he has good vision.

He's a one-cut downhill runner, has good acceleration. His re-acceleration is impressive. You go back and watch the game against Oregon this year where they upset the Ducks. And he had, I think the second play of the game, had an 80-yard touchdown run and didn't follow that up with another big 70-yard touchdown run or big runs all throughout that game. So he's another one of these guys that's a chunk playmaker that's going to be a better pro than he was in college.

And I think he's one of those sleepers that you'd like to talk about from a Power 5 program. Okay. You guys, any other questions from you two because i'd like to ask emory about the 2020 running back class as well as they enter their second nfl seasons jamie dave one guy that i've liked that isn't even on your list is remandre stevenson i'm guessing that's because he's the polar opposite of michael carter and travis etn and puka williams and that he's not necessarily a make-you-miss guy.

But I like his feet, and he's a big dude. But I think he can move a little bit, especially for a guy his size. I'm curious why he's not on your list. Oh, he's on my list. I have him right now as my 21st running back. Okay, so technically he's on the list, but he's not even a top-20 guy.

For me, I like his tape. know i i know somewhere uh you know spike dykes is probably smiling like man i wish i had mandre stevenson because he's like bam morris he's like all these big backs that he had the throwback old school type exactly you know he's more i compared this game to honestly to uh deontay foreman um you know Big back, he has better feet than Foreman, I believe. Foreman probably has better long speed, but I thought Stevenson ran well last year in 2019 in limited opportunities and ran better this year, but the taking on contact part and just not really being anyone that can help you in the passing game, so to speak. And so because of all those reasons, I think he's best served as, you know, a complimentary guy to whoever the number one

back is. He could be your short yardage goal line. He could be your four minute offense back, which is when you're trying to close out the game. And so I think that's where he's best suited to play. And that's how you help maximize his opportunities out there on the field, because you don't want these big backs nowadays that don't have the ability to make guys miss or be threats in the passing game because they tend to wear themselves down with how they run the football so put him in the same backfield as michael carter make michael carter your 1a right right you pair you pair him up with a guy like that or a guy like puka williams or even a chubabard, you want to have an Oklahoma-Oklahoma state backfield, you pair two guys up to have contrast

and skill set, and that kind of gets you to maximize the position as opposed to one player. Heath likes Trey Sermon. By the way, happy birthday, Heath. Happy birthday. What do you think about Sermon? Because obviously he's a bigger back, and obviously looked great at times at

Ohio State. How do you think he translates the NFL with his game? As feet like amply, and you talk about somebody that has footwork that's ridiculous. And I think he does a good job in, you know, picking and sliding his way around the line of scrimmage through traffic. And, you know, it helps him out in really picking up yards and chunks. And, you know,

he's more like your 25 to 30 yardyard burst as opposed to your 80-yard touchdown run. But in the NFL, 20 to 25-yard burst is still very good. So I compared him mostly to TJ Yeldon. I see him as a guy that has good vision, good footwork, can run behind his pads well. He's a solid receiver. And I see him more along the lines of being a complimentary guy. When you pair him up with someone that can be that down-and-down game-breaker, you kind of want him to run a little bit more with authority. I think he doesn't do

that as much. We saw a little bit of that against Clemson in the playoffs, but you want to see him kind of string that all together and be consistent in that regard. But in a running back by committee type situation, I think that's where he's best suited to play as a pro. It feels like everybody in this class, except for Harris, is maybe best off in a running back by committee situation. Maybe Javante for some people. They would say otherwise. Etienne, same thing. Very last question I've gotten. You can give a short answer by committee situation. Maybe Javante for some people, they would say otherwise,

ETN, same thing. Very last question I've gotten, you can give a short answer on this one because it's me picking your brain as a former running back. One thing I see with Sermon is that I feel like he runs tall. How easy is that to change

on a running back? Or is that just a habit that running backs have and push comes to shove in the game, they're going to run tall and not keep that pad level low? No, that just a habit that running backs have? And, you know, push comes to shove in the game. They're going to run tall and not keep that pad level low. No, that's a good observation because, you know, me as five, nine and a half, you know, I don't have to worry about running high, right? And for these taller guys, it can't be a challenge.

