Fantasy Football Today - Running Back Tiers! (07/14 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: July 14, 2020

Let's take you through Dave's RB tiers, but first, Adam is forced to explain why his statistics are meant to help you evaluate players. And then we've got news and notes (8:40) from around the NFL ... Dave's top tier includes SIX RBs (10:40)! Who is joining the five obvious guys? Then we get to the near-elite tier (17:08) with Nick Chubb, Joe Mixon, Derrick Henry (in PPR) and more. Should Josh Jacobs be in this tier? And as we move to the Round 3 RBs (22:40), the guys tell you who in this tier they are excited about drafting ... The next few tiers (29:50) have a mix of veterans like Le'Veon Bell and David Johnson and rookies like D'Andre Swift and Cam Akers. We debate which tier Kareem Hunt belongs to. And we finish with the mid-to-late round picks (48:00). Some of them could be starters for you and some of them are just backups with a lot of upside like Tony Pollard and Chase Edmonds ... Email us at [e-mail] Nominate us on PodcastAwards! https://www.podcastawards.com/app/signup/ 'Fantasy Football Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Follow the new FFT Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/FFToday Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @YardsPerGretch, @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 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. Less than three weeks away from the fingers crossed scheduled start of training camp, and Tears Week continues here on Fantasy Football Today. Welcome back, everybody. Thanks so much for listening.

Don't forget to leave a nice Apple Podcast review. Really appreciate it. I'd also like to address one of the negative Apple Podcast reviews that we received. Something that I think is worth addressing, so I will do that. Today we're going to talk about some high risk. We'll do that now. Come on. Don't say that's for the end. Okay, I think is worth addressing. So I will do that. Today, we're going to talk about some high risk. We'll do that now. Come on. Don't say that's for the end. Okay, I'll do it in just a moment. High risk, high reward players and food items.

I asked like, what's a high risk, high reward food? I got like 250 responses or something crazy like that. So we can go through some of those but amazing everybody has opinions on food yeah yeah it's like i guess i should just be talking and tweeting about food will make me more popular all right jamie you want me to address it yes well it's kind of your fault okay is it jamie interrupting adam a lot because that's already happened. No, it's somebody really didn't like the Acer analytics where I sort of... I'll read you what it said. Two stars.

Stop using Acer analytics. I can't pinpoint exactly why I rated this show a two, but yet I listen to it every day. All the analysts are solid, five out of five, but it's really strange mixing in objective statistical analysis

with Acer's when you eliminate his first and last game on even-numbered years in which a full moon occurred inside, etc. Preach! I really want to... This is my fault? Yeah, because you call me out on it all the time and you exaggerate it so much.

I truly, truly do these things to give what I believe are the most representative sample sizes. So I'm not going to give you Josh Allen's 16-game pace when he barely threw five passes in Week 17. I'm going to give you his 16-game pace based on the first 15 games. I'm not going to—there are other examples of that. Here's how you should phrase that, though. Here's Josh Allen and what he did in the fantasy season. Like,

well, but that's only works for him. I'm just saying that I'm trying to, I've been, I've been trying to, it helps me anyway to compare 16 game paces. So I figured it would be helpful. So that's what I do a lot.

And when you do that, I often remove games where players left early with injury. I almost always do. So I think that's very important. I'm not trying to do these. I'm not trying to make a personal opinion by manipulating statistics. So I promise you, everybody, when I do that is truly for your benefit. I like when you do it.

Yeah, well, you like it because you like to tease me. Mark Ingram left week 16. He played like 40% of the snaps. I don't really want to count that as part of his pace. I think you get a better representation of his pace if you look at 14 games for him instead of 15, you know? What is your typical cutoff, though, when you eliminate a game? Does he only play a quarter?

Does he only play a half? Three quarters? What do you throw out? I though, when you eliminate a game? Is he only played a quarter? Is he only played a half? Three quarters? What do you throw out? I mean, less than a half out. Could you please calculate Matt Breida's 2019 16-game pace for me, please? I don't know. Why? He left like seven games.

You know, the difficult guy with that, who is it that... Oh, James Conner. Like, I just, before this show, who is it that, Oh, James Connor. Like I just, before this show, I put together a spreadsheet of, uh, 24 running backs, the top 24 and Dave's tears that we'll get to. And the amount of touches they had based on 16 games,

A's are five. Removing some, you know, partial game. I assume you remove the time that Jordan Howard was beating out miles Sanders. So for miles Sanders, for that's the thing. Like that's a great example Sanders? So for Miles Sanders, and that's the thing,

that's a great example, right? For Miles Sanders, I have him at 318 touches, which ranked 12th. And that is only six games before, that was without Jordan Howard and not including week 17

when he got hurt, left with an injury. So yes, I understand it sounds silly, but I truly believe that when you are trying to think about how many touches Miles Sanders is going to get, those six games are the ones that really matter and the ones that we should be using to make our best guesses. Do you give Josh Jacobs his week two, I think it was,

week two game against the Chiefs when I think he played a half, but he had 12 carries for 99 yards in the half? I did do that, but maybe I shouldn't have. And there are ones that I'm going to miss, unfortunately. Jacobs, by the way, came out pretty high on this. He was 11th, 323 touches, including that game. So he probably would have been even higher. His 16-game pace was 323 touches, including that game. So he probably would have been even higher. His 16-game pace was 323 touches.

And, you know, one of the things when I looked at these touches is like, why do people like Nick Chubb? Some do, some don't. Why do people like Nick Chubb more than Josh Jacobs? Jacobs was on pace for more touches. And that's if I used the eight games with Kareem Hunt. You know, so that's... But that's, you know,

what would you use for Nick Chubb? Would you use the full 16? Would you look at just the games with Kareem Hunt? I think the ones with Kareem Hunt are more telling, personally. Well, they're telling because that's what you're expecting

to see this year. We're not expecting Kareem Hunt to miss half the year and put Nick Chubb in a position to rack up the playing touches. So I understand that I'm expecting to see this year. We're not expecting Kareem Hunt to miss half the year and put Nick Chubb in a position to rack up the play touches. So I understand that I'm going to get laughed at for it. Sorry, let's not do running back to your stay. I just want to go through this list. And every player, I'd like to know which games of their season

you counted and didn't count. And then we'll find games you either should or shouldn't have counted. How many of Josh Jacobs' games did you count where he had to share with Jalen Rashard and Lin Bowden? I had none of them. Right, because it hasn't happened yet. So we'll see what that does to his touch count. You know what, though?

I kind of feel like Josh Jacobs would have had about the same or more touches, about the same as Nick Chubb. Which Aaron Jones games did you take out? I didn't take out any Aaron Jones games. He played 16 games. But he had some games where there was no Jamal Williams. I could have done that. I could have done that. I know. I know.

It's not a perfect exercise, but he's so far down the list. He's 18th on the list. I get it. So you're taking what you think is going to happen in 2020 and then find the games where it did happen personnel wise in 2019. And then you extrapolate that over 16 games.

So with Austin Eckler, did you only count the games where there was no Melvin Gordon? Right. That's a tougher one. I actually have two numbers. Who wrote this Apple review? I don't know.