This is a natural running lean thing. But we all remember, you know, I don't know if Adam remembers. He, you know, I don't know if Adam remembers. He's like 19. We all remember someone like Harvey Williams running through the line of scrimmage with tall with the wristband around his neck, the headband around his neck with the Chiefs and Raiders. But for some guys, it's just a natural feel for how they run. Now, you can still run tall, but, you know, get skinny or get short when you have to. Marcus Allen was really good at that.

You know, Marcus Allen was another taller back that, you know, kind of had an upright style, but got low when he needed to and was able to change direction as a result. Usually when backs are that tall, if they don't learn it by the time they get into high school, it's going to be tough to make that adjustment, you know, because you really see taller backs have issues with changing directions. And the good ones, the great ones like your Fred Taylor's, your Deuce McAllister's, your OJ Simpson's, your Eddie George's, those guys are able to really, you know, lower their pad level, you know, about an inch or two, just enough to where they can shift their weight left to right, change direction. But if you're a guy that never made that adjustment earlier in your running career, it's going to be hard for you to do at the pro level. All right. I want to get your thoughts, if you don't mind, on last year's draft class. I'll give you a running back and just tell

me kind of what you think about these guys right now going into their second seasons. Give me maybe 20, 30 seconds on each guy and then we can react. All right, here we go. So these are all going to be picked in the first 50 picks in fantasy drafts. Jonathan Taylor. Jonathan Taylor. Let's start with him. I think he's going to be a great foundational back, man. He's ideally what you want in today's game.

Game breaker, but also can help you out in the passing game and a guy that doesn't get tired. James Robinson. It's going to be tough. It's going to be interesting to see what a guy like Urban Meyer wants to do with that position. He may like a committee approach and he may pair Robinson up with a speedier back just to maximize the run game portion of his offense. Cam Akers.

Same situation with Darrell Henderson. You got to figure out what Sean McVay is going to feel like on any given Sunday. Today, he may feel like Henderson. Tomorrow, he may feel like Akers. Same situation with Darrell Henderson. You got to figure out what Sean McVay is going to feel like on any given Sunday. Today, he may feel like Henderson. Tomorrow, he may feel like Akers. So I would probably lean toward both guys being a factor, especially now when you have Matthew Stafford. But they got Stafford, so it may be a situation where they want to make it seem like they made the right choice with Stafford. So you may see both backs suffer. Do you not think that Akers is that foundational piece that you said about Taylor? What you said about Taylor? No, I think Akers, I think

Henderson still is the better back, but Henderson can't stay on the field. And so therefore by default, it make Akers a more reliable option in fantasy. I wonder if it's Henderson making more mistakes than Akers too. And that could be why Akers might have a leg up on him, at least to begin the season. And you hope that at some point those situations get ironed out because if you're looking at it from a sheer game-breaking standpoint, it's not even close. But Akers, you know, and both were selected where they were selected,

so I think Akers, because of his continuity and because of what you talked about, maybe he understands the assignment a little bit better. They trust him out there. So we'll see if that changes with Matt Stafford. They may try to make this thing the Stafford offense as opposed to the Akers Henderson offense. How about DeAndre Swift? Love him. Love the fit. Love the ability to make guys miss.

I think he's primed for a 1,200-yard season because he's in the offense. You love Dan Campbell. You love Anthony Lynn. That's a running back and a tight end on that coaching staff. They're going to run the football, and Swift is going to be a direct beneficiary of it. You talked a little bit about Antonio Gibson. Let's go through that one again. Antonio Gibson. I think Gibson plays the position like a wide receiver playing running back.

I don't think his vision is a bit natural. He just doesn't have that same type of footwork that you want at the position. When the hole is there and he's able just to run on the costed, that's fine. But when he has to create, I don't think he's there yet. Despite him being 6'2", 220, I just think they need someone to pair up with him to help take some of the pressure off. Clyde Edwards-Elair, first running back selected last year. Big the pressure off. Clyde Edwards-Elair, first running back selected last year, big-time fantasy bust. Clyde Edwards-Elair.

I think we'll see a better year from him. Again, he got injured in that game where he missed some time. And I just think that trying to figure out how they want to play offense, sometimes you go in with a plan, but then you realize we got Pat Mahomes and we got all these weapons at receiver. Let's utilize that in the running game becomes an afterthought. I think we'll see a bounce back here. I think he'll get to that thousand yard mark at about five yards of carry. I just want him to score short yardage touchdowns. That's all I want. The shorter backs are best suited for these short yardage goal line situations because you can't see them.

You know, it makes a tougher target. And I think, you know, we saw Barry Sanders get a lot of touchdowns stripped away from him because he threw Gerald Moore in there on the goal line. But you want those guys that are shorter because by the time they figure out where they are, the extra point team is right out there on the field because they already scored. Hashtag Michael Carter. Yeah, only six short yardage goal line carries for

CEH last year, and I think five came against Houston in week one, whereas Mahomes had 10 touchdowns from inside the three. They're so creative. I mean, they get down there. It's trick plays with Kelsey. Yeah, sure. Pop passes and everything. Yeah, Tyree kill

end around. Finally, J.K. Dobbins. J.K. Dobbins. He's in a perfect offense as well. Anytime you have a running back that's paired with a mobile quarterback, that running back's yards per carry is going to be ridiculous. Think about when Warwick done play with Michael Vick. He had his best seasons playing side

card to a quarterback that can be that threat in a run game. So I think with Dobbins, you're going to see over 1,200 yards. You're going to see a very healthy five to five and a half yards to carry average for Dobbins. I think he's in line for that breakout season that we're going to see from the position. Cool. All right.

Good stuff. Emory Hunt. Thank you so much. Make sure, everybody, that you're following him on Twitter at FBallGamePlan and go to FootballGamePlan.com and listen to fantasy football today in five to hear Emory hunt. And he'll be back as we get closer and closer to the NFL draft to talk about wide receivers.

And he's Kyle Pitts, by the way, he said yesterday on a 15 and five, his highest graded tight end prospect in the 10 years he's been doing this. So that, that is my, did I say that correctly? Everything, all that information, right? Kyle Pitts number one.

I'm also a big time Marlins fan too. So I'm rooting for my Marlins, uh, always just throw baseball. Are you really? Yeah. I grew up in New Orleans. We didn't have a baseball team. Everything that we saw on TV was either Cubs, Braves and Marlins. So Marlins had the coolest uniforms and we get to see, you can watch them on TV. I was a big Marlins fan growing up. All right, go Marlins. Jamie likes them because they have Don Mattingly

who played in New York, and Jamie's all about New York today. So we'll take a break here. Thanks again to Emory Hunt. When we come back, some news and notes, your emails, and your Apple podcast questions. on what truly matters. Find their products through banks, credit unions, and associations, or visit SecurianCanada.ca.

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every morning. We don't have time to listen to the full-length show. This morning, they were talking about Carlos Rodon, talking about some injuries, the Astros situation, things like that. Jazz Chisholm and how legit he is and where he's in the ranking. He is in the ranking. Great show. Fantasy Baseball Today in 5, anywhere you listen

to podcasts. 5 to 6 minutes. Your fantasy baseball takes that you need to know. And there's a newsletter by the way. If you go to cbssports.com slash newsletters, there's a fantasy football newsletter, fantasy baseball, pick 6. Good stuff. Check those out. Say what it is, man. It's a secret weapon.

It really is. FBT and five. It's an absolute must listen if you want just quick nuggets on how to make your fantasy baseball team better. And download the CBS Sports app. We got a lot of sports going on right now. This is the best scoring app for your phone. It's also where you're going to get breaking news alerts, stories by Dave and Jamie and

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Cleveland will have a top five defense in 2021. Your thoughts? Yeah, they got the pass rush for it. There's no second battery. They're very healthy. They have a type of offense that's going to allow their defense to hopefully be in some good spots because of the way that they run the ball. So if Baker can limit turnovers, they're not going to be on short fields. So points against should be okay.