I have two different numbers for Austin Eckler because he was the most difficult one. How many stars, Jamie? Who wrote this review? Who cares? No, I care. Who wrote it? I don't know.

I'll look. I'll find it. Because the review may be two stars, but the review of the review is five. Yeah. Who wrote it? Let's see. Stop using Azure Analytics

from... I don't even think that's a name. Adam Voss in Fort Lauderdale, Florida? Anyway, I do my best. I do my very best to give the best data that I can. I don't do it. Which games did you use for Raheem Mostert? His last five games.

What did you use for Clyde Edwards-Hilaire? Clyde Edwards-Hilaire, he's college. Well, Damien Williams is a good one. He missed some time. So actually, I didn't include the rookies, Dave, in this, obviously. So your top 24 non-rookies. Do you want to know

who had the most touches? McCaffrey by a mile, Fournette, Dalvin Cook, Zeke Barkley, Derrick Henry, Chris Carson at number seven. And there you go. Okay. Well, anyway, thank you for letting me get that off my chest. I promise I'm not

trying to manipulate data. I'm trying to help. No, thank you for bringing that up. That was one of my favorite segments in a while. But like, you know, you never really remove games that guys leave with injury. I feel, I feel like you should. I think I am just as you like the guy or do you not like the guy? Yeah. I am just as consistent as you.

I do that whenever it helps me make my point. That's not what I do. When he talks about Gardner-Mitchell, that game in London has never been brought up once. I just talk about his splits in the United States because they're not going to London this year because of COVID. So what he did over there doesn't really matter. All right, fair point.

All right, so speaking of COVID, we got an interesting development with this face shield. Very cool stuff. The Oakley face shield, the mouth shield, is going to be distributed to teams next week. They claim to have invented this mouth shield that will be very difficult for droplets to, I guess, get in and out. So that's cool, and hopefully technology can help us along in this whole thing.

Meanwhile, this was a great quote. Dan Snyder and Coach Rivera are working to closely to are working closely to develop a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud tradition, rich franchise and inspire our sponsors, fans, and community for the next 100 years. And good job by the Washington franchise to list sponsors first,

since that was clearly what was the deciding factor in this. And on yesterday's show, it is for us Monday afternoon, but you're hearing it on Tuesday. On Monday's show, we talked about the Red Tails. is a nod to the planes flown by the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black squadron of fighter and bomber pilots who fought in World War II and were the first black military aviators in the United States Armed Forces. That was from Jared Dubin,

and that is why I'm rooting for Red Tails. It would be awesome right now. How are you guys? I'm hanging in there. Good. All right, you're going to be pretty in there. Good. All right. You're going to be pretty hungry at the end of the show. Get a lot of food talk on this one.

As opposed to every other show that I do. Promotion. Remember to help us out with podcast awards. The link is in the episode description. Remember to watch us tonight, Tuesday night, 7 p.m. Eastern on Twitch. Twitch.com slash FF today. Become a subscriber and have some exclusive opportunities and a chance to be in a Twitch league with us. And we're going to be

doing a non PPR mock draft and make sure you check out all of our other podcasts, cbsports.com slash podcasts. I feel like I've talked a lot, so I'm done for now. Here we go. You're running back tears. V. This is from Dave. By the way, there's Dave's tears. The super elite Dave New York style cheese pizza. The unbeatable super elite tier of pizza. It must be a lot better than the New York style pepperoni pizza. I had. It is. You went to like a tourist trap in Times Square.

So yes, Christian McCaffrey, Ezekiel Elliott, Saquon Barkley, Alvin Kamara, Dalvin Cook. That's it, right? No! Dave has Miles Sanders in this tier.

What? Get him in there. All right. I see a path to 1,500 total yards and 10 touchdowns for him. Not even close to good enough. These other guys are 2,000 total yards at 1,800.

Well, the ones at the top definitely are. I suppose we could make the case for Dalvin Cook to still be in there. I don't know if Dalvin can get to 2,000 total. Well, if you want me to crunch some math for you. His first 11 games, he was on pace for 2,141. 2,141 yards. All right. Yeah. I bet his 16-game pace was probably... games, he was on pace for 2141 2141 yards. I bet his 16 game pace was probably

pretty close to 1900, something like that. But no, but like we all know about the top five, but you put Miles Sanders in there. Is that just because you think he's around one guy or because you really think he's around one guy? I think of all the other running backs that are not included in the the obvious names names i think he's the one that has the best chance to

to nail a top five finish at running back maybe one of the top five running backs that get drafted gets hurt maybe dalvin cooks hold out lasts a lot longer than we think i think sanders could jump right into that mix i think he'll be a first-rounder in 2021 as well. Heath, Jamie, any thoughts? If I had running back tiers, I think Christian McCaffrey would be tier one. I get that. I totally understand because no one else is...

You rarely see McCaffrey not go the 1.01 like how many scott fishbowl drafts were there where mcafree wasn't 101 there was one person who reached out a lot on twitter yeah i don't think it's that many because there was one person who reached out who got cmc at 1.03 and i was, you win. It's a gift from the fantasy gods that you had two schmoes in your league. I don't know if that's going for him, if that's the case. Because taking Mahomes or Lamar first overall

is not a bad play, given what the quarterback scoring is, especially Mahomes, given what his accuracy should be. I saw a lot of leagues where McCaffrey wasn't first. It was Mahomes. In some cases, it was Jackson. I think that the five guys stand out by themselves. I think Sanders belongs in the

next group with guys like Mixon and depending on format, Henry, Josh Jacobs, Nick Chubb, you know, that next group of guys, Eckler, Drake, you know, that's a, you know, it's probably six or seven deep, but you can still take these guys in the first round you're gonna see them go in the first round so i don't know if you want to put the first round designation on on the reason why somebody should be in one tier or the other because we're gonna see a very heavy running back late in first round so um i think sanders is great i think he's got a chance for a big season um I think you're right, Adam. I don't think he has the same upside as the five guys in front of him. I would take Nixon over Sanders per se.

I would take Jacobs over him in non-PPR. And, you know, again, in PPR, you look at Drake and Eckler and what they're capable of doing. I think they're better than Sanders also. So he's got a huge ceiling, but I don't think putting him in the same category as McCaffrey, Barkley, Zeke, Kamara, and Cook is the right way to go. Let me just clarify something.

Go ahead. I was not saying, though, that I don't think Sanders has the upside. I was just saying Dave gave a number. I think it was like 16. What you said is what I'm agreeing with. The 2,000 total yards, I don't think he's going to get there. Even I think that that's hard for him to get to, but I think it's going to be hard for a lot of other running backs, not named

McCaffrey, Barkley, Elliott. I don't think Sanders gets to 1,800 total yards. I think those other guys do it. The other guys on the tier. The other guys that should be in tier one, which is those first five guys. Yeah, sure. That's fine to say. And I will say, in non-PPR, I'd have Derek Henry in tier one. I was

trying to get that out for the last 60 seconds, but Derek Henry is absolutely a non PPR tier one running back. And I think Chubb belongs in that group too. And you can probably make the case for Joe Mixon as well. Okay. Yeah. These are strictly PPR tiers. Thank you.