Yeah, I'm with you. I think it's going to be a really good defense for them as long as those guys stay healthy. It's hard to double-team Miles Garrett when you have Tack McKinley and Jadavion Clowney if those guys do what they do. Well, two questions. Number one, De'Dayvon Clowney, if those guys do what they do. Well, two questions. Number one, is Clowney still Clowney? Is he still the guy that he was?

I mean, when he was in Houston, he was outstanding. You tell me. When he was with Tennessee and Seattle, I think he did the difference. He's obviously not that guy. I mean, you don't get older and get better in most cases. So I don't think he's that guy. That's the reason why he was on the market so long and the reason why he had to settle for the deal he settled for.

But in a rotation, if those two guys, McKinley and Clowney, stay healthy, they're going to add to the defense too, I would assume. You look at some of the players that are being mock drafted to them. This is a really good team. If Baker can play slightly better than he did last year, this is a potential Super Bowl contender. And Odell's going to be back. Who? Odell Beckham, he'll be back. Beckham? Yeah, he did last year. This is a potential Super Bowl contender. And Odell's going to be back. Who?

Odell Beckham, he'll be back. Beckham, right? Yeah, he'll be back. Baker will be no good then. Well, yeah, I think that this, we'll have to factor in, are the pass attempts going to be even lower if the defense is great? Because I wanted to say, they also added Troy Hill and John Johnson from the Rams to

secondary components there, a safety and a cornerback. And they already had some good defensive backs to begin with, like Jamie said. Grant Elpitt's coming back, and Greedy Williams missed all of last year. Denzel Ward. Denzel Ward, he played. But yes, they could have a great secondary,

a great pass rush, and look out for Cleveland. All right, more news. Aaron Donald is being accused of assault. We'll have to keep an eye on that. The Steelers re-sign linebacker Vince Williams. This was one of four starters that they lost from their defense last year, but they are getting him back,

so that's good news. The NFL offseason will be virtual until May 17th. And Jamie, you and I did the bonus pod slash FFTN5. We talked about the James Conner situation and I never asked about the Steelers running back situation. So you want to give a quick thought right now

on where the Steelers running back situation stands? Well, I think we just got through what the potential situation should be talking to Emory. You know, I mean, you see how a lot of mock drafts are going and, you know, they're in the prime spot

to take Najah Harris if he's still there or if they want to wait and get one of the second round third round running backs they're not coming out of the draft without a running back of some sort you know so they're going to add a rookie to Benny Snell and Anthony McFarlane hopefully it's an upgrade over what McFarlane was last year which he clearly didn't have a significant role based on the rookie that they took. But if they don't, then Benny Snell is going to be in a great spot because you know what Mike Tomlin running backs have been, they get a lot of work. And so that's the case and no McFarlane should be better as well. So,

you know, now's a, now's an interesting time to maybe trade for Benny Snell just to see how things unfold for the Sims. Cause I think his center also, you know, That's a big hole for them in their offensive line, losing Pouncey, who retired. So that's the two spots I see mock drafted to Pittsburgh the most, center and running back in the first round. And so if they don't go early and they get more of a committee guy, then Benny Snell could end up being the leader of that backfield.

They only have three picks in the top 100. So I kind of struggle with all the other needs that they have i mean let's face it they need a quarterback too i i wonder if they really address running back and make that the priority i don't see them taking a quarterback though dave just because i think you know you you sort of play out the roethlisberger situation you see what you have in haskin you know so not that he's the answer now, but, you know, you didn't make the investment in the off season of a former first round pick and a relatively fresh first round pick to see if you can maybe take him through your car wash and see

what happens there. So I don't see quarterback necessarily being something that they do unless the right player lands in their lap. But like you said, the draft capital is there to help them. Right. They're still in a win now mode going into 2021. 24th pick 55th, 87th pick. Those are the first three picks for the Pittsburgh Steelers. All right, let's get to the questions from Apple Podcasts. This is from Wisdom from the Mosh Pit. Open your mind's eye to the doors of fantasy perception.