I should have clarified that. Um, and, uh, okay. I think, yeah, we can move on.

But I think, you know, one thing that might be helpful is instead of thinking about rounds with these running backs, maybe we should think about them, we can move on. But I think, you know, one thing that might be helpful is instead of thinking about rounds with these running backs, maybe we should think about them in terms of auction dollars. You know, does Miles Sanders come even close to Dalvin Cook in auction values? No. And that's a good thing. Should he? I mean, okay, let's put numbers on it. $200 budget, Christian McCaffrey is what? 70.

I would even go. Yeah, I'd be in between those, but over 70. If he's the first name nominated, I would go at least 72. And Dalvin Cook, who's going to be RB5 for many, many people, it would be what? 60. 45 for me. I'm going to be closer to 60 than 45,

but I think if he were the first name off, I probably would try to get him for like 53. Okay. 53. And Heath, I know you're a little concerned about Cook with the injuries. Well, yeah, I mean, the injuries are a little bit of a concern and he's probably not going to hold out,

but there's still that whole thing too. Yeah, right. Yeah, there's a lot that could go sideways for Cook, more so than any of these other running backs that we're talking about, at least in August. That looks like a really gross drink. Is it just a gross bottle? It's water in a bottle.

Okay, yeah, it looks gross. Green bottle, like green. Green drinks are bad. gross bottle? It's water in a bottle. Okay. Yeah. It looks gross. Green bottle, green, uh, green drinks. So, um, anyway, my question was 70 for Sanders, somewhere 50 to 60 for cook. How much are 70 for McCaffrey? Sorry. 56. How much for, for miles Sanders? I would try to spend below 50, but if I had to go 50, I love them. So I would do it. 36. Yeah, I would say closer to 50. But I mean, when you start talking about that, $10 drop-off is putting him in a different tier. Okay.

All right, then the next tier, near elite. This would be Chicago-style deep dish pizza. It's excellent, but it's clearly not as good as New York. Joe Mixon, Kenyon Drake, Austin Eckler, Derek Henry, Nick Chubb, and Clyde Edwards-Elair. So really, Jamie, I think you probably would just put Sanders in this year, right?

Yeah, this is where he belongs. I think all these guys have the same type of upside. PPR is a little bit different. Sanders, I think, is in a better situation than Nick Chubb, for example. He's in a better situation, in my opinion, than Derek Henry. But I think, is in a better situation than Nick Chubb, for example. He's in a better situation, in my opinion, than Derrick Henry. But I think, you know, he's like I said, I like Mixon better than him. I think their numbers by the end of the season, how they get there, are going to be a little bit different.

But they're going to be somewhat similar in terms of their total yardage and their touchdowns. The catches should be in Sanders' favor. But I'm hoping Mixon does a little bit more in the passing game. But I think when you look at these guys, you know, this is the group that has yet to do it on this level yet, or has some risk attached to it. For me, Henry has risk attached to it because of his lack of work in the passing game. So I look at this group as these are the guys that are going to be awesome.

If you're picking in the back half of round one, in the beginning of round two, these are the guys you're going to want to take with your first two picks if you want to go running back running back it's a great start um the more i'm drafting toward the back end of round one the more i like just taking two of these guys so i'm thrilled to get two of them not not edward tiller he's not in this group for me anymore uh in in the the one two turn just because of the off season like we said you know a few months ago if this is going to continue then you know for me i was going to dial it back,

and I've dialed it back with Edna Taylor a little bit. So he's not in this group, but I think you look at this tier, this is going to be great starting options for you, great RB1 options for you, and I think you'll be thrilled to have them. But I think they are all behind the top five guys for a reason. And I think you'll get one of these running backs if you take Michael Thomas or Tyreek Hill or Devontae Adams, not necessarily in that order, just spouting names, with your first pick.

You just can't ignore the wide receiver. You love him. You want that safe value. So you get Thomas in round one, and then someone like Drake, Eckler, the guys we're mentioning right now, they're your round two pick. You start receiving a running back, and your team's off and running. All right, the guys we're mentioning right now, they're your round two pick.

You start receiver running back, and your team's off and running. All right, the names again, Mixon, Drake, Eckler, Derek Henry, Nick Chubb. Henry in PPR. Henry won't be there in non-PPR. He'll be in a tier above that. The non-PPR second tier is Drake, Jacobs, Eckler, and Clyde Edwards-Hilaire. And remember that that first tier is very deep in non-PPR. Heath, you have any reaction to this? I hate Dave for making me say Clyde Edwards-Hilaire is a bust,

but this is the type of ranking and tiering of Clyde Edwards-Hilaire that makes me put him in my bust. I'm not at all certain what his workload is going to be at the start of the season. I think most of these guys, except for Eckler and maybe even Eckler, but most of these guys are pretty much locked into close to 275-300 touches. I would put Sanders in this tier. I don't like Joe Mixon as much as

everyone else. I would probably have him one tier lower, but he's right on the border. He'd either be at the end of this tier or the start of the next one. Why is Josh Jacobs not in this tier? I know he's in tier two and non PPR. This is PPR. But again, I'll make the Nick Chubb comparison. I mean, the numbers in terms of carries, catches, they seem like they're pretty similar. Jacobs was a total workhorse. And yards per carry almost identical, too. What's the difference for you, Dave? Why Chubb in this tier but not Jacobs?

I'm a little worried about the Raiders bringing back Richard and adding Bowden. And maybe that means that they want to try and get some of those gadgety type of plays from running backs into their offense. I think adding Ruggs, it'll help Jacobs in that it's going to force the safeties to play back, and it'll hurt Jacobs in that they'll probably pass a little bit more. And I think they'll be a little bit more effective throwing the football. Actually, I was thinking about getting Derek Carr in the Scott Fish Bowl,

and I did get him as my third quarterback. And at first, I was really unhappy with it. And then I sat and thought about the Raiders and how they may go this year. And I started to warm up to him a little bit. I was happy that I got him to be my third quarterback. And I expect the Raiders to probably lean a little bit away from the run based on what they've done this off season. Adam, I'm totally with you. I would take Jacobs over Chubb. I think they're, they profile very similar. I think the added offensive weapons are going to help Jacobs because I

think there'll be more scoring opportunities. Cause I do think this offense will be better. So I love the option of what Jacobs is going to bring. I hope he can get to that 30 catch threshold. You know, you wonder if the three games that he missed last year, you know, he's at 20 catches.

Would he have gotten, you know, the three per game to get there, you know, whatever the case may be. And he played the second half of the Chiefs game as well, if you want to manipulate that. But I think Jacobs, to me, is a guy that in his sophomore season

is going to take a step forward. Still a very good offensive line. I hope he's healthy. That's something that I think you have to be concerned about. But for me, again, PPR, non-PPR, I'm taking him over Henry and Chubb this year. Okay. So a lot of those guys are going to go in round two.

Some of them will sneak into round one. Let's go to our next group. This would be the high-risk, high-reward group. Couldn't really think of a good food. Thankfully, Twitter had me covered. And Chris Towers, actually, on our own staff, I think had the best option. High-risk, high-reward.

Cheese fries. This is the cheese fries tier. If the fries are still crispy, they are God tier. If the fries get soggy, they are inedible. I think that's a great call. So this is cheese fries. These guys could be just great or they could be soggy and gross.

Aaron Jones, Chris Carson, Josh Jacobs. James is a big tier. James Conner, Melvin Gordon, Todd Gurley. Aaron Jones, Chris Carson, Josh Jacobs, James Conner, Melvin Gordon, Todd Gurley. Aaron Jones, Chris Carson, Josh Jacobs, James Conner, Melvin Gordon, Todd Gurley. And I'm the outlier on Jacobs, apparently, that I'm not putting him high enough. And he'll probably get drafted before everybody else in this tier.

So maybe for the sake of this argument, we pull Jacobs out of it. This is exactly where I'd have Jacobs. In PPR, right? Non-PPR is a different story, but in full PPR, I'm worried about those catches not being there. I think other running backs in this tier can, not all of them,

but Connor, Gordon, Gurley could catch up to him a little bit because of it. All right, Heath. Weigh in on it then because you know Jacobs is going to go ahead of these guys. Maybe not Aaron Jones, but he is going to go ahead of these guys maybe not aaron jones but he's going to go ahead of carson connor gordon and girly like i think that's fine like you said we're talking more probably about auction values and where they go in the draft if he's at

the very top of this tier and he goes right behind all those other guys in the last year i don't know how much it matters but i do think he's closer to this group. Like I don't think Josh Jacobs is injury prone. I'm not trying to say that, but one of the things we talked about before last season was at Alabama. We really hadn't seen him handle a workhorse role. He got it last year and he almost made it the whole year. We've seen Nick Chubb go over 320, 330 touches in a season. So I, nothing against Josh Jacobs at all in non PPR.

He'd be in the top, in the higher tier for me. The one guy, of course, in PPR that I would have in this tier that nobody else would because everybody hates him and maybe he's just terrible and a slug is Le'Veon Bell. But I do think he fits into the high risk, high reward. If he gets 300 touches again, he's probably going to be a lot better and be at a top 10 running back. He's literally the first name on the next tier. So it's as close as you can get for me, but I'm nervous about Le'Veon getting even as much work as he had last year because the vampire Frank Gore is now on the team,

and we'll see what P. Ryan can contribute. I don't know. Everywhere Frank Gore has gone, the running back who's been with him hasn't delivered the types of numbers that we'd hoped for vampire um you know for what it's worth Aaron Jones this tier again is Aaron Jones Chris Carson Josh Jacobs James Connor Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley Aaron Jones Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley were toward the bottom of the touches list whereas Chris Carson and James Connor ranked pretty high. Both were,

uh, sorry, Chris Carson and Josh Jacobs ranked pretty high. Both were top 10. James Connor is a total wild card. I didn't even, I didn't even look at 2019 for him. I just,

you know, he left like three games with injury, but he was on pace in 2018 for 333 touches, which was, you know, really high. So I do know, I would do want to know how you guys kind of, you know, look at that and say, well, Aaron, like Chris Carson is probably going to get more touches than Aaron Jones yet never gets drafted ahead of him. Josh Jacobs probably going to get more touches than Aaron Jones. Um, yeah, you, you have some guys who have, I think, kind of like low to medium touch potential in this

group. It's a little scary, which is hence the high risk. It's true. Every time I think of James Conner, I think about how the Steelers didn't bring in heavy competition for him. I mean, I was thrilled when they drafted Anthony McFarlane, but

is Anthony McFarlane really going to take 10 touches away from him each week? I think they left themselves in a position where James Conner has to be their running back, at least their lead guy, to start the year. I don't know how much they believe in Benny Snell, but you watch Benny Snell play, he's okay. Jalen Samuels really fell off after last year. I think that Connor's really, I think the sealers painted themselves in a corner and until they add another solid back to their room,

I'm, I'm, I'm anticipating them giving Connor the type of workload that we're looking for from a third round fantasy running back pick. There was a report in the athletic over the weekend for, i forget it's mark something who covers the steelers for the athletic um i think so um he was breaking down the um the the depth chart and he had a note in there on benny snell that he could be the sleeper of this group and that if something were to happen to connor so i'm paraphrasing something would to Conor, that he could be what Conor was

replacing Le'Veon Bell a couple years ago. So I think when you look at Snell last year, it's one of those things where it's almost like the entire Steelers offense. You know, did he really show you who he is? So, you know, with a healthy Roethlisberger, you know, that could be something that helps Snell. But I think Conor is a great value pick. I think he's got the chance, if he's healthy, to be something that helps Snell. But I think Connor is a great value pick.

I think he's got the chance, if he's healthy, to be a top 10 running back. But health is clearly something that has to be taken into account with him and with Carson. I mean, you know, Carson now, it's two of the last three years, he hasn't been able to finish the season. You know, so we talk about Dalvin Cook and his injury history, you know, and maybe Josh Jacobs as well. Carson hasn't been able to make it through a season two or three years.

So, you know, that's something to take into account when you look at him, hopefully he's fine. Um, you know, did the Seahawks tell us how they feel about Chris Carson this off season in a good way or a bad way, you know, with, uh, Carlos Hyde's addition and DJ Dallas, you know, are those guys that are going to just be similar to Frank Gore? Are they going to ruin, you know, Carson enough that, um, his, his upside is not there, or are they just guys that Dallas, from a rookie standpoint, but more so Hyde from a guy coming off his first 1,000-yard campaign as a result of just falling into a good situation? So it's hard to say.

I think Carson's in a good spot. He's a good number two running back, but I don't know if he's somebody that you want to take ahead of these guys in PPR just given the fact that he hasn't topped 40 catches yet in the season. By the way, I'm aware when I talked about the touches, I'm aware that Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley are on different teams this year than they were last year.

But I still think the touch concerns are there. Last question about this group. Obviously, you're super excited to draft the elite New York-style cheese pizzas of McCaffrey, Elliott, Barkley, Camara, Cook. You're very excited about Sanders, Mixon, Drake, Eckler, Henry, Chubb, Clyde Edwards, Hilaire. Now we have some personal preferences in there, sure.

What's your level of excitement for this group of Jones, Carson, Jacobs, Conner, Gordon, Gurley? Completely dependent on where you get them. In the Scott Fish Bowl, James Conner felt to me in the sixth round, I was doing cartwheels. If he's there in the fourth round of a regular draft, Chris Carson, if he's there in the fourth round, I am thrilled. I'm a little nervous in the third round to take those

guys. I have a few of them ranked as third round picks, but it feels a little bit suspect, and I usually take a wide receiver in that range instead. If any of these guys fall into the fourth or fifth, I'm thrilled. Yeah, I'm taking Jacobs around too, so he's in a different category for me. All right.