Wait, this is so trippy. Greetings, Jim, Ray, Robbie, and John. Break on through to the other side. Oh, is that what it is? Oh, this is all about the doors? Okay. The doors. Yeah, no, not a fan.

Not a fan. But don't give us a bad review because of that, please. Who are each of y'all's current flavor? current favorite player to target regardless of position for this year's draft. I've been listening to these guys for five years, and thanks to them, I've been to the playoffs four times with three trips to the championship and one title win. All right, thank you very much.

The doors are the best. All right, who's the one player that you want to pick regardless of position? David Johnson. Nuh-uh. No. No, you liar. I'm a big lying liar.

Tyler Boyd for me. Mylar Boyd. Mylar Boyd. Mylar Boyd in PPR, yes. How are you going to feel, though, when they take Jamar Chase? I think I'm going to be fine with it. I'm actually going to love it because I think that Tyler Boyd in PPR, yes. How are you going to feel, though, when they take Jamar Chase? I think I'm going to be fine with it. I'm actually going to love it because I think that Tyler Boyd's role is not going to change,

but his draft value will. He might fall an extra round, and I still think he's going to be like a 90-catch guy. I think he's going to be one of the more undervalued players, and I love it. What do you think about that? I don't disagree. I think his role should be set in stone. Yeah. Uh,

for me, it's Dallas Goddard. You know, I, I keep taking him a lot of the mock drafts that we've done so far. You know, I'm hopeful that he becomes the type of tight end that we talk about, you know,

not a dynamic receiving core, not a guy that has to worry about, um, targets being taken away from a meta position that we know needs a lot of targets for that guy to be successful. So Dallas Goddard is somebody that I have my eyes on a lot. I know I'm playing with fire when I say this, but I like Jeff Wilson. I like the role that he might be able to carve out for himself in San Francisco. I like that he's presumably the healthiest running back that they'll have. I know Mostert is a little more explosive, but Wilson can move a bit too. And he's physical. He can certainly be used in short yardage situations. I love that

offensive line and I don't have to reach for them with like a top 50 pick, like a bunch of other running backs are going to go. I can wait a little bit and maybe even draft him as my RB three. So that's kind of the guy I've got a crush on for now. We'll see if the draft brings in another running back to San Francisco. They usually do add another one. That might change my tune on Wilson. But for now, it's him. Maybe I'd have to drop the catches down a little bit for Tyler Boyd. Not sure he gets to 90.

Myler. Myler. For Myler Boyd. Maybe 80. They're going to draft Chase. You're going to change your tune and you're going to call him your Lord Boyd. No, I think it would cause Tyler Boyd's draft value as ADP to drop about a round.

I think he's around six pick now. Maybe he's around seven pick if they draft Chase. And I just think he's a steal at that point. But I don't know what his ADP is. Wouldn't you be shocked if they took Chase or Pitts? No. Really? I think they need an offensive lineman so bad,

and there's some good ones at the top of the draft. I mean, they need both. They need a tight end. They need an offensive line. They need another wide receiver. So they have their opportunity to do whatever they want to do because after the three quarterbacks go with the first three picks, we don't know what the Falcons are going to do yet

if the Falcons stay there. It's to their benefit if a team trades up to four because you know they're trading up to get a quarterback. Then they have their pick of the litter. Right now I'm seeing Tyler Boyd's ADP is sixth round on Fantasy Football Calculator and seventh round on NFC.

Yeah. The later you get him, the better off you'll be. Six is fine in PPR. Emails. FantasyFootatcbsi.com. By the way, there was more news that just happened. Oh, what do you got? Big signing for the Falcons. What is the non-big signing?

Quaterall Patterson signs in Atlanta. Oh, another running back. Another running back. How about that? I was going to talk about something today that we kind of ran out of time, but I'm going to save it for another show. And it's just this kind of interesting stat. DeAndre Hopkins, 2017 to 2018, he played 31 games and caught 24 touchdowns. 2019 and 20, 31 games, 13 touchdowns,

11 fewer touchdowns over the last two years compared to the two before that for DeAndre Hopkins. And that is not a reflection of how many touchdowns his quarterback threw. That's been 28, 26, 27, and 27, his team quarterbacks. So I wanted to talk to you guys about that because it's really interesting to me. If DeAndre Hopkins could catch 10 touchdowns,

he might be the number one wide receiver in fantasy, maybe number two, something like that. And he caught, I think, six last year, seven the year before. Maybe I flipped that. But yeah, I do want to talk about that. Didn't get a chance to bring it up today, but we'll do it earlier in a show, hopefully next week.

Emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. This is from Trent from sunny Queensland, which I believe is Australia. So I think he said that in the subject line of the email. Hi, Hugh, Heath, Eric, and Russell. And I feel like those are Australian people. Yes, they are. Actors.

Yes, Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger, Eric Banner, Russell Crowe. Okay. What did you say? Ledger, Eric Banner, Russell Crowe. Okay. What did you say? Eric who? Eric Banner. Oh, is it? Banner, right? He wrote Banner.

I read it and you're right. It's Banner. But he wrote Banner. Ornament. My bad. Who wins in a fight? Gladiator? Joker? that uh yes who is in a fight gladiator joker the hulk or wolverine the hulk i mean you gotta rank them though it's gotta be whole not that hulk it's gotta be

you know well i mean wolverine doesn't die. Right. Hulk, Wolverine, Gladiator. I think you have to say Wolverine. Yeah, Wolverine would be first for me. What was the last? Oh, the Joker. Yeah, no, the Joker would not win in the fight. By the way, Eric Bana, he was a star in Munich, right? What a movie.

Great. Yes. Yeah. He also was the badass character in Black Hawk Down. Oh, wow. Throwback? I haven't seen that movie in a while.

Okay. Anyway, my league is... Didn't he ride his bike into the middle of the war or something? I have no idea. My league is half PPR, 12 team, two quarterback. Who should I keep? I also have picks 101 and 112 in this year's draft.

All right, so two QB league, half PPR. Cook in the first. Pick two of these. Cook in the first. Murray in the fourth. Ridley in the fifth. Waller in the seventh. Swift in the seventh.

James Robinson in the sixteenth and he's keeping two yeah so it's not a it's not a rookie only draft it's the first overall pick right but he can still keep Kyler for a fourth round pick that's a no brainer

yeah but it's not like he's taking Trevor Lawrence no no no right he can wait a few rounds on Trevor Lawrence. So you assume McCaffrey's gone, but he'll still... I'm probably keeping... If he doesn't have to lose a first-round pick to keep Dalvin Cook, then I'm taking Cook and Murray. What if you have to give up

112? Easy. You'll still give up Cook along with Kyle or Murray. Yeah, this is always where it's interesting. I get it. If you have to give up 101, I don't think I would do that, then. Yeah, this is always where it's interesting. I get it. Cook in the first or say Swift in the second. If you have to give up 101, I don't think I would do that. Obviously, you don't do that. 24 players off the board.

Are you getting somebody still as good as Dalvin Cook? But you can also just redraft Dalvin Cook. Oh, yeah, that's right. If you've got to give up 101. So if you can give up 112 and keep 101 and still have Dalvin Cook, that's what you do. But if it's 1-0-1, then you're throwing Cook back. And if that's the case, I think I'd lean towards Swift.

No, I don't think you have to give up. So if you don't keep Cook, who's your first round pick, what's the point of enlisting the rounds that the player was drafted? Yeah, if he would have to give up. Oh, so you're saying that you would... No, there's no scenario where you're keeping Dalvin Cook because you're just going to redraft him. Right.

Unless it's 12. Exactly. Would you rather... You wouldn't rather just redraft him and keep the 12 pick? Or Cook and... Imagine if you could have Cook, Barkley, and Kyler Murray to start your team.

Oh, you're saying if you could draft them? That's pretty badass. Yeah, all right. Yeah. Okay, let's see. Oh, you're saying if you could draft that. That's pretty badass. Yeah, all right. Yeah. Okay, let's see. So next email's from Matthew. Dear Larry, where's Matthew from? Pensacola, Florida.