All right, let's go to the next tier of very good. What did I have for this one here? So this is headlined by Le'Veon Bell. Oh, Fettuccine Alfredo. This is the Fettuccine Alfredo group here. Can be very good, but also very risky. Very similar to the cheese fries, actually. Usually, Fettuccine Alfredo is kind of crappy.

You have to go to a very good restaurant, I think, to get good Fettuccine. You agree, Jamie? I do. Yeah, right? You have to go to a really good Italian place or just do not get it. I hate the fact that I agree with you, but I do. Yeah, a lot of people might feel that way about this group of Le'Veon Bell, David Johnson, DeAndre Swift, Cam Akers, and Leonard Fournette.

It's Le'Veon Bell, David Johnson, DeAndre Swift, Cam Akers, Leonard Fournette. Note, Dave apparently likes DeAndre Swift better than Jonathan Taylor. And Cam Akers, apparently. Correct. In PPR, yeah. Oh, yeah, in both, actually.

Now, this tier, Taylor is in this tier of non-PPR, but in PPR, he is not. So Bell, David Johnson, DeAndre Swift, Cam Akers, Leonard Fournette. Heath, what is this tier for you? I agree with, like, I don't even totally disagree with David Johnson or with Le'Veon Bell falling into this tier. I think he and Johnson and Fournette all kind of fit together in that they could have very good years,

but there's more risk than there is with the group above them. I don't see that same type of upside with Swift or Akers, really. I wouldn't have them in this tier. This is actually where I'd have Clyde Edwards-Ziller. And it's also not too far from where I'd put Kareem Hunt. So Heath's not going to have Clyde Edwards-Ziller. And it's also not too far from where I'd put Kareem Hunt. So, he's not going to have Clyde Edwards-Ziller in any of his leagues this year because he's not going to make it to the round.

Actually, I already have him in one of my leagues because my team sucked and I had the first overall pick in my dynasty draft and I took him. And so, I got him on one team. That will be the only team that I have him on. It'll be the only team that you have him on. I sit corrected.

I'm looking at upside for these guys. And I think that in the case of all of them, I think they can all probably figure their way to 1200 yards total in some way or another. In the case of Swift, I don't look at Swift as someone that can help you in week one or week two. I think it's going to take him a little while, kind of like it took Miles Sanders a little while.

Cam Akers might be able to beat DeAndre Swift to the starting job with his team than Swift with the Lions because just the competition there. I mean, look, it's not amazing competition either way for either running back, but Akers just might have a little bit of an edge to get there first. We got to see how that shakes out in training camp. And we got to see how David Johnson looks in training camp.

If he ends up looking great, then he might actually pop up a tier because of the opportunity that he's got to, to play a lot. Bill O'Brien does love to run the football. I think part of the reason why they got cooks is to make sure that they've got speed on the field, whether Fuller plays or not,

that keeps the safeties back. I already talked about that with, with, with Jacobs earlier on the pod. I think that there is some upside with David Johnson, but you know what the downside is too, which is he gets hurt or he's not fast and he gets 3.3 yards per carry and you have to pray that he finds the end zone every week.

So that's why he's in this group with everybody else. I think he said it best. Bell, David Johnson, Leonard Fournette, they can all be painted with the same brush. You know their names. They've all been great before. Who knows if they'll be even in a position to do as well again. And with Swift and Akers, it's just looking forward with them

and hoping that they end up being the lead workhorses for their respective teams. Adam, can you pull up the... Go ahead. No, I'm saying everything Dave said, I would apply to Jonathan Taylor. If you're going to put Swift and Akers in the category of looking for upside, Taylor probably has it more so than both of them, just given the team that he's going to play for

and the pedigree that he has coming out of Wisconsin. So I think he's going to have an opportunity to... I'm sorry? Even in PPR? Oh, for sure. Yeah, I don't know if in the offenses that those guys play in, if we're going to see them catch the ball at a high level right away. That may happen eventually, but they have to come and improve themselves

comparatively to guys who have already proven themselves. Kerryon Johnson with Swift is almost waiting for an injury, which has happened every year of his career. So Swift can clearly take over the lead role if Johnson goes down. And Akers still has to prove he's better than both Daryl Henderson. And for what it's worth, Malcolm Brown, I think he will be, but I think Mac is going to be a roadblock for, for Jonathan Taylor early in the season as well.

But I think his, his situation where they've already talked about the, they're happy rotating the guys early. And then I think if, if Ben were here, he would tell you, and I agree with, that Taylor's going to prove he's better than Marlon Mack. And my concern is I like Naheem Hines. I think I've said that enough times. I really wonder if, because what we saw from Marlon Mack as a rookie was they used him more in the passing game for the Colts.

If they will sort of shift Mack maybe into that role a little bit, as we see with Phillip Rivers in his career, throwing to his running backs. And then maybe Mack is the third down guy and not necessarily Naheem Hines but I think Taylor is going to be the lead running back for the Colts sooner rather than later he belongs in this tier I would probably take him ahead of all the guys in this tier to be honest with you

I just think the upside for him is not necessarily around three where Ben is taking him but in that round four or five range I think that's where Jonathan Taylor goes and I think if things click for him he will be the best of this group by far. What's cheating there? Cough drop. Oh, okay.

I could just cough. He's very sly. He was like, I was really disappointed. I thought Jamie or Adam would jump in with the speed score, one inch shorter, 15 pounds heavier, better running back, Ben Gretsch, I argue.

Can we bring this up on the Twitch on Tuesday night and just tell him that Dave doesn't like Jonathan Taylor so we can hear that again? I would be happy to. My pleasure. Okay, so what does this group just in general represent to you? Because you have to make some tough decisions if you want one of these guys.

Le'Veon Bell, David Johnson, Swift, Akers, Fournette, and we want to throw Jonathan Taylor in there. Okay, you're talking about T.Y. Hilton and Terry McLaurin and maybe even Amari Cooper if you look at ADP and Mark Andrews and Zach Ertz, some very good players at other positions. So how much of a priority are these running backs in this team? Not.

These are the running backs you're looking at if you don't take enough running backs early on in your draft. If you look at the running backs in this tier and the tier after and you don't want them in your lineup, then you should commit to drafting at least two running backs with your first three picks. So you don't even have to dabble with these guys. I think the thing with this group is if you take, uh, cause this is really, you know, the, the type of guy you want to take as your third back. Um,

if you need security and a high floor, you're probably looking at guys like Bell and Johnson and Fournette, the guys that have done it before, uh, should be locked into lead roles on their team. And, you know, again, have relatively good opportunities if things go right. You know, if you're looking for upside, then you're taking Taylor Swift or I said that on purpose, Taylor Swift or Akers. But I'm with Heath. I think I think Kareem Hunt and PPR absolutely belongs in this range too. You know, he showed us that last year when he when he came back from suspension, hopefully he gets a little bit bigger role in terms of

carrying the ball after a full, uh, whatever the off season has been, but a full, you know, opportunity to, to be with the team. Um, so hunt is in this, in this range also for me and PPR as well. So I think when you look at these guys, uh, if you go two backs, two receivers, some combination of that, you know, when you're looking for your third running back here, upside again is the rookies. Security is probably the veteran guys that hopefully don't fall off the map because of either

guys behind them or their coach is not liking them. Let me challenge you, I guess, a little bit on Kareem Hunt. 43 carries, 37 catches in eight games. I get it. That's nice. 74 catches. It's really

good per 16 games. But that's a really small workload. And why would he be here and not Tariq Cohen? With that really small workload, he only scored three touchdowns, I think think in those eight games.