Dear Larry, Daryl, and my other brother, Daryl. You know that show? Breeze Company? No. What is it? What is it? New Heart. Did you just call me a moron?

Yes. Three's Company. Okay. All the crazy hijinks that Larry, Daryl, and my other brother Daryl get into every week on Three's Company. Every set up 19. Give me a break. I play at a 10-team, 3-4 PPR. I think it's a circle, but Jamie knew it was Newhart.

0.75 PPR league. Last season, I traded away my second round pick. I was planning on keeping Jonathan Taylor in the fifth round. I'm wondering if I draft a low target touchdown dependent receiver like AJ Brown or DK Metcalf in the early third round. Which wide receivers would you recommend I look at later in the rounds that might be target hogs that work well in our scoring system, which is.75 PPR?

And it's a 10-team league. I wouldn't call A.J. Brown a low-target guy anymore. Yeah, there's a chance he could be a pretty high-target guy. But now he's looking for a high-target guy, you know, in those early middle rounds, right? That's what I'm... Yes. No, in the mid to later rounds. in those early middle rounds, right? That's what I'm... Yes.

No, in the mid to later rounds. So after Tyler Boyd. I don't think... Not necessarily because it's a 10-team league. I think Tyler Boyd's going to be an eighth-round pick in this league. So that was actually the first name that came to my mind.

Sure. Could Robbie Anderson be one of those guys? Could Corlin Sutton be one of those guys? Target hogs are being drafted in the late rounds. Well, I mean, that's your... could Robbie Anderson be one of those guys? How many Corlin Sutton be one of those guys? Target hogs are being drafted in the late rounds. Well, I mean, that's your, you know, you're searching for those type of guys, right? You're searching for guys that have the chance to surprise us

and surprise maybe what the expectations are. How about Marvin Jones? I don't know if I see that on Jacksonville. Any chance for John Brown? I mean, I just wrote about this. Agler had 82 targets, I think it was. You're talking maybe 100 targets for John Brown if things go well. I guess what's the number we're looking at here?

Are we talking about 120 targets? Are we talking about north of that? Are we talking about... I think you should shoot for 100. If we're talking mid to late part of the draft, 100 targets would be great. Well, I mean, that opens the door for a lot of players then because it wouldn't shock me if John Brown's a 100-target guy.

It wouldn't shock me if Debo Samuel's a 100-target guy, but I don't necessarily look at those guys as high-volume target players. Sterling Shepard. What about Jamison Crowder? If they stay in their spots, you know, if the Giants don't add anybody

and Crowder's still with the Jets, then yeah, for sure. All right. Next email is from Aaron. Dear Ricky, Julian Bubbles, and Mr. Leahy.

That is Three's Company. Three's Company. Yeah, I think it's Trailer Park Boys. Currently working away in a hospital near the home of the Sun Devils. All right. Well, thanks for your hard work, Aaron. We appreciate it.

I, in recent years, NHL fantasy hockey leagues have included hits and blocks as a statistical category for fantasy scoring. This not only increases fantasy value in players that would normally not be fantasy relevant, but it also boosts fantasy value in NHL superstars that are more physical at their position, like Ovechkin. Before you say IDP fantasy football leagues, have you ever played in a league that included alternative stat categories that reward physicality for offensive players? If fantasy included categories such as blocks, it could increase the value of the tight end position as well as reward wide receivers that tend to do a lot of blocking for their team as well. What do you think? The first problem with that is

you're going to have to do the scoring yourself because there's not going to be a place that tracks that on a fantasy site. So you can find those stats. You'd have to create those stats. I don't know if you can find those stats. You'd have to create those stats. I don't know if you can find them. I would imagine Pro Football Focus probably has stuff like that. We've got pass block snaps.

I don't know if that necessarily means that a guy actually blocked another guy. Sometimes you pass block and no one comes out. It's not that type of game. I think you're just trying to get a little too specific i mean it could be fun but you know i don't know if i necessarily want to draft um lee smith because he's a good pass blocking or a good blocking tight sure but that this would give tyler higby extra value uh because he's sure it would give kyleigbee extra value. Sure. It would give Kyle Rudolph extra value. It would give Gronk extra value.

It would give tight ends that have the ability to still catch passes but are good blockers extra value. Yep. Receivers too. Yeah. I think if you're looking really to enhance your scoring to a different capacity without going IDP, throw in return yards.

That could be something that's fun, you know, and, you know, clearly changes the dynamic for some of the wide receivers who play in the return game. But like, you know, you get guys like Meikle Hardman and Jakeem Grant and, you know, players like that that have different scoring ability. Andre Roberts, you know, you know, if you want to, you know, and change things to that capacity.

But I don't know if I'm going to factor in blocking. Yeah. As a fantasy stat. All right right let's do one more here real quick this is uh grade the trade from mitch and he has no picks in the first two rounds in 2021 or 2022 so trying to get some picks he gives up dak prescott and curtis samuel who was a bench player for him. Dak Prescott and Curtis Samuel. He gets back Tua and picks 1.9 and 2.9 in this year's rookie draft and a 2022 second round pick.

So it's a lot to give up. Dak and Curtis Samuel. He gets back Tua Tungavailoa plus 1.9, 2.9 this year and a 2022 second rounder. I'm not sure I would do this even if you were getting a first rounder in 2022. You're giving up the best player in the deal.

I don't think you're getting enough back form. You're giving up maybe the two best players in the deal. Yeah. It's possible. I'd rather have pick 1.9 than Curtis Samuel. Potentially, but... So, I'm going to pull up Heath's story with a mock draft that we did.

So here's what you would be getting potentially. So one nine and two nine. So Dak and Curtis Samuel for Tua, and this would be Trevor Lawrence in the PPR. It's one quarterback league. Yeah. Yeah. So Trevor Lawrence,

which was one pick in front of Javante Williams. So take that for what it's worth. One pick after was Rashad Bateman. So, you know, you could be looking at those types of players. And then two nine was Mari Rogers again, right in front was Zach Wilson. Right after that was Diami Brown. So, you know, you're not getting elite level players right now. Obviously Trevor Lawrence would be, but you know, again, you're talking about not necessarily needing a quarterback.

Now, if you want to just tie in our whole show, you could have taken Michael Carter at 1.9. He went at 2.2. I don't even think there's a chance. I don't think very many people would pass up pick 1.9 in this draft for Curtis Samuel. You would do that. You would give up Samuel for the ninth pick.

Yes, but you're also giving up Dak Prescott. Yeah, yeah, but just that single component. I think you're getting... Does he have any other quarterbacks that he could give up? He has Carr and Stafford and Dalton and Love and Eason and Winston. Oh, well, sure. Just give up Dalton then.

Problem solved. What if you replace him with Stafford? I wonder if the deal could get done that way. I'm not doing that if I'm on the other side of that. No. So what you're essentially doing to your starting lineup is you're taking a top five quarterback away in Dak and replacing him with Stafford, which is a downgrade.

Even if Stafford has a great season, Dak should be better if he's healthy. And then you're talking about if you're in a win-now situation, the rookie doesn't help you if it's not one of the difference-making type of players. Now, again, go back to last year. Who was the guy that you could have taken in 109 or later? Justin Jefferson. You know, he was in that range.

And this is such a great draft class, especially in wide receiver. Antonio Gibson was somebody you could have taken in that range. Yeah. It's true. Well, I don't love the trade, but it's not horrible, I guess. You know, so. Yeah. It's true. Well. Could somebody like Rondell Moore. Yeah. I don't love the trade, but it's not horrible, I guess. You could also make the trade and then try and package one nine and a player to move into the top six.

Sure. And then you're getting a different make. Okay, guys. Thank you so much for your time today. Thanks a lot to Emery Hunt. Thanks to Ben Schrager, who I haven't been on a show with Ben Schrager in a week and a half. It's kind of weird. Hey,

Ben. Welcome back. And, uh, I didn't hear what JB said, but I probably wasn't going to like it. So I'm just going to end the show right now. We will talk to you on Monday.

Have a wonderful weekend. We'll see you then.