Yeah, he did. And he was still easily a top 20 running back. And we're sitting around running back 24 right now. Yeah, but he has, but in that role, he has no chance of being a star.

And like, obviously if Nick Chubb gets hurt, Kareem Hunt's going to be potential fantasy winner. But if that's just his role of, you know, 80, 86 carries and 74 catches if that's just his role of 86 carries and 74 catches, that's Tariq Cohen.

And I tried to... No, I think I've got Tariq Cohen very close to this in the projections. I think they're very close other than the fact that Hunt has league winning upside if something happens to Chubb. Well, Hunt could also get carries, though. Tariq Cohen's not going to get the same type of carries that Kareem Hunt has the capabilities of.

Right. Yeah. I think when we were discussing Chubb, we didn't mention the Stefanski thing could mean that there's just more carries

for Chubb and Hunt both. Yeah. I find it hard that there's going to be more for Chubb if Hunt is getting more work. I don't think you can have Hunt in this range

in your tiers if you've got Chubb in your first two tiers. I just don't think there's enough to go around. I agree with you guys that they could theoretically run the ball a little bit more, play at a slower pace, lean on those running backs. That's what I would do if I were in charge of the Browns. But I can't see how you can have Chubb in a top 12 type of ranking and have Kareem Hunt in the conversation in like around 24th overall among running backs. I find it hard to believe that that's where they're both going to end up being, even in full PPR.

Well, I mean, over 16 games last year, that's where they would have been. Right. Maybe one of these things is wrong with my projections, but I've got Chubb at about 1,500 rushing yards, 150 catching, receiving 11 touchdowns. Yeah, again, going back to him versus Jacobs, as Adam brought up the point, if you look at the way Chubb finished the season and how Jacobs was the majority of the season, they're very similar.

Well, let me give you these numbers, all right? And then I got one more number after that. Last eight games of the year for Chubb and Hunt. This is when Hunt came back. Nick Chubb was the number 16 PPR running back, and Kareem Hunt was the number 17 PPR running back. Now, Chubb, just based on the workload he had, has a lot of room to grow from there

because he had 144 carries, which is second most in the NFL in that stretch, and only two rushing touchdowns. Hunt was the number 17 running back, but just the problem I see with that is like, that's great, but it feels like a ceiling. If his workload does not increase, it's no involvement in the running a very

very little involvement in the running game and all you're banking on is these catches and we are talking about running backs right now they're going like the fourth round you imagine taking kareem hunt in the fourth round over i think this i think this group spans a few rounds you know because i don't think i know dave like swift swift is not going in the fourth round i agree he's this this range you'll see it on the site it's rounds four and five and you might disagree with swift in round five and that's okay i don't mind taking him then no i and i get you know again it's your tears you're gonna tell people to take them where he should go i don't think we're gonna see adp reflect swift in round five unless carry on johnson gets hurt so i i think we're gonna see right he'll go higher but i i don't think we're

gonna see swift if he's coming in as the the second guy uh these are more like round six guys and again you know jonathan taylor is probably more of a round five guy than he is around four guy uh you know even though ben's taking around three so i i think it's going to all be sort of you know dependent on on format and i know we're talking ppr here but uh hunt is one of those guys that's almost like a you know one and a half two round swing for me i don't know where you have a Heath, but you know, PPR versus non PPR, because I do think PPR favors what he should be able to do. I'm counting on hunt getting more work in the run game, you know, so that's why I'm a little bit down on tub, a little bit higher on hunt in this format. I do think that the role that he had in the passing game will be somewhat similar to what

we saw last year, even though it's a new coaching staff. The one thing about it is, and like you said, Adam, you know, league winning upside, this is a former rushing champion. You know, he's, he's essentially, you know, two and a half years removed from leading the NFL in rushing. And what we saw from in 2018, before he got kicked off, kicked out of the league was, you know, another strong performance. So he's still young enough. He's in a great situation. Offensive line is going to be great. You know, if the system is, is what we expected to be Stefanski bringing what he did in Minnesota to Cleveland, I think they're going to use both backs so I do think both guys have an opportunity

to be top 15 caliber type of guys more so Chubb than Hunt because of the touchdown potential but I think if you're getting Kareem Hunt anywhere after round five in PPR you're going to be thrilled about it okay so round five I guess would be the sweet spot that's where he's going he's the late round five pick right now in NFC average draft position, which is very, very high on running backs. The next group is the number three running backs with less upside. I did not have a really clever food for this one. If you guys have one, feel free.

It's number three running backs with high upside. Oh, okay. Yeah, okay. This is the one I didn't have a good food name for. Mark Ingram, Jonathan Taylor, David Montgomery, Devin Singletary, and Raheem Mostert. These are the foods that you've never had before, but they have potential to be your favorite foods.

Except Mark Ingram. Which would be... No, I'm talking fantasy upside. I still think that Mark Ingram has some good upside. Yeah, but we've... You're talking about Mark Ingram as a food? We've all had Mark Ingram before. Right, that's what I'm saying.

He's pizza. We've had it, but he's great. Mark Ingram as a food? We've all had Mark Ingram before. Right, that's what I'm saying. He's pizza. We've had it, but he's great. Mark Ingram, Jonathan Taylor, David Montgomery. Maybe he's a pizza with a cauliflower crust. I haven't quite had that yet. Maybe it could be your new favorite. Okay, so... Probably not, because cauliflower crust stinks.

Go ahead, Adam. There are a lot of touches available here. I mean, David Montgomery, Devin Singletary, in his last six games, I think he had the second most carries in the NFL, fourth most carries, something like that. They really rode him. What do you think about this tier, Dave?

This should be your number three running back, number three running back with high upside. I like viewing these guys strictly as number three in PPR. I would move Ingram up in non-PPR. I still think he can do it, especially in that offense. So full PPR, these are the guys that you kind of hope fall into your lap in the round six-ish range.

I'm not going to fight with you on whether or not Kareem Hunt belongs in this tier. Obviously, Jamie thinks he belongs at least in this tier, if not a little bit higher. Heath, probably the same. I'm not there yet. But I do think these guys all have a chance to be strong contributors to your squad, usable as a flex in case you're thin on receiver,

tight end, and PPR, and definitely great bench depth. Okay. Again, it was Ingram, Taylor, Montgomery, Singletary, and Mostert. Who's your favorite for David's Mark Ingram? Jamie Heath, who's your favorite in this group of five? Probably Montgomery. No, it's Taylor. You like Montgomery over Taylor? Again, I think Taylor's in a different group. Right. So why don't you throw Taylor out? Because I know you love it. Yeah, it'd probably be Montgomery. You know what I mean? You know, you talk about what the volume could be for him again after what he did in his rookie season.

You know, hopefully they're still going to stick with him. Every indication seems to be that that's the case. You know, he's not going to be a huge factor on passing downs. But again, if he can get to that maybe 30 threshold, that would be something that I think you look at and say, okay, he can build off what he did last year. I don't think he's as bad as what he showed us in his rookie campaign. So if you're saying 250 plus carries again,

I'll buy into that in this spot. And on that same note, then Jamie is just get ready for the Jamie giggle. Cause he's going to love this. Tariq Cohen should be in this tier. I don't mind it. I mean, you know,

I think, you know, with, with cam now, James White, potentially to, you know, they're both going to be the chance for,

you know, 70 plus catches if things go their way. And so that's hard to overlook. And especially what Cohen showed us two years ago. James White, potentially too. They're both going to be the chance for 70-plus catches if things go their way. And so that's hard to overlook, and especially what Cohen showed us two years ago. I think they're in the next tier for Dave, which is number three running backs with less upside. So, Heath, can you kind of buy that explanation

that Tariq Cohen does not have as much upside as Devin Singletary, David Montgomery, Mark Ingram. It's really most. I would 100% buy that in half PPR. It's not even close in non PPR. I don't know that I necessarily believe that David Montgomery and Devin Singletary have top 10 upside. And I do think Tariq Cohen has top 15 upside. So I don't know in PPR at least.

So I don't know what the big distinction upside would be in that format between them. Okay. They just have to have those, those touchdown years. You know, that's the thing. Cause you know, they're going to catch the ball. It's it's what we saw from James White two years ago. You know, it's what we saw from Tariq Cohen two years ago, or, you know, White two or three years ago, you know, when he's done it multiple times,

but you know, it's when those guys are converting, you know, end zone opportunities when they get them. And that's what makes them go from good in PPR to great in PPR. And you're like, oh, I wish I would have

drafted this guy sooner. Or in some cases, when they let you down like they did a year ago, man, it's tough to trust those guys even when they're catching the ball at such a high rate.

All right, we're going to take a break here. When we come back, it's peanut butter jelly time. That is the name of the next tier. Not a lot of upside, but, you know, it's peanut butter jelly time. That is the name of the next tier. Not a lot of upside, but you know, it's peanut butter and jelly. You know what you're getting. Always go ahead. Peanut butter and jelly this afternoon.

So anyway, that's coming up right after this break on Fantasy Football today. What does possible sound like for your business? It's having the spend that powers your scale with no preset spending limit. More cash on hand to grow your business with up to 55 interest-free days. And the ability to reach further with access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide.

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they had to choose great taste or 90 calories per can. They chose both because they knew the best part of beer is the beer. Your game time tastes like Miller time. Learn more at MillerLite.ca. Must be legal drinking age. I have a peanut butter and jelly question for you. You got two pieces of bread. Do you just put peanut butter all on one slice and jelly on the other? Or do you put both on both? How do you make a peanut butter on both sides because she says it makes the jelly less soggy, I guess, or drippy. So she's got me into doing that. So now I do peanut butter on both sides.

That's interesting. Do you have nothing to contribute here? No, I mean, I just usually slop. I don't even get to the second piece of bread. Usually I put, I take out a piece of bread, I put on peanut butter, put on the jelly, and then I just eat it like a taco. Like a one piece of bread. And then I just go and get the next piece of bread and it's a machine and I weigh 300 pounds. I feel really left out of this entire food conversation because basically everything that you have suggested as a food type right now, I've not eaten in like a year. So it's fun. It's all gluten stuff?

I think every single thing you've chosen so far may have gluten in it. That makes sense. Uh, I'm pro gluten. Um, Heath, when you make a sandwich, how do you cut it? Square, like rectangle, triangle. I've never cut a sandwich. You just, even when I ate sandwiches a long time ago, I don't know why I would cut a sandwich. Easier to eat. It's not that hard to eat a sandwich. You just eat the sandwich.

I understand you cut them for kids, maybe, but I've never cut a sandwich for myself. I could see Adam. Not only does he cut it into triangles because that's definitely an Adam Azer thing. He cuts the crust off for himself too. Small triangles too.

I like rectangles. Double triangle for Adam. So he's got four little triangles. My wife is adamant about the triangles. So I'm almost afraid to cut rectangles in front of her. And I like the crust. She does not. Do you guys eat the ends of the loaf?

You know? Yes. Baker does. No. I like the heel. Well, you know, the heel,

whatever you want to call it. My older son, that's his favorite part of the bread. So he always eats the heel. I feel like I'm saving calories by eating that part. You think so? It's probably the healthiest part. Anyway,

this is the peanut butter and jelly tier. Number three running backs with less upside. Kareem Hunt, Ronald Jones, Zach Moss, J.K. Dobbins, Tariq Cohen, James White, Keyshawn Vaughn, and Marlon Mack. Kareem Hunt, Ronald Jones, Zach Moss, J.K. Dobbins, Tariq Cohen, James White, Keyshawn Vaughn, and Marlon Mack.

Where's Damian Williams? No kidding. Come on, Dave. I think we missed him in the number three running backs with high upsides portion. I think that's where he was. Where's Ronald Jones, too? He's in this one.

He is here. Ronald Jones is in this tier. And he might be moving up. Because I'm kind of seeing what maybe the Bucs are seeing with him. But that's another story. These are guys where things could go right, things could go wrong. I disagree about them being peanut butter and jelly. They might be, I don't know.

Well, Dave, you think peanut butter and jelly is a taco, so I don't really know. Fair point. But I feel like there's definitely at least one thing wrong, one big thing wrong with everybody's situation in this tier. And it's obvious in the case of like Kareem Hunt, he's splitting. J.K. Dobbins, he's a rookie. Ronald Jones, we don't know how long he's going to hang on to the job for

even though we think he's pretty good. So I think it's built into their draft value because now we're talking about the middle of the draft where you're getting these guys and there's not as much risk and there's still some good reward because if the thing that is wrong with them at the onset of the season goes away, then they're going to be outstanding.

I would disagree with J.K. Dobbins being described as low upside in any way. I think there's a chance that he just takes the job from Mark Ingram in the second half. But if something happens to Mark Ingram, he has enormous upside. I'm worried that they've got too many running backs involved. I think it's the same with Kareem Hunt. If those guys get into starting opportunities, they're going to be top five caliber type of running backs, just given the offenses that they're going to play in so i wouldn't necessarily label them

as low upside type of players um i think they certainly have high and no i i'm i'm not disagreeing with you i'm saying like you know the way adam described it so i think these guys have the chance to be you know superstar caliber um but you can't draft them higher than this you know that's kind of the reason why you have to take them in this range because like Dave said, there is something that's kind of in the way. And I do think that Damien Williams belongs in this, you know, we got a question. I think it was two weeks ago. Would you take Edward Solaire in round two and round six? And I think I said, yes. I mean,

that's where we're talking about these guys right now, you know? So I know I'm on the high end. I like Heath. I know it take Damien Williams here and Dave would take Edward Solaire earlier. I don't think it's a bad idea to take both because you may end up with just a great opportunity to have a superstar running back. I do think Damian Williams is going to have some very good weeks and probably earlier in the season

by comparison to what his role will be. A lot of people might be listening to this saying, what, Kareem Hunt, Ronald Jones, Zach Moss, J.K. Dobbins, these guys are number threes? No, I want them to be number fours. In PPR, though, I think they very well could be number three running backs for you, and

then you grab Tevin Coleman, Damian Williams. Damian Williams is going a little earlier, but some of the other names we're going to mention because in PPR, you might only start two running backs a week. It might have been your first two picks. Then you go receiver, receiver, Dak Prescott, Zachary.

You build out the rest of your roster, and you're not all that dependent on running backs, at least not when you draft. You pick guys up off the waiver wire or whatever. So I could see that. I'd also put Mostert in this group too. I think Mostert, given the trade request and not knowing what's going to happen, depending on when you're drafting, but they're also going to use at in this group too. I think Mostert, given the trade request and not knowing what's going to happen depending on when you're drafting,

but they're also going to use a lot of running backs too. I would have Mostert and Tevin Coleman in the same tier. High-end backups is the next group, and I'm calling that mac and cheese. Why? Because let's say you just brought home dinner, but you tripped on your front step and you threw your food all over the place

and everything spilled everywhere and you don't have dinner anymore. You make some mac and cheese. That is just a high-end backup option. No issues. Matt Breida, Jordan Howard, Darius Geis, Sonny Michelle, Alexander Madison, Daryl Henderson, Damian Williams. Come on, Dave. Move them up.

All right. Move them up. Sorry. Philip Lindsay, Antonio Gibson, and Naeem Hines. A lot of Dave. Move them up. All right. We got to move them up. Sorry. Phillip Lindsey, Antonio Gibson, and Naeem Hines. Let me read it again. Brita, Jordan Howard, Geis, Michelle, Madison, Daryl Henderson, Damian Williams, Phillip Lindsey, Antonio Gibson, and Naeem Hines. So, Heath, just bench depth here?

Solid backups? Yeah. And since we did this with mine on the quarterback rankings, I don't feel as bad doing this. Heath, just bench depth here? Solid backups? Yeah. Since we did this with mine on the quarterback rankings, I don't feel as bad doing this. Did we miss Kerryon Johnson? Nope. He's a lower tier for me.

I am not a Kerryon fan. But most of these guys, I would prefer... No, Kerryon's at the very bottom of this tier. I missed him? Okay, that's my fault. I missed him. What's that? He's the last name on this tier. Oh, I missed him? Okay, that's my fault. I missed him. What's that? He's the last name on the list. Adam didn't read him.

Oh, there we go. Yeah, my bad. Kerrion Johnson is in this group. Last one. Then I agree completely with everything, except for Damian Williams being two tiers too low. I probably would put Geis in the tier above, too, just because if he's ever going to be healthy,

he's got league-winning upside. But they're going to if he's ever going to be healthy, he's got league winning upside. But they're going to share. There's going to be so much sharing in Washington. He would have to be outstanding in training camp, and he'd have to stay healthy. And that's just to fend off Adrian Peterson from getting work. I think Gibson's going to have a significant role. It's not to say that Gibson and Geis couldn't play at the same time

because I think the offense is moving in a creative direction in Washington, but I don't know. I think the Red Tails could be mixing and matching running backs all year long. So do not draft a Dolphins running back to be your starter. Do not draft Sonny Michel. Unless you're going zero RB, which I don't recommend this year so much. As in previous years, I might have recommended it in PPR. I won't do it this year.

But if you are inclined to do that, Jordan Howard, you can use him. Week one against the Patriots, they reshuffled their linebackers. Could be okay. Okay. So that is the high-end backups. Now we go to the solid backups, which is the frozen chicken nuggets tier. All right, we dropped all of our food.

We ran out of mac and cheese. Let's throw some frozen chicken nuggets in the toaster oven, 12 minutes on 375 degrees. No big deal. I'm intrigued that PB&J is ahead of both mac and cheese and frozen chicken nuggets for you, since PB&J takes less work than those other two foods to prepare.

That's a great point. And they are better. And there's no chance that you make frozen chicken nuggets and they make your day. These guys, you could draft them late in the draft and one thing happens and they could win you your league. That's right.

Tony Pollard, Chase Edmonds, Tevin Coleman, Latavius Murray, and AJ Dillon. It's true. They're all an injury away from being absolute studs. We don't know about Dillon, really. I'm speculating that they drafted Dillon for a reason and that they probably don't love Jamal Williams. Yeah, he'd be, he'd be the guy.

All right. And then finally we have bench depth, which is, I call it the salad tier. Right. Well, Armstead, Boston,

Scott, I got to something I can eat. Congratulations. You get what's left. This is what zero RB feels like guys. Right. Well, Armstead, Boston,

Scott, Duke Johnson, Darrington Evans, Josh Kelly, Anthony McFarland, Damian Harris, DJ Dallas, Justin Jackson, Carlos Hyde, and Malcolm Brown. I know there's a lot there, but, but let me ask like, why, um, why are Tony Pollard and, and chase Edmonds in the tier above this group that has right. Well, Armstead and Darrington Evans. Cause I think if, if Pollard and Edmonds got the opportunity to be lead backs for their

teams, they wouldn't be quite as good as the running backs that are there, but they could still be 70% of that. Whereas I don't know if rock armor said it's going to be as good as Leonard Fournette was last year. Yeah. So that's the one game. Yeah.

But I don't know if he could do it week in and week out. All right, cool. I think Pollard would be awesome if Zeke were to miss time and Pollard was the main back in Dallas. I think Edmonds and Pollard personally should be up in the Madison tier and maybe just a little bit ahead of him. Well, the only reason why Madison, they were ahead of Madison at one point, but when Dalvin Cook started talking about holdouts, I think that pushed Madison's value up a little bit more.

All right, so Dave, let's talk about this. What's the deal with Damon Williams? Why aren't you feeling it? I feel like I've got to jump in the time machine and just spout off what Jamie said right after the draft when he was going nuts for Edwards-Alaire. Damon Williams has never gotten the job done in the regular season unless it was late in the season and then in the playoffs. They drafted Edwards-Alaire.

It's the most draft capital that Andy Reid has used on a running back. He fits into that offense really, really well. And if Edwards-Alaire has a really good camp and Damon Williams does what he's done every year of his career up to this point, it's going to be a runaway for CEH to have a big season. Runaway.

I like it. Nice pun. Let's have some dinner, everybody. Some salad, some gluten, a lot of gluten, more gluten, and I think I... I'm making some type of chicken dish tonight, think I- God, you're a jerk. I am making some type of chicken dish tonight.

So I'm going to go get on that. And we'll talk to you on Twitch, twitch.com slash FF today, 7 p.m. Eastern, Tuesday night. For Dave, for James, for Heath, I'm Adam. See you there